Hello lovely students. Are you ready for a lesson that is going to give your advanced vocabulary and grammar skills a much deserved boost? Well, today we're going to do just that.
This video is long, but trust me, it's going to be worth every minute. I'm going to help you speak confidently in everyday situations, but we are pushing things to the extreme because you're going to learn how to talk about everyday scenarios at a mind-blowing C1 level. From your morning routine to ordering fast food and even navigating touchy subjects like flirting and breaking up, this lesson is going to give you the tools you need to use advanced vocabulary and grammar in real life to a certain extent. Some of these examples are a little bit dramatic. In all seriousness, my C1 students tell me that this is their favourite type of lesson.
It's basically the most fun way to learn advanced English. To make sure you get the most out of this incredibly useful lesson, I've prepared two special ebooks that go hand in hand with this video. You can download both of them for free for now. I might shut this at some point. The first ebook contains all of the valuable information that we cover in this lesson, all of the vocabulary, all of the grammar, so you can refer back to it whenever you need a refresher.
I've basically made lesson notes and lesson quizzes for you and compiled them into an ebook. I'm also including my B1 to C1 ebook. This ebook is a 92-page ebook that contains all of the grammar and all of the vocabulary that you need to master. in order to achieve the B1, the B2, and the C1 levels of English.
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There you'll be able to learn much more about my beautiful British English C1 programme. Okay, now you know what's happening, let's dive into your daily routine at C1 level. Get ready to learn how to describe your day-to-day life with really impressive vocabulary and grammar.
Hello lovely students and welcome back to English with Lucy. The first thing you learn when you take your first English class is normally the daily routine, right? I wake up, I get up, I eat breakfast and I thought what would a daily routine look like at C1 advanced level? I started to write this lesson just as a little experiment and it ended up becoming So interesting that I've decided to make it into a video for you. In this lesson, I am going to give you a daily routine on steroids, and on steroids means the most extreme version or a very extreme version.
In this daily routine, I am going to give you a ton of super advanced C1 vocabulary, and we're going to cover lots and lots of C1 level grammar structures. So if you really want to test your English skills, This lesson is for you. I also want to mention before we start that this is going to be quite an extreme daily routine. and some people will probably want to let me know, English people do not speak like this in real life.
No, I totally agree. I just want to see how far we can go with advanced grammar and advanced vocabulary. All I know is it's going to be complex and it's going to be fun.
Upon waking up to the melodious chimes of my alarm clock, I embark on my well-established morning routine that I've perfected over the years. First and foremost, I indulge in a brief meditation session. allowing me to clear my mind and start the day with a sense of calm. In addition to my mental exercise, I dive into a challenging 30-minute workout session, but I guess it isn't so much challenging as it is invigorating.
After freshening up, I pamper myself with my nourishing skincare regimen, ensuring a well-hydrated and glowing complexion. I told you this is a daily routine on steroids in order to reach. the C1 level of vocabulary and grammar. There aren't many people in the UK that speak like this on a daily basis. Okay so in addition to loads of really great vocab we also have quite a few C1 level grammar structures and let's start by looking at these three clauses.
What do you notice about them? We have upon waking up to the melodious chimes of my alarm clock. We have allowing me to clear my mind and start the day with a sense of calm.
And we have ensuring a well hydrated and glowing complexion. Well, these are known as non-finite clauses. A non-finite clause is a type of clause that doesn't have a subject and a finite verb, a verb with tense and agreement.
In other words, it's an incomplete sentence that can't stand alone as a complete thought. And non-finite clauses use verbs in their base form, infinitive, or the ING form, the present participle, without specific subject information. These incomplete sentence building blocks help add more context and information to our sentences.
Now let's take a look at another structure in this paragraph. It isn't so much challenging as it is invigorating. So using not so much plus adjective plus as plus adjective is an advanced comparative structure we use to compare two related qualities.
Okay, I'm going to address one more grammar concept from this paragraph. Before we move on to the rest of my routine, compound adjectives like well-established, 30 minute, well hydrated. So compound adjectives are adjectives that are formed by combining two or more words to create a single descriptive term. These adjectives are commonly used to convey complex or specific qualities that may not be easily expressed with just one single word. I used several hyphenated compound adjectives in this first paragraph.
and we use the hyphens to clarify that the words are meant to be taken together as a single descriptive unit. Right, let's see what I get up to with the rest of my C1 extreme day. This is going to get complex. No sooner have I got dressed in my most casual yet professional attire than I am wolfing down a hearty breakfast to fuel my day ahead.
With a steaming cup of herbal tea in hand, I scan the morning headlines to stay informed. on the happenings of the world. Meanwhile, as I commute to work, I immerse myself in an audiobook, relishing the well-written prose and captivating storytelling. Thus, I arrive at work ready to tackle the day ahead of me.
Wow, that's really sounding like a novel at this point. Okay, let's see what we've got here. In the first sentence, no sooner have I got dressed in my most casual yet professional attire than I am wolfing down a hearty breakfast. to fuel my day ahead. So the construction, no sooner have I got dressed, is an example of negative inversion.
A negative inversion is one of my favourite grammatical structures. I absolutely love the way it sounds and when students learn it they can instantly sound so intelligent when they speak. So negative inversion is where the usual word order of a sentence is inverted or changed when a negative adverbial expression is used at the beginning of the sentence.
The construction is important because it adds emphasis. I'm not just saying I have got dressed, but I'm highlighting the immediacy of the action by using no sooner. This construction often indicates that one action happens immediately after another, almost without any delay. Using negative inversion helps to add a little flair to the story instead of sticking to the same subject-verb type construction, but it should be used sparingly.
If you use it too much, it will sound pretty contrived. The final two sentences featured Signposts, and no, I'm not talking about these. I'm referring to language like meanwhile and thus.
And using signposting language like this is giving your writing a GPS. It helps steer your audience smoothly along and it keeps your thoughts organised. These little words and phrases act as the glue that holds your writing together. Think of it this way, without these signposting cues, your writing could get all jumbled up.
and end up sounding like a bunch of random thoughts. Let's do a quick comprehension check. Can you identify the signposting language in our first paragraph? I'll give you a few seconds to read through. Use your pause button now to have a read through.
In five seconds, I'm going to give you the answers. Okay? You should have said, first and foremost, in addition to, and after. Okay, what's the rest of my day looking like?
Upon arriving at the office, I buckle down and get on with my work, meticulously completing my tasks in the most efficient way possible. It's knowing that I'm contributing in a meaningful way that I thrive on, and I actively seek opportunities to enhance my skill set. Throughout the day, I engage in productive dialogues with colleagues, synergising ideas and learning from their unique perspectives. All right, we have a few things to look at here.
First, we have the clause, meticulously completing my tasks in the most efficient way possible. This utilises a post-modified superlative adjective. That's quite a mouthful. Post-modified superlative adjective.
So this is an adjective that is placed after the noun and it modifies or adds emphasis or specific information about the noun. And this construction is used to highlight the extreme quality of the noun in comparison to others of its kind. The structure. of the second sentence was a bit of an odd one.
It is knowing that I'm contributing in a meaningful way that I thrive on and I actively seek opportunities to enhance my skillset. We call this a cleft sentence. A cleft sentence and this is a grammatical construction used to emphasise a particular element in a sentence by dividing it into two clauses. I know I said that negative inversion was my favourite. but I actually think it ties with cleft sentences.
Once you master these, it opens up an opportunity to really add some interest to your creative writing. The purpose of a cleft sentence is to bring attention to a specific part of the sentence, often by reorganising the structure to highlight that element. In this case, I wanted to highlight knowing that I'm contributing in a meaningful way, so I was able to restructure my sentence to make sure that this portion of the sentence was the main focus. They're pretty nifty, these cleft sentences. Okay, let's move on to the final part of my routine.
As the day draws to a close, I reflect on my achievements, striving to be the best version of myself, both personally and professionally. All I hope is that I outdo my previous accomplishments each day as I embrace life with unwavering determination. By adopting this disciplined and purposeful routine, I feel confident that I can continue on a path of self-improvement and wellbeing.
I feel like I'm becoming less and less likeable as this daily routine goes on, but it's not about me. It's about the grammar. So let's see what we have here.
In the first sentence, as the day draws to a close, I reflect on my achievements, striving to be the best version of myself, both personally and professionally. We have a few different things going on here. First we have as the day draws to a close, which is a subordinate clause, but by C1 you should already be familiar with them. These are clauses that can't stand on their own as individual sentences.
They have to be attached to a main or independent clause. We also have a participle clause, a participle clause, striving to be the best version of myself, both personally and professionally. A participle clause is a type of non-finite clause. We discussed those before. Can you identify the other participle clause in this paragraph?
That's right. It is our last sentence by adopting this disciplined and purposeful routine. I can't say purposeful without going purposeful. Purposeful. That's a very, it's quite a stuffy sounding word to me.
Quite old fashioned. It's very purposeful. This participle clause also functions as an adverbial phrase because I used the preposition by, explaining how the action in the main clause is achieved.
Finally, we saw another common construction of a cleft sentence, my other favourite. All I hope is that I outdo my previous accomplishments each day. as I embrace life with unwavering determination.
The structure what or all plus clause plus be plus clause is quite commonly used, so it's a good one to have in your back pocket. Oh my word, that was an intense lesson. That's probably one of the most advanced English lessons I have ever delivered.
Okay, now that you can talk about your daily life like a pro, let's move on to food and drink. Everyone can relate to this topic, right? And now you'll learn how to discuss it at an advanced level. But before we dig into that, because we will talk about that phrase, if you're enjoying this lesson so far and you want to take your advanced English skills to the next level, click on the link below to learn more about my beautiful British English C1 programme. This three-month in-depth self-study course covers all of the advanced topics you need to become the fluent and confident speaker you want to be.
The program is designed to help you achieve functional fluency in various real life situations. It's a real game changer for your advanced English skills. The link's down there.
Hello lovely students and welcome back to English with Lucy. Here's a question for you. When you learn another language, when you start to learn English, what is one of the first topics you want to learn about?
Apart from swear words. Food and drink, obviously. You tick them off, you learn the basic vocabulary, and then you forget about them.
I want to bring them back. Today we're going to learn food and drink, C1 to C2 advanced level. Let's get started with the lesson, and I must say, when you get to a really advanced level of English, people like to say in the comments section, but people don't talk like this in real life.
I agree with you, lots of people don't, and it's not. I would say reaching B2 is the level that allows you to really exist in English. C1 is when you are completely fluent to the point where you can have very nuanced conversations. The vocabulary we'll discuss today is the kind of vocabulary you might find in a piece of creative writing, or you might use with someone who is a real foodie or cooking enthusiast.
Okay, let's start. I consider myself a bit of a foodie, but I'm I'm definitely not a food snob. I'm just as happy tucking into a simple homemade meal as I am polishing off a Michelin starred work of art. On a normal day when I wake up, I force myself to gulp down a big glass of water before I indulge my caffeine addiction and brew an aromatic cup of coffee. That first swig always hits the spot.
Fellow caffeine addicts, raise your hands. Sometimes I like to work up an appetite before breakfast by going for a run. Other times I can't wait and I gobble down a steaming bowl of porridge immediately.
Okay, here are some of the vocabulary I want to pick out. The first is the phrasal verb to tuck in or to tuck into. And this means to start eating enthusiastically. After hours of preparation, everyone was ready to tuck into the roast dinner.
The next one, to polish off, another phrasal verb. This means to finish all of something, especially food. And I always imagine, Polishing a plate because it's so clean because you've eaten everything. I can't believe you polished off that entire pizza by yourself. And next, to gulp down.
Another phrasal verb. This means to drink very quickly. After a run, I often gulp down a big glass of juice. And to gulp is to swallow. It sounds the same, gulp.
The next is a verb, to brew, which means to make coffee or tea by adding. hot water to the beans or the bag. The highlight of my morning is the fresh pot of coffee my husband brews every day.
Sometimes we will call a cup of coffee or a cup of tea a brew. Do you fancy a brew as a noun? Next, we had an adjective, aromatic. Aromatic, and please focus on the pronunciation here.
Aroma as a noun, aromatic. This means having a pleasant and distinctive smell. Spices like cardamom and cinnamon make curry an aromatic dish. Note that we can use it sarcastically. If I smell a dirty sock, I might say, very aromatic, meaning it stinks.
Number six, this is a noun. A swig, it means an amount of something that you drink quickly, and it can also be used as a verb, meaning to have a large, quick mouthful of a liquid or gulp of a drink. After reaching the peak of the mountain, he took a big swig from his flask of iced tea.
We take a swig. You can say to have a swig, but take is the stronger collocation. We could also say he swigged from his flask of iced tea. Slightly less common.
Number seven. Nice phrase here, to work up an appetite. To work up an appetite. This means to do something, normally strenuous, that makes you feel hungry.
I was gardening all morning and I really worked up an appetite. And the final one, a nice slang phrasal verb, to gobble down, to gobble down. So to gobble means to eat quickly, to gobble down, to eat very quickly with lots of swallowing.
It's just an emphasis here, this particle. doesn't really change the meaning of the verb. A bit like with to sit and to sit down.
There's no real changing. We're just emphasising the direction of the action. The food is going down.
We sit down. An example, my dog always gobbles down his dinner as soon as I give it to him. That is so true. He really does gobble down.
There's no better verbal phrasal verb to describe it. Okay, next part of the story. When I have time, I love nothing more than whipping up some dishes in the kitchen.
When I was in Tuscany recently, I learned to make this incredibly flavoursome pasta sauce. The ingredients are so simple, but fresh, and it's mouthwatering. I love cooking one-pot meals too, because they're so easy and there's minimal clean-up.
Speaking of, we're very lucky to have a dog who hoovers up any stray crumbs, so our kitchen is usually pretty clean. Okay, that was a lot of good vocab in that passage, so let's have a look. Number nine, we have to whip up, to whip up. This is a nice slang phrasal verb. It means to cook something quickly, especially using whatever ingredients you have to hand.
Don't worry everyone, I'm going to whip up a gourmet feast of beans on toast. Beans on toast is a really typical British meal when you don't have any food in the house. We nearly always have a tin of Heinz baked beans, or actually now with inflation we're buying supermarket brand ones, and toast.
So beans on toast is a very common... and I don't know what to make, I don't have anything. I'll make beans on toast.
Next, number 10 is flavoursome. Flavoursome, which means delicious and full of flavour. Notice the pronunciation, two schwa sounds there. Flav-er-some.
Flav-er-some. The sauce proved incredibly flavoursome, transforming the mundane dish into a culinary masterpiece. Next, we have the adjective mouthwatering.
Mouth-watering, which describes food that looks so good, you want to eat it right then. They served up a mouth-watering dish that tasted just as good as it looked. Next, something I love to make, a one-pot meal.
A one-pot meal. This is a meal that can be cooked in one pot, and I want to draw your attention to how I pronounced it. Instead of saying one pot, I said one pot. The beauty of a one-pot meal is that there's barely any washing up to do afterwards.
And the final one for this section is crumb, usually seen in the plural because there's almost always more than one. A crumb is a very small piece of bread, cake or biscuit, or food in general, that has fallen off. Get a plate, you're dropping crumbs everywhere. Next part. According to my husband Will, my best dish is a chicken recipe by Ottolenghi, one of my favourite chefs.
Whenever I make it, Will practically inhales it. It's incredibly moreish too, so we never have leftovers. What about my favourite foods? Some of you may know that I adore fruit, especially watermelon, but I also love blue cheese, especially some good Stilton. It's got quite a pungent smell, and I would say it's an acquired taste, but it's really yummy.
I always put it out when I do nibbles, when guests are coming over. Okay, let's have a look at the vocabulary. First up, number 14, to inhale.
To inhale, this means to breathe in, literally. However, in the context of food, it means to eat very quickly. He was so hungry, he seemed to inhale his sandwich.
The next is a lovely adjective, moorish, moorish. This describes something that is so delicious, you want more of it. This cake is so moorish, I can't stop eating it. Next, I love this one, the adjective pungent, pungent.
I love the phonemes nj, nj together, pungent. I feel it's so descriptive. It's not normally a very positive adjective because it means having a very strong smell or taste, normally smell. When we're talking about blue cheese though. That's a good thing, that's what we pay for.
An example, the durian fruit has quite a pungent smell. Next I talked about something being an acquired taste, which means something that you might not like at first, but you start to enjoy over time. Olives are an acquired taste and children often don't like them. I used to pretend to like olives as a child because I wanted to sit with the adults and have nibbles and that was often the only thing on offer. And if I stopped eating they'd send me to bed.
And the final word was the noun which means small items of food that are normally eaten with your fingers. You will often see them on restaurant menus. Nibbles then start as mains desserts.
We also have the verb to nibble, which means to take a small bite of something. And if you have a nibble of something, again, you take a small bite. But nibbles in general, little snacks you normally eat with your fingers. I put out some nibbles like cheese and crackers before dinner.
Okay, last part of the story. Wool and I also love eating out. If I know we're going somewhere special, I make sure to not spoil my appetite beforehand. Even so, my eyes are often bigger than my stomach and I end up with too much food.
Doggy bags aren't much of a thing in the UK, but I wish they were. I always walk out of a restaurant completely stuffed. Okay, finally, here are four more words and phrases to finish off this video. Number 19 is to spoil one's appetite. To spoil one's appetite.
And this means to eat something before a meal, that causes you to fill up or not feel hungry. Don't have that chocolate bar, it'll spoil your appetite. Next, one's eyes are bigger than one's stomach.
If your eyes are bigger than your stomach, it means you order or put too much food on your plate and you can't finish it. I always have eyes bigger than my stomach at a buffet. I want to pile my plate with absolutely everything and then when I start eating, I realise I've taken way too much. An example, Sorry, I really can't finish this.
My eyes were bigger than my stomach. The next phrase, and this one might surprise you, is doggy bag, doggy bag. And this is a bag or a box you get from a restaurant to take home your leftovers in.
And it's more common in the US. It's becoming more of a thing in the UK. When I went to the US, I was really shocked at how big their portions were.
But when I mentioned it to my American friends, they said, Don't judge us because we take almost everything home with us at the end of the meal and we have it as leftovers in our fridge. And it made perfect sense for me. In the UK, I would say we are more inclined and often pushed by our parents to finish everything on our plate. An example, could I have a doggy bag, please?
It was delicious, just a huge portion. And the final word I want to talk about is the adjective stuffed, which means very full. I couldn't eat another bite. I'm absolutely stuffed. Okay, that's it for your C1 food and drink lesson.
Okay, now that you've got a taste for food and drink vocabulary, let's focus on a specific scenario. Ordering a coffee. If you're not a coffee person, don't worry.
These skills can be applied to ordering whatever your drink of choice might be. Let's take your coffee ordering skills to the next level. Hello lovely students and welcome back to English with Lucy.
Today, I decided to really push myself and push you too. and see if I could write a lesson about ordering a coffee in English at a C1 level. How advanced can we make ordering a simple cup of coffee?
Oh, just watch me. It's going to get advanced. Right, let's get started. So we all know that ordering a coffee is one of the first things you learn in English and it can be very simple. Can I have a coffee, please?
This way of ordering a coffee is Absolutely fine. It's perfect in fact, although it probably wouldn't work in somewhere like Starbucks, where an order is more like, can I get a doppio half-calf skinny mocha venti to go? You'd love one of those. I know I do.
But that's not what we're talking about today. I want to order a normal coffee in advanced English. And I know what some people are going to say when they hear my order.
People never speak like that. I agree, I agree. It's not necessary, but it's fun and it's cool. And if we can't have fun, cool English lessons, then what have we got? I think it's fun to see how far we can take it.
And more importantly for you, I think it's a fun and memorable way to introduce some advanced grammatical structures and vocabulary. Are you ready? We're going to move up through the levels.
Level one. Black coffee, please. This is the simplest way to order a coffee, and it's perhaps not the most polite way to order in a coffee shop. But...
if you're ordering as part of a group after dinner, for example, I think it's fine. The addition of please at the end though is important. Let's take it up a notch.
Level two. Can I have a black coffee please? Here the request is formulated as a question using the modal verb can.
which makes it more polite than the first one. You will often hear this said as, can I get a black coffee please? This is slightly more common in American English, but it's making its way into British English.
Some people don't like the use of get here, but a lot of native speakers use it. Now let's say this more politely. Level three.
May I please have a black coffee with a splash of milk? All right. We're getting a little bit more complex here.
This is a very polite way to order a coffee using the modal verb may. You can also replace may with the modal verb could, which is a more polite way to make requests than can. You can also see that the word please has moved from the end to directly after may I.
This front loading of please emphasizes the politeness of the request and sets a formal tone from the outset. We are also now asking for a splash of milk and a splash means a small amount of liquid in this context. Okay can I go further?
Level four. Could you kindly prepare a black coffee with a splash of milk and two sugars? Okay we're getting closer to advanced level here and further from reality now.
We have the modal verb could which I talked about in level three and instead of please we can see the adverb kindly. This is another way to soften a request and make it more polite. Let's add a little more advanced language. Level five. Would it be possible for you to brew a medium-sized black coffee with a splash of milk, two sugars and a sprinkling of cinnamon on top?
All right, this one is even more polite and a bit poetic as well. Would it be possible is a very polite way to form a question. We also have some more advanced vocabulary including to brew.
meaning to make a hot drink like coffee or tea, and sprinkling, which means a small amount of liquid or powder that is dropped onto a surface. Can I make it even more advanced? Level six and we're not even at the end yet.
If it's not too much trouble, could you please craft a medium-sized black coffee enriched with a splash of organic milk and precisely two cubes of raw sugar while ensuring it's brewed to the optimum temperature? and then garnish it with a delicate sprinkling of cinnamon on top. We're moving into nightmare customer territory now.
If it's not too much trouble is a very polite way of asking someone to do something, we often add it to the beginning of a request. Often when we know the request is going to cause some extra effort. Now we're asking for the barista to craft the coffee, not just make one, craft. This means to make objects in a skilled way.
especially with your hands. And the coffee is to be enriched with a splash of milk. To enrich means to make the quality of something better by adding something else. Then it is to be brewed to the optimum temperature.
Optimum means best possible. You might hear the synonym optimal or optimal used in American English. And then we have garnished with cinnamon. To garnish means to decorate food or drink with a small amount of food. Can this customer get any worse?
Yes, the answer is yes. If you've ever worked in retail or hospitality, you know the answer is yes. Here is my coffee order in its final form.
Level seven. Would you be so kind as to commence the artisanal preparation of a medium-sized black coffee, sauced if possible? from single-origin beans and brewed at precisely 89 degrees Celsius. It should be complemented with a splash of organic, locally-sourced milk, sweetened to a modest degree with exactly two cubes of raw sugar, and adorned with a subtle yet discernible sprinkling of hand-ground cinnamon.
Finally, because I'm not done yet, I request that it be presented in a ceramic mug featuring a handle ergonomically designed for a right-handed individual. Someone is is definitely going to spit in this customer's coffee. Let's look at the grammar. Would you be so kind as to, is a very, very polite and formal way to make a request.
And in the final sentence, you saw the structure, I request that it be presented. This sentence uses the subjunctive mood, which is a formal structure in English and appears after certain verbs like request. And the vocabulary, first there is to commence, which means to begin.
We had artisanal, artisanal, meaning prepared in a traditional way. We have complemented. This is the verb to complement with an E.
It's different to the one with I. If one thing complements with an E, another. It goes well with the other thing and it makes it better. We compliment each other, we go well together, we make each other better.
We compliment each other means we give each other compliments. I like your dress, I like your hair, I like your coffee. What did you ask for? I'm gonna ask for that. Little did she know.
We also have adorned with. The verb to adorn means to add something decorative to a person or thing to make it more attractive. We also have the adjectives subtle and discernible.
Subtle means not obvious or noticeable, while discernible means able to be recognised. So I wanted it subtle but discernible. Nightmare. And finally, perhaps the most egregious request, an ergonomically designed handle. Ergonomically means in a way that makes something, often equipment or furniture, comfortable and effective for people who use it.
What did you think of my C1 level coffee order? Is it realistic? No. Is it interesting?
I think so, and I hope it will help you to remember some of the structures and vocabulary that I've presented. We really do use all of these words and phrases in real life. Okay, now it's time to shift gears and spice things up. In this lesson, we're going to explore the art. of flirting in English. You're going to learn colloquial language and slang that will help you navigate these exciting social interactions.
Let's get flirty. Hello, you gorgeous things, and welcome to my super advanced lesson on flirting. In this lesson, I am going to show you how you can ask someone out, how you can flirt with someone at a C1 to C2 advanced level. We're going to be focusing on British English slang and we'll also touch on some pronunciation as well.
Okay, let's start with the first one. This is a baseline. It doesn't have any slang.
It's a starting point so that you can make comparisons with later passages. Let's try it. Ready?
My friend doesn't think you'll agree to go on a date with me, but I'd love to take you out for dinner sometime. Nice and simple. A nice easy start. That's our baseline.
Let's move to the next level, level two. I've been wanting to ask you out all night, but my mate told me I had no chance of getting a date with you. He'll be absolutely speechless if you say yes. So, you wanna get a bite to eat?
No pressure. So did you understand all of that? It wasn't too advanced, but there are a few words that I really want to look at.
The first one is mate, mate. This here in this context means friend, and it's really common in British English. But it's even more common in Australian English. For example, my mates encouraged me to ask you out.
The second word is the informal contraction wanna, which is short for want to, wanna. Some people pronounce it wanna, others wanna with more of an o sound. Some use a, wanna, wanna as an alternative.
An example, do you want to go for a drink sometime? And the final phrase from that text is a bite to eat. A bite to eat.
Now notice the pronunciation here. In fast speech, when one word ends in a vowel sound and the next one starts with a vowel sound, we often add an extra sound to make it easier to say. In this case, the extra sound is w, a bite to eat, to eat.
But what does it mean? Well, a bite to eat often means a small meal. However, we also use it in conversation to ask if someone wants to go out for something to eat, not necessarily something small. It's just very informal.
For example, fancy getting a bite to eat at the local pub? Note that you will also hear bite on its own, or a bite on its own. Fancy a bite later? Fancy something to eat later?
Now, before I move on, I also want to talk about something in this question. You might have noticed that do is missing from it. Instead of saying, do you wanna get a bite to eat? I just say, you wanna get a bite to eat?
In informal speech, we often omit auxiliary verbs like do from questions. If we want to go super informal, we can omit you as well. Wanna get a bite to eat?
Okay, I can do better than this. We can go more advanced. Let's try level three. Ready?
You are by miles the most stunning person in the room. And I've been weighing up whether to come over all night. My mate over there, the slightly trollied one, told me I didn't have a chance in hell of getting you to go out with me.
He's going to be gobsmacked if you agree, so what do you reckon? You want to go out for a slap-up meal sometime? No worries if not.
Okay, how did you do with that? It's definitely getting more advanced. Not too advanced though. It doesn't sound like you're trying to be Shakespeare. The first phrase is by miles, by miles.
You can also say by far. It means by a very large amount or by a long way. We do not use the metric system when we use this phrase.
We can't say by kilometres. It just doesn't sound right. An example, you're the funniest person I've ever met by miles, by a long way.
We also had to weigh up, to weigh up. This is a phrasal verb. This means to think carefully about doing something before making a decision. There is another linking sound in that phrase, to weigh up, weigh up.
Can you hear it? We insert a little y sound. My next word is extremely colloquial, informal. It's trollied, trollied, and this means very drunk.
Ben's trollied. Get him a taxi. And next we have an idiom, to not have a chance in hell.
Sometimes we omit the in hell part, we just say to not have a chance. And even sometimes to not stand a chance. We also use it with the verb to be.
There's no chance in hell that he will go out with you. Now this example might sound a little bit mean, but it's an example of British banter, our humour. We often say these kinds of things to close friends. Knowing, hopefully, that they will know that it's a joke.
It's like playful teasing. It can go too far, but be prepared for it if you come to Britain and mix with Brits. Next, I just want to mention gonna from that text.
It's another informal contraction, just like wanna or wanna. Gonna is generally pronounced with the schwa. Gonna, gonna.
You gonna ask him out or not? You gonna ask him out or not? Another great word, super informal. Gob smacked.
Gob smacked. So gob is quite a rude informal slang word for mouth. Shut your gob. If you are gob smacked, you are so surprised that you can't speak. You smack your mouth.
I'm gob smacked. I'm absolutely gob smacked. It's very informal. I was gob smacked when he turned up to our date wearing a tuxedo. Black tie.
The f***ing The final word that I want to point out from that text is an adjective, slap up. Slap up, which often comes before the word meal. This means a very large and delicious meal.
But I will tell you a secret. I didn't understand the meaning of this for a very long time. I thought a meal that was, a slap up meal was something that was just slapped up in the kitchen, something that was made in a really careless way. So honestly, if someone had invited me for a slap-up meal, I'd have said, well, maybe you could put in a little bit more effort. An example, I'd love to take you out for a slap-up meal sometime.
A really large and delicious and luxurious meal. That was good, but I think we can make it even more advanced. Here is number four.
Level four, the final level. Ready? My mate, the tipsy one by the bar, is absolutely sick of me...
banging on about how stunning you look and told me to shut my cake hole and do something about it. Anyway, I decided nothing ventured, nothing gained, so I'm here to ask you out for dinner. He'll be floored if you say yes.
Maybe literally, he's more than tipsy, to be honest. And I'll be well chuffed to get a date with the fittest person in London. No stress if you don't fancy it, though.
Okay, how was that one? Would you say yes to me? It was packed full of slang.
So let me break some of it down for you. We have to be sick of something. If you are sick of something, you are bored of something because it's annoying, it's repetitive. You will also hear people say, I'm sick of it. I'm sick of this, I'm bored of this.
An example, I'm sick of you talking about Dylan. Either ask him out or stop. We also have to bang on about something, to bang on about.
This means to talk for a long time about something in a way that is annoying. Ruth's been banging on about her date for hours. Did you notice that when I'm trying to be extra informal, instead of saying banging with the sound at the end, I said banging, banging. And sometimes we do this for emphasis.
It also sometimes happens when we talk quickly. I've been singing for hours, singing for hours, should be singing. The next word is possibly the funniest one on my list.
Cake hole, cake hole, which is British slang for mouth. Isn't that wonderful? It's literally the hole that you put cake into.
So we've had gob and cake hole. This is an incredibly rude lesson. It's not a polite word, but you will often hear it in the phrase, shut your cake hole, shut your mouth.
In American English, they often say pie hole, which maybe means that Americans prefer pie over cake. Now I want to talk about the idiom nothing ventured, nothing gained. This is a proverb, meaning that you have to take risks to achieve something or to get something good. If you don't take any risks, you won't get the reward.
An example, just ask Ravi on a date. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Next, let's look at the verb to flaw, which means to confuse or to surprise someone so much that they don't know what to say.
Very slang here. You saw this phrase in the passive voice, he'll be floored, but you can also use it in the active voice. Amelia floored me when she asked me if I wanted to dance. I didn't think she knew who I was. After that, you heard the most marvellous slang adjective, chuffed, chuffed, which means very happy or proud, or sometimes even satisfied in a positive, in a really positive way.
I was really chuffed. Surprised and happy. I was really chuffed when Tom gave me his phone number. Or I was so chuffed with my exam result.
We sometimes say well chuffed or chuffed to bits for emphasis. Using well instead of very or incredibly is uber slang. It's not traditionally grammatically correct, but it's a common feature in many dialects. You look well nice today.
That food is well good. Unless you're trying to integrate into a specific community that uses it, I wouldn't say it's something that you should really say, but it's really important to understand it. And the final word that I want to talk about is fit. Fit, which in the text, in that context, means physically attractive.
We met some really fit guys at the pub last night. Did you notice how I used a glottal stop at the end? Fit, guys, fit. I'm being informal and when I am with my friends or family, I'm talking fast, we're having fun. I don't follow all of the RP pronunciation rules.
I do use the glottal stop. I do make, you know, intentional grammar mistakes. As I said, you don't want to sound forced, but really important that you understand why people say them. Okay, what do you think? Would you use any of these phrases to ask someone out if you were in the UK?
And maybe you can adopt some of the slang into your daily conversations. That was hot. But not every fling is a match made in heaven and breakups are never easy, but being able to express yourself clearly can help. So in this lesson, we're going to tackle this emotionally complex topic using your advanced English skills. Don't worry, I've got your back here.
Hello, lovely students, and welcome back to English with Lucy. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Today, I'm doing a video on how to break up with someone in super advanced C1 to C2 level English.
Now this is something I hope you never have to do but if you are going to do it you might as well do it in style. Am I right? Before I get into the speeches that I've created to help you break up with someone I want to talk about a few cliches that you might have heard in films or on TV or even read in books. Maybe you've even heard them in real life but I really hope not.
These are phrases that people often say to end a relationship, but they don't usually express what the speaker really means. So I'm going to translate them for you. The first one, you might have a version of this in your own language.
It's not you, it's me. Also, don't get that wrong and say it's not me, it's you, because that's even worse. If someone says it's not you, it's me, the translation is that it's probably you.
The next one, oh, this one's painful. I love you. I'm just not in love with you.
Translation of this is that they might see you more as a friend. The next one, I've heard this one before. Heartbreaking, I need space. If someone needs space, they need space away from you.
That relationship didn't work out for me. Another one I've heard as well. Oh my word, this is triggering.
You deserve better. You deserve better. I guess when someone says this they just can't think of anything better to say. That's a major red flag. It's a red flag.
Now I don't think there are any really good ways to break up with someone. Let's start with level one and this is going to be a very basic way to break up with someone. Are you ready? Because this is going to be brutal.
I'm not happy. This isn't working. We need to break up.
Okay, I'm going to take that as a baseline for my super advanced ways to break up with someone. And before I start, I need to add my disclaimer. The following levels are for entertainment purposes. I do not recommend that you try to break up with someone and also aim for a C1 or C2 level of language whilst doing it. I do think...
that this is a really fun and interesting way of teaching you advanced level grammar and vocabulary. If you copy my wording when breaking up with your partner, that's on you. Your partner will probably be confused or furious or both. Let's go with number two. You're a fantastic person and I've treasured the moments we've shared but I've been reflecting a lot lately and it's become clear that we're as different as chalk and cheese.
Let's call a spade a spade. Our paths are heading in completely different directions. The odds are that we're just going to make each other miserable in the future.
This has been as good a relationship as I've ever had, but I think we need to acknowledge reality and go our separate ways. Ah, that's a fairly advanced text and there's a lot to unpack here. There's a lot to analyse.
There were two idioms that I want to point out. Chalk and cheese is the first which means completely different Chalk and cheese are very different We can say that people or things are like chalk and cheese or are as different as chalk and cheese Notice the pronunciation of and in this phrase. I drop the sound and I say Chalk and cheese we call chalk and cheese a binomial and in a binomial.
There are two words separated by a conjunction and the conjunction is often and, said as un. The word order is usually fixed. It's always chalk and cheese and never cheese and chalk.
Chalk and cheese is also an alliterative phrase. It's an alliteration, meaning that the two words start with the same sound, ch, ch, chalk, cheese. There are lots of other binomials in English, and they're not always idioms, as in this case.
They include ones that use synonyms like pride and joy, Sorry, I couldn't quite find my thumb there. Pride and joy. And we also have ones that use opposites like ups and downs. The other idiom I want to talk about is to call a spade a spade, to call a spade a spade.
And I feel this one is fairly British. This means to tell the truth and say exactly what you think, even if it's not polite, even if it's going to hurt someone's feelings. But now I want to touch on some structures I use that are very advanced. The first is the odds are. The odds are.
Now this is a phrase that we use to say how likely it is that something will happen. You saw this phrase in the sentence, the odds are that we're just going to make each other miserable in the future, meaning it's likely that we will make each other miserable. An example, the odds are that Jane and Ellie will break up soon.
The second phrase is an advanced comparative. You saw this in the sentence, This has been as good a relationship as I've ever had. As good a relationship as. I'm saying as, as, as, a weak form. As good a relationship as.
This means that the relationship was as good as or equally good as any other relationship the person has had. The structure is as plus adjective plus a or an plus noun plus as. You're as patient a partner.
as I could wish for. You're as perfect a match as I could ever hope for. All right, let's see if we can make it more advanced. Let's move to level three. Are you ready?
Our relationship has experienced its share of waxing and waning. You know that I've always had a jealous streak, but lately I've been feeling there's a lack of trust between us. It's been an honour to have been a part of your life and I've cherished our time together. However, given that trust is fundamental, We would be better off parting ways. Tough to hear, but trust, trust is essential in a relationship.
Let's look at some of the vocabulary and structures in this text. The first one, to wax and wane, to wax and wane. This is another binomial with two words with opposite meanings.
I will say that this is quite an old fashioned idiom and we don't tend to use the words separately. Wane maybe, but wax in this context. Not as much.
To wax is to grow stronger, to wane is to grow weaker. To wax and wane, to grow stronger and weaker. It comes from the phases of the moon. When the moon is getting bigger, it's waxing.
When it's getting smaller, it's waning. Next, I want to point out a strong, a very strong collocation, a jealous streak. A streak is a characteristic and it's often an unpleasant one. If someone has a jealous streak, they have a tendency to be jealous sometimes.
Other strong collocations include a stubborn streak, a vicious streak, a nasty streak, an independent streak. That one could be used positively or negatively. Streak characteristic.
Finally, I want to touch on an advanced conditional sentence from the text. You saw that given that trust is fundamental, we would be better off parting ways. Given that means when you consider that. Given that Heather is in love with you, she will be devastated when you break it off.
Okay, that was pretty advanced, but I know we can do better. Let's move to level four, our most advanced level. Are you ready?
It seems that our paths in life are diverging. We've indisputably had some incredible moments together, but it's imperative that I be true to myself. Recently, it's become apparent to me that variety is the spice of life, and I feel a pa- powerful need to explore diverse relationships.
This decision hasn't been taken lightly, but it's essential for both of us to prioritise our individual happiness and fulfilment. Okay, good riddance. What a horrible speech for a breakup. It's horribly advanced as well. So let's take a look at some of the vocabulary and structures that are used in that text.
Firstly, I want to highlight the verb to seem, and I know this is not an advanced verb. So you may already know that it means to appear. One common use of this verb is to make what we are saying less forceful, it softens it. Often when we're not sure whether what we're saying is true or if we want to be polite. This is a skill that we call hedging.
You often see to seem in the structure, it seems that or it seems to me that. It seems that Jeremy is looking to end the relationship, for example. I don't know for sure, that's what it seems like to me. The next word I want to draw your attention to is indisputably. This is an advanced adverb meaning in a way that is true or cannot be disagreed with.
The adverb indisputably emphasises or boosts what we're saying. Other similar adverbs include undeniably and unquestionably. Hedging and Boosting are really important skills to learn when you reach an advanced level in English now I want to talk about the phrase variety is the spice of life It's a proverb that means new things and changes make life more interesting And this is probably one of the worst things that you could say During a breakup because it makes the person think that you want to date other people, okay? There are two grammatical structures that I want to cover now the first was in the sentence It's imperative that I be true to myself.
You can see I be instead of the usual I am. This is an example of the subjunctive mood, which we use to express possibilities and wishes. If we use the subjunctive mood in the present tense with the verb to be, we use be for all subjects.
I be, you be, he be, she be, for example. Quite fun to say, he be, she be. We use the base form with all subjects. So instead of she goes, the subjunctive is she go. Here are a couple more examples.
I propose that you be completely honest about the reasons why you want to break up. Or it's my recommendation that she end the relationship immediately. The subjunctive mood is formal and impersonal.
And in modern usage, it's not particularly common. And people will often say it's imperative that I am true to myself. for example. I do personally use it and this video is all about advanced English and the subjunctive is super advanced and I love the way it sounds.
I think it sounds really elegant. I just like it and I think you should like it too. Finally, I want to look at the passive voice. You saw it in this sentence.
This decision hasn't been taken lightly. Hasn't been taken. is an example of the present perfect simple passive voice.
Has not been plus the past participle. In this case, the passive voice makes the sentence very impersonal by not naming the person who made the decision. And it's more commonly heard from leaders like politicians or people in business who don't want to take responsibility for something.
I sincerely hope that you never hear this when someone is breaking up with you. Well, I really hope no one ever breaks up with you, but I really hope they don't use the passive voice whilst doing it. An example of how politicians would use it, mistakes have been made, promises have been broken.
They're not saying I made a mistake or we broke promises, they have been broken, they have been made. Okay. Well, the course of true love never did run smooth.
Shakespeare said that, not me. Okay, if you're still here, well done. That was intense. From discussing your daily routine to navigating the complexities of relationships, you've learned so much advanced English vocabulary and grammar, and I hope you feel more confident in your ability to tackle these real life situations and express yourself with a little more flair, a little more art.
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I can't wait to see you in the next lesson.