Today we're gonna talk about a mistake in English language that I still make,

that you make like every English language learner makes it a lot because it's an easy mistake to make.

And this is when we use the word very too many times when we talk.

So if you're interested, how to get rid of this mistake, please continue watching this video.

Very itself is a very weak word because it doesn't add any extra sense.

Very tired, very beautiful, very nice.

It just magnifies the adjective that you're using, but it doesn't add anything extra and it's just taking out your space.

Very, very, very bad, bad.

And when you're writing an essay for your university, for example, you're normally limited to like 500 words.

And if you use very in every single sentence, then you're taking a lot of space out of your essay and it doesn't make your speech look too professional because again, you're using very simple vocabulary.

So this video is going to help you get rid of the word very.

Very.

Before we start, just compare these two sentences.

I am wearing a lot of layers today because it's very cold outside.

I am wearing a lot of layers today because it's freezing outside.

You see how different two sentences are?

Feezing.

By the way, when you want to describe what you're wearing on a cold day, Americans and British people would normally say, "I'm wearing a lot of layers,"

meaning that you're wearing a T-shirt, then a sweater, then maybe another sweater and then a coat and then a scarf.

And I wear four layers of petticoat.

So you're wearing a lot of layers and just, you notice that emotional color that my sentence gets when I'm using freezing instead of very cold.

He's freezing.

And I'm gonna give you some examples for other phrases that you use.

The most used phrase in every single ESL students speech is a very good.

This is a very good class. This is a very good dress.

This is a very good city.

Now, how can we replace it?

Instead of saying very good, you can say it's splendid.

Splendid

It's great.

It's great.

It's terrific.

It's terrific.

You can also say it's lit, the party was lit.

Is it lit?

And this is a spoken English word, so don't use it in essays.

But in America, it's very widely used, especially among young people.

Your grades are excellent.

Excellent.

This movie is brilliant.

This is absolutely brilliant.

This is a wonderful job.

Wonderful job on Russia Brock.

You see how many emotions I'm adding when I placed very with a stronger adjective.

Another example, here in America, especially in San Francisco, people love dogs and I think the city has more dogs than children.

And whenever I walk outside I meet a cute dog and all of the dogs are really well-trained.

So, they would approach you and jump on you and lick you and I would always say, "Your dog is very cute."

And I'm tired of this phrase myself because this is like a really limited vocabulary.

And there are so many words that I can use instead.

For instance, this is also like for me guys right now because I really want to get rid of this very cute phrase.

I can say, "Your dog is adorable."

Adorable

I can also use the word admirable.

Admirable

And I can also say your dog is lovely.

Lovely.

Instead of saying very cute all the time.

The only situation when I allow myself to say very is when I'm training to sounds v and w.

Sometimes when I speak too fast, I just stop concentrating on the way I'm pronouncing sounds.

And it is really important for me because I still have this accent for my native language.

So after taking uh our intensive course in American pronunciation, I told myself, "Marina, you're gonna concentrate on these two sounds."

By the way, if you want to take the course, the link will be below and this is the best course in American accent I've ever taken and it's really helpful and you can see my progress, right.

So again, very weak.

He's very weak.

Right, I'm training these two sounds.

I have a very wide circle.

Very warm.

It's very warm in here.

Try them like pause this video right now and try saying them really fast.

Very weak, very white, very warm and just train your mouth to do the right sounds to produce the right sounds.

And this is what the course is about.

We talk about different sounds and how to pronounce them, like where to put your tongue and how to open your mouth.

Something that I also use very often when I'm in Russia.

Very cold.

As we've already mentioned, we can substitute with freezing.

Freezing outside.

We can say it's chilly outside.

It's chilly.

We can say it's frosty.

Frosty.

And we can also say, for example, Russia is as cold as ice.

And cold as ice.

Meaning that Russia is really, really cold.

When you are tired, instead of saying very tired, you can say exhausted.

I'm exhausted. - Exhausted?

You can say sleepy.

Sleepy.

You can say distressed.

Distressed, right?

And if you want to say that something is very clean, you can say spotless.

Spotless.

You see how my speech is improving when I'm replacing the word very and how it adds more details.

You actually use less words, but you express more thoughts with just one word if you're stuck right now and if you're like, oh, but how do I say very beautiful?

I forgot this word that Marina mentioned.

I forgot the synonym.

There is another tip for you.

You can still use the word beautiful, but you can replace very with other words like extremely, extremely beautiful.

He was looking extremely beautiful.

Highly, highly competitive,

Highly competitive.

Awfully, awfully cold.

It's awfully cold.

Super, which is also like very spoken, super friendly, super nice, super cute.

Super cute.

Terribly, terribly nice.

This can be both negative and positive; terribly nice, terribly hot.

Terribly nice guy.

Unusually, unusually smart, usually beautiful.

Unusually hot.

So there are many ways you can diversify your speech and my task to you, your homework is to write down a comment below with very plus something and replace this with just one word.

This is a great task for you guys because when you are learning something new, it's not enough to just listen to it.

It's also very important to do something with your hands.

So your brain remembers what's the right way.

I hope this video was useful for you guys.

If you wanna train your American accent, just like I did.

The link will be below.

Please join the course.

It's, it will be like one of the best courses you've taken.

Uh And this is the course that uh my friend and I created together.

If you're not yet subscribe to this channel, hit subscribe button here right here, the red one.

And if you enjoyed this content like this video, I'm looking forward to getting your comments guys and I'm looking forward to seeing you on our intensive class.

Thank you so much and see you very soon.

Bye bye.