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hi everybody welcome back to ask Alisha
the weekly series where you ask me
questions and I answer them
maybe first question this week comes
from Stefan hi Stefan Stefan says hi
Alicia what is the meaning of the phrase
to get used to doing something does it
refer to a completed action or not and
can we use it in present simple like I
get used to getting up early oh yeah
okay to get used to doing something
means to become accustomed to doing
something we tend to use it more in
simple past tense as in your example I
got used to getting up early or I got
used to waking up early when we use it
in the past tense the past tense got
instead of present tense get it means
that the speaker has already become
accustomed to doing that thing so in the
sentence I got used to waking up early
it means the speaker is now accustomed
to getting up early they're fine we can
however as you suggest use it in the
present tense as well like I need to get
used to getting up early that's an
expression for like a desire to be able
to get up early which means that the
speaker is not now able to get up early
or they're not accustomed to getting up
early so yes you can use it in present
tense but it's probably going to be used
in a situation where the speaker is
expressing a desire or some kind of need
for a new behavior for some kind of new
behavior to be learned if it's in a
conversation a speaker might say like ah
don't worry about your new job you'll
get used to getting up early so it's
you'll get used to in that case it's a
future tense expression like you are
going to get used to getting up early
through this job or another way of
saying that is you will become
accustomed to getting up early through
this job so to get used to something
means to take time and practice to get
accustomed to something to become
accustomed to something we use it all
the time when we're learning new things
like you'll get used to learning English
you'll get used to speaking English or
you'll get used to talking in front of a
camera all of these different things
that take some time and practice to do
we can describe those with get used to
or once we've become accustomed to them
got used to so I hope that this helps
you thanks very much for the question
ok let's move on to your next question
next question comes from us when high as
when Oswin says what's the difference
between do you did you and are you when
I ask questions ok first let's talk
about do you and also does he or does
she
so this do and does pattern we use these
do and does patterns when we're making
simple present tense questions like do
you have a pen or does he exercise every
day or do you know my bag is so we're
asking these simple yes-or-no questions
with a simple present tense verb so we
could answer yes or no to all of these
questions so let's compare this then to
did did so did is just the past tense of
do we use did in the same way as do but
when we're asking simple past tense
questions for example did you just call
me or did he forget his wallet or did we
buy enough food so these are all simple
past tense questions we don't conjugate
the verb that comes after do rather we
conjugate did so did is the past form of
do finally let's compare this with ru or
for example is he or is she when we
begin sentences with is or are we're
typically using them with an adjective
or with the progressive tense verb so
we're asking simple questions again
yes-or-no questions but the thing that
follows is or R is an adjective or is a
verb in the ing form as in is he
sleeping or are you okay or is he at the
office so these yes-or-no questions
don't use simple present tense verbs in
the part that comes after the is or R so
to recap do and does are used in present
tense or past tense with simple present
verbs and are you or is he is she are
used with adjectives and with verbs in
the progressive form so these all are
ways of making yes or no questions but
the grammar and the structure of the
sentence just changes a little bit so I
hope that this helps you thanks very
much for the question okay let's move on
to your next question next question
comes from Anderson Souza again hi
Anderson Anderson says hi Alicia I'm a
good confused with the difference
between the present perfect and the
present perfect continuous if I want to
say that I live in some place and have
lived there for some time which one
should I use okay you can use either for
example I have lived in Portland for
three years and I've been living in
Portland for three years so at base
these two sentences have exactly the
same meaning they mean exactly the same
thing the only thing that changes here
is perhaps the situations in which we
might use these let's take a look at the
first example here to begin with let's
imagine that you're at a going-away
party a farewell party for yourself it's
your party you are leaving the city of
Portland you might say to your friend at
the party I have lived in Portland for
three years it's been great to live here
but I'm excited about my next step
so in that case present perfect tense
not using the continuous sounds quite
normal because you want to talk about
this period of time you've spent in
Portland it started three years ago it
continued till now at this party in
Portland right now and so you want to
emphasize like yes this has been a
continued experience up until this point
in time but it would sound strange to
say I lived in Portland for three years
because actually at the party you're
still in Portland maybe you have a few
days or another week or so so it would
sound strange to use simple past tense
here we don't want to use the continuous
tense here because the continuous tense
really emphasizes that something is
going to continue after the conversation
perhaps so in this case just using
present perfect tense
without the continuous form sounds the
most natural let's compare this then to
another situation in this situation you
are in Portland and you're at a
networking event for your job you meet
someone there and you're talking about
like basic things where you live and so
on you might say I've been living in
Portland for three years it's a great
place to live so in this case we're
using the present perfect continuous we
choose this it sounds most natural
because we want to emphasize that we are
going to remain in Portland I'm going to
continue the condition of living in
Portland so this sounds a little bit
more natural and it sounds like it's
more emphasis on my continued presence
in Portland which we want to emphasize
here because we might be making a new
business connection so in sum these two
sentences communicate exactly the same
thing yes but there are just some small
differences that depend on the situation
and that's the reason that we might
choose to use simple present perfect
tense as opposed to the present perfect
continuous so try to keep these sorts of
situations in mind when you're choosing
between these two I hope that this helps
you thanks very much for the question
okay let's move on to your next question
next question comes from Nene young I
hope I said that right hi Nene Nene says
what does can't help plus the
progressive form mean okay yeah this is
like saying I can't control this
behavior so a great example is if you're
watching a funny movie and when you try
to explain your feelings about the movie
you might say I can't help laughing at
this scene can't help laughing means I
can't control the behavior of laughing
you might also hear I can't help but and
then the simple present tense form of
the verb as in I can't help but laugh so
I can't help but laugh and I can't help
laughing both communicate this loss of
control I'm not able to control this
thing we tend to use this sort of
pattern when we're talking about
emotions so in this case it's about
laughter you might also hear it used to
talk about feelings like I can't help
feeling angry or I can't help feeling
worried about this situation
I can't help feeling means I don't have
any control over this emotion or this
action we tend to use this pattern for
like emotional and mental state verbs we
might use it for some other kind of like
bodily related verbs like I can't help
watching or I can't help looking and so
on so it's like these sorts of actions
that maybe we don't even think about
doing and that we just do automatically
if we see something interesting or
exciting or if something smells terrible
whatever that is it's like some
situation where we lose control somehow
for a moment we can express that with
can't help plus the progressive form or
I can't help but blah blah blah so some
examples can't help but laugh or can't
help laughing I can't help but feel and
can't help feeling or I can't help but
look or it can't help looking so there's
not really a difference in meaning
between present tense and the
progressive tense there but I would say
personally I feel that that can't help
but present tense sounds a little bit
more formal so I hope that this helps
you understand the meaning of this can't
help plus the progressive form of a verb
thanks very much for the question okay
let's move on to your next question next
question comes from Kitty hi cutie cutie
says hi what is the difference between
half 2 and must alright must is used for
official rules and strong advice very
strong personal advice so for official
rules you might see in the airport
passengers must show their passports to
immigration or for strong advice a
doctor might say to a patient you must
stop smoking or you're going to die so
in these very serious official
situations must sounds very appropriate
must sounds too official for everyday
speech we don't use it so much for
giving advice or for talking about rules
in everyday speech however you might see
it in something like your company's
rules like your corporate policy like
employees must wear business shirts to
work for example let's compare this then
to have 2 we use half Jew to talk about
our responsibilities and we also use
half too to talk about friendly advice
or rather to give friendly advice that
also sounds a bit
strong for example you have to try this
dessert it's so good or I have to go to
the bank today so have to for advice
sounds friendly and strong but it's not
used for very serious things like we did
with must so please keep this in mind
when you're choosing between these two
also if you would like some more
information about have to end must there
is a livestream about this exact topic
on the channel so please check out our
channel archives for some more
information about this there is also a
whiteboard about this topic coming up
soon so please keep an eye out for that
too I hope that this quick introduction
helps you and definitely check out the
other resources on our channel thanks
very much for the question ok that is
everything that I have for this week
thank you as always for sending your
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me at English class 101.com / ask -
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