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A while ago, a friend of mine asked me about the difference between “up to” and “depends on”, so that’s what I’ll write about today.

In English, “up to” is used when we want to say that a certain decision can be made by a certain person. For example:

I don’t care which movie we watch tonight. It’s up to you.

My boss left it up to me to choose the restaurant for our office party.

I’m sorry, but it’s not up to me to make this decision. I’ll have to check with my boss.

We can also use “up to” when we want to say that a certain thing is someone’s responsibility. For example:

It’s up to the department manager to make sure this project is finished by the deadline.

It was up to you to let everyone know about the schedule change, but you forgot! I’m very angry at you right now!

The accident caused a lot of damage to the environment. Now it’s up to the government to do something about it.

On the other hand, we use “depends on” when we want to talk about when a certain situation can be changed by another situation which it has a direct relationship with. For example:

I don’t know if we’ll go hiking tomorrow or not. It depends on the weather.

A: Will we have an office party this year?

B: I’m not sure. It depends on how many people accept the invitation.

I received two job offers. I don’t know which one I’m going to accept yet though. It depends on how much the salary is at each company.

So, with these last three examples, the decision that has to be made (to go hiking or not, to have an office party or not, which job offer to accept) has a direct relationship with the situation (if the weather is good, if many people accept the invitation, how much money is offered as a salary). After “depends on” we can put either a noun (as in the first example) or a clause which starts with a wh question word (as in the last two examples).

The entry for today is a very subtle one: it’s the difference between “have to” and “need to”. There is a slight difference in nuance between them. We say “have to” when we want to talk about obligations – things we have no choice about doing. However, we say “need to” when we want to talk about things that are necessary to do in order to achieve a certain goal. For example:

I have to be at work by 9:00 a.m. every morning.

I have to help my friend move tomorrow, so I can’t have lunch with you.

You have to turn off the lights if you’re the last person to leave the office.

I want to go to Vietnam for my vacation, so I need to get a visa.

If you want to get a promotion, you need to work very hard.

If your daughter wants to be a model, she needs to lose some weight.

In the case of the second example, the person uses “have to”, even though they have a choice about helping the friend move. In these cases, when we agree to do something, we feel an obligation to do it, and so we use “have to” in these cases.

In the last three examples for “need to”, the person does the thing (get a visa, work very hard, lose some weight) in order to achieve the goal (go to Vietnam, get a promotion, be a model).

Sometimes, “have to” and “need to” can be exchanged freely in a sentence and will have a very similar meaning. For example:

I have to go to the bathroom.

I need to go to the bathroom.

I have to finish this job by Friday.

I need to finish this job by Friday.

I write down things I have to do on sticky notes.

I write down things I need to do on sticky notes.

In these cases, the meaning is very close but has a slightly different nuance. Again, when we use “have to”, we’re emphasizing the fact we have no choice; when we use “need to”, we’re emphasizing the fact that it’s necessary.

Recently, one of my students asked me about the difference between “anticipate” and “predict”. That is what I’d like to write about today.

We use both “anticipate” and “predict” when talking about what we or another person think will happen in the future. The difference is that we use “anticipate” when the event will happen in the near future or at a specific time. We usually use “predict” when the event will happen further in the future or when we don’t know the specific time.

In addition, when we use “anticipate”, it sounds like we have some information that allows us to guess what will happen. When we use “predict”, we may or may not have some information which helps us to guess what will happen. Generally, it sounds like it’s simply the person’s opinion about what will happen. For example:

We anticipate at least 50 people will come to the party, so we’d better make sure we have enough food for everyone.

The weather forecaster said they anticipate that the storm will hit our city at about 9:00 p.m. tonight.

Based on our sales figures for last year, we anticipate an increase of about 30% in sales during the months of September and October.

I predict that people will live on the moon within 100 years.

Everyone in high school predicted that Ken would become rich one day, and they were right. He’s worth over 20 million dollars right now.

Some people are predicting that Chinese will replace English as the international language in the future, but I don’t think it will happen.

With both of these words, we can use the word “that” after them, but this is optional; many people leave it out, especially in conversation.

Also, we can put a noun after the word “anticipate”, as in my third example.

One of my readers asked me what the difference was between “ago” and “back”, so that’s what I’ll write about today.

We use “ago” to talk about something that happened a certain amount of time before the present moment. For example:

I went to high school just over 20 years ago.

The meeting started five minutes ago.

The last time I went to the movies was six months ago.

We use “back” to talk about a certain period in the past. For example:

Back in the 19th century, people used to ride in carriages instead of cars.

Back in the 1980s, leg warmers were very popular.

Back in my childhood, I used to play a lot of video games. I don’t do that anymore though.

When I was young, we didn’t have computers. We had to write everything on a typewriter back then.

Some people also use “back” in the same way as “ago”. For example:

I worked for ABC Company about ten years back.

I went to France on vacation six years back.

It’s important to note that this way of using “back” is NOT common and that the majority of people will use “ago” instead. Also, people usually only use this with the word “years”. Frankly, I do not recommend anyone to use “back” in this way, but you might hear it sometimes in an American movie.

Today’s entry is about the word “first” and the different ways we can use it in English. This is a big source of confusion for many of my students. Specifically, I want to go over the difference between “first”, “at first” and “first of all”.

We often use “first” when we’re giving instructions to someone about how to do something. For example:

First, cut up the vegetables. Then, put them in the pot.

First we have to find a good restaurant and then we can make a reservation.

First, put the document in the tray. Then, input the number. Finally, press the green button.

We can also use “first” when talking about a person who does something before anyone else. For example:

I’m usually the first person to arrive at the office every day.

Henry was first in the running race at his school. We’re so proud of him!

My friend tried bungee jumping first and said it was fun. So now I’d like to try it.

We use “at first” when talking about a situation that was a certain way at the beginning, but then it changed. For example:

At first, Jack and I didn’t like each other, but after that we became good friends.

At first, I was confused about how to use this machine, but after Sally showed me how to use it, I realized it’s quite easy.

It was very difficult for me to get up so early at first, but afterwards I got used to it.

We use “first of all” when explaining something which has at least two reasons. We use “first of all” to introduce the first reason. For example:

A: Why is that company so successful?
B: First of all, their prices are very low. Secondly, they do a lot of advertising.

A: Why can’t you help me?
B: First of all, I don’t know anything about your project, and secondly, I’m really busy right now.

A: Why is the project taking such a long time?

B: First of all, we don’t have enough people working on it. Secondly, the equipment is out of date and very slow, and last of all, the project leader is very indecisive.

As you can see from my examples with “at first”, the expression is often placed at the beginning of the sentence but can also be put in the middle after the first clause. However, “first of all” is always placed at the beginning. Also, when giving instructions, the word “first” is placed at the beginning.

A few people have asked me about the difference between “because” and “since”, so that’s what I’ll write about today.

Generally speaking, we use “because” to state the reason for something that the listener or reader doesn’t already know, or when it’s uncertain if they know or not. We use “since” to emphasize the reason for something that is already known to the listener or reader. For example:

I went to Hawaii because I wanted to visit my friend there.

Because my best friend lives in Hawaii, I often go there to visit her.

Since my best friend lives in Hawaii, I often go there to visit her.

You shouldn’t let your children play around here because it’s a dangerous area.

Because this is a dangerous area, you shouldn’t let your children play around here.

Since this is a dangerous area, you shouldn’t let your children play around here.

I’m really nervous because this is my first time to give a presentation at work.

Because this is my first time to give a presentation at work, I’m really nervous.

Since this is my first time to give a presentation at work, I’m really nervous.

So, in the examples above I first used “because” in the middle of the sentence. This indicates that the speaker thinks they are stating a reason that the listener doesn’t know.

After that, I used “because” at the beginning of the sentence. This indicates that the speaker isn’t sure if the listener knows the reason or not.

Finally, I used “since” at the beginning of the sentence. This indicates that the speaker thinks they are stating a reason that the listener already knows.

My statement about using “because” at the beginning of a sentence is not a strict rule but, in my opinion, it’s a good guideline for when to use “because” at the beginning of a sentence.

In English, we often do something called speculating. This means that, when we don’t know the reason for something, we make suggestions about what the reason could be. We also often speculate about another person’s feelings about a certain situation. We use the words “must” and “might” to do this, but many people are confused about which one to use in each situation. That’s what I’d like to go over in my blog today.

We use “must” when we think there is only one possibility. For example:

A: Why is Jack late for the party?

B: He’s working on a big project now, so he must still be at the office.

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A: Why was Beth talking so strangely last night?

B: She must have been drunk. She’s always talks like that when she drinks too much.

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A: My sister and her husband are going to have their first baby!

B: That’s wonderful news! They must be so happy and excited!

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A: When I was young, I wanted to get into Harvard, but I couldn’t.

B: You must have been so disappointed.

We use “might” when we think there is more than one possibility. For example:

A: I don’t know why Ken cancelled our plans for tonight.

B: He might be sick. A lot of people are getting a cold nowadays.

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A: Our neighbor’s house burned down last year. I wonder how the fire got started.

B: It might have been started by a gas leak, or it might have just been some kids playing with matches.

We can also use the words “may” and “could” instead of “might”. The words “might” and “could” are both used in normal conversations but the word “may” is a little more formal.

Please note in the examples the use of the past tense: we use “must have” and “might have” to indicate a past situation.

Also, please note that we can use “must” or “must have” to talk about either reasons or feelings, but we DON’T use “might” or “might have” to talk about feelings.

I had a request from someone last week to go over the difference between “will” and “shall”, so that’s what I want to write about in my blog for today.

Basically, the difference between these two words is formality: the word “shall” is much more formal than “will”, so it’s much more common for people to use “will”. For example:

A: Please finish writing the report by tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.

B: Ok, I’ll do that.

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A: Please finish writing the report by tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.

B: Of course, sir. I shall do that.

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We have to leave now, or we’ll be late.

We have to leave immediately, or we shall be late.

In these cases, the use of “shall” is extremely formal and sounds a bit strange in most conversations with friends or family members. Therefore, I would recommend using “will” instead.

However, the word “shall” can be used naturally in some other situations. For instance, it can be used to make offers to people, especially in a formal business situation. These sentences are very polite, so if you want to sound more casual, you can use the word “can” instead. For example:

Shall I take your coat?   (Can I take your coat?)

Shall I get you a drink?  (Can I get you a drink?)

Shall I make a reservation at the restaurant for you?  (Can I make a reservation at the restaurant for you?)

We also use “shall” when making plans with another person and we’re trying to decide on certain details. Again, it’s a little formal but not too much; many people use “shall” in this situation. However, if you want to sound more casual, you can use “should” instead. For example:

What shall we do today?  (What should we do today?)

Where shall we meet?  (Where should we meet?)

What time shall we meet tomorrow?  (What time should we meet tomorrow?)

Who shall we invite to the party?  (Who should we invite to the party?)

The word “shall” is also commonly used when making a suggestion to another person in the form of a question. For example:

Shall we dance?

Shall we leave now?

Shall we go for a walk?

In these cases, the person wants to do the thing (dance, leave, go for a walk), but using normal suggestion patterns like “let’s” or “why don’t we…” could sound too strong. So, the person uses “shall” instead because it sounds more polite.

Today I’d like to go over a common misunderstanding for many of my students – when to use “go” somewhere and when to use “get” somewhere.  The difference is that we usually use “go” when talking about leaving for a certain place, and we use “get” when talking about arriving at that place. For example:

I usually go home at 8:00 and get home at 8:45.

Come on! Let’s go! It’s going to take us at least 20 minutes to get to the movie theater. We don’t want to be late!

A: We’re going to go to the park at around 2:00.

B: Ok, no problem. What time do you think we’ll get there?

A: We should get there at about 2:30.

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A: How do you commute to work every day?

B: I go by train.

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A: How do you commute to work every day?

B: I get there by train.

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A: How long does it take you to get to your office?

B: It usually takes me 40 minutes to get there.

In the fourth example, person B answers the question using “go”, but in the fifth example, person B answers the same question using “get”. The reason is that in the fifth example, the person is mentioning the place, which is represented by the word “there”. Therefore, we say “get there” because the person is focusing on the idea of arriving at that place. In the fourth example, the person is focusing on the journey itself, so they use “go”.

Please note that when we use “here” and “there”, we usually don’t put “to” in front of them. Therefore, we say:

I go to my office by train every day.

but

I go there by train every day.

We usually use “to” in front of a location, but there are some exceptions. These are the words: “home”, “downtown”, “abroad” and “overseas”. For example:

I got home very late last night, so my wife was angry.

We’re going downtown tonight to see a movie. Do you want to come with us?

I’m going to go abroad for the first time next month.

I don’t want to go overseas. I prefer staying in my own country.

Today I’d like to go over something which seems very simple but can be quite confusing: when to use “yes” and when to use “sure” as a response.

We use “yes” as a response to a question about factual information. For example:

A: Are you coming to the party tomorrow night?

B: Yes. I’ll be there at about 7:00.

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A: Do you like Mexican food?

B: Yes. I like it very much.

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A: Have you ever been to Korea?

B: Yes. I’ve been there many times.

We use “sure” as a response to someone’s request. For example:

A: Can you help me with my project?

B: Sure. What do you need my help with?

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A: Could you turn down the music please? It’s a little loud.

B: Sure. I’ll do that right now.

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A: Would you pick up some milk at the supermarket before you come home tonight?

B: Sure, no problem.

The word “sure” is quite casual, so we don’t use it in formal business situations. In those situations, it’s better to use “certainly” or “of course”.

Sometimes in casual conversations people use “sure” or “of course” to respond to questions about factual information but, in these cases, it sounds stronger than simply saying “yes”. For example:

A: You’re coming to the party, aren’t you?

B: Of course! I wouldn’t miss it!

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A: Do you like Mexican food?

B: Sure! I think it’s amazing!