Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English with Jennifer. Do you know what a
love-hate relationship is? It's when you love something part of the time, and you
hate it all the other times. I think many students have a love-hate relationship
with grammar. We know it's a good thing, but it makes us feel very frustrated
sometimes. Right? Well, the solution is to study a little bit of grammar at a time.
Don't try to overload your brain with too many rules and patterns. That's why
in this lesson we're going to look at only three verbs and the prepositions
they take. The list is short enough to study and practice all in one day.
Remember to subscribe to my channel and then we can study another topic on
another day.
Let's start with the verb "talk." It's something we do every day. Right? When we
get together with friends, we have conversations. Use "talk about" to name the
topic of the conversation. For example: What were you and Carlos talking about?
Marina doesn't like to talk about her childhood. Use "talk with" when both people
or all people are speaking and contributing to the conversation. For
example: I was talking with my classmates the other day about different health
care systems. I saw you talking with Greg. I didn't know you two were friends. Use
"talk to" when one person is giving a message or information to another. For
example: The teacher talked to the class about the upcoming test. We can also use
"talk to" when someone is in trouble, meaning they did something bad. For
example: The teacher asked Ryan to stay after class so she could talk to him.
The teacher talked to Ryan about the test he failed. And we can use "talk to"
when someone needs information or advice. You should talk to a doctor about the
headaches you've been having. Finally, we use "talk in" for the manner in which we
speak. In the library, we talk in quiet voices. You shouldn't talk to anyone in a
rude way or in a rude tone. So let's put these patterns into practice. Give some
thought to these questions.
What do old friends talk about after not seeing each other for many years? Do you
like talking with friends over the phone or in person?
Who can you talk to when you have a problem? Is it rude to talk in another
language so that others around you don't understand? Next, let's look at the verb
"compare." Compared to the last one, this one is a little easier. We have two
possibilities: compare to and compared with. Some sources say that "compare to"
is preferred when we see only similarities, and "compare with" is for
when we see both similarities and differences, especially those differences.
But again, I'll tell you it often doesn't matter.
The phrase "compared to" is more common than "compared with" in American English,
but both are acceptable. Compared to me, you're like an Olympic swimmer. I can
barely swim. Compared with other sports, hockey requires an extremely high level
of coordination and balance because the game is played on ice. However, we use
"compare to" when we want to make a direct comparison, meaning we're saying
that two things or two people are alike.
Hector wrote Julia a poem and he compared her eyes to the stars in the
sky. Some leaders today like to compare themselves to great leaders of the past,
such as Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, and Winston Churchill. Again, let's pause for
some practice. Can you answer these questions? Have you ever lived in two
different places (different houses, cities, or countries)? How do those two places
compare to each other? Compared to other members of your family, are you more
introverted or extroverted?
All right. Last verb: provide. When you provide something, you give it or make it
available. Schools provide an education. Hospitals provide medical care. Companies
provide job opportunities. We can provide someone with something. It's about giving
something needed. Public schools provide children with a basic education.
Hotels provide guests with soap, towels, and other basic necessities. We can also
provide something for someone or to someone. This is about making something
available. If people want it, they can use it. Airports provide special services for
those in wheelchairs. Some airports also provide play areas for small children.
Local governments should provide extreme weather warnings to the public. In those
three examples, my choices were guided by the idea that services or facilities are
designed for people and information is given to people. Here's a final set of
questions for practice. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, how
would you rate the quality of the education your
elementary school provided you with? Name something a hospital should provide for
all patients. Can you remember all the patterns we studied? I'll provide you
with the review list and some tips. Use "talk about" to name the topic of
conversation. Use "talk with" to explain who contributed to the conversation. Use
"talk to" when giving information or a message, when giving or seeking advice, or
when giving a reprimand, meaning telling someone that they did something wrong.
Use "talk in" for the manner in which you speak. With "compare," we can compare one
thing or one person to another or compare one thing or one person with
another. We can use the phrase "compared to X, Y is..." "Compared with" is also okay, but
it's less common. And remember that "compared to" is our only choice for
direct comparisons.
Finally, use "provide someone with something" when giving things that are
needed and use "provide something for someone or to someone" when making things
available. And yes, sometimes I think there's overlap and meaning. Look and
listen for these grammar patterns. You'll see them in news articles. You'll hear
them in podcasts, news reports, and movies. I'll list some useful tools in the video
description to help you find examples in real contexts. That's all for now. Please
like and share this video with others. As always, thanks for watching
and happy studies!
Thank you to all the members of my channel. And you Super and Truly
Marvelous Members, I'll see you at the next live stream. Perhaps others will join
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