"As" can be a confusing word, especially for students at the B2level. Often
students don't know if they should use "as" or if they should use "like" but it
doesn't have to be confusing, if you know what to do! My name is Toby, this is SMASH
English, and here is all you need to know about
"as" for the B2 First Cambridge exam. And also watch my video about "like", it's
really good! Yeah!? See you later!
"as" can be a preposition, coming before the name of a job, a role
or a function. For example: I work as a teacher and I work as a Cambridge
examiner. Yeah really... no, no, I can't believe that either. Bruce,
can you give me an example? No I don't want to do this video yeah? You're doing all
these videos... no one's watching them! Come on, Bruce!
No, mate! You're using me as a slave! Perfect! Here Bruce is saying that he
isn't a slave however for me he has the role or the function of a slave. We can
use "as to" talk about an action that is happening at the same time that
another action is happening. Here "as" means the same as "while". For example: She
sang as she was getting ready to go out. Or, he typed an email as he spoke on the
phone. Wow! how exciting of these examples guys!?
Do you love them? I really love them! "as" can also be a conjunction. Here "as" must
be followed by a subject and a verb and it means "in the same way that". For
example: Do as I say! That means do what I told you to do. Or, I bought you the
apples as you requested. That's if you buy apples for people regularly. In
informal English people often replace "as" with "like" although this is technically
wrong it doesn't really matter. Try not to do it in formal writing. If
you are writing an essay or a letter of application or a report, I would suggest
not using "like" and instead using "as". However, if you're speaking or writing an
informal letter stick with "like". It sounds more natura...l to me anyway, but I'm
just an informal guy! You know, I'm a great laugh! Anyway, like I was...Ah! Nope!
No! Formal! Formal! Anyway, as I was saying... "as" can also mean "because". For example:
Bruce is angry with me as I keep asking him to give
examples. I'm just not gonna say anything yeah!? I'm better than this. In this
sentence you can replace "as" with "because" and the meaning doesn't change, it's just
a little bit more formal. We can use "as for something" or "as for someone" to mean
"concerning" or "regarding." This is great for formal writing, so try and use it if
you're writing an essay or a letter of application or maybe a report in the
Cambridge writing exam. Here are some examples: As for ocean pollution we
should aim to eliminate waste disposal in our waters. As for my availability I
am free to work from Monday to Friday. As for parents they should ensure their
children learn to respect others. We can use "as" for comparatives.
as + adjective + as means "to the same degree" or "equal to". Or, you could say not
as adjective as to mean "not equal" or "not to the same degree". For example: my phone
is not as expensive as your phone, or Toby is as intelligent as Stephen
Hawking, and that is definitely true I am basically a genius. This structure can
also be used with some fixed forms. "As soon as". This means "immediately when". Hello?
Yeah mum, I'm recording a video. I'll call you later.
No I'll call you as soon as I've finished. No! I cannot talk to you now I'm a
YouTube celebrity now, alright? Yeah. I've got 12 subscribers on YouTube! Mum, if I
don't record this video English is finished! Do you understand? Bye...
We can say "as long as" and this means "only if" or "on the condition that". It
replaces "if" in a first conditional. Are you going to help
me with the video or not? I'll do it as long as you get me a drink yeah?
No, this is a professional YouTube channel you can't drink! Professional!?
Professional!? You think you look professional!?
Yeah!? Cut your hair, mate! You look like a homeless person! It's embarrassing!
We can also say "as well as" and this means "and". Oh wow! So difficult! Well
actually remember a subject cannot come after this. If you put a subject after "as
well as" then "well" becomes the adverb of "good". For example: I play the guitar as
well as sing. This means I play the guitar and I sing. But, "I play the guitar
as well as I sing": this means that I play the guitar and sing in an equally good
way. See the difference? Yeah, but you're rubbish at both of them!
you know what I mean? Ok grumpy! It was just an example! And lastly for the B2 First
exam we can say "as far as I know" and this just means "from what I know", "from
the information I have available to me I know this". Oh hi! Oh hey, Monica! Where's
Bruce? As far as I know he's drinking, on his own... Ewww. I'm
reading a book about politics! You ignorant people. And lastly we have "as if"
and "as though". We use "as if" and "as though" with a present tense or the present
perfect to give a likely explanation for something, something that is likely to be
true. For example: they look as if they are a family. They look as though they
are in a restaurant. They look as if they are having a really interesting
conversation, just like us right now. Yeah! We use "as if" or "as though" with a
past tense to talk about something that looks like it is true but it isn't true.
Obviously she has eaten in years because she's not dead but because it appears so
but isn't true we use a past tense with "as if" and "as though". So here we use the
past perfect. Oh! We're doing another one of these bits are we? Okay, so when could
you use "as" in the exam? Well, of course for all of the exam, but especially the
use of English parts. Especially again part 2, the open cloze section of the
exam. Actually this is incredibly common. In almost every open cloze section of
the exam there is a "like" or there is an "as" so be on the lookout! And it's an
easy point for you to get! An example question could be: I will come to the
disco as ____ as you pay for me". These are very common. These "as....as" fixed
expressions. Here we need "as long as you" pay for me. "As long as" of course means
"only if", "on the condition that". Many students will see "as...as" and put the
first expression they think of down onto the paper. For example "as far as", "as long
as", "as well as", "as soon as". Think carefully about which one is appropriate for the
question. "Prior to becoming a world renowned artist he worked ___ a waiter in
a local cafe" Now of course the answer here is "as" but many students will say
"like". If you work "like" something it means you work in a way that is similar to
something but this man was a waiter, that was his job, so he worked "as" a waiter.
Remember we use "as" to talk about an occupation, a role, or a function. And of
course "as" can appear in part four, the difficult part, the word transformations.
Here is a potential question "he looks like he has
seen a ghost". Okay we need the word "as". There are two possible answers here "he
looks as though he had seen a ghost" or "he looks as if he had seen a ghost".
Here we need the past perfect because we are talking about something that is
unreal. I don't believe in ghosts, maybe you do, but I think it's unlikely that he
really saw a ghost. So we must use the past perfect here. "He looks as if he had
seen a ghost", "he looks as though he had seen a ghost". These "as if" and "as though"
structures are especially useful for part two of the speaking, where we must
describe and answer questions about an image. Of course, we don't really know
what is happening in these pictures because we are not these people and so
we must speculate. "as though" and "as if" are fantastic ways of doing this. For
example here we have people that look like they have graduated. We don't know
for sure but I think that they probably have so we can say they look as if they
have just graduated, or they look as though they have just graduated. Here we
are using a present or present perfect tense because this is pretty likely. Oh
what about this? These people are very happy! They are so happy that they look as
if they had won the lottery, they look as though they had won the lottery. I think
it is very unlikely that they have won the lottery, so here I use the past
perfect to stress that this is an unreal or unlikely situation and yeah I'm
finished again. And with that we are finished! Now you know everything you
need to know about "as" for the Cambridge B2 First exam! Now
watch my video on "like" if you haven't already, it's really fantastic! As always
if you liked the video don't forget to SMASH that like button, hit subscribe,
leave a comment down below! My name is Toby and this was SMASH
English