This is an Allers English Podcast, episode 2200.
Amazing adverbs, part one.
Definitely or absolutely.
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Aubrey Carter, the Isles Wiz,
and Lindsay McMahon, the English Adventure.
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How can you avoid sending mixed signals
when you want to agree in English?
Today, Aubrey and I explore
the words definitely and absolutely.
Listen in on part one of this adverb series
on the All Years English Network.
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What's shaking, Aubrey? How's it going today?
I'm great, how are you Lindsay?
I'm feeling pretty good. I'm feeling pretty good.
Um, so what is something that you definitely
have to get done today? Do you have a lot to do?
Mmm, I do have a lot to do.
My sister is in town,
so I'm cramming all of my work into a chunk during the day
so that I can spend time with her and her kids.
Uh, what about you?
Something you definitely have to get done today.
Well, I have to get down and pick up my glasses.
I have some new glasses that I ordered.
And I gotta get down there.
I gotta get away from my desk.
It's been a busy few weeks, so I...
You'll have to wear glasses sometime
while you're recording so we can see them.
Yeah, you know what happens when you hit 40,
your vision starts to kind of...
Everyone, it's universal, pretty much.
That's true. I know.
Right, especially for reading.
You need them mostly for reading.
Correct.
Correct. Yeah.
So what are we getting into today?
So in your answer,
I use that I definitely have to do this.
Tell us about today's episode.
Yeah, we got a great question
from a YouTube listener, Arnia Shagulu.
That's probably an email address,
but this question was,
can you please make a video about the difference
between definitely and absolutely?
Yeah.
I'm excited about this.
We're actually going to do a three-part series
because these two words are very related,
but also there are other words
that we use that are related.
So we're going to talk about definitely and absolutely today.
Sometimes they're interchangeable,
sometimes they're not.
You'll definitely want to tune in for all the details.
And we're going to do a part two on business English,
covering certainly and surely.
So you want to make sure to follow
not only here all here's English,
but also business English.
So you don't miss part two.
Yeah, guys, open up your search bar,
search for business English,
hit follows. You don't miss that one.
When it comes out, is that coming out maybe in a few weeks?
Or something?
Yes, very soon.
So follow so you don't miss it.
Maybe this week, even.
We'll see.
We'll see.
Okay.
And where's part three going to be?
Yes, we're doing part three on IELTS Energy.
We'll share idioms.
That mean the same as these.
Like without a shadow of a doubt
and on the nose,
there are a lot of idioms we use to convey
the same meaning as these adverbs.
Love it.
So guys, again, open your search bar,
search for IELTS Energy Podcast.
You'll see the yellow again.
Hit the follow button to get part three.
Nice.
Okay.
So today on all there's English then,
let's get into the ones that we're covering here.
Definitely and absolutely.
These are important, aren't they, Aubrey?
They are important.
We use them all the time.
And they're not directly interchangeable.
They're quiet.
There's very often, if you need to say,
definitely, you're absolutely,
wouldn't make sense to use the other ones.
So we're going to go into all of the different meanings.
We do use these in lots of different ways.
Definitely has three meanings,
three different ways that we use it.
Okay. I love it.
So let's start with the first way.
So the word definitely,
what would be the first way, Aubrey, that we use it?
What if it means without doubt,
shows the level of certainty, right?
It's like there's a scale of probability.
This would be the highest positive point.
So for example, I'll definitely be there.
Let's say your friends having a party,
they're your best friend,
you want to support them,
I'll definitely be there.
Yes, or these are definitely my favorite shoes.
It just means like undoubtedly without a doubt.
We're much more likely to say definitely.
Okay. And then, I mean, very similar, right?
We're under the same umbrella of meaning here.
These are just sort of different uses, right, Aubrey?
Sort of likely different uses.
Tell us about the second one.
Yeah, the second one means closer to clearly,
or in a very definite manner,
manner. So for example,
we can't make plans until we know the numbers more definitely.
Or until we hear from you more definitely,
we won't decide anything.
Interesting.
That one I'm not as used to using,
but are you used to using it that way?
It's definitely a little less common.
We won't hear it quite as much.
We don't use it quite as much.
I was looking at the dictionary and I'm like,
there's all these separate meanings.
Interesting.
And like you said, they are related.
This is quite formal to say this this way, right?
We would much more often use clearly for this meaning,
but you will hear definitely use this way.
Okay, love it.
Love it.
And then there's the third one that is emphatic and fun,
which is just to answer with a positive yes, right?
So for example,
hey, want to go on a road trip this weekend?
Yeah, definitely.
Exactly.
And this, depending on how much you emphasize it,
it changes a little bit your meaning, right?
If I say definitely,
or definitely,
there's a very different change in how much I want to go on a road trip.
Oh, I would doubt it now that we're getting into spring.
I am definitely looking for a good road trip.
I would like to go to Moab, to Utah,
and explore Utah more.
Just so I just go to Moab.
Lindsey, don't miss Goblin Valley.
It's really near Moab, maybe like 45 minutes away.
We took our kids.
There's so many really cool rock formations that they call
Goblins, like, I look like these stacked stone.
We had so much fun there.
Oh, I love it.
I love it.
That is like my favorite part of the entire country.
It's just so beautiful.
And we stayed in a yurt.
We were able to rent a yurt.
Out there in the desert?
Yes.
In the middle of the desert in Goblin Valley,
if you guys look those up at sort of a canvas tent,
they were so cool.
It was the best.
If you come to the US guys,
find a yurt that you can stay in.
Well, I will definitely add that to my summer plans.
I love that.
Absolutely.
And I'm so glad you said absolutely, Aubrey,
because that was a good segue into our next part.
So tell us about it.
Yeah.
So this is a little different.
It means like in an absolute or unconditional manner.
But there are a few different sort of meanings here.
The first one is like totally with no qualification
or restriction.
I might say I trust you absolutely.
Yes.
I like that.
Or I absolutely trust you.
Now, how do we know when to put it at the end?
Like I trust you absolutely versus when to put it before trust?
Yeah.
There's no meaning.
There's no meaning difference, right?
These are interchangeable to say I trust you absolutely
or I absolutely trust you.
And it's always going to work either way.
It can come right after the subject like this.
Or it can come after you've got the subject verb pronoun.
And then you could say absolutely at the end always.
Yeah.
I think it's the same thing.
The only time I would think that it might be useful
to differentiate would be if I say,
oh, do you trust me?
Oh, I absolutely trust you.
Right?
That's a good point.
You can emphasize it more if it comes right after the subject
because it'd be strange to say,
I trust you absolutely.
No, right?
Yeah.
If you're going to do that, you want to say,
I absolutely trust you to hit it harder.
Okay.
I like that.
And then the next meeting, none whatsoever.
Tell us about this.
Yeah.
So you might say like,
I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.
It means like I have no idea what at all,
whatsoever.
Nothing.
Or so you have absolutely no hesitation
about taking the job.
Right.
Exactly.
This means zero hesitation, right?
We'll also say that you have zero hesitation
about taking the job,
which is interesting for all these different meanings
of absolutely indefinitely.
There are other ways to say it.
Interesting.
And then a third way still,
to answer with an emphatic or positive yes.
It's stronger than indefinitely, is it?
Would you say?
For sure.
So with the same question,
if I say,
I want to go on a road trip this weekend?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
It is like,
even if you don't emphasize it,
if you just say like,
absolutely.
It's still an emphatic yes.
If you say absolutely, right?
You can say,
definitely.
And it's not as emphatic.
Absolutely.
The word absolutely is always a stronger yes than definitely.
Yeah, it just feels like I'm not sure if it has more syllables,
but it feels like it does.
And so there's more we can do with our tone of voice.
And so it feels more complete of an answer.
It feels like a more extreme answer than definitely.
It's interesting, right?
That's just the way we use it.
Right?
Absolutely.
Just means a more a stronger yes, right?
I think it's the same amount of syllables,
but even though we could hit definitely harder,
you can.
You can be like, definitely.
But then if the other person says,
absolutely.
Oh, they want to go more.
It's just more extreme.
Yeah, there's just like,
there's fun ways to show you're excited about something
and that you're on board,
which people need to know what you're saddest.
Are you on board with this or not?
You don't have to always be over the top and fatigued,
but there are moments to do it and use it
and people will listen to you, right?
Yes.
And this is actually a really good pro tip
that if you definitely want to make sure
that you are giving the message that you are on board
that it's a big yes,
and you don't want to stress about
if your intonation is showing that or not,
go with absolutely.
Because if you say like,
definitely, that sounds more like maybe.
It's very confusing.
No matter how you emphasize absolutely.
Absolutely.
Yeah, no matter what.
It sounds like a really strong yes.
And you know, sending mixed signals,
like what the example you just used
over it is kind of like,
you're using a strong yes word,
but using intonation that indicates hesitation,
that's going to,
that's going to erode trust a little bit.
Because people are going to say,
can't quite figure it out what she wants.
What you mean, right?
You want to go?
I don't know.
Yeah, and over time, that does erode trust.
So just make sure that your tone of voice kind of matches
what you the words you're using, right?
Yes, listen back and you know,
practice some mimicking here.
When we think about,
how does it sound to you if we say,
definitely, or you know,
definitely, whereas if we say,
definitely, we're hitting that first syllable,
definitely.
And then no matter how you emphasize absolutely,
there's no way to ruin that one.
There's no way to send a mixed signal.
You really can't, you're right, you're right.
And I'd rather someone just say,
instead of definitely with kind of an unsure tone of voice,
I'd rather someone say, maybe,
that's right.
That's what you're saying.
That's more honest.
Maybe.
Be more honest, be more straightforward.
Right, love it.
So, Aubrey, should we do a role play?
Yes, you and I are at a music festival in this role play.
I'm actually going to a musical festival,
music festival this weekend.
So it's a hot moment.
Yeah, you said,
and you said, Mumford and Sons is going to be playing.
That's amazing.
Renee rap, Mumford and Sons of the bunch of bands
that I'm really excited about.
It's going to be really fun.
Oh, that's going to be super fun.
I went to a Madonna concert a couple weekends ago.
And as long as it already feels like a year ago,
but it was cool.
She's a good performer.
Yeah, I've heard amazing things about that show.
I'd love to go sometime.
Yeah, good stuff.
And she's all started amazing things.
Yeah, okay, let's get into it.
Here we go.
Okay.
Did you like the Tom Petty cover band?
Oh, yeah, definitely.
It's amazing how much they sounded like them.
I don't know who's playing next.
I wish I knew the lineup more definitely.
I'm glad we came.
I usually have absolutely no desire to go to concerts,
but this one has been really fun.
Do you want to stay for Ryle O'Kiley?
She isn't on until 9 p.m.
Absolutely.
That is true.
What you said before, Aubrey,
with the word absolutely,
you can't physically,
you can't give those mixed signals.
It's really hard to use that awkward,
unshirtone voice with such a full word
that fills up your mouth so completely.
It's true.
And if you did say it with like a question mark at the end,
absolutely.
That would just be strange.
Even if you don't really even just say absolutely,
it still means like I'm a huge yes.
So if you want to make sure,
maybe you like tend to speak more quietly, more softly,
and you want to make sure people know you're 100% on board,
choose absolutely.
Instead of definitely, right?
For sure.
All right, let's go through this.
The first one you used was,
yeah, definitely, which is that first meaning, right?
You're, and you're agreeing here.
Yeah, definitely.
Yeah.
And then you said,
I don't know who's playing next.
I wish I knew the lineup more definitely.
And this is the one that we feel is used less
calm, a little less awesome, right?
It means like in a definite way, clearly.
And so this doesn't sound strange to me to say this.
I know what it means.
You're going to hear it on podcast,
but it is a little less common.
The other way of using definitely,
just to agree is much more common.
Yeah.
And then I said, oh, I'm glad we came.
I usually have absolutely no desire to go to concerts,
but this one has been really fun.
And that's the second meaning of none whatsoever.
Usually none.
Absolutely no desire.
Another way of expressing your lifestyle,
your personality, your values, right?
Right.
For sure.
And then the last one,
that third meaning of absolutely,
just the emphatic yes,
when I asked if you wanted to stay,
even though it was going to be late,
and you said absolutely.
Yeah, absolutely.
I'd rather go on a Western road trip,
but I would stay at the concert.
Yeah.
I'm sure.
All right.
Good stuff.
Where should we leave our listeners today?
Because I know you have to hop on
for our Open Conversation Club,
Aubrey coming up with our students
in our courses.
Fun.
Yes.
That's happening in just a few minutes.
I can't wait.
So yeah, we definitely want to let you guys know.
You want to use these adverbs.
They add so much interest and emphasis to your speech.
But yeah, it's important to think about,
like, hmm, am I sending mixed signals?
Your intonation here.
Really does matter as much as the word you choose.
Interesting.
Okay.
I like this topic.
Guys, hit follow on the podcast.
And thanks for being on the mic today.
Aubrey, good stuff.
I enjoyed recording with you today.
Yes.
So fun to be sure to follow our other podcasts.
So you don't miss part two and part three of this series.
It's going to be super fun.
100%.
Take care.
Awesome.
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