From Common Grammar Mistakes to GTA 5 Slang: Every Day or Everyday, For or Since, and “You Know the Drill” (Live Lesson)

Every day (two words)

• Alex: Today: the key differences between <mark>every day</mark> as one word and <mark>every day</mark> as two words. Most learners, and even native speakers, mix them up.
• Alex: Every day, two words, is a phrase that answers the question <mark>how often</mark> something happens. It functions as an <mark>adverb</mark>.
• Alex: For example: I drink tea every day. That’s a true example in my case!
• Alex: A quick test: check if you can <mark>swap</mark> every day with <mark>each day</mark>. I drink tea each day.

Everyday (one word)

• Alex: This is my <mark>everyday scarf</mark>. These are my everyday clothes.
• Alex: In this case it means <mark>ordinary</mark>, and the question it answers is <mark>what kind</mark>: special or ordinary?
• Alex: Everyday, one word, is an <mark>adjective</mark>: a describing word. In “my everyday shoes”, it describes the noun <i>shoes</i>.
• Alex: An <mark>everyday problem</mark> is a problem you face on a daily basis. It’s common, usual, typical.

Stress and position

• Alex: When you say <mark>every DAY</mark>, the stress usually goes on <mark>day</mark>. I go to the park every day.
• Alex: But we say an <mark>EVERYday problem</mark>: the stress goes on the first part.
• Alex: Every day, two words, usually appears at the <mark>beginning</mark> or at the <mark>end</mark> of a sentence.
• Alex: Everyday, one word, we find right <mark>before a noun</mark>. Always.
• Alex: An example from YouGlish: “The dad <mark>commutes</mark> into London every day.”
• Alex: To <mark>commute</mark> is to travel to and from work or school.

Everything went pear-shaped

• Alex: Sorry guys, I’ve just had an accident with my phone camera. I knew this was going to happen someday!
• Alex: This is an <mark>unexpected problem</mark>, not an everyday problem!
• Alex: This is definitely not something that happens <mark>every day</mark>. Two words: each day.
• Alex: Everything went <mark>pear-shaped</mark>. Do you know that expression?
• Alex: If a plan <mark>goes pear-shaped</mark>, it fails.

Look forward to + -ing

• Alex: I’m looking forward to… This is a very common mistake.
• Alex: This is a very common expression used at the end of an <mark>email</mark> or a letter: I’m looking forward to <mark>hear</mark> or <mark>hearing</mark> from you?
• Alex: “I look forward to <mark>hearing</mark> from you soon.” The correct option is <mark>hearing</mark>.
• Alex: Why? Because <mark>to</mark> here is a <mark>preposition</mark>. After look forward to, a verb needs <mark>-ing</mark>: I look forward to working with you.

To or because?

• Alex: I study English for <mark>get</mark> or <mark>getting</mark> a job?
• Alex: I study English <mark>to get</mark> a job. To <mark>swap</mark> is to exchange. Here, <i>to</i> means <mark>in order to</mark>: it implies purpose.
• Alex: To is used to talk about <mark>purpose</mark>. <mark>Because</mark> introduces a <mark>reason</mark>.
• Alex: To introduce a <mark>clause</mark>, we use because. To introduce a <mark>verb</mark>, we use to. I want to study English because I want to get a better job.
• Alex: Did you know the saying <mark>practice makes perfect</mark>? The more you practise, the better you get at something.
• Alex: We say: I went to the park <mark>to relax</mark>.

For or since?

• Alex: The differences between <mark>for</mark> and <mark>since</mark>. When do we use them? I’ve been living in London… two years.
• Alex: This is one of the most <mark>googled</mark> grammar questions on the internet!
• Alex: 2010 and yesterday have something in common: both are <mark>specific points in the past</mark>. So we use <mark>since</mark>.
• Alex: With since, we can <mark>pinpoint</mark> them on a calendar.
• Alex: So: I’ve been looking forward to <mark>meeting</mark> you <mark>for</mark> a very long time.
• Alex: <mark>Two years</mark> refers to a <mark>period of time</mark>, so we use <mark>for</mark>. We use since when a point in the past comes right after it.

Present perfect: started in the past, still true now

• Alex: We use the <mark>present perfect simple</mark> to talk about actions, events or states that started at some point in the past and continue up to the present.
• Alex: Another example: “Oh no. <mark>I’ve lost my wallet</mark>.”
• Alex: We’re not concerned with <mark>when</mark> it happened, but with the <mark>consequences</mark>.

Knackered and beside vs besides

• Alex: I’m a bit <mark>knackered</mark> at this point, because I’ve been doing a live stream for quite some time.
• Alex: The man <mark>beside</mark> me. In that case you can replace beside by <mark>next to</mark>.
• Alex: Do you teach anything <mark>besides</mark> English? That means <mark>apart from</mark> English.
• Alex: To be <mark>fed up</mark> with something means that you’re tired of something.

Arrive in or arrive at?

• Alex: I arrived <mark>at</mark> or <mark>in</mark> the party an hour ago?
• Alex: When you say I arrived <mark>in London</mark>, I arrived <mark>in Italy</mark>: cities and countries take <mark>in</mark>.
• Alex: I arrived <mark>at the party</mark> an hour ago. For a specific place, smaller than a city or a country, we say <mark>at</mark>.

GTA V: the jewellery store heist

• Game: Now, we all know why we’re here. We’ve got a <mark>store to take</mark>. The plan is simple, <mark>elegant</mark>.
• Game: Listen to Lester. Pay attention to the information he gives you, and we’ll all <mark>make a buck</mark>.
• Game: Things go bad, <mark>you know the drill</mark>. This wasn’t organised. We don’t know each other. We <mark>got caught up in</mark> a robbery and acted in self-defence.
• Game: The alarm system is easy. Now, if I didn’t need to be running things, I could have it offline myself, no problem.
• Game: But you should be able to get us a <mark>pretty decent window</mark>. How decent depends on the job you do.
• Game: We should be able to <mark>drop a present</mark> right through the air vent on the roof. Everybody goes to sleep.
• Game: No problem. We take our time. If we <mark>run into trouble</mark>, we move quickly and <mark>with force</mark>.

Breaking down the heist slang

• Alex: This scene takes place just before the Vangelico jewellery <mark>heist</mark>. The team’s dressed as pest control, and Michael’s explaining the plan.
• Alex: To <mark>take a store</mark> is a very informal, slangy way of saying <mark>rob a store</mark>.
• Alex: <mark>Elegant</mark> usually means graceful or stylish. But here it’s <mark>ironic</mark>: clean and efficient.
• Alex: <mark>Make a buck</mark>: make money. In the UK, you might hear <mark>make a few quid</mark>.
• Alex: If you <mark>know the drill</mark>, it means you know how this goes: you know the procedure, you know what to do.
• Alex: To <mark>get caught up</mark> in something means to be <mark>unintentionally involved</mark>. I got caught up in the drama at work.
• Alex: <mark>Decent</mark> here means good enough or reasonable. And a <mark>window</mark> is a short opportunity of time.
• Alex: <mark>Drop a present</mark>: this is slang for throwing in some gas or a bomb.
• Alex: <mark>Everybody goes to sleep</mark> is a <mark>euphemism</mark>. They’re knocking everyone out with gas, not literally tucking them into bed with a bedtime story!
• Alex: To <mark>move with force</mark>: aggressively, using power or violence.

Conditionals in the scene

• Alex: In terms of grammar: “<mark>If we run into trouble, we move</mark> quickly and with force.”
• Alex: In this scene we mainly addressed the <mark>conditional sentences</mark>: the first and the second conditionals.