Speak Better English with Harry | Episode 548

Learn how to talk about change in English with clear, natural expressions used by advanced speakers. This episode is ideal for learners preparing for IELTS, CAE or TOEFL, or anyone who wants to improve both written and spoken English. You’ll hear practical examples in everyday and professional contexts, and learn how to choose the most accurate words for different situations. 

This is a great way to expand your advanced English vocabulary, sound more confident, and express ideas in a precise and natural way. Perfect for upper-intermediate and advanced learners who want to communicate clearly in work, study, or exam situations.

Transcript

0:09

Hi there, this is Harry. Welcome back to Advanced English Lessons with Harry, where I try to help you to get a better understanding of the English language, to help you with your conversational skills, your business English skills, interview skills, whatever your goals are, we're here to help. And for those of you and your friends or family who want one-to-one lessons, well, you know what to do. Just get in touch, www.englishlessonviaskype.com and you can apply for a free trial lesson and we'll be very happy to hear from you and very happy to help you. So what are we going to talk about today? Well in today's class we're going to look at advanced verbs that we can use instead of the verb to change. Okay so verbs or advanced verbs instead of change. So we have 11 of them and let's go through them one by one. Alter. Well alter change. So we can alter clothes. So if you buy something and the sleeves are too long or the legs of the trousers are too long, we will alter the clothes. So we will go and get some alterations. We will change the length of the leg or the length of the sleeve. So we will alter. We may alter our plans. So we had a plan for the weekend, but unfortunately those plans have fallen through. So we'll have to alter our arrangements, what we were going to do. So instead of going to visit our parents on the Saturday, we'll go and visit them on the Sunday. So a few alterations to our plans. If you're driving through the city and you come across a diversion, you might have to alter the direction you go. So you have to turn left or right off that main street and drive around the diversion so that you can get to the other side of the city to alter the direction in which you are going. Next, to adapt. When we adapt something, we change. We adapt to new circumstances. So if we change jobs or if we change where we're living, then we might have to adapt to a new way of doing things. In our work, our company decides to invest in a new IT system, a new program. So we will all have to adapt to a new way of doing things, the way we log in, the way we log out, the way we save or back up our information. We have to adapt to a new way of doing things. As there's lots and lots of changes in the IT world, we have constantly to adapt a way of doing everything. So we can convert the use of the energy we use in our houses to convert from electricity that we get from the grid. We can convert to solar energy. So we can put the solar panels on the roof and we convert it in that way. Or people now are converting over to electric vehicles instead of diesel or petrol driven cars. So to convert. You can convert an attic space into an extra room. So you need some expansion in terms of the house because the kids are growing up and they want separate bedrooms. So you extend up into the attic and you convert the attic from just storage into that extra bedroom or you convert the garage into a granny flat. Whatever it might be, you will convert. You can convert currency. You can convert religions, meaning to change from one religion to another. That's to convert. Transform. Well, we can transform anything. You can go to the beauty salon and transform yourself completely. Yeah. Oh, wow, you've really changed your hairstyle. You've changed everything about you. What a transformation. Yeah, that's really, really good. Wow, I must go there myself. So to transform means to change something quite dramatically. The landscape can transform. So if you haven't been home or haven't been to the village or the town where you were born and lived for part of your life and you go back, say, wow, this has gone through some transformation. Everything is completely transformed. What happened to those buildings at the end of the street? Where have the playing fields gone? The old school has been knocked down and been replaced with an ultra-modern school, not before time. Okay, so to transform the look, to transform how something looks, to change. Revolutionize. Well, when we revolutionize things, it goes through a complete transformation. Everything changes. IT has revolutionized our entire world. How we buy things, everything we buy now is online. Eating out now is not really an option. People eat in, but it's food that is delivered in these different ways of getting food delivery. So IT has completely revolutionized the whole idea of socializing. WhatsApp has revolutionized the way we talk to people. We send pictures, we send photos, we take them instantly. So you see the holiday, you see the newborn baby, you see the new pet dog, whatever it is, you see it all instantaneously. So it has completely revolutionized, completely changed the way life is. To shift. Well, to shift something means to move it from one place to the other. I think I'll shift the furniture around in the bedroom. I'm not quite happy with the bed against this wall. I was reading one of these books about Fen Shui and it tells me that my bed should be facing south or west or east or wherever it is. So let's change it around. Ah, sure. A change is as good as a rest. And particularly if you're working at home, as I do, then you like to look at different walls instead of staring at the same wall 24-7. So let's shift from this to this or shift rooms from here to the other room. Yeah, so we can shift things around, meaning we can move them. So to shift. Why don't you shift that chair out of the way and I'll put down the coffee table and we'll share a cup of coffee. So it's all about moving and changing. Vary. To vary things means to change. You can vary your route to work so you don't get bored. So maybe there are three or four options. You can take one road or you can take the other road. You can go around the village or through the village or whichever way. You can go by bus, you can go by bike. You vary the route so that you don't get bored. You vary the activities you have during the week. So again, to avoid boredom. So instead of every Monday and Wednesday and Friday going to the gym, you decide to go on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You vary it. So a little bit of variety, a little bit of change will relieve the boredom that you might think. Or you go to your boss and say, I'll get a little bit bored with the work I'm doing. I really like working here, but is there any chance that you can vary my activities? Can you give me some different accounts or can we change it around a little bit to relieve the boredom? So we vary our activities. Okay, so vary is to change, usually to do something different, to avoid routines setting in, because once we have routines, well, then they become everyday things and yeah, a little bit of boredom. Vary. Modify. When we change or modify something, usually it's quite small. If somebody has developed some new technique about doing something, like a new engine, they modify it occasionally just to get better performance. So when they built the first Ford car, they had an engine, I'm sure they modified it on a regular basis to improve the performance. So the first time they built it and tested it, everything was good, but they weren't so happy with the entire performance. So yeah, they brought the car in, a little bit of a change, a modification here, modification there, so a little bit of change, and the performance improved. If you take your car today to the garage for a service, they modify certain techniques. They look at it and they change this and they change that and they improve the performance. So they modify it slightly. So everything requires some modification, whether it's the telescope, whether it's the space rocket, whatever it might be, they all go through certain modifications, certain little changes, even our mobile phones. And normally and usually over the last few years, as the new mobile phone models come out, they modify the camera or they modify the life of the battery, some little change to make it better performance. So they improve it or they change it. We often say to kids, you have to modify your behavior. You have to change your behavior. So perhaps the director of the school or the principal of the school, one of the teachers, not so happy with your performance, either in the class or in the sports team, they say, well, look, you just have to go through some modification. You have to change. You have to modify that behavior. You have to behave a little bit better the way the teachers expect you. You can't just do things the way you want to. So if you're going to get on, if you're going to be accepted, you have to modify that behavior. To adjust, adjust again is to make some changes. We can adjust our clothing. If I'm sitting here and my jacket is a bit like this, you just adjust it, you change it a little bit to make it a little bit smarter or a little bit more presentable. Or as I'm talking to you on the camera, and if it's not exactly aligned, then my wife will adjust the angle or adjust where I'm supposed to be sitting. And she'll usually say to me, you're sitting in the wrong place, you should be doing this. So to adjust the view, to adjust the angle, to change the way you're facing the camera, to change how you're talking, where you're moving your head, to make those changes small, unnecessary adjustments. So if you're going to get a dress made for the wedding and you go for the final fitting, the dressmaker might say, yeah, just a few little adjustments needed. We'll raise it here, we'll lower it here, we'll let it out here, we'll take it in there. They make minor adjustments so that everything will be absolutely perfect for that big, special, all-important day. Adjust. Restructure. Well, re in front of any word means to do it again. Okay, so to reappear, to redo, restart. It's about doing it again. So when we restructure something, we change it. They're going to restructure the layout of the city. So the traffic is going to go from east to west instead of north to south. So they're going to change the flow, the direction of the way the traffic goes to make it better for the trucks coming in from the motorway and how they enter and leave the city. So that road work that they're doing now will all be done to restructure. Okay, or they're restructuring the old cinema. So they're going to change the use of it. So now it's going to be a multiplex cinema and leisure center. So there's going to be bowling alley, they're going to be games and all sorts of different things for the kids to get used to and to use, particularly when it's raining. So there's opportunities for us to have some indoor activity. So it's going to go through some serious restructuring. Okay, so to restructure. And then finally, twist. To twist something is to change. We can twist something out of shape, like plasticine or something that's pliable, something rubber. We can twist it. Or somebody indeed can twist your words. So you say something and somebody picks up the wrong meaning or deliberately twists your words or changes your words to give it a totally different meaning. You say, no, no, no, no, that's not what I meant. You're twisting my words. I didn't say I didn't like it. I just thought if it was me, this is how I would do it. I might make some little changes. Don't twist my words. Don't make it sound negative. And in fact, I was actually being positive and very, very supportive. So don't twist it. Don't change what I have said. Okay, so they're all advanced verbs that we can use instead of change. How do we change things? How do we adjust, alter, convert? So let me go through them one more time. Alter, adapt, convert, transform, revolutionize, shift, vary, modify, adjust, restructure, and twist. Okay, so all verbs that you can use instead of change. So as always, try to practice some of them. You won't remember them all. Some of them are used in very, very specific ways. Some have very similar meanings, like to adjust and alter have very, very similar meanings. So practice them, okay? And if you or any of your colleagues, friends or family, if you want to have one-to-one lessons with one of our teachers, well, why don't you get in touch with us? We can give you a free trial lesson at the beginning. We will assess you and find out your level and then find out which teacher is most appropriate for you and for the goals and the needs that you have. So all you have to do is fill in the form and write to me. And as always, if you want to contact me, then you can do so. And www.englishlessonviaskype.com. Really happy to hear from you. Really happy to incorporate any changes or suggestions that you might have. As always, I appreciate you watching, listening. Join me again soon.