fancy but I'm getting used to this view of it  like you know in my face but that's a good stuff  

that's good stuff the best quality sound for our  listeners and fantastic Michelle yeah I mean so  

Michelle you know tell me a little bit about  your neighborhood you know if you walk along  

your street what do you see in your neighborhood  in New York okay so if I walk along my street  

I will see lots of buildings um there's an  Italian restaurant there's a grocery store  

um very useful convenient things what about  you what do you if you walk along your street  

what do you say oh if I walk along my street if  I walk out there along the street I can see the  

park which I love that I love being so close to  the park there's a coffee shop down the street  

although it is a little bit overpriced I'm  not gonna lie yeah um and then there's a bar  

next to that and uh there is there's apartment  buildings and houses but it's pretty Suburban  

Urban I would say my neighborhood is yeah so  yeah yeah yeah that's good that's good well we  

are going to be talking about this word along  today because we had a listener ask a question  

um this is a really good question this is a super  important word so this is kind of a little bit of  

a grammar episode today focusing on the word along  I know I'm excited because I think our listeners  

you know this is one of those words that brings  English together you know what I mean it brings  

other important ideas together to make a cohesive  statement so you guys need this so we're gonna  

listen in today for sure all right love it all  right go ahead Lindsay all right so here's the  

question from The Listener The Listener says best  podcast ever can you make an episode about the  

word along it's very confusing to me I don't know  how to use it this is from Julio e3274 from the US  

good question right Michelle is a great question  yeah this is a good kind of grammar question like  

I said so we're going to talk through a few ways  that it's used there are actually tons of ways  

listed in the dictionary so but guys we kind of  like to focus a little bit right we don't we don't  

want to get too confused we're going to focus on  just a couple to get us started and we can always  

do a follow-up like we said so the example that  I gave in the beginning we were talking about if  

you walk along your street what do you see so this  is along as a preposition right and that's going  

to be our Focus for today and again like I said we  can do other follow-ups so okay in the dictionary  

um Merriam-Webster says one of the definitions is  walking is sorry in a line matching the length or  

direction of so like walking along the road  right Lindsay yeah so when I hear a long I  

think of definitely a direction and when we  think of it as a preposition as we're talking  

about now guys I think of it as kind of tracing  something following something right right just  

following that road so if I say I'm walking  along the water it what does it mean Michelle  

exactly when I say that am I walking on top of  the water no no no I'm walking like beside it  

like the length of the water or or the width  of the water I guess exactly exactly a little  

stroll by the river right Michelle walking  along the river do you like to walk along the  

if I can there's not a ton of water out here  unfortunately in Colorado that's one thing all  

the lakes are fake they're all reservoirs uh and  I always say when I see a lake I'll say oh it's  

a fake Lake again you know but there's a lot  of mountains so that makes up plenty of nature  

right exactly well for me I walk along the Hudson  River oh um and you know there are beautiful views  

um and so I like to do that although the Hudson  river is pretty yucky oh yeah I mean any City  

River Rochelle is definitely the Charles River  when I lived in Boston it was known especially  

in the 70s and 80s for being really dirty really  dirty oh is that right oh yeah yeah not not great  

uh the rivers but um but you can walk along them  and kind of have a nice have a nice time and it's  

peaceful and so that's good um and then also the  dictionary mentioned there's at a point or a point  

on so for example they said a house along the  river so I might say to you like let's say Lindsay  

you were talking about that coffee shop that's a  long you know your street yeah I could say to you  

oh are there any coffee shops along your street  like let's say I'm visiting you we're hanging  

out and I'm like oh I need a coffee are there  any coffee shops along along this street right  

right I love that yeah it's true it might seem  confusing guys but really it makes sense right  

imagine I'm walking along 5th Street and there  is a coffee shop right so it goes It goes along  

with that same idea of following a line following  a street right right right and then what's one  

more uh definition Lindsay that okay here's  another great one for our listeners in the course  

of so this means making stops along the way right  in the course of something right okay so yeah so  

this is really useful so this is I think good  for road trips or asking directions okay so for  

example um I feel like this one is pretty common  if I say to you I'm sure there will be a bathroom  

along the way but maybe we should go before we  head out right so that means somewhere on our  

way during our journey there will be a bathroom  along the way it's it's a little bit vague right  

Michelle when I say that where is it going to be  I don't know we don't no just yeah at some point  

right it will happen yeah and we know guys this  could be a little confusing so we have lots of  

examples for our listeners today don't we Michelle  yes absolutely so we're gonna focus on this one  

and do some more examples for you and yeah good  stuff we're going to get to those examples in  

just a second okay Michelle all right let's get  into those examples here we go a little role  

plays here all right here we go all right Michelle  where are you I'm driving along First Street have  

you seen that beautiful new building oh yes it is  amazing okay so that really holds up for our rule  

here Michelle writes the idea I'm following First  Street I'm kind of parallel or I'm on First Street  

I'm following it right right right right right  right exactly um okay the next one here we go  

uh there was a store along that street over there  oh should we stop in yes good so a store along the  

street so could you also have said Michelle there  was a store on that street over there does that  

make sense to you yeah you could say oh there's  a store on that street yeah um how do you think  

those two things are different or is there yeah  that's a good question a store along that street  

hmm I think they're pretty similar in this case  I can't really think of much of a difference can  

you I don't think so sometimes I think you know we  want to try and find a difference we work really  

hard to find it and then it's like it's not there  it's mostly fine yeah there might be times when  

one might sound slightly better than the other  but I don't think sometimes I think it's easy  

to just get confused if we search too much like oh  yeah it has to be an answer um um I think they're  

both good okay then we'll go with that for our  listeners I love it let's go for the next example  

here we go I've made many mistakes along the way  but I try my best to learn from each one same here  

so here what's the feeling the feeling is kind  of along the way what is the way right in the  

course of something right so that goes to that  definition in the course of right right um it's  

not uh like it's more um it's more of an idea  right these mistakes right necessarily that like  

more so than when we talk about like a bathroom  along the way like probably about it you know  

so I think this is also kind of a chunk I think  along the way along the way right and when I say  

that in that context of that example I think about  maybe I'm talking about my career right along the  

way during my career or during my lifetime it's a  particular period of time in which you were doing  

something right right yes yes exactly exactly so  uh do we have time for a couple of conversations  

of course we do Michelle we have time we have  time let's go for it all right well we were  

already talking about the water like the like a  river but what about the beach do you like to walk  

along the beach like when you I know I feel like  I know you're more of a beach person than the pool  

person but oh yeah walk or run along the beach I  do running on the beach is really hard or running  

along the beach also can say that is really hard  but I like to take you know Sunset walks along the  

beach very romantic so so yes I like that what  about you Michelle are you that kind of person  

um I do yeah I like well you know I don't really  like to sit at the beach for too long so right but  

I like to walk along it and yes like I got bored  sitting on the beach for for such a long time but  

I'll walk along the beach and I do like that  especially like you said at Sunset that's nice  

yeah it's fun especially like I'm sure with your  kids if you take them to the beach and they're  

always like you know playing in the waves and then  you know the water comes up and they scream and  

then they run out it's just fun you know being  on the beach is fun yeah yeah yeah definitely  

okay next question is there a favorite store  you have along your street I know you have an  

expensive coffee shop but is there some store or  another kind of shop oh a favorite store there is  

a sandwich shop that I really like called snarfs  and that is actually not along my street but it's  

along a different street which is a few streets  down and they have just local sandwiches you know  

what I mean like burgers veggie burgers sandwiches  I love a good sandwich Michelle yeah oh me too me  

too um and for me oh gosh I'm trying to think  of like my favorite places in my neighborhood  

um I I mean I do like that Italian restaurant um  and then um I mean there's just so much there's a  

good toy store that I take my my son too yeah  okay all right that's cool is that along your  

street or is that kind of in another part  of the neighborhood it's in another part  

of the neighborhood I'll be honest it's  not along my street but it's very close

um and then the last one what are some things  you've learned along the way in your work life  

or personal life oh my gosh big question Michelle  this is a deep one this is a deep one well what  

I've learned at work is that you don't always  need to know the end plan like you don't need  

to know five steps ahead all you need to know is  the next best thing to do right now I think the  

way my mind works is that I force myself to sit  down and figure out the whole plan before I take  

action which is just a form of procrastination  actually yeah oh interesting oh you think so oh  

yes no question I know so Michelle I know that  I would much rather sit down and plan everything  

out have a whole white board with intense plans or  detailed detail plans that go out to 2024 but it's  

harder it's easier to do that than it is to take  that first step on the plan so in 2023 I'm going  

to be taking more action right and less planning  nice well that's that's a really interesting  

thing I never heard anybody describe like planning  like intense plan procrastination procrastination  

oh for sure yeah and procrastination it hides in  unlikely places for me I bet our listeners will  

feel this right it hides in list making it hides  in doing the easy little things but not eating  

the Frog meaning not doing the big thing the thing  that's hard but that you will move things forward  

it hides in places I work really hard I work a  lot but I do procrastinate at the same time right  

so it's really interesting procrastination I think  yeah I had never thought about it like that and oh  

yeah the Frog I've never heard that before that's  an expression in business that I've heard a few  

times it means when you first wake up right eat  the Frog do the thing that is the hardest thing  

on your list but it's the thing you know you need  to do to move things forward in your career your  

business no one wants to eat the Frog but you  eat it first and then you build that momentum  

you keep go you feel really good throughout the  day it kind of reminds me of the expression to  

bite the bullet and it'll kind of kind of I mean  maybe see how it's different but like you know  

yeah bonus expressions for our listeners it's  gonna be yeah this is going to be about this  

expression for sure for sure um well anyway um  yeah I any takeaways Lindsay for our listeners  

I think that kind of wraps it up but this  is a great question yeah this is a great  

question guys don't get intimidated when  it comes to prepositions like a long you  

know it's really not you know we've shown you  some things that sound that seem about the same  

like on on my street along my street in many  situations those could mean the same thing so  

don't get wrapped up in the paralysis of when  to choose along just go with the general idea  

of what we're trying to say I love that I love  it yes okay well that was good we'll leave it  

there thanks to our listener again for that  question and thanks for hanging out Lindsay  

all right guys don't forget to go ahead and hit  follow hit that follow button on allers English  

Apple podcast Spotify or if you like YouTube this  episode is on YouTube today so we'll see you guys  

over there good stuff Michelle I'll talk to you  soon all right bye Lindsay bye foreign [Music]