| Hi everybody, welcome back to Ask Alisha, the weekly series where you ask me questions and I answer them. Maybe! |
| First question this week is actually two questions. I got two of the same question I want to answer. |
| First! |
| Question from Expedito Xavier: Hi Alisha, I would like to know the difference between "toward," "forward," and "backward." Thanks. |
| Also, from Marcelo dos Santos Oliveira. Hi! |
| How do I use the words "toward" and "forward"? |
| Okay, let's discuss. First, "toward" means "in the direction of something." |
| So, this can mean any direction. Just in the direction of something. |
| Examples! |
| The car moved toward the highway. |
| We headed toward the restaurant. |
| I'm moving toward the park. |
| Then, the word "forward" means "moving in a direction" in front of you." |
| So this can mean physically moving with your body, or it can mean like a concept or an experience. |
| Examples! |
| I took one step forward. |
| The project is moving forward smoothly. |
| We're going forward with this idea. |
| So then "backward" is the opposite of "forward." |
| It means "moving in a direction behind you." |
| So again, this can mean physically with your body, or it can mean conceptually, like with an idea or a project. |
| He took three steps backward. |
| The project moved backward because of the mistake. |
| Our boat is moving backward! |
| So, I hope that that helps you. Toward is kind of any direction; in the direction of something. |
| Forward is movement in front of you. |
| Backward is movement behind you. |
| So I hope that helps you a little bit. |
| Next question! |
| Comes from, uh, Aline! Hi, Aline. |
| Aline says, "hi Alisha," what is the difference between "everybody," "somebody," and "everyone," and when can I use them? |
| Okay! |
| Uh, "everyone" and "everybody" are the same. We use them the same way. |
| I would say that "everybody" is probably a little more casual and maybe more commonly used than "everyone." |
| Somebody, however, refers to a person who is related to a discussion or to a situation in some way. |
| So, examples of this: |
| Can somebody help me cook dinner? |
| Did somebody pick up my phone? |
| Somebody stole my bag! |
| So, in each of these example sentences,"somebody" refers to a person who can hear the speaker, or who is closely related to the situation. |
| Everyone and "everybody" are just...everyone! |
| Like, there's no relation to the situation, necessarily. |
| So I hope that that helps. |
| Next question! |
| Comes from Wrandreypson Moreira Dos Santos. Hi. |
| Uh, what is the difference between "may" and "can"? |
| Yeah, common question. |
| Please check the 10 minute and 50 second mark of this video. |
| I talked about "may" and "can" and the differences and some examples in this video. |
| So please check this out. I hope it helps. |
| Next question. |
| Comes from Tan Teshin! Hi Tan! |
| What's the difference between "difficult" and "hard"? |
| Okay, "difficult" and "hard," yeah. |
| If you're talking about the level of challenge of something, they have the same meaning. |
| The only difference between these two words is that "difficult" sounds much more formal than "hard." |
| Most native speakers, especially American English speakers, use "hard" to talk about a level of challenge. |
| Like "this is really hard," or "oh my gosh, that looks so hard," or "I don't know, this seems really hard." |
| Instead of "difficult." |
| Difficult is used in more formal situations. |
| Next question! |
| Next question comes from Dewi! Hi! |
| Dewi says, I frequently hear "whatever it takes," but I don't know what it means. Please explain it. |
| Sure. |
| So, this is often used in expressions like "I'll do whatever it takes to get the job." |
| It means "I will do everything I possibly can to get the job." |
| So this can mean good things or bad things. |
| It means anything and everything. |
| The person will do their best in order to achieve some goal. |
| Examples! |
| I'll do whatever it takes to get into that university. |
| We'll do whatever it takes to win the contest. |
| So this is a very determined phrase. |
| So it's something that's like...you're really, really going to try hard to do something, and you want to express that. |
| So you'll do anything in order to achieve some goal. |
| Hope that helps. |
| Those are all the questions that I want to answer this week. |
| Thank you so much as always for sending your questions to me. |
| Remember, you can send them at EnglishClass101.com/ask-alisha. |
| If you liked the video, don't forget to give us a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel, |
| and check us out at EnglishClass101.com for some other good study resources. |
| Thanks very much for watching this episode of Ask Alisha, and I will see you again next week! |
| Bye bye! |
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