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In this lesson we'll subject you to some verbs and predicates. Each one is a necessary part of a complete breakfas—er...sentence.
Choosing words carefully is important. You may end up vexing the assemblage of citizens you're conversing with...or you might even just plain bore...
ELA 4: Using Relative Adverbs: Where, When, and Why 780 Views
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Description:
Rather than deciding which which to use while describing witches which live in Greenwich, you might try a few of these relative adverbs. It'll make things a lot less confusing, trust us.
Transcript
- 00:06
[Dino and Coop singing]
- 00:13
Whether you're trying to convey an important message, chat with your peers, or communicate [Someone texting on a phone]
- 00:17
nuclear launch codes, language is always key. [Obama speaking to a military adviser]
- 00:20
However, if you were to speak in the most proper English possible, people might look [Man dressed in Shakespearean costume]
- 00:24
at you like you’re…not from this planet.
Full Transcript
- 00:27
For example, telling your friends, “The city in which I was born is called New York”
- 00:32
feels a little too fancy-pants for cafeteria talk, doesn't it? [Friend looks confused]
- 00:36
Back in the day, it was normal to go around using the word “which” all the time. [Witch looks shocked]
- 00:40
It would be perfectly acceptable to say “The farm in which Isaac Newton lived was called
- 00:44
Woolsthorpe Manor” and “The reason for which Isaac Newton was relatively rich was
- 00:50
that his family owned many sheep.”
- 00:52
Nowadays, someone speaking that way would come across as pretentious – and not just [Woman looks unimpressed and sheep walk around in the background]
- 00:56
because they’re spewing facts about Isaac Newton for no reason.
- 00:59
Here’s where relative adverbs come in. [Coop pointing at a blackboard]
- 01:01
Relative adverbs are the words “where, when and why” when used to join sentences or
- 01:06
clauses… and their entire reason for being is basically to replace the super formal “preposition [Dino pointing at a blackboard]
- 01:12
plus which” that we used to use all the time.
- 01:15
By “preposition plus which”, we mean phrases like “in which”, “on which”, “for
- 01:20
which” “sandwich,” and so on. [Sandwich is crossed off the list]
- 01:23
So let's get back to our posh Isaac Newton fact-spouter.
- 01:26
Instead of saying “The farm in which Isaac Newton lived was called Woolsthorpe Manor,”
- 01:30
they could simply say “The farm where Isaac Newton lived was called Woolsthorpe Manor.” [The sentence being written out]
- 01:35
Instead of saying “The reason for which Isaac Newton was relatively rich was that
- 01:39
his family owned many sheep,” they could simply say, “The reason why Isaac Newton
- 01:43
was relatively rich was that his family owned many sheep.”
- 01:46
And instead of saying “The city in which I was born is called New York,” you could [Girl talking to her friends]
- 01:50
simply say “The city where I was born is called New York.” Definitely sounds a lot
- 01:55
more normal, right?
- 01:56
Still it's some odd lunchtime conversation, but who are we to judge? [Witch walks up to the table]
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