| Hi, everybody! Welcome back to Ask Alisha, the weekly series where you ask me questions and I answer them, maybe. Let's get to your first question this week. |
| First question this week comes from Elle. Hi, Elle! Elle says, "How do I use 'so far' and 'until now'? Thanks." Oh, this is a super, super good question. So, "so far" and "until now" can be used a lot of the time in the same position in a sentence, but they have different nuances. So, let's take a look at some examples, and we'll talk about the differences between them. |
| So, first, "I've had a great week so far" and "I've had a great week until now." Okay. So, what's the difference between these two? First, both of these sentences are 100% correct. "I've had a great week so far" and "I've had a great week until now." They are 100% correct sentences. So, let's talk about what kinds of feelings these two choices give these sentences. So far, sounds like everything has been good and it's going to continue to be good probably, or it's not going to be bad, in other words. So, in the "so far" sentence, it's like saying this far in the week from, maybe I don't know, Monday until Thursday or whatever, everything has been good and I expect that it's going to continue. I have no reason to think that anything is going to change. Things are good, and that's my expectation at the moment. |
| However, in the second sentence, "My week has been good until now." Sounds ominous. So, "ominous" means that something sounds kind of different, or scary, or dangerous in some way. It sounds like something bad is coming. When you say, "I've had a great week until now," it sounds like something just happened that was bad. So, that's like saying Monday was good, Tuesday was good, Wednesday was good, and until this moment, something happened in this moment that made it bad. My week was good until this point. So, this is a key difference between "I've had a great week so far" and "I've had a great week until now." |
| So, again, "so far" sounds like everything is good and I expect it to continue to be good. On the other hand, "until now" sounds like everything was good but then something just happened. And now, it's not good. So, keep this in mind. You can use this expression to talk about lots of different periods of time. So, for example, you could say, "I've had a great year so far" or "I've had a great year until now." You might also hear "until now" used for kind of dramatic effect in things like movie trailers. So, in the previews to movies. So, for example, you might see a preview for like an action movie or an adventure movie that says, "You thought you knew everything…until now;" or something like that. You might hear "until now" used in this way. That "until now" is kind of marking some kind of dramatic point or some kind of change point. We don't use "so far" in that way. |
| "So far" isn't really used to mark a point of change. "Until now" suggests that something has happened that has changed everything that was before that point. So, when we say, "I've had a great week until now," it sounds like things were great, but now they're not. So, if it helps you, you can think of "until now" as kind of being the opposite or a kind of contrast to what came before. So, in our first example sentence, we had the word "great," right? "I've had a great week until now" or "I've had a good week until now." So, that "until now" says the condition of "great" stopped, right? It changed in some way. Or, in the example of the movie preview, when they say something like, "You thought you knew the whole story…until now" or whatever, it's some kind of change. So, you're introducing some kind of new information after the "until now" point. So, "until now" is marking that change in condition or that kind of change in behavior. |
| So, although both of these are totally correct in the original example sentence, they do have different feelings. So, keep this in mind when you're talking about your day, or your year, or your week, or whatever, "until now" and "so far" are both correct. But, they do have different feelings. All right. I hope that answers your question. Let's move on to our next question. |
| Next question comes from Hugo. Hi, Hugo! Hugo says, "Hi, Alisha! My question: Is there any difference between 'in case of' and 'in the event of'? For example: In case of rain, the event will be canceled." Ah, good question. "In case of" and "in the event of" generally are used in the same situation. We use these expressions to talk about the possibility of something happening. So, in your example -- that's a really common example, "In case of rain, the event will be canceled. Or, we could say, "In the event of rain, the event will be canceled." So, both of these just mean "if," essentially. If there's rain, the event will be canceled. That's essentially what they mean. |
| So, generally speaking, we use "in case of" and "in the event of" in the same way. However, I would say that perhaps "in the event of" tends to be used a little bit more often in more formal or more official documentation. So, you might see "in the event of" in the small text. Like at the back of an agreement, or at the back of a manual, or something like that. So, you might see this when people are talking about like insurance conditions or emergency conditions. Another place you might see this is on like an airplane. For example, where it says, "In the event of a water landing, your cushion can be used as a flotation device." So, these kinds of official situations might use the "in the event of" pattern more so than the "in case of" pattern. |
| "In case of" would probably be used more when we're talking about events or things that are part of a schedule. For example, like a classroom schedule. Like I said, an event schedule of some kind. Maybe be a train or a bus schedule, as well things that are maybe a little bit less serious. And then, "in the event" have might be used more for things that are a little bit more official, like insurance or safety regulations. So, they do mean the same. They just mean if this happens, then something else will happen. But, I hope that this answers your question. Thanks very much for sending it along. Okay. Let's move on to your next question. |
| Next question comes from Ibrahim. Hi, Ibrahim! Ibrahim says, "Hi, Alisha! I have a question about 'might' and 'could' with 'be.' Is there a difference between 'That might be him' and 'That could be him'? Can I use them in the same situation? Thanks." Ah, good question. Okay. So, a little bit of modal verb review here. "That might be him" and "that could be him" are both completely correct sentences. They're 100% correct. But, yes, there is a difference between the two. So, you might use these expressions if you're in a situation where you're looking for someone. Like you're talking to your co-workers and you're looking for someone else in a crowd, and you could say, "That might be him" or "That could be him" So, what's the difference here? |
| Let's start with "could." When you say, "That could be him," it means there is a possibility that's him. So, maybe you can't see the person clearly. You just want to express the possibility that that's the person you're looking for. So, maybe if you don't know what the person looks like but you just have some kind of basic idea, and the guy maybe arrives on time or he's in the place you're expecting, you might say "That could be him," which means it is possible that that is the person we're looking for. So, "could" expresses this basic possibility feeling. It's just possibility. We're not saying there's a chance or anything like that. We're just saying there's a possibility that's the person we're looking for. |
| However, with the sentence "That might be him," it sounds like there's a little bit of hope. Like, maybe there's a possibility, yes. And, I think there's a chance it might be true. So, that's the difference here between "might" and "could." When we say, "that could be," it just sounds like it's a possibility statement. When we say, "might be," there's that feeling of hope, of some kind of expectation that it's correct. |
| Okay. Let's take a look at one more example situation that uses the same concepts. So, let's imagine that you're using your phone to search for a location. You arrive and you look around and you think, "Hmm, should I say this might be the right location?" or "Should I say this could be the right location?" Again, both sentences are 100% correct. So, when you check your phone and you think, "Hmm, okay. This could be the right location." It means it's possible I'm in the right location. There is a possibility. There is a chance. I'm not saying that it's good or bad, I just want to say like a neutral report of possibility. |
| However, if I say, "Hmm, this might be the right place." It sounds like there's a little bit of expectation that I am correct. So, I'm not 100% sure, but there's a little bit of that feeling there that I think, I think I'm on to something here. I think I maybe have it, that's the feeling here. So, again, "could" gives us that neutral report of possibility. "Might" gives us a little bit of a chance that we're correct, at least in a positive sentence. So, I hope that this helps you understand the differences between "might be" and "could be." Thanks very much for sending this question in. |
| All right. That is everything that I have for this week. Thank you as always for sending your super great questions. Thanks very much for watching this week's episode of Ask Alisha, and I will see you again next time. Bye! |
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