and I'm back with a new lesson

on the usage of words like under

below, beneath and underneath.

Well all these words sound quite similar don't they?

Well, they do and yeah their meanings are quite similar

but they are used in quite different context.

Now what is all these three words mean?

When I refer to words like under

below beneath and underneath,

I'm talking about you know

I'm referring to things that are you know down in the downward position

So, of course when I talk about under below, I'm talking but anything that is

down there, but let's see where we can use these words

and in how many context we can use it in.

Okay, the first one is the word under.

Now the first context in which you will use the word

under, is to talk about something

that is below a three dimensional object

So we have an example, the sentence which is

They sat under a tree. Now, I remember I said

below a three-dimensional object

So anything under a three-dimensional object like a tree, for example

then I use the word under. So if I want to say

me and my friend we sat under

a tree, which is a three-dimensional object,

then I use the word under. For example I could have

a three dimensional object like a table, I can say that

the book was under the table

or I could say that the cat was sleeping under

the chair, the chair again being a three-dimensional object.

Now I can also use the word under

when I want to talk about layers of something

So, if

I want to say that you know something is under a layer,

so for example I have a sentence like, I have a T-shirt

under my jacket. So this is a shirt

now imagine if I was wearing a jacket on top of it,

I could say that I have a shirt

under my jacket because I'm talking about.

layers of something. Okay, so

we use under also when we're talking about layers

and then I could say I could use under

also when I'm talking about numbers so I will say

I can raise under fifteen thousand dollars

or I can do it under seven hours

So, if I'm talking about time which is also numbers,

money which is again numbers

I will use the word under okay so

I was under-17 when I learned to drive

that's again when you use the word under and

the last context where you use the word under

is to talk about a state of mental

well-being or ill being, so it talks about your

mental state. So I can say that

this group is under a lot of stress.

Now my mental state in this case

is stress. I can say that I was under

a lot of pressure. So

we're talking about a mental state and that is when I use the word

under. So here please notice that unlike

these, the under used out here

is talking about a mental situation,

a mental state and not a physical state like these three sentences are.

Okay now we will deal with the next word

which is below and see what contexts they can be used in.

As I said the word below can also be used

in different contexts, so let's see the different

ways in which we can use the word below.

Let's look up our first sentence which is,

the red photo is below

the black one. Now why do I use

below in this context? I'll help you understand this

by means of a diagram

Okay, now imagine this is my wall or

a blackboard if you may, on now this context

in which I use below the talks about

comparing the level of one thing

against the other, provided

both of them are on the same plane.

Okay so as I said imagine that

this is my blackboard or maybe this is my

wall this square out here, okay.

so I will draw a red photo

okay, and now we will have a black photo

okay well it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out

which one is up there and which one is down. The sentence says that,

the red photo is below

the black one and that it's true but why do I use the word below and not

under because I'm talking about

two things which are on one plane

surface, so if both the photos were

on the blackboard, I would say the red photo is below

the black one. If this was on

a wall I would again say the red

photo is below the black one, but

suppose I have a table here and

the black photo is somewhere here, but

the red photo is lying somewhere here.

Could I say the red photo is below

the black one? No! I will then use the word

under because when I explained under,

I clearly mentioeds that anything that is

you know under a three-dimensional

object, will always have an under

used in it. But when I'm talking about

a plane surface and I'm comparing the levels of two things,

it is always the word below.

okay then let's move on to

the next sentence which is, the temperature

has dropped below freezing point.

So here again I use the word below when I want to talk about

the level of temperature

so

I've talked about the level of temperature being below freezing point

Maybe I want to talk about level, the sea level.

So I can say that the diver

went a hundred feet below sea level

that's quite possible, I could also talk about

you know the level of altitude.

So i can

that, that is the height, of course and I can say the plane lost control

and went immediately 100 feet you know

below 100 altitude

so i'm talking about here the level of temperature, the sea level

and level of altitude

and then you have the last context where you use below

when I talk about thing that are mentioned

later. So let's see

a sentence which is, read the instructions

below, not under. Read the instructions below

before you start. Now when I say

I use the word below when I'm talking about things that happen

later or a mention later I am saying that

I use below because I know there are certain things that I need to

you know consider, certain things that I need to

read before I start my next

action. So maybe I'm sitting in an exam

and I've got to write you know give the exam

but I need to consider things are mentioned

at you know a later stage, so before I start my exam

I have to read the instructions which are mentioned

after you know a page or maybe after two pages

before I start doing something okay

So now that we have learned below, let's talk about the other two words which are

beneath and underneath. Alright now let's look at the last two pair of words

which is beneath and underneath and see how they are used.

The first sentence says,

they slept beneath the blankets.

So, the first context in which I use the word

beneath is talking about being

covered by something.

so now

you are sleeping beneath the blankets, so what I'm actually saying is,

I am being covered by the blankets.

maybe I could also say that she hid

beneath the water. She was beneath

the surface of the water. So I wanted to hide from somebody looking at me

I wanted to be covered by the surface of the water so I

I just go dip in and I'm covered by the surface of water.

So, that is nothing but being covered by something.

Moving onto the next context, we talk about using the word

beneath, when we are talking about

a person's emotions,

a person's feelings

or maybe their actions.

So a sentence like this which goes, beneath

it all, he still loves her. So maybe

we're talking about a couple who you know gets into a lot

arguments, a lot of petty fights but beneath that

all which means beneath all the emotions, the feelings, the drama

they still love each other. So we are talking about beneath because we're talking

about a person's

feelings, his emotions and all the drama in between

and then you have a sentence like she treats people

as if they are been meet her.

Now here the word beneath talks about

people of

a low social position

or someone you want to talk about when you find them very disgusting.

I could say something like, the guy is offensive he is completely beneath me.

That is a very high handed way of saying it, but we talk about

people being beneath us when we're talking about people

who have a low social position compared to us, and we talk about people who we

don't like, we find very disgusting very offensive.

So apparently she, somebody, treats people

as if they are beneath her, so that's how the word beneath

is used in the three main ways and then the last word

underneath is simply an exaggeration

of the word under, so it is the word

under, but it is exaggerated,

which means I could use underneath and under

you know I can replace them with one another, but why do I use the word

underneath? You know sometimes

a sentence like, the ball was underneath the sofa.

Could I say the ball was under the sofa?

Yes I could because we're talking about three-dimensional

objects, so when I talk about. three-dimensional objects

you know that I can use the word under but

underneath is more exaggerated because I want to give

you know, more expression

or you know just emote or you not talk about it

in a more casual way so an emoted way,

an emotive way of saying something, so maybe I was looking for the ball

all over and then I find it underneath the sofa,so to somebody

asks me,

"Where did you find the ball?" I said, "The ball was underneath the sofa." So I'm

saying that

in a more exaggerated way and therefore I use the word

underneath instead of under because under is also fine.

So that's it for the lesson on

the usage of the word under below underneath and beneath

I hope you found it very useful

Do drop in your comments. I'll be back with some more lessons, until then this

me saying goodbye.

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