- Many of you have asked me about,
be about to do something.
I think I can answer this really quickly.
In fact, you are about to understand everything.
When I say I'm about to do something,
it means I'm going to do it very, very soon, in the future.
I don't say specifically when, both me and the other person,
everyone understands that it's very soon.
For example.
So, you finish work, you finish your classes for the day.
It's time to go home.
But then,
"Hey, sorry, can you help me
"with all of this work?"
Obviously you're not happy because,
"I'm about to leave, Jeff!"
You want to tell that person that,
no, very soon I'm going to leave.
I'm about to leave.
Pronunciation, this to, you don't pronounce it like to.
No, it's like ta, ta.
Say it with me, ta.
About ta.
I'm about to leave.
Say it with me, I'm about to leave
So it means you're going to do something very soon,
but not just for future plans.
It could also be for past plans.
For example, if a plan change.
One second. (speaking in foreign language)
- Dude, I was just about to call you!
Yeah, no, I'm doin' a lesson now.
Be about to.
Yeah I know, I've already done it.
Yeah, all right, bye.
So notice then I said, I was just about to call you.
So in this case, I used a past plan with about to.
I made a whole video about this thing.
If you need a full explanation,
there's the video right there.
Click that, watch the video, you won't be confused.
Now both of those were positive sentences.
How does it work in the negative?
Well, a really common way to use this in the negative
is when you want to be sarcastic.
I love the way we use this in the negative.
If someone asks you to do something ridiculous,
you can use this in the negative
and it sounds amazing, let me show you.
"Jeff, we only met yesterday!
"I'm not about to marry you."
See the way I said that.
It sounds sarcastic, and it is sarcastic,
it sounds brilliant, I love it.
When someone asks you to do something ridiculous,
you want to say, "No, that's ridiculous,
"I'm not going to do it," say it like this.
I'm not about to do that thing.
Give it some feeling, (lips smacking) sounds amazing.
A common mistake is something like this.
I'm about to do it tomorrow.
The mistake is this word, tomorrow.
We don't include the specific time with be about to.
We just both understand that this thing
is going to happen soon.
But like, very, very, very soon.
Okay, how about questions?
Well, for example, if you interrupt someone,
you might say this.
Very commonly, if you interrupt someone
when they're speaking, you might want to apologize
by saying this,
"Oh, sorry, were you about to say something?"
Again be careful with the pronunciation.
It's a ta not to, about to say something.
And again, notice that the verb after
is always the infinitive.
About to say, not with I-N-G.
And if it's past, only the be verb changes to past,
not that verb, never that verb, no.
And sometimes you don't need the verb after this.
You could finish at, about to.
Example.
You made plans with your friend and you want to know,
okay, are they coming soon?
What's the situation?
So you call them and you ask them,
"Hey, have you left your house yet?
"Are you coming?"
And of course you're still in bed
but you won't tell your friend that, no, you'll say this,
"I'm just about to!"
And she added just so it gives it more feeling of that,
yep right now, it's happening right now, I'm just about to.
And again notice there's no verb after this
because everyone understand the verb is to leave.
We don't need to repeat it.
Okay, test time.
This is the situation.
Your friend, Maria, is a terrible driver.
She has crashed five cars.
Now she wants you to lend her 2,000 pounds to buy a new car.
Of course your reaction might be,
and what are you gonna say to her?
Think about today's lesson.
Was this a ridiculous question that she asked?
How would you respond?
Write your response to Maria,
it's always Maria, in the comments.
Also try your own examples in the comments.
Something positive, tell me something you're about to do.
Try a negative, tell me about something ridiculous
that someone asked you to do.
And include them in your Instagram Stories.
Tag me @PapaTeachMe and I'll repost the best ones.
See you in the next class.
(soft music)