PART ll: Use these 20 VERBS to be more CONCISE in English! It's not always about speaking faster...

Hi everyone! I'm Arnel, and in today's lesson I'm going to teach you 20 verbs you can use

to be more concise. Concise means what you say or what you write is short and clear, you don't

use a lot of unnecessary words. This lesson is part two in my series. I'll leave the link

to my first video down below so you can watch it if you haven't already. And don't worry, you

don't need to watch the first video before you watch this video. The verbs in these lessons are

completely separate. Are the verbs today formal or informal? Well, they're neutral. You can use

them when you're speaking in any conversation and in your writing, including academic writing -

no problem. Well 20, that's a lot, here's what we're gonna do. After every four verbs I have

a little gap fill for you to complete. You can complete the gap fill and then listen and check.

Can you let me know in the comments how you did on the gap fills? Did you get 20 correct

out of 20? Maybe 12 out of 20? Let me know. And at the the very end of this lesson I have 20

discussion questions you can use to practice what you learned today. Practice with a friend,

a speaking partner, no excuses. Well, let's start with number one number, one: I have a new apartment

but it's empty. There's no furniture. I need to put furniture in my new apartment. I need to

furnish my new apartment. Furnish, furnish. And in this lesson you can see circles above the

verbs. The circles represent the word stress. So we say furnish, furnish. We don't say furn-ish.

And the first example I gave you is correct. But in today's lesson we're working on being

concise. We plan to furnish our new office with workstations and colors to match our

brand. I don't like the way they furnished their living room, it looks so

depressing. Number two: I was tired of the way my living room looked. So I decided to make it

look new again by cleaning, painting, and buying new things. I decided to refurbish my

living room. Refurbish, refurbish. When we refurbish a room or a building we try to

make it look new again by cleaning it, painting it, buying new things. My husband and I are saving

money to refurbish our master bathroom. I cook a lot, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so

I hired an interior decorator to help me refurbish my kitchen. I wanted it to look

more modern. Three: I keep my winter clothes in one place for a long time to use in the

future. I store my winter clothes. Store, store. And normally we say where we store things. I store my

winter clothes in a big suitcase in the attic. I don't have much space to store things in my tiny

apartment. Thousands of family photos are stored on this external hard drive. I better not lose

it. Four: The school created a new dress code policy. Dress code means the rules of what we

can and cannot wear to school or to work. For example, no flip-flops in the office.

That's part of the dress code. The school will start using this policy when the new semester

starts. The school will implement, implement. When we implement something we start using

a new plan, idea, or law. We plan to implement a new training program for employees to improve

their skills. We plan on starting to use this new training program. The government decided to

implement stricter traffic laws to make the road safer for everyone. Okay, that's already

the first four done. Are you ready for the first gap fill? I have a mini conversation here between

a tenant and a landlord. Can you please complete each space with one of the verbs? You don't need

to change the verbs, they are already in the correct forms. Pause the video to do this.

Now listen and check your answers. Carla, I have a question about storage. Is there a place

where I can store some of my surfing gear? Yes, we have a storage room in the basement

for tenants to store their things. You won't be doing much surfing now, not in this weather. No, I

have to wait until summer unfortunately. By the way, I'm planning on refurbishing the bathroom

soon. It may take 4 to 5 days to complete. Is there anywhere you can stay for a week?

I won't charge you rent during that period of course. Uh, no problem. I can stay with my

parents. Before I forget, did you hear about the new fire safety laws? Fire safety laws, no? Well

the city council is going to implement these new laws soon. Apparently each apartment will

need to have an annual fire safety inspection. I can't remember all the changes but I'll send

you an email with the info. That would would be great, thanks. I was also wondering if I could

furnish the balcony with a few tables and chairs? I might even add a few potted plants. No problem

at all, just no grills. That's one of the new fire safety laws, no grills on balconies. Got

it. Five: It's August, it's time to pick and collect the corn because it's ready to eat. It's time to

harvest the corn. Harvest, harvest. When we harvest fruits or vegetables, we pick them because they are

ready to eat. Ready to sell, or ready to export. And if you pick one thing, that's not harvesting. So if

you go to your garden and you pick a tomato, you're just picking a tomato. Harvesting is much

bigger, think about farmers. Farmers need to harvest their crops. In many cultures people celebrate the

harvest season with festivals and feasts. Here you can see I'm using harvest as an adjective. Harvest

season. If you don't add salt, herbs, or spices to your food, it'll taste bland. Bland means no

flavor if you don't season your food. Season, season. Normally when we think about the word

season, we think about the noun. You know there are four seasons: Spring, summer, fall, winter. But

you can see the verb is pretty different. When we season food we try to add flavor. I like to season

my tomato sauce with basil, oregano, and garlic. I always season my fried rice with just a little

bit of soy sauce. Number seven: Stock prices always go up and down and up and down. Stock prices always,

fluctuate. Fluctuate, fluctuate. When we say the verb fluctuate, we mean something goes up and down and

up and down. It's not always steady. What kind of things specifically? Well, when we talk about

things fluctuating, we're talking about stock prices, incomes, a person's weight, or a person's

mood. Well how can a mood fluctuate? Well, imagine someone's happy, and then they're angry, and then

they're happy, and they're sad, and they're excited. That's fluctuating. The exchange rate between two

currencies can fluctuate affecting international trade and travel. Mary's weight has fluctuated for

years. Our CEO gave a speech, a reporter wrote the exact sentence our CEO said in his report.

A reporter quoted our CEO. Quote, quote. When we quote someone, when we're speaking or when

we're writing, we say the exact same words someone else said. But we're not stealing,

we make it clear who we are quoting. And I want to look at the noun quote for just a

second. Here's a quote by Albert Einstein: Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance you

must keep moving. That is a quote. You can see the quotation marks. Bella often quotes famous

authors in her essays to support her arguments. The journalist quoted eyewitnesses who gave detailed

descriptions of the incident. Pause the video to complete this gap fill. Now listen and check. How's

everything on your farm? Not bad, I'm looking to buy enough fertilizer to last me to the end of

the year, but the price keeps fluctuating. I don't know if the price will go up or down. The secretary

of agriculture was quoted saying that fertilizer prices should be dropping at the end of this month,

but I'm not sure if I can believe that. I hear you. Well what about you? How have things been? We've

been lucky with this warm weather. The boys and I will be harvesting our wheat Fields soon. Hey,

why don't you and Pete come over for dinner one of these nights? We'd' love that, I'll bring over a batch

of my homemade bread rolls. That would be amazing! You've got to tell me your secret, what makes them

so good? My secret is, I season the butter with garlic and rosemary before I mix it into the

dough. Nine: You need to be nicer to your secretary. You criticize her in a really

angry way, every day you berate her. Berate, berate. When we berate someone we criticize

them, but in kind of an aggressive, angry way. When I forgot our anniversary my partner

would not stop berating me for forgetting such an important date. The coach berated the team

for their poor performance during the match. And you see we can say you berate someone,

or you can berate someone for something. Number 10: (We're halfway through this list)

If you start looking for a new job, you risk losing the opportunity of getting a promotion

in this company. You jeopardize the opportunity. Jeopardize, jeopardize. If something jeopardizes

something, it creates a risk. Maybe you might lose something, but maybe not. Maybe something

has a negative impact, but maybe not. Texting while driving can jeopardize your safety and

the safety of others, it creates a risk. Keeping secrets from each other has jeopardized their

relationship. Jake put an air freshener in his car to cover the smell of cigarettes so nobody would

notice. To mask the smell of cigarettes. Mask, mask. When we mask something we try to cover a smell, a

sound, a taste, or a feeling. It's kind of like the noun mask. If you wear a mask you're covering your

face. The verb works in the same way. Sarah tried to mask her disappointment with a smile. She was

disappointed, but she was smiling. Some people use sugar to mask the bitterness in coffee. Make sure

you make the cloth a little wet before cleaning. Make sure you dampen the cloth. Dampen, dampen. When

we dampen something, we make it a little bit wet. We need to dampen the wallpaper before it can

stick to the wall. So we can dampen physical objects like a sponge or a cloth. But we can

also dampen plans or emotions. This means to ruin. Victors negative comments couldn't dampen Sam's

enthusiasm for the project. His comments couldn't ruin Sam's enthusiasm. Let's do another gap fill.

Pause the video, you know what to do. Now listen and check. I heard about Ralph's recent health

scare. He had a heart attack, right? Yes, I couldn't believe it. I mean he's only 35. Do you know when

it happened? Well, Don was berating him again about his performance. I understand Don isn't happy with

Ralph's sales, but the constant criticism is unnecessary. Don has to be careful how

he speaks to people. I know he's a boss, but in the long run his reputation for being a bully

can jeopardize his career. Yeah, Don clearly masks his own insecurities by acting tough. I think you

should say that to him. No, I'm on his good side. I'm not saying anything to him. But speaking of

Ralph, his heart attack hasn't dampened his sense of humor. He was making jokes in the break room

earlier. 13: Don't drive forward, go in the opposite direction. Reverse, reverse. When we reverse, we go

in the opposite direction, usually backward. To parallel park you need to be able to reverse

into the space. So when we speak about reversing, it can be a physical movement. But we can also reverse

plans or decisions. The city council faced public pressure and decided to reverse the decision to

build a shopping mall in the park. Reverse. It's okay if your English doesn't improve every day,

it's also important to keep the same level of English so your level doesn't go down. It's also

important to maintain your level of English. Maintain, maintain. When we maintain something,

we keep something the way it is so it doesn't get worse. To maintain a garden you have to water and

trim the plants every day. Our company's goal is to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction.

We have a 4.5 star rating and that's the way we want to keep it. Your baby shower is happening at

the same time as my vacation so I can't go, sorry! And a baby shower is not a shower for babies. A

baby shower is a party, a party for a pregnant woman where she can receive gifts for the

baby. Your baby shower coincides with my vacation. Coincide, coincide. When something

coincides with something, they happen at the same time or around the same time. And

Normally coincide isn't used in a continuous tense. So my first example I wrote is happening,

present continuous, normally coincide would just be used in a simple tense. The deadline

for the project coincides with the start of my exams which is making me really stressed.

My husband and I work really odd hours. So our days off hardly ever coincide. For example, he's

off on a Sunday and a Monday. I'm off on a Thursday and Friday. Our days off hardly ever

coincide. 16: After the earthquake the 911 call center received too many calls, they

were overwhelmed. The 911 call Center was inundated with calls. Inundate, inundate. A

person or a place receives too many messages, calls, emails requests, they can be inundated,

normally in a short period of time. A local volunteer organization was inundated with

offers of help after the tsunami. So many times inundate is used in the passive voice, but not

always. The sudden increase in website traffic inundated the server, causing it to crash

temporarily. Pause again. Now listen and check. How are the family reunion plans coming along? Have

you started? Yes I have, but I didn't expect the response to be so overwhelming. I've been

inundated with questions and suggestions. It's a large family, over 20 cousins. Did you manage

to find a date that coincides with most people's availability? Yes, initially we had one date but

then we had to reverse our decision because it didn't work for a lot of the family members who

live in Delaware. I don't know why you volunteer to organize a reunion. Whenever someone asks me

to organize anything, I just pretend not to hear them. Well, that's why no one asks you anything

anymore. That's the way I like it! You have no idea how hard it is to maintain my reputation of being

lazy! 17: The police asked the man many questions in an aggressive way because they wanted information

about a crime. The police interrogated the man. Interrogate, interrogate. When we interrogate

someone, we ask the person lots of questions, usually in kind of an aggressive way. So in

a normal interview there might be lots of questions, but nobody's being interrogated.

Think about the police or maybe someone in a position of power, they could interrogate someone.

The security guard interrogated The visitor before allowing him access to the restricted

area. I feel like my parents are interrogating me whenever they ask about my life. The police

think these two teenagers broke into this house. Break in, or break into, is a

great phrasal verb. It means to enter a place illegally, forcefully. The police decided to

interrogate the teenagers separately. The teenagers gave different answers which didn't

match at all, the teenagers contradicted each other. Contradict, contradict. When two things

contradict they don't match, there's a problem. Evelyn's story seems to contradict what she

said yesterday, they don't match, I feel like there's a problem. Benny's actions

often contradict his words. His actions and his words are not the same, they contradict

each other. I find it difficult to trust him. And when we speak about contradicting someone,

it's often in a conversation where person a will say something, and person B says actually

no. Imagine a couple is having dinner with another couple. We went to Disneyland with the kids, it was

wonderful. But we had to wait in line for hours for every ride. We didn't need to wait that long.

Contradiction, number one. Okay, maybe not for hours, but a really long time. And our son got

nauseous on one of the rides, he wanted to go home. He didn't get nauseous, he was just tired.

Contradiction, number two. Can you please stop contradicting me? Can you please stop saying the

opposite is true? My daughter told me that this was her teacher's signature. I can't believe she

tried to trick me into believing that this was true. I can't believe she tried to fool me. Fool,

fool. When we fool someone, we trick that person into believing something. The counterfeit bills

looked so authentic that they even fooled the most experienced cashiers. And counterfeit

money is fake money, fake/illegal money. Many times fool can be used in the past voice. I

can't believe I was fooled into believing that he cared about me. Number 20: Last one! I work with

Zoe. The problem with Zoe is that she steals my ideas and tells a boss that they are her

ideas. I finally told her that I was unhappy about this and I wanted the problem to end.

I finally confronted her. Confront, confront. When we confront someone, we tell this person

I am not happy with what you are doing, it needs to stop. And normally we confront someone about

lying, cheating, inappropriate behavior, stealing. Things like that. If you confront someone, you're

a little bit emotionally angry. All anger is emotional, but I think you know what I mean!

It's not easy to confront someone. Harry had to confront his neighbors for constantly parking

in his parking spot. It's a problem that needs to stop. The first step in solving any problem

is to confront it and understand why it's a problem. Are you ready for the last Gap

fill? Pause the video, listen and check. Have you had a chance to interrogate the suspect regarding the

stolen documents? Yes, I spent hours asking him about the case, but the suspect tried to fool

me with a story that completely contradicts the evidence we have. He obviously thinks I'm an idiot. When

do you think you'll confront him about this? I'm keeping him in the interrogation room alone for a

few more hours, by then I'm sure he'll be desperate to leave and tell me the truth. We are done! How did

you do on the gap fills? Can you leave me your score in the comments below? And as promised,

I have the 20 discussion questions here which you can use to once again practice these verbs.

Check out part one, the link is down below, and I'll see you next time. Thank you so much for watching!!!

Bye!