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Welcome back to ask Alicia the Weekly Siri's where you asked me questions and I answer them.

Maybe first question this week comes from stiff on.

Hi, Stepan.

Stepan says, Hi, Alicia.

What is the meaning of the phrase to get used to doing something?

Does it refer to a completed action or not?

And can we use it in present?

Simple.

Like I get used to getting up early?

Oh, yeah.

Okay.

To get used to doing something means to become accustomed to doing something.

We tend to use it.

Maurin.

Simple past tense as in your example, I got used to getting up early or I got used to waking up early when we use it in the past tense, the past tense got instead of present tense get.

It means that the speaker has already become accustomed to doing that thing.

So in the sentence I got used to waking up early.

It means the speaker is now accustomed to getting up early.

They're fine.

We can, however, as you suggest use it in the present tense as well, like I need to get used to getting up early.

That's an expression for, like, a desire to be able to get up early, which means that the speaker is not now able to get up early or they're not accustomed to getting up early.

So, yes, you can use it in present tense.

But it's probably going to be used in a situation where the speaker is expressing a desire or some kind of need for a new behavior for some kind of new behavior to be learned.

If it's in a conversation, a speaker might say, like, don't worry about your new job.

You'll get used to getting up early so it's you'll get used to.

In that case, it's a future tense expression like you are going to get used to getting up early through this job or another way of saying that is you will become accustomed to getting up early through this job, so to get used to something means to take time and practice, to get accustomed to something, to become accustomed to something.

We use it all the time when we're learning new things like you'll get used to learning English or you'll get used to speaking English.

Or you'll get used to talking in front of a camera all of these different things that take some time and practice to do.

We can describe those with get used to or, once we've become accustomed to them.

Got used to.

So I hope that this helps you.

Thanks very much for the question.

Okay, let's move on to your next question.

Next question comes from S win high as win, As one says, What's the difference between do you?

Did you and are you when I asked questions?

Okay, First, let's talk about do you and also does he or does she?

So this do and dust pattern we use thes do and does patterns when we're making simple, present tense questions like, Do you have a pen or does he exercise every day?

Or do you know where my bag is?

So we're asking these simple yes or no questions with a simple, present tense verb so we could answer yes or no to all of these questions.

So let's compare this Then two did.

Did so did is just the past tense of do we use did in the same way as do.

But when we're asking simple past tense questions, for example, did you just call me or did he forget his wallet, or did we buy enough food?

So these are all simple, past tense questions.

We don't congregate.

The verb that comes after do rather we congregate did so did, is the past form of do.

Finally, let's compare this with argue.

Or, for example, is he or is she?

When we begin, sentences with is or are were typically using them with an adjective or with the progressive tense verb.

So we're asking simple questions again, yes or no questions.

But the thing that follows is or are is an adjective or is a verb in the i N G form, as in, Is he sleeping or are you okay or is he at the office?

So these yes or no questions don't use simple present tense verbs in the part that comes after the is or are so to recap, do and does are used in present tense or past tense with simple, present tense verbs.

And are you or is he is.

She are used with adjectives and with verbs in the progressive form.

So these all are ways of making yes or no questions.

But the grammar and the structure of the sentence just changes a little bit.

So I hope that this helps you.

Thanks very much for the question.

Okay, let's move on to your next question.

Next question comes from Anderson sees again.

Hi, Anderson, Anderson says.

Hi, Alicia.

I'm a good confused with the difference between the present perfect and the present Perfect, continuous.

If I want to say that I live in some place and have lived there for some time, which one should I use?

Okay, you can use either.

For example, I have lived in Portland for three years, and I've been living in Portland for three years.

So at base thes two sentences have exactly the same meaning.

They mean exactly the same thing.

The only thing that changes here is perhaps the situations in which we might use thes.

Let's take a look at the first example here to begin with.

Let's imagine that you're at a going away party, a farewell party for yourself.

It's your party.

You are leaving the city of Portland.

You might say to your friend at the party.

I have lived in Portland for three years.

It's been great toe live here, but I'm excited about my next step.

So in that case, present perfect tense.

Not using the continuous sounds quite normal because you want to talk about this period of time you've spent in Portland.

It started three years ago.

It continued till now at this party in Portland right now.

And so you want to emphasize like, yes, this has been a continued experience up until this point in time, but it would sound strange to say I lived in Portland for three years because actually, at the party, you're still in Portland.

Maybe you have a few days or another week or so.

So it would sound strange to use simple past tense here.

We don't want to use the continuous tense here because the continuous tense really emphasizes that something is going to continue after the conversation.

Perhaps so, in this case, just using present perfect tense without the continuous form sounds the most natural.

Let's compare this then to another situation in this situation.

You are in Portland and you're at a networking event for your job.

You meet someone there and you're talking about, like basic things where you live and so on.

You might say I've been living in Portland for three years.

It's a great place to live.

So in this case, were using the present perfect continuous.

We choose this.

It sounds most natural because we want to emphasize that we are going to remain in Portland.

I'm going to continue the condition of living in Portland, so this sounds a little bit more natural.

And it sounds like it's more emphasis on my continued presence in Portland, which we want to emphasize here because we might be making a new business connection.

So in some, these two sentences communicate exactly the same thing, Yes, but there are just some small differences that depend on the situation.

And that's the reason that we might choose to use simple present perfect tense as opposed to the present perfect continuous.

So try to keep these sorts of situations in mind when you're choosing between these two.

I hope that this helps you Thanks very much for the question.

Okay, let's move on to your next question.

Next question comes from Nini Long.

I hope I said that, right?

Hi, Nini.

Nini says what does?

Can't help.

Plus the progressive form mean Okay, Yeah, this is like saying I can't control this behavior.

So a great example is, if you're watching a funny movie and when you try to explain your feelings about the movie, you might say I can't help laughing at this scene.

Can't help.

Laughing means I can't control the behavior of laughing.

You might also here I can't help but and then the simple, present, tense form of the verb, as in, I can't help but laugh, so I can't help but laugh.

And I can't help laughing.

Both communicate this loss of control.

I'm not able to control this thing.

We tend to use this sort of pattern when we're talking about emotions.

So in this case, it's about laughter.

You might also hear it used to talk about feelings like I can't help feeling angry or I can't help feeling worried about this situation.

I can't help feeling means I don't have any control over this emotion or this action.

We tend to use this pattern for, like, emotional and mental state verbs.

We might use it for some other kind of like bodily related verbs like I can't help watching or I can't help looking and so on.

So it's like these sorts of actions that maybe we don't even think about doing and that we just do automatically if we see something interesting or exciting.

Or if something smells terrible, whatever that is, it's like some situation where we lose control somehow for a moment.

We can express that with can't help, plus the progressive form.

Or I can't help but blah, blah, blah.

So some examples can't help but laugh or can't help laughing.

I can't help but feel and can't help feeling, or I can't help but look or can't help looking.

So there's not really a difference in meaning between present tense and the progressive tense there.

But I would say, personally, I feel that that can't help but present tense sounds a little bit more formal.

So I hope that this helps you understand the meaning of this can't help.

Plus the progressive form of over Thanks very much for the question.

Okay, let's move on to your next question.

Next question comes from Kee.

Hi, Kitty.

Kitty says hi.

What is the difference between half, two and must.

All right must is used for official rules and strong advice.

Very strong personal advice.

So for official rules you might see in the airport, passengers must show their passports to immigration or for strong advice.

A doctor might say to a patient, You must stop smoking or you're going to die.

So in these very serious official situations, Must sounds very appropriate.

Must sounds too official for everyday speech.

We don't use it so much for giving advice or for talking about rules in everyday speech, however, you might see it in something like your company's rules, like your corporate policy, like employees must wear business shirts, toe work, for example.

Let's compare this than to have to.

We use half due to talk about our responsibilities, and we also use half to to talk about friendly advice or rather, to give friendly advice.

That also sounds a bit strong.

For example, you have to try this desert.

It's so good or I have to go to the bank today, so have to for advice.

Sounds friendly and strong, but it's not used for very serious things, like we did with must so please keep this in mind when you're choosing between these two.

Also, if you would like some more information about half two and must there is a live stream about this exact topic on the channel.

So please check out our channel archives for some more information about this.

There is also a white board about this topic coming up soon, so please keep an eye out for that too.

I hope that this quick introduction helps you indefinitely check out the other Resource is on our channel.

Thanks very much for the question.

Okay.

That is everything that I have for this week.

Thank you.

As always for sending your questions.

Remember, you can send them to me in English class window one dot com slash ask hyphen.

Alicia, Of course, if you like this lesson, please, please, please don't forget to give it a thumb's up.

Subscribe to our channel if you haven't already and check us out in English class 121 dot com For some other things that can help you with your English studies.

Thanks very much for watching this week's episode of Ask Alicia and I will See you again next week I am.

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