0:00 Hi everybody.
0:00 My name is Alicia.
0:02 In this video, I'm going to talk about six ways to use the word
0:06 as.
0:06 Let's get started.
0:08 Okay, the first use I want to talk about is to show the role
0:13 or the purpose of someone
0:15 or something.
0:16 We often use this as before job titles or other roles in our community,
0:23 in our company, or in an organization.
0:26 We can also use this
0:27 as to express the way we use something
0:31 or the purpose of something.
0:32 Let's look at some examples.
0:34 First, a job example.
0:36 He's been working as a salesman for about 6 years.
0:41 He's been working as a salesman.
0:44 So, this as comes before the job title.
0:47 And in this case, we have our article before salesman.
0:50 He's been working as a salesman for about 6 years.
0:53 So, we do this to show the person's role.
0:56 We do the same thing in our second example sentence.
1:00 She was hired as the new creative director.
1:03 She was hired as the new creative director.
1:07 So, in this case, we have as the new creative director.
1:11 So, this is the job title, creative director,
1:14 and we have new to show it's a new position or a new role.
1:19 We also have the here.
1:21 So, the shows that there's just one creative director.
1:24 She was hired as the new creative director.
1:27 As comes before all of this.
1:29 This is one phrase expressing this new role.
1:33 Okay, now let's look at this use of as to talk about a purpose.
1:39 So, this room can be used
1:42 as a meeting room
1:43 or as a break room.
1:45 This room can be used as a meeting room or as a break room.
1:49 So, in this case, we are talking about the purpose of a room.
1:53 So, a multi-purpose room.
1:55 We can use this room for many different things.
1:57 In this case, we can use this room as So,
2:00 for the purpose of a meeting room or as a break room.
2:05 So, this shows the different functions or the different purposes.
2:09 So, we can use as in this way to express our roles,
2:12 our our jobs, and the ways that we use different things.
2:16 Okay.
2:17 So, with this in mind, let's continue to use number two,
2:20 which is quite different.
2:22 Use number two is
2:24 as to mean while
2:26 or to mean at the same time.
2:30 So, in this case,
2:31 we have two things occurring at about the same point in time,
2:37 and we want to express that.
2:38 So, first example here.
2:40 They arrived as we were leaving.
2:43 So, these two actions are they arrived, past tense, as we were leaving.
2:49 So, this means maybe we're in the process
2:52 or we were in the process of leaving.
2:54 We were still there, but we were just about to go.
2:58 So, we connect these with
3:00 as to show that these two situations
3:02 or these two actions happened at about the same time.
3:06 So, we can think of this
3:07 as kind of like
3:08 while or at the same time.
3:10 Let's look at the second example.
3:13 The fire alarm started ringing as we sat down in the restaurant.
3:17 The fire alarm started ringing as we sat down in the restaurant.
3:21 So, again, we're showing two actions happening at about the same time.
3:26 So, the fire alarm started ringing at the same time
3:30 as we sat down at the restaurant.
3:32 So, we use as to do this.
3:34 Please note, we cannot replace as with while here.
3:38 For example, the fire alarm started ringing while we sat down in the restaurant.
3:43 We wouldn't use it in this way.
3:45 While we tend to use with progressive actions
3:48 that are happening at the same time.
3:50 So, we tend to use
3:51 while when we talk about two continuing actions happening at the same time.
3:55 We're seeing in these situations,
3:58 in these cases we have a simple past tense action and a progressive action.
4:03 Same thing here, a simple past tense action and a progressive action.
4:07 So we don't use as and while in exactly the same way,
4:10 but they do communicate the same feeling of two things happening at about the
4:15 same time.
4:16 Okay, let's look at the last example.
4:18 She smiled as she walked across the stage.
4:22 She smiled as she walked across the stage.
4:24 So in this case, we have again a simple past tense action.
4:28 And in this one, the second part,
4:30 we also have a simple past tense action.
4:33 So in this sentence,
4:34 we might hear some people using
4:36 while in place of
4:37 as as in she smiled
4:39 while she walked across the stage.
4:41 That's because these parts match in terms of the grammar,
4:43 in terms of the tense used.
4:45 But me personally, I think I would probably still use
4:48 as in this case instead of
4:50 while because while sounds a little more natural
4:53 if we use it with a continuous
4:55 or the progressive form.
4:56 So for example, she was smiling
4:59 while she was walking across the stage might sound a little bit more natural.
5:03 But in this case,
5:04 I would use as to mean these two things happened at the same time.
5:08 Okay, great.
5:09 So we have our first two uses showing the role of someone
5:14 or the purpose of something
5:16 and we have two things happening about the same time
5:19 or the two things happened in about the same time.
5:21 Let's go to use number three now.
5:24 So use number three is to express a cause and a result.
5:29 So in this use,
5:31 we are connecting some kind of action
5:35 and that expresses the cause of something
5:38 and then we also see the outcome
5:40 or the result of
5:41 that thing.
5:41 I want to note that this use is a little bit formal.
5:45 It may even sound a little bit old-fashioned,
5:48 but we do still use it from time to time,
5:50 so it's important to understand this use.
5:53 So, let's look at the examples.
5:55 First, he went to bed early
5:57 as he had an important meeting in the morning.
6:00 He went to bed early as he had an important meeting in the morning.
6:04 So, here we have our two independent ideas.
6:08 He went to bed early, one, this is the action,
6:11 as he had an important meeting in the morning.
6:15 This is the cause of this result.
6:19 Okay?
6:19 So, we have the reason for something.
6:22 You can think of this as in the same way as because, right?
6:27 He went to bed early because he had an important meeting in the morning.
6:31 So, typically in today's English, we use because a lot in this position.
6:35 But, every once in a while,
6:37 we maybe want to sound a little more formal or a little old-fashioned,
6:41 every once in a while, we use as to express the same idea.
6:45 Again, we have this cause and result relationship.
6:48 Let's look at the next example.
6:50 She prepared a mountain of food
6:53 as she was expecting many guests at her party.
6:56 She prepared a mountain of food
6:57 as she was expecting many guests at her party.
7:01 So, again, we have this cause result relationship.
7:04 She prepared a mountain of food, this is the result, the outcome, and why?
7:09 She was expecting many guests at her party.
7:12 This is the cause.
7:13 So, again, we can think of this as meaning because.
7:16 She prepared a lot of food
7:18 because she was expecting a lot of guests at her party.
7:21 So, as expresses the same idea.
7:23 Okay, let's look at the last example for this group.
7:27 They decided to move to a bigger house
7:30 as they were planning to have a family.
7:32 They decided to move to a bigger house
7:34 as they were planning to have a family.
7:35 So, again, we have this result and the cause.
7:39 So, again, we have this because type meaning here.
7:43 They decided to move to a bigger house
7:44 because they were planning to have a family.
7:47 So, again, although we use because a lot more in today's English,
7:51 sometimes people still choose to use this
7:54 as to connect their ideas
7:56 that express the cause
7:57 and the result of something.
7:59 So, it's good to know this one.
8:00 Okay, great.
8:01 Let's continue to number four.
8:03 Number four is very interesting.
8:05 We use this use of
8:07 as to express two changes happening at the same time.
8:12 So, this is a bit different from point number two.
8:15 I talked about two things that happen at about the same time,
8:19 two separate actions.
8:21 The key here with number four
8:23 though is that two things are changing at the same time.
8:27 For example, two things are increasing
8:29 or two things are decreasing
8:31 or maybe one thing is increasing
8:32 and the other thing is decreasing at the same time.
8:35 The key with this use is change
8:38 and we'll also see there are some specific grammar patterns we tend to use
8:42 with this type of
8:44 as.
8:44 So, let's take look.
8:46 First one.
8:47 As you get older, it gets harder and harder to lose weight.
8:51 As you get older, it gets harder and harder to lose weight.
8:54 So, this is expressing as you get older.
8:57 So, as your age increases, we are talking about one change here.
9:02 And then, it gets harder and harder.
9:04 So, it gets more and more difficult.
9:06 It becomes more and more difficult to lose weight.
9:09 So, the difficulty increases.
9:11 So, we're talking about one point, increasing in age, as you get older,
9:16 and the other thing,
9:17 uh trying to lose weight or getting more and more difficult to lose weight.
9:21 So, we're expressing two changes happening at the same time.
9:25 We also see this as something something {comma} it gets comparative comparative.
9:32 This is another common pattern that we see with this type of as use.
9:36 We'll see another example in number two here.
9:38 So, let's read it.
9:40 The air got colder and colder as we climbed up the mountain.
9:44 The air got colder and colder as we climbed up the mountain.
9:47 So, again, we have two things changing.
9:50 One, the air gets colder and colder.
9:52 So, that be that means the air is becoming cold, right?
9:56 We do this repetition for emphasis.
9:58 The air got colder and colder is thing one changing.
10:01 Two, as we climbed up the mountain.
10:04 So, we are going up the mountain, climbing up the mountain.
10:06 These two things these two changes are happening at the same time.
10:09 We express this, we connect these ideas with and.
10:13 So, this sentence follows the same kind of pattern as the first one,
10:17 but we can move this as section to the end of the sentence.
10:21 In this case, I could say, as we climbed up the mountain,
10:24 the air got colder and colder, and it's still 100% correct.
10:28 It's up to you to choose which part you want to emphasize.
10:32 Generally, the part at the beginning of the sentence is going to sound like
10:35 it has a little bit more emphasis.
10:37 So, you can choose which position is best for you.
10:41 Okay, let's look at one more example.
10:43 As airline ticket costs increase, the number of people traveling decreases.
10:51 So, again, we have two things changing here.
10:53 As airline ticket costs increase, as they go up,
10:57 the number of people traveling decreases.
11:00 So, in this case, we have changes in two directions.
11:04 Costs increase, travelers decrease, the number of travelers decrease.
11:08 We express that these two changes are happening at the same time with this
11:12 as pattern.
11:14 So, a good way to know
11:15 that this is the one that's being used is
11:17 that this as will come at the beginning of the sentence
11:21 as an introductory clause,
11:22 like this as something something, {comma} that's a good hint, plus this comparative form,
11:27 harder and harder or colder and colder.
11:30 That's one big hint uh
11:32 that this is the changes at the same time kind of
11:35 as.
11:36 So, keep in mind
11:37 that this one again is used to express changes happening at the same time.
11:41 The one we talked about in number two expresses two actions happen
11:45 that happened sometimes in the past
11:47 or sometimes they happened uh in a like
11:50 or they were happening at the same time,
11:52 but not just changes.
11:54 So, that's the key difference between two and four.
11:57 Okay?
11:57 Great.
11:58 So, let's continue to the last two points.
12:01 The last two points are some basic grammar review points.
12:03 So, five, number five, we use as for comparison.
12:08 So, this is a very basic English grammar point,
12:11 but let's review it very quickly
12:13 because sometimes people I think forget parts of these sentences.
12:17 So, we use as in a couple of different patterns.
12:20 We use as to express that two things are equal with this pattern.
12:25 So, noun A is as adjective or sometimes adverb as noun B, right?
12:31 So, this thing is as something as noun B.
12:35 Or we can also express a comparison with a negative,
12:40 not as something as something.
12:43 Okay?
12:43 So, A is not as adjective as B, for example.
12:48 So, we use this
12:49 as pattern to describe things
12:51 that are equal and to make some comparisons.
12:53 So, let's review with the couple of examples.
12:56 First, your house is as big as a celebrity's house.
13:00 Your house is as big as a celebrity's house.
13:03 So, that's like saying your house is the same size as a celebrity's house.
13:06 Maybe it's really big, right?
13:09 So, the problem sometimes we see,
13:11 I think maybe learners get a little bit confused about as and than, right?
13:17 So, we use than a lot when we make comparisons.
13:19 Like, your house is bigger than my house, for example.
13:23 But, when we want to show that two things are equal,
13:27 we use this as as around our adjective.
13:30 No than here.
13:32 Okay?
13:32 So, use this to express that two things are equal.
13:35 Noun one, your house.
13:37 Noun two, celebrity's house.
13:38 Connect them to show they are equal with as big as.
13:42 Okay?
13:43 Great.
13:43 Let's look at a couple more examples.
13:47 First, or second rather,
13:48 this taco shop is not as good as the one in our neighborhood.
13:52 So, this is a negative, right?
13:54 This taco shop is not as good as the one in our neighborhood.
13:58 So, in this sentence, this taco shop here, not as good, lower,
14:02 lower quality than the one, the taco shop, in our neighborhood, right?
14:07 We show this relationship with not as good as.
14:10 Okay?
14:11 Again, we have as on both sides of the adjective here.
14:14 We do not use than in this sentence.
14:17 Okay.
14:18 Let's look at our last example.
14:20 The weather today is not as bad as it was yesterday.
14:23 The weather today is not as bad as it was yesterday.
14:26 Again, this means today's weather is not as bad as it was yesterday.
14:32 So, another way to express this, yesterday's weather was really, really terrible.
14:36 Today's is okay.
14:38 So, again, we're following the adjective with as here.
14:42 So, as on both sides.
14:43 So, keep in mind that this is a very common pattern for as.
14:47 Okay?
14:48 Let's finish off this lesson with point number six.
14:51 So, point number six, I wanted to focus on this expression, as long as,
14:58 because I think it's sometimes very confusing.
15:00 What does this mean?
15:01 Does this have to do with length?
15:03 Sometimes, yes.
15:04 We can use this in this pattern, actually.
15:08 Like, this marker is as long as that marker,
15:11 which means they are of equal length.
15:14 However, we have this as long as expression, which means only if.
15:21 It acts as part of a conditional expression.
15:23 So, let's look at some examples of this.
15:26 First, as long as I save money for 6 months,
15:30 I'll be able to buy a car this year.
15:32 As long as I save money for 6 months,
15:34 I'll be able to buy a car this year.
15:36 So, what does this mean?
15:38 As long as I save money for 6 months.
15:41 So, we can understand this as only if.
15:44 Only if I save money for 6 months,
15:48 I'll be able to buy a car this year.
15:50 That means I must do this thing.
15:52 I must do this thing in the
15:54 as long as clause in order to make this thing possible,
15:59 okay?
16:00 In order to make this main clause possible.
16:02 I'll be able to do this thing, okay?
16:04 So, we use as long as to mean only in this case, all right?
16:08 So, you'll notice this comes at the beginning of the sentence,
16:12 at least if this clause is first, okay?
16:14 So, let's take a look at another position
16:16 that we see as long
16:18 as used in.
16:20 Two.
16:20 You can go to the party as long as you finish your homework.
16:23 You can go to the party as long as you finish your homework.
16:26 So, in this case, we have our main clause here.
16:28 You can go to the party
16:30 as long as or only
16:31 if you finish your homework.
16:33 So, this is something a parent might say to a child, right?
16:36 So, again, only if you finish your homework.
16:40 That's what as long as expresses here.
16:42 All right, let's finish up the last example sentence.
16:46 We'll arrive at the airport on time as long as there's no traffic.
16:50 Okay?
16:51 Once more, we'll arrive at the airport on time
16:54 as long as there's no traffic.
16:56 So, again, we can replace as long as with only if to understand this.
17:01 We'll arrive at the airport on time only if there's no traffic, right?
17:05 Only in this situation or only if this is true, right?
17:08 So, this is the use of as long as.
17:11 We understand this as only if,
17:13 and I hope that this helps you to see the different positions in the
17:18 sentence that as long
17:20 as takes in comparison to the comparative form of
17:24 as long as.
17:26 So, pay attention to the location of
17:28 as long as to help you understand whether it's a comparison
17:32 or it's an only
17:33 if construction.
17:34 Okay?
17:35 Great.
17:35 So, those are six different ways to use the word as.
17:39 They are very different.
17:40 There are many very different uses of as,
17:43 but I hope that this lesson gave you a good introduction to the various
17:47 ways that we can put
17:48 as into our sentences.
17:50 So, of course, if you have any questions
17:52 or comments or if you want to practice making some example sentences with the
17:55 word as,
17:56 please feel free to do so in the comment section of this video.
17:59 Also, don't forget to like this video and subscribe to this channel.
18:02 Also, don't forget to check us out at englishclass101.com for some other things
18:06 that can help you with your English studies.
18:09 Thanks very much for watching this lesson
18:10 and I will see you again next time.
18:12 Bye.
