Lesson Transcript

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 Mohsen. Hi, Mohsen. Mohsen says, "What does 'got so far' mean?" Okay, sure. Let's talk about "got so far." So, maybe you've heard this expression in a really popular song lyric, which is "I tried so hard and got so far." Or, maybe you've heard this use maybe when you're playing a video game or something. After you die in the game, you might hear someone say, "Ugh, I got so far." So, what does this mean?
So, this expression "got so far" means I achieved a lot, or I was able to accomplish many things, or I proceeded far in the story, I proceeded a long way in the story. But, this expression uses "got" in past tense, right? And, I also used past tense in my breakdown of this, right? "I achieved a lot" or "I moved forward a lot in the story." So, the feeling with this expression like, "Ah, I tried so hard and got so far" or "I got so far in the game." It's like saying I went the distance, I went a long way, but then something happened, so my progress was ruined or I wasn't able to continue. Like in a video game, "Oh, I died in the game so I had to go back to the beginning." So, in the video game example, if you've been playing for like 30 minutes or an hour, and you continue the story for a while and then you die, you might think "I got so far." This sounds like "I'm kind of sad." So, I was doing really, really well but now here I am, back at the zero point, at the start point again.
So, when we use it in expressions like the popular song lyric I mentioned, "I tried so hard and got so far," it's also like saying I was working really hard on something, I was really doing well. But then, something happened and now I'm back at the start. So, this is kind of an expression that we use to express those feelings of like sadness and loss. And, like, "Aww, man," maybe embarrassment sometimes, or just kind of depression. "I have to start all over again" is what this expression often communicates. "Dang, I got so far." It's like saying, I was doing really well, but now I'm back at the start." So, this is what the expression "got so far" is generally used to mean. So, I hope that those two examples help you understand how you can use it as well. Okay. Thanks very much for the question. Let's move on to our next one.
Next one comes from Eri. Hi, Eri. Eri says, "What's the difference between 'wear' and 'dress'?" Nice question. Yeah. Let's talk about these as verbs. I'm going to talk about this answer with "wear" and "dress" used as verbs, and I also want to point out there are some uses of "wear" as a verb that I'm not going to talk about for this video. I'm going to talk about the uses of "wear" that are related to clothing and accessories. So, let's begin this breakdown by focusing on "wear".
So, let's talk about the uses of the verb "wear" that relate to clothing. So, the two uses I want to talk about today are: one, the use that means to have something on your body. This is what we use to talk about clothes, to talk about makeup, to talk about accessories, and so on. And, the second use we'll cover today is the use of "wear" to mean to habitually have something on. This is what we use to describe, like our sizes, to talk about maybe a specific color that we often put on our body, and so on. So, let's talk about that first use of "wear," which means to have something on the body. So, we could use it in a sentence like, "I usually wear a black shirt for this series," or "He's not wearing glasses today," or "She wears really cool makeup." So, we can use "wear" in this way to mean to have something on the body. We usually use it as I said to describe our clothing, the things that we have on our person, on our body for the day.
We can also use it as I mentioned in the second way, to talk about like our sizes, the things that we usually or we regularly put on our body. So, this second use of "wear" is used to talk about the things that we regularly or habitually put on our body. So, we use this use to talk about our sizes, or our preferred colors, and so on. So, some examples of this are sentences like "He usually wears a medium," or "She wears a lot of blue." So, these are examples of how we express our sizes, our regular size of clothing, and the preferred colors. We could also use it in the negative. Like, "She doesn't wear a lot of green," and so on. So, these verb uses of "wear" are the ones that we use to talk about the things we put on our body and to talk about clothes, accessories, and so on.
So, let's compare this to the verb "to dress." Yes, there is a noun "dress," which is a type of clothing that goes over the body. But, we're not going to talk about the noun "dress" today. I want to focus on the verb "to dress." So, "to dress" means to put on the clothing and accessories that you are going to wear for the day, "to dress." So, this is not used so much in everyday conversation these days. It feels a little bit old-fashioned. Generally, when we talk about preparing ourselves for the day, we use the expression "get ready." Like, "I'm going to get ready for the day." Or, if we want to talk about our clothes specifically, we say, "I'm going to put on my clothes for the day." So, this verb use of "dress" is pretty old-fashioned. We don't use it so much. Instead, we tend to use "put on clothes."
So, let's take a look at some example sentences so you can see the differences. First, "My son dressed himself this morning," and "My son put on his clothes himself this morning." So, both of these sentences mean the same thing, and they're 100% correct. They both mean that the son, in this case, maybe a very young child who is learning to put on his clothes, was able to do it by himself. They both expressed the same idea. But, the one that uses the verb dress sounds a little bit more formal, a little bit more old-fashioned. The second example sentence sounds a little bit more natural for everyday communication these days. "My son put on his clothes himself this morning." So, "to dress" means to put on all of your things for the day. But, you might see this word in maybe old stories. So, you might also see it, I suppose, in more formal kinds of writing. It's a little bit up to the writer in this case because it's definitely not wrong to use "dress" in this manner. It's just that we kind of tend to use "put on" more in everyday situations.
Another comment that I want to add to answer this question is that we also have the expression "get dressed," and we use this a lot as a command or as a request. So, you might say to somebody like your roommate or your partner like, "Get dressed! Hurry up and get dressed! We're going to be late!" So, "get dressed" is a set phrase. We say "get dressed," which means usually "Hurry up and put your clothes on your body!" or "Get ready! Get everything ready! Get dressed!" So, that implies -- that makes it sound like the person is not wearing clothes, and they're not wearing clothes that are appropriate to leave the house in. So, you might hear this command used as well, and this request used. You can use it usually in your house. I suppose there are probably very few situations outside the house where you need to ask someone to get dressed, I hope. But, you might also hear this expression used. So, this means "Please prepare. Please put your clothes on. Please put whatever you need on your body so that we can go somewhere else." So, you might hear "get dressed" in this way.
But, generally, when we use just the verb "dress," without that "get" in front of it, it tends to sound a little bit more old-fashioned. So, I hope this answers your question about the differences between "to wear" and "to dress" as verbs. As I said, there are many other uses of the verb "to wear." I won't cover them in today's lesson because they're very different. But, you can check out a dictionary if you want to know more. All right. Thanks very much for sending this question along. Let's move on to your next question.
Next question comes from Adam. Hi, Adam. Adam says, "What's the difference between 'minimum' and 'minimal'?" Okay. Let's break this down. So, "minimum." The "minimum" of something means the least of something, the least possible in some cases. Or, the least that is required in some cases. So, for example, "The minimum score required to pass the test is 85%." Or, "The minimum amount of time we need to finish this project is 30 days." So, this is describing like the least possible or kind of giving the base requirement. We're starting from this point, and if you get more than this, great. That's fine. Or, if you have more time than this, that's fine. But, the "minimum" of something kind of expresses the base, or the ground, or the floor, the start point for some kind of range for something like that.
The opposite of the "minimum" is the maximum of something. So, as high as you can go. So, when we're talking about the "minimum" of something, we often use it when we're describing requirements. So, as I talked about with a test, or maybe with a project schedule, something like that. So, when we describe the "minimum" of something, that means like we need at least this much of something. This is the start point. And, more than that is great, but this is the like the least part or the least amount that we can accept.
On the other hand, "minimal" is an adjective that is typically these days used to describe kind of a style or an aesthetic, or a way of living. Something that is "minimal" has only the things that are needed inside, and maybe not even that. So, you might imagine, for example, something like a "minimal" apartment. A "minimal" apartment style would have maybe nothing inside it, except maybe a table and a chair. Or, maybe there's just a few things that the person needs inside the apartment. Maybe even their clothing is very "minimal." They don't have a lot of decorations. They don't have a lot of, I don't know, personal expression in it, whatever. Something that is very "minimal" is reduced to just what is necessary.
So, this is the opposite of a maximal style. So, a maximal style has lots of stuff in it. It's very flashy and colorful, and there's tons and tons and tons of things inside it. So, when we have a maximal apartment, if you can imagine that, it's full of stuff, maybe. So, we typically don't use maximal to describe apartments. You might see people using maximal to describe certain kinds of art style. But, "minimal," on the other hand, is used a lot to describe fashion, and apartments, and spaces these days. Something that is very "minimal" is something that has only the basic things inside it. So, I hope this helps you understand the differences between "minimum" and "minimal." Thanks very much for sending this question along.
All right, great. That is everything that I have for this week. Thank you as always for sending your great question. 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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