Hola estudiantes! Últimamente, he estado mirando un montón de videos acerca de marketing para aprender mejores maneras de interactuar con todos ustedes y hacer crecer a SELVA. Esto encendió la idea del Hump Day Monday!
Entones, qué es Hump Day Monday?
It’s basically going to be a series of YouTube videos published every Monday where I answer some of your most common English questions off the top of my head. I won’t prepare for these videos (much), but they will surely lead to me preparing more awesome lessons for you all. For example, if I cover a topic on a Hump Day Monday and you’d like me to do an entire lesson on just that, let me know in the comments section below or on the comments section under the video on YouTube.
Where to submit questions?
You MUST submit your questions for Hump Day Monday in our new online Google+ Community called Hump Day Monday – Tus Dudas de Ingles Contestadas. Go there now and join the community. There are a few categories for each type of question you may have in English: Grammar, Pronunciation, Methods, Vocabulary and then there’s even a section if you just want to ask me a polite random question.
Now, are you ready to learn a little English?
Watch this video and pay close attention to the highlighted words and phrases. These words and phrases are explained in more detail below this video. Happy learning!
Let’s Learn a Little Something While We’re at it!
USED TO
Para decir SOLIA en inglés se puede usar WOULD Y USED TO. Se usa WOULD sólo para acciones y USED TO para acciones y estados. Es mas común expresar lo que antes hacías con USED TO en ingles.
- I used to subscribe to their channels. – Antes me suscribía a sus canales.
- The house used to be white. – La casa era blanca.
It has been eight months since I have studied…
This is advanced English. If it’s difficult for you to form, don’t worry about it! Just try to understand this structure when you hear it. You’ll pick it up naturally before you know it! 🙂
This tense is called Present Perfect Simple and to form a sentence like this one, you’ve gotta understand the structure it uses. It’s really easy to get it, I know you can!
- Subject + HAS/HAVE + Past Participle + … (Affirmative Form)
- I have been here for hours. = He estado aqui por horas.
- Subject + HAS/HAVE NOT + Past Participle + … (Negative Form)
- I haven’t bought her anything yet. = No he comprado nada para ella todavia.
- HAS/HAVE + Subject + Past Participle + … ? (Interrogative Form)
- Where have you been? = Donde has estado?
What is the past participle?
The past participle is a form of a verb that is used in a sentence to modify it. To form past participle with regular verbs we add “-ed ending”, but with irregular verbs it’s a little bit different because they change somewhat, completely and sometimes not at all. To learn irregular verbs Spanish-speaking students who are learning English are usually taught a list of verbs with three columns used to learn them *by heart*, but this is not the right way to learn them. Go and watch this video to know the way you should do it. THIS IS MY MOST POPULAR VIDEO OF ALL TIME!
Cómo Aprender los Verbos Irregulares en Inglés
You’d better…
This is just something that’s fun to say. I thought you’d like it. You’ll often find that native English speakers, myself included, drop the WOULD completely and just say, “You better…” This is incorrect, but we do say it this way all the time. You’ll even find examples of the “d” being omitted in movies and especially on reality tv shows.
- You’d better study English like I tell you! = ?
- We’d better not leave late today! = ?
- They’d better be sure they did their homework! = ?
- I’d better lock my car doors. = ?
Off the top of my head
This is an English idiom. It means that I’m going to answer the questions without doing any prior research. I’m just going to read them and answer them on the spot. Another English idiom that means right then and there!
- I don’t know how many hours it takes to drive from New York City to Las Vegas off the top of my head! Are you crazy? = ?
- She always expects me to answer her off the top of my head, but I never feel prepared. = ?
- You shouldn’t speak off the top of your head. You never know what will come out. = ?
Already and Yet
These two little words are adverbs of time very commonly used in English. The first one, ALREADY could be translated into Spanish as YA and the second one, yet, as TODAVIA.
ALREADY is used in positive sentences and sometimes in questions for saying that:
- something has happened before now or before another point in time.
- “When are you coming?” “I’m already here!” = ?
- a situation has started to exist and still continues
- Why waste time telling people things that they already know? = ?
- something happened sooner than you were expecting
- Are you tired already? = Ya te cansaste?
YET is used in negatives and questions as an adverb for:
- talking or asking about something that has not happened or is not true at a particular time but will probably happen or be true in the future, e.g. -Haven’t you been to Paris yet? -Not yet.
- saying that something can’t or shouldn’t be done now, but will be done at a time in the future, e.g. I’m at school, I can’t leave yet.