Learn how to use the prepositions "from" and "by"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Who's Your Favorite American Singer? John Here. |
| Becky: Hey I'm Becky. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn the prepositions “from” and “by”. The conversation takes place at home. |
| Becky: It's between Kate and Sean. |
| John: The speakers are friends, so they will use informal English. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Sean: Hey Kate, what are you listening to? |
| Kate: I'm listening to the new CD by Taylor Swift. |
| Sean: I didn't know that was out yet. |
| Kate: I got it from iTunes this morning. |
| Sean: Is it good? |
| Kate: I like it! I want to see her when she tours next. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Sean: Hey Kate, what are you listening to? |
| Kate: I'm listening to the new CD by Taylor Swift. |
| Sean: I didn't know that was out yet. |
| Kate: I got it from iTunes this morning. |
| Sean: Is it good? |
| Kate: I like it! I want to see her when she tours next. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Becky, do you like Taylor Swift? |
| Becky: Honestly? No, I don’t… She’s not really my style. |
| John: Whether you like Taylor Swift or not, music is big business in America, isn’t it? |
| Becky: Yes, the US is the biggest music market in the world. |
| John: Kate bought Taylor’s album from iTunes. Downloading music is really popular now, right? |
| Becky: Yeah, most people don’t buy CDs anymore. I don’t download music though. I listen to everything on Spotify. |
| John: That’s a great service. You can just stream anything you want to listen to. |
| Becky: Another good thing about being a music lover in America is that all of the major artists come here when they tour. |
| John: The big cities in the States always get the big tours. But what do people do if they don’t live in a big city? |
| Becky: Well, the US is really big. It’s not uncommon for people to drive 5 hours to the nearest big city to see a concert and then spend the night at a hotel. |
| John: Wow, that’s dedication. |
| Becky: I know. But you could also travel to Sin City to see a concert. Many artists have residencies in Las Vegas, like Britney Spears and Celine Dion. |
| John: So many famous artists are American, too. |
| Becky: Right. There are many artists covering many styles, from Elvis Presley to Michael Jackson to Bon Jovi. |
| John: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Becky: hey [natural native speed] |
| John: hello |
| Becky: hey[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: hey [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Becky: to listen [natural native speed] |
| John: to give attention to a sound |
| Becky: to listen[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: to listen [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Becky: CD [natural native speed] |
| John: a compact disc, a device for storing music, an album |
| Becky: CD[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: CD [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Becky: out [natural native speed] |
| John: made public, released |
| Becky: out[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: out [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Becky: morning [natural native speed] |
| John: the period of time early in the day, after the night and before midday |
| Becky: morning[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: morning [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Becky: good [natural native speed] |
| John: great, positive |
| Becky: good[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: good [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Becky: like [natural native speed] |
| John: to enjoy, being similar to, meaningless speech filler |
| Becky: like[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: like [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Becky: to tour [natural native speed] |
| John: when an artist performs concerts in many different places |
| Becky: to tour[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: to tour [natural native speed] |
| John: And lastly... |
| Becky: next [natural native speed] |
| John: immediately after something in a sequence |
| Becky: next[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Becky: next [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Becky: to listen |
| John: ...meaning "to give attention to a sound." What can you tell us about this word? |
| Becky: This is a verb, and it conjugates regularly. |
| John: How do you use it? |
| Becky: You can use it to describe the act of hearing and paying attention to a sound. |
| John: It’s an active action. |
| Becky: Yes. You usually use it to talk about hearing music or people talk. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Becky: Sure. For example, you can say, “I always listen to music in the car.” |
| John: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Becky: Morning |
| John: meaning "the period of time early in the day, after the night and before midday." When should we use this word? |
| Becky: We discussed “evening” in a previous lesson. “Morning” is a similar word and starts around the time the sun rises. |
| John: But the time is not set in stone though. In winter when the sun rises later, we would still consider 6am to be the morning, just like we would in the summer. |
| Becky: That’s right. We usually consider morning to run until midday. |
| John: Can you give us an example using morning? |
| Becky: Sure. For example, you can say, “I drive to work every morning.” |
| John: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Becky: To tour |
| John: meaning "when an artist performs concerts in many different places." What can you tell us about this word? |
| Becky: This is a verb. |
| John: It’s used for an artist or any kind of entertainer that takes their show on the road. |
| Becky: It can also be used for sports teams that play a series of games in different places. |
| John: There is also the noun “tour.” |
| Becky: That’s right. We can say that an artist is “on tour” to say that they are currently traveling around and doing shows. |
| John: Can you give us an example using “tour” as a verb? |
| Becky: Sure. For example, you can say, “My favorite artist toured last year.” |
| John: Which means "My favorite artist played shows in different cities last year." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn about the prepositions “from” and “by.” We introduced “from” in the last lesson, but this is a totally different use of it. |
| Becky: That’s right. Last time we spoke about “from” in regards to time. In this lesson, it’s used to show the origin of something. |
| John: So, where something comes from, or what it was made from. |
| Becky: You’re already using “from” in the explanations! |
| John: I can’t help it. It’s just such a useful word. |
| Becky: An example is “I received a letter from home.” |
| John: This means that the letter received was written by someone at home - home is where it came from. |
| Becky: Another example is “I want to see the new movie from Disney.” |
| John: The movie was made by Disney and it was produced at their studio, so it comes “from” Disney. |
| Becky: Last one - “I wasn’t expecting such an expensive gift from my sister.” |
| John: Who bought the gift? Her sister did! It is “from” her sister. |
| Becky: That’s right. What is the next preposition? |
| John: The next one is “by.” |
| Becky: “By” is also used for origin, but it’s used for the agent. |
| John: The person or company, or whatever created it. |
| Becky: You don’t use “by” for a place; you have to use “from.” |
| John: And “by” is preferred in passive sentences. |
| Becky: It’s easy to confuse “from” and “by,” but hopefully a few more examples will help. |
| John: Yes, so let’s have the examples! |
| Becky: “This was cooked by him.” |
| John: The agent that cooked it was him. |
| Becky: “This furniture was made by a carpenter.” |
| John: The person that made the furniture was a carpenter. |
| Becky: “I don’t have a favorite book, but I love every book by Stephen King.” |
| John: Stephen King writes the books, so they are created “by” him. |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Becky: Bye. |
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