Hi everyone. I'm Arnel, and today we're going to look at these words... Confusing, right?
Not really, we're going to look at all of these step by step. For this lesson there are
two things you need to remember. One, I have zero percent and a hundred percent.
All the words today are about here, ninety percent. Don't worry, I'll give you lots of examples.
Two, a determiner. A determiner is a small word that goes before a noun, to give it a
bit more information. Important determiners for today's lesson are: The, this, that, these, those.
And possessives, my, your, his, her, etc... So keep these two things in mind. We can start.
most or most of i have the grammatical structures here most plus plural or uncountable noun
Most of plus determiner, plus plural or uncountable noun. Both of these structures mean
the majority. Remember I said ninety percent? Why is this structure longer?
Because it gives us more information. Specific, general. For example, most people work during
the day. I think around the world this is true, most people work during the day. But of course if you're
a nurse, you might have the night shift. Most sand is yellow. But of course, some sand can be black.
If the noun is obvious you can remove it. A few people didn't pay, but most did.
Here it's clear I mean most people. And I know this can be a little bit confusing for some students.
People is a countable noun. Singular, person. Plural, people .It's countable.
Yes, persons is also the plural. But it's very formal, you wouldn't really use it
in a conversation. You might see persons in a contract or something to do with the law.
I get most of my news from Facebook. Seth McKenith is my favorite author.
Most of his books are set in roman times, really exciting. He's not a real author just an example!
Okay, if we look at these two structures it's clear that the second one is more specific.
It gives us more information. Common mistake, most of friends, most of money, most of people.
If you use most of you need a determiner. Most of my friends, most of that money, most of the people.
Okay, I've made this most of plus determiner thing clear. But, there's always a but,
if you say most of plus, city, country. You don't need that determiner.
Most of South Korea is surrounded by water.
Beautiful. Dangerous. Relaxing. Okay I have three adjectives, long adjectives. My adjectives here
have three syllables. Beau ti ful, dan ger ous, re lax ing. A short adjective would be something like: Cold,
hot, big. We use the most plus long adjective to form the superlative.
For example, beautiful, more beautiful, the most beautiful. Superlative means the number
one. With the most we are not speaking about the majority. It's all about that number one position. ,
I love all flowers, but to me orchids are the most beautiful. These animals are dangerous,
but the boxed jellyfish is the most dangerous. Reading a good book with a cup of coffee is the
most relaxing way to spend a Sunday morning. We can also use the most with a noun and the meaning is
the same. Jackson earns the most money in the family. The student with the most points wins.
Okay, let's keep going with mostly. Mostly means mainly. The tourists here are mostly from the USA.
Can't I just say most of the tourists here are from the USA? Yeah,
you can. These structures mean the same thing,
they're just different grammatically. And if you want that advanced level, you need variety.
What's a meringue? It's a dessert. It's, it's mostly egg white with a bit of sugar.
Look at the position of mostly after b. Are mostly, is mostly.
So the position after b is clear, but mostly is an adverb. And in English, adverbs don't like rules.
So, mostly after b is clear. It was mostly family at the wedding, not really
friends or colleagues. Put mostly before your main verb. Yes, you might see mostly after your
main verb. But generally with adverbs in English, you're safe before the main verb.
I work from home. What's my main verb? Work. I mostly work
from home. Sometimes I do go to the office, or I can work in a café.
What are you doing in your English class? We are focusing on the position of adverbs.
What's my main verb? Focusing. We are mostly focusing on the position of adverbs.
In this case are is a be form, but it's my auxiliary verb. In informal spoken English,
we can put mostly at the end position, or the front position. I wake up at seven, mostly.
My book club is so boring, mostly we just sit around and drink tea. To summarize,
we mostly use mostly before the main verb... mostly. Okay, mini review. Most plus plural uncountable noun
the majority general. Most of plus determiner, plus plural uncountable noun, specific. But again, the
majority. Most of plus country, city. We don't need a determiner. The most plus superlative or noun, that
top position. Be plus mostly, mostly plus main verb, mainly. Okay let's keep going.
All dogs are cute, 100 percent. Almost all dogs are cute, 95 percent. Most dogs are cute. You can see,
almost all, most. They're very similar, but almost all is a little bit stronger.
Almost all plus plural or uncountable noun. Almost all water on mars is ice... I think. Almost all of
plus determiner, plus plural or uncountable noun. Why is this structure longer? Because it
gives us more information. I think he invested almost all of his money in the stock market.
We are almost done, we are nearly done. Let's look at those adverbs almost and nearly.
Usually they are interchangeable you can use them in the same sentences. And keep that 90 percent in mind.
Almost, nearly, plus adjective. My plant is almost nearly dead. Actually, I think it's completely dead.
Our tank is almost dry. Almost, nearly plus noun phrase. I bought, almost. I bought nearly a year's
worth of toilet paper. She spends almost, she spends nearly her monthly salary on rent.
Common mistake: Almost people like chocolate. I have almost, I have noun. Yeah! Remember
almost means 90 percent of something. If you say, almost people, you're saying they're not
fully people. Which would mean they would have, maybe the body of a person, and the head...
Do you see the problem? You can say most people
like chocolate, or, almost all people like chocolate. That would be okay.
Almost nearly plus verb... Justine invited me to her house. I almost said yes...
oh, thank god I didn't. Our house almost nearly collapsed in the earthquake.
Let's compare. I bought almost nearly a year's worth of toilet paper. I almost nearly bought
a year's worth of toilet paper. Put your adverb before the thing you're describing.
In the first example, this means maybe I bought 10 months worth, almost a years supply.
In the second example, I almost bought, this could mean I had it right there, but I didn't actually
pay. I nearly bought it. Almost, nearly, plus adverb or time. I'm looking at the tracking and our food
is almost here. Our food is nearly here. It's almost 12 o'clock. It's nearly 12 o'clock. So you can see
usually, you don't need to worry about the difference between almost and nearly. So when
and how are they different? Please Arnel, don't make this simple. I want more grammar rules! Okay,
if you want. Almost, nearly. We use almost in front of l-y adverbs. The baby was sleeping
and I fixed the broken window, almost soundlessly. Nearly soundlessly?
No. Almost like. Is jane absent again today? It's almost like she doesn't work here.
In front of a negative word like, never, no, none, and nothing. Almost nobody orders the carrot cake,
we should take it off the menu. With nearly we can say, not nearly, to emphasize a negative statement.
That's not enough food, we have over 50 people coming to our house.
That's not nearly enough food. Same meaning, more emphasis.
My running time is not as good as last year, not nearly as good as last year.
Okay, mini review. Actually, it's going to be a big review. Let's see if I can remember everything. So,
most plus plural uncountable noun, most of plus determiner plus plural uncountable noun. Both of
these mean the majority. Most of plus country, you don't need that determiner. The most plus
superlative, the most plus noun, that top position. Be plus mostly, mostly plus main verb, mainly.
Almost all, almost all of plus determiner, plus plural uncountable noun. This also
means the majority, but stronger than most, most of. Almost, nearly. Usually they're interchangeable,
except for a few ex... I'm almost done, I almost have this! They're almost,
they are usually interchangeable. Except for a few rules you saw in the animation. Okay, for that you
have to give me a comment down below. Give me a couple of examples! Okay, I hope this lesson was
helpful. I can't wait to make another video for you. Thank you and see you next time! Bye!!!