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  • Hi again. Welcome to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam. Nice to see you again. Today, I want to talk

  • about a topic that is a little bit unusual. Everybody thinks that English is all about

  • vocabulary, or grammar, or punctuation, things like that.

  • There's little things, too, that you need to worry about, and people often ask me about

  • these things in particular: ", and so on", "etc.", "...", three dots, sometimes four,

  • I'll explain, "blah, blah, blah", and "blah". Okay? Not everyday stuff. I mean, every day,

  • you're going to see it all the time, but this is not something that ESL teachers will teach

  • you, it's not something that you will really learn in books, so here it is; I'm going to

  • explain it to you. Okay?

  • First, "and so on". First of all, notice I put a comma before it. Why? Because this will

  • always come at the end of a sentence or after a list of some sort. Okay? When we put ", and

  • so on", we mean: and we continue with the same examples. Right? So you ask me: what

  • kind of foods do I like? Well, I like pizza, I like hamburgers, I like fish and chips,

  • you know, and so on. What does that ", and so on" mean? Does that mean that I like egg

  • white only omelettes with like asparagus and broccoli? No. Why? Because I listed hamburger,

  • junk food; pizza, junk food; fish and chips, junk food. So when I say: ", and so on" means

  • and more examples like the ones I just said. Right? So it's very important to remember.

  • Many of my students, they just throw ", and so on" all the time. Talking, talking, talking,

  • "and so on". And so on, what? I don't understand. Right? So you have to be careful. This has

  • a very specific use. You're continuing the same list or the same idea.

  • Next: "etc." Usually, you will see it like this: "etc." Now, how to pronounce. This is

  • the actual word when you open it up: "etcetera". Now, some native speakers will say: "et-cet-era",

  • "etcetera". Most will say: "ek-se-chra". That's what it sounds like when most native speakers

  • say it. "Etcetera". Correct, "etcetera", but both are acceptable. Now, what does etcetera

  • mean? It means: "and so on". It means the exact same thing as "and so on". Again, you're

  • continuing the list that was started before. Right? Now, people often ask: how do I use

  • it in writing? Usually, you can... If it comes at the end of a sentence, you put the period,

  • that's it. But if it comes in the middle of the sentence... So: "I like pizza, I like

  • hamburgers, fish and chips, etc., but I also like..." etc. There you go. So I'm writing

  • whatever I write, whatever I write, etc., but I also like other things. Right? So, it's

  • a little bit confusing, you got period and a comma. The period goes for the shortened;

  • the comma goes for the sentence. Okay? Not that important, but if you want to write it

  • correctly, that's how you do it.

  • Next, we have three dots. These are called ellipses. You don't necessarily need to know

  • this word "ellipses", but just understand that it's referring to this. What does three

  • dots means? "And so on". Same idea. Right? But this is... Usually, you see this in writing.

  • Instead of writing three words, you just put three dots, because it's easier, people understand

  • it. But also remember sometimes it's used just as a pause. Okay? So, person "A" says:

  • "Well..., I think..." You ask: "What do you think about climate change?" for example.

  • "Well..." I'm thinking, thinking, thinking; dot, dot, dot. "I think that..." Etcetera.

  • Now, "And so on" means... "And so on" means the idea is going to continue. Okay? I'm about

  • to give you my opinion. Right? This is in writing. Some people will actually say: "Dot,

  • dot, dot", but they're trying to be dramatic or cool. If you saw the movie Trainspotting,

  • you heard it there, "dot, dot, dot". Very dramatic scene. I liked it. Okay? But basically

  • so far, all more or less the same idea.

  • Now, you get into: "blah, blah, blah". First of all, don't ever write this. Very, very,

  • very casual. This is usually for spoken English. What does it mean? It also means "and so on",

  • but because the conversation is not interesting. Okay? My friend, Harry, he came over to my

  • house and he started telling me about his kids, blah, blah, blah. And then we went out

  • to watch the hockey game at the bar. Why did I put "blah, blah, blah" after his kids? Because

  • I don't care. I don't have kids. It's not interesting for me. So, here's the story,

  • I'm making it very short because it's not really interesting. Right? So he started talking

  • about his kids, blah, blah, blah. Time passed by. And so on, his kids, his life, his toys,

  • his kids' toys. I don't know. I don't have kids, again, remember. Blah, blah, blah, and

  • then the important part: we went to watch the hockey game. So, I'm skipping all the

  • not interesting conversation by putting in: "blah, blah, blah".

  • But sometimes we use the word "blah" only one; not three. Here, three means and so on.

  • One has a very different meaning. "Blah". You see how I'm saying it? "Blah". -"How do

  • you feel today?" -"Blah. Not so good." -"How's the steak?" -"Blah." Means not much flavour,

  • a little bit bland. -"How's the weather?" -"Blah." It's like raining and cold, and not

  • so nice. So, basically, any time you want to say something negative about something,

  • just say: "Blah." But you have to say it like this: "Blah." It's like coming out of your

  • mouth and you don't want it to, but it has to come out. Right? That's why it doesn't

  • feel good. It's almost like a sickness.

  • So, there we have it. ", and so on", "etc.", "...", especially for writing, "blah, blah,

  • blah", to skip the not interesting part, and: "blah". Now, I hope that this lesson wasn't

  • blah, but that's up to you to decide. If you want to practice a little bit more on these

  • things, go to www.engvid.com. There's a quiz there. If you're watching on YouTube, A) subscribe

  • to my channel, B) go to www.engvid.com and practice these things. And lastly, if you

  • have any questions, write them in the comments section and I will get back to you. Okay?

  • Thank you very much. See you later.

Hi again. Welcome to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam. Nice to see you again. Today, I want to talk

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B1 中級

寫作 - 如何使用ETC.,等等,...... (Writing - How to use ETC., AND SO ON, ...)

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    Sam 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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