Lesson Transcript

Hi, everybody. My name is Alisha. In this lesson, I'm going to talk about some deeper adjectives that you can use to express "nice." So, I'm focusing in on one adjective for this lesson. In this case, the adjective I want to talk about is "nice." And then, I'm going to explain some different ways we can understand "nice," and give you some other vocabulary words to use. So, the goal of this lesson is to help you choose some vocabulary words that are more specific to your situation, to the thing that you're talking about or writing about. So, let's get started.
Okay. I want to start on this part of this adjective wheel. If it's your first time seeing this, the adjective wheel is a tool that I like to use to show the relationships between different words. So, at the middle of this wheel is the focus adjective. In this case, "nice." In this middle level here, I have the different ways that "nice" can be used. So, these are kind of like categories for the word "nice." These are different meanings or different senses the word can take. These are also adjectives that you can use. At the outermost, at the outside part of the wheel, are some more adjectives that are very specific to this category here. So, let's begin with this part with this use of "nice."
So, we can use "nice" to mean "friendly." When we want to describe people that we like, and we want to describe people who we think are "friendly," or that we like, we like their personality. We can use "friendly" to do that. More specifically than inside "friendly," we can use a couple more words. Actually, there are many words that mean "friendly" or some variation of it, but these are maybe useful ones that are kind of the next level.
So, the first one is "sociable," sociable. Someone who is "sociable" is someone who likes to be social. So, here maybe, you can see "sociable" is like "social" and "able" in the same word. So, like, able to be sociable, "able to be social" rather. So, "sociable" is someone who is outgoing. Someone who likes to talk to other people. "Loyal," on the other hand, "loyal" refers to someone who always stays with their friends. So, they always stay with their family. You can trust them. They're going to support you. They're going to be there to listen to you or to help you with whatever you need. That's someone who is "loyal." So, we use "sociable" and "loyal" to talk about people in our lives. Usually, these people are also "friendly," friendly. So, let's look at some example sentences that use these.
First, "He's much more sociable than me," and "I wish I were more sociable." So, "sociable" again means outgoing. Someone who likes to talk a lot. In this second example sentence, the speaker is perhaps not so "sociable," a little bit shy. "I wish I were more sociable." In the next pair, "Everyone needs loyal friends." Everyone needs loyal friends. So, everyone needs friends who will support them at any time. And, "She's loyal to her company." She's loyal to her company. So, in this case, we're talking about a person, yes, "she," in this case. This person, this woman, is "loyal" to her company, which means she always is going to be with her company. She's always going to choose her company in a tough situation or a difficult situation. She's always going to support her company. She's loyal to her company.
Okay. Let's move on to the next part of this wheel. The next part is "attractive." So, we can use "nice" to mean "attractive." Like, when someone says you look "nice," it can mean "attractive." So, there are different ways that we can use "nice" to talk about physical niceness. So, this "attractive" thing, this "attractive" word means it can mean like someone that you are romantically attracted to. It can also mean something that you find physically attractive in nature. Or, something that you find physically attractive that someone has made. There are many, many words we can use to mean "attractive," so let's look at a couple of them here.
First is "beautiful." I think many people know the word "beautiful." We can use "beautiful" to talk about people, to talk about objects, to talk about nature, something that is "beautiful." We typically use "beautiful" when we're talking about people to describe women, but we can use it with men as well. The other word here is "gorgeous," gorgeous. So, imagine gorgeous is like a step above "beautiful." We use it for things that feel really, really special. Or, maybe they feel a little bit expensive, if we're talking about objects. If we want to talk about people, if we want to describe people who are "gorgeous," we can use "gorgeous" for men or for women. So, we can use it for anybody. Anyone that we feel is really, really special and like extra attractive physically, we can describe them as "gorgeous," gorgeous.
So, let's look at some example sentences. First, "What a gorgeous sunset!" "What a gorgeous sunset!" So, that means there's something extra special about this sunset. It's like super beautiful. It's really, really special. It's a "gorgeous" sunset. Second, "She's wearing a gorgeous dress." "She's wearing a gorgeous dress." So, again, there's that feeling of something kind of special and unique about what she's wearing. The other pair here, "The bakery made a beautiful cake." "The bakery made a beautiful cake." So, that means the cake is physically very attractive. The cake is physically looking nice, and we can use "beautiful" to describe that. If the cake seems extra special, we might choose to use "gorgeous." "It's a gorgeous cake!" But, "beautiful" seems kind of the right level for a cake, in most cases, I think. Second, "It's a beautiful day today!" It's a beautiful day today! We use this expression when the weather is nice. So, it's sunny. There's no clouds. It's a nice day. So, we can say, "It's beautiful," to express that as well. Of course, you could say "gorgeous" if you want to emphasize that the weather is extra special. "It's a gorgeous day out." You can say, "It's a beautiful day," to make it a little bit more like every day. A little more typical.
Okay. On to the next part. The next part is right here, "cool," cool. So, you may know the word "cool." We use the word "cool" to mean something is good. This is a very casual word, and there are many, many different words we can use to mean "cool" or good. So, I've chosen a couple here. So, we also use "nice" to refer to something that is "cool." A couple other words I want to talk about are "excellent," excellent, and "sick," sick. So, "excellent." I think many of you know "excellent" because we use it to talk about something that is of high value. Yeah. Or, something that we did a really good job with. Like, "Excellent job on the test," or "Excellent job with your paper." So, we talk about something in terms of its value, kind of, when we use the word "excellent." But, we can also use "excellent" to mean very good, or great, or cool, or nice. "Sick," on the other hand, "sick" is used -- it tends to be used more by young people, and tends to be used more by younger men. So, maybe like men in their 20s, in their teenage years. "Sick" is a very rough and cool-sounding word that means good, or really interesting, or great.
So, let's look at some example sentences. First, let's take a look at "excellent." "You've got a raise? Excellent!" "You've got a raise? Excellent!" So, a "raise" means your payment from your company, or your job, increased. "You got to raise? Excellent!" Or, "I ate an excellent burger for lunch." "I ate an excellent burger for lunch." So, that means it's something that was cool or nice, or really, really great. So, something that is cool. So, something that's cool, or something that's really, really good. We can express that with "excellent," something that's "excellent." So, it's like a step above something else. It's really, really nice. This kind of the feeling of "excellent."
Okay. Now, let's look at some examples with "sick." "Your snowboarding trip looked sick!" "Your snowboarding trip looked sick!" So, here, I've used "snowboarding" on purpose. So, this is kind of the type of person who might use the word "sick." They have like snowboarding or skateboarding-related hobbies. So, these kinds of like maybe street-related hobbies, street or like outdoor sports-related hobbies. These kinds of people might use the word "sick" more than others, different kinds of sports. So, not everybody, but just you might hear it a little more with people who enjoy these kinds of sports. So, "Your snowboarding trip looked sick!" So, that means "cool" or "nice." They're really, really great. Another one, "We made some sick tracks last weekend." We made some sick tracks last weekend. "Tracks" mean songs." So, this sentence would be said by someone who makes music. So, someone who is making music as a hobby or as their job, they make some music. Like the previous weekend, they might say, "We made some sick tracks last weekend." So, that means we made some cool or some nice songs last weekend.
Okay. On to the next one. The next one is "neat," neat. So, something that is "neat" is something that is organized. So, it's very carefully organized. We can use this to talk about rooms, or to talk about people, to talk about styles and designs, and so on. So, "neat," within "neat," I've chosen a couple more words. The first one is "tidy," tidy. "Tidy" means it's not cluttered. It means it's clean. So, all of the toys in a kids' room are put away. They're in their space or someone's desk, as we'll see in just a minute. So someone who has a tidy desk, all of their objects are carefully organized. This is tidy. Someone who is "tidy," or a space can be "tidy" as well. The other one is "refined," refined. So, it's someone who has -- it's usually for people, or for like spaces, or for design. Something that is "refined," or someone who is "refined." is very organized. They have a very organized appearance about them. So, there's nothing extra about someone who is "refined," or there's nothing extra about a room that has a "refined" style, or a "refined" design.
Some examples then. "Wow! Your room is so tidy," or "I can't keep my desk tidy." So, "tidy," this refers to clean. So, everything is in its -- like everything is in the place that it's supposed to be, and everything is in its place. With "refined" then, "I love his style. It's so refined," or "Her designs are chic and refined." So, this refers again to something that doesn't have anything extra about it. It's very neat. It's very nice. So, this is perhaps something you can use when you're talking about style and design.
Finally, the last group here, the last group refers to words that mean "entertaining," entertaining. So, we can use this for music, for movies. We can use it for people, for experiences. Inside these, I've chosen "awesome," awesome, which is very similar to "excellent." "Awesome" is used very casually. We use it when we want to express that something is very good, and we tend to use it a lot with like media-related things, media, and also for sports. The other one is "moving," moving. So, we use "moving" to express a feeling of emotion. Something is "moving" when it causes us to feel emotions. And, those emotions are usually like sadness, or we feel maybe like a sense of loss, or we feel really a connection to characters in the story. So, a "moving story" often like causes us to cry a little bit. So, some examples then. "The film was so moving, I cried," or "What a moving story!" So, "moving" refers to something that causes you to feel those strong emotions. On the other hand, "awesome," "Your band's concert was awesome!" So, that means really great, really cool, really entertaining. And, "We went to an awesome museum exhibit yesterday." So, in this case, the museum exhibit was entertaining, or we found something really exciting or entertaining at the museum. So, "awesome" can have this meaning of "entertaining."
Alright! So, those are some vocabulary words that you can use to express "nice" a little bit more specifically. Thanks very much for watching this lesson, and I will see you again soon. Bye-bye.

Comments

Hide