Advanced Grammar: Common Doubts

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Hello, welcome to another class. I’m Robin and today we are going to be talking about an Advanced topic. So this class is for more Advanced, upper level students. And we’re going to talk about some common doubts that you may have. Now, you may have reached a level of English where you have a lot of vocabulary, you understand a lot of grammar, but maybe you still have some questions about certain grammar points that are a little bit confusing. So today I’m going to clear up your doubts about two different questions. And that is the difference between a phrasal verb and a verb phrase, and the difference between an expression and an idiom. Okay, so hopefully it will be more clear to you now.

Let’s start with the difference between a phrasal verb and a verb phrase. A phrasal verb is a verb plus an adverb or a preposition. That’s it. That is the only way it can be considered a phrasal verb, if it is composed of a verb and a preposition or a verb and an adverb. This could be two to three words, normally two, sometimes three. So let’s look at a couple examples. We have the phrasal verb “to work out”. Okay verb plus a preposition, to work out, which means to do exercise. Another example, okay, this one is longer, “to get along with”. All right, “to get along with” means that you have a good relationship with someone. Okay? So there are many many more phrasal verbs as you know if you’ve watched my videos before. There are hundreds of phrasal verbs in the English language. You have to memorize them but remember this rule: if it is considered a phrasal verb, it means it has a verb plus preposition or verb plus adverb. So, what is a verb phrase? What is the difference? A verb phrase is a verb with multiple words. Okay, this includes the direct and the indirect object, the direct and indirect object, modifiers and any other components that are not the subject, okay? So basically think of the sentence as split. You have your subject and then you have your verb phrase. Okay, so this is everything else. All right. So for example, it can have more than one verb in the verb phrase whereas a phrasal verb only has one verb. It can have up to four words, sometimes more. Alright, so let’s look at some examples. We have “would have cost”, that’s a verb phrase, “should have been finished”. All right. Now this is also a tense. This is a verb in a specific tense, but this entire component is called the verb phrase. So this is the difference, okay, phrasal verb versus verb phrase, so you do not confuse them in the future. All right, I hope that’s clear. I know there are a lot more examples that we can give. But hopefully, that distinction is clear.

And now let’s move on to the difference between expressions and idioms. Many people confuse the two or say “Aren’t they the same?” Not exactly. All right. An expression is a specific way in which words are expressed or specific order. So when we say this, this phrase, when we say this sentence, the words always follow the same order, okay? But the difference here between idioms is that the meaning is literal with expressions. So here are a few examples. If I’m going to write a business letter, or if I’m going to apply to a job, I always start with “To whom it may concern”, this combination of words is an expression because it is always used in this specific situation Okay, this order of words “to whom it may concern” is always used. So this means like directed at someone, a specific person in Human Resources for example, but you always use this expression. Another example of an expression, “as a matter of fact”, okay. So this order of words “as a matter of fact” means actually, giving more information etc. Okay, so these are a couple examples of expressions. Now let me show you the difference with idioms. An idiom is a kind of expression. So an idiom falls under the category of expression. But it is a group of words that does not have the same meaning as each individual word. Okay, so this this, excuse me, this combination of words, put together has a meaning and the meaning is not literal. The meaning of each word put together is not literal. Let’s see a few examples. There are many, many idioms. I’m going to show you two. For example, break a leg, “to break a leg”. If someone is about to perform in a musical or play, or if they’re going to sing, you would say to them “break a leg”. And that means good luck. It doesn’t literally mean I want you to break your leg. It’s just an expression. It’s an idiom, meaning “good luck”. And so that’s the difference here. So this combination of words “break a leg” is not literal. It’s an idiom. And so that’s why we make this distinction between expression and idiom. Let me show you another example, “when pigs fly”. Okay, you may have heard this before, when pigs fly. We say this, this idiom, when a situation is not likely to happen. So you could say, I will win the lottery when pigs fly. This is not literal. We know that pigs do not fly. But it is an idiom meaning not likely, it could happen, but probably not. Okay, so I hope that this explanation, these distinctions between the two have been clear for you.

And now I want you to tell me in the comments, what grammar points, advanced grammar points are difficult for you? So I know there’s these two phrasal verb, verb phrase, idiom, expression. What else do you find really difficult? Like, I really can’t remember the difference between this or that? Or this point? It’s not clear for me. Tell me in the comments and we will try to plan more classes to clear up some of your doubts. And, if you want, you can write some examples. So if you know more idioms or more expressions in English, or you want to practice your phrasal verbs, or show an example of a phrasal verb versus a verb phrase, then please feel free to do that in the comments. Okay, so I look forward to reading them. I hope that you have enjoyed this class. And I will be back here next week with more content for you. So thanks again for joining and I’ll see you next time. Bye!