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Speaker 1: I came up with this podcast yesterday. I even wrote

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some of it in the car. And even though I

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touched on this topic in another podcast like ten years ago,

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this lesson is even better.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from

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New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.

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Speaker 1: All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael

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here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.

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And this is Happy English Podcast Episode eight eighty seven.

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Ways to use even in English. Hey, thanks for tuning

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in and welcome back to the Happy English Podcast. So

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let me ask you. Have you ever heard someone say

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something like it's even hotter today than yesterday, or he

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even brought his cat to the party and thought what's

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going on with that little word? Even? It's just four letters,

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but even does a lot of work In English. Native

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speakers use it all the time in comparisons, for contrast,

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for emphasis, and in a few fixed phrases too. So

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today let's break it down. I'll show you how to

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use even naturally, and of course we'll look at plenty

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of real examples. So let's get started first. What does

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even do? Basically in a nutshell, even adds emphasis, It

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shows something is unexpected, surprising, or extreme in some way,

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and depending on where it appears in a sentence, it

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can have a few different meanings. First of we use

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even for surprise or emphasis. Let's say you're at a

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party and your coworker shows up with his cat in

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a little outfit. Yeah, that's surprising, so you might say, wow,

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he even brought his cat to the party. That's how

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we use even to show surprise or to highlight something

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that's a little extra, Like I can't believe you remembered

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my birthday. You even baked me a cake. You even

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baked me a cake. It wasn't just a card, it

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was a cake. That's a surprise, and even also works

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in a negative situation. They canceled the meeting without even

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telling me. That has a hey, not cool feeling, right.

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It's like they didn't even let me know about the meeting.

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So when you want to highlight something that's unexpected or

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surprising in a good or bad way, even is your

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go to word. Next up, we use even with comparative

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adjectives to make the comparison stronger or more extreme, Like

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the exam I had this morning was even harder than

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last week's exam. Last week's exam was tough, but this

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one whew even harder. Or it was hot yesterday here

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and it's even hotter today more than yesterday. Or maybe

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you have that one lazy coworker who doesn't quite get

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the concept of punctuality. You can say to him, you're

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late again. The boss is going to be even more

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frustrated with you than he was on Friday. This little

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word even just pushes the comparison further. It's like turning

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up the intensity. I mean, do you think this podcast

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is even better than the one I put out last Monday?

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All right, let's talk about even though and even if

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even though. This is a great way to show contrast

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between two ideas, kind of like although but stronger. Remember,

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even gives emphasis even though it was raining, we went hiking.

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Rain usually means no hiking, right, So the contrast here

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is strong. That's why we use even though even gives

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emphasis to though, like even though Tommy studied a lot,

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he failed the exam, and about my friend Anna, even

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though she's rich, she still shops at discount stores. In

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these cases, even though helps show that what happened isn't

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what you'd expect, And By the way, be careful not

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to mix up even though with even if. We use

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even though to talk about something real or true. Even

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though Tommy studied a lot, he failed the exam, But

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we use even if when we talk about situations where

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no matter what happens, the result will be the same

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to understand even if. Let's review if for a moment,

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if it rains tomorrow, we're gonna cancel the picnic. This

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is the first conditional, and we use if to talk

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about what's likely in the future. I don't know what

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the weather will be like, but if it rains tomorrow,

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we're gonna cancel the picnic. So even gives a special

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emphasis to the if clause, which is like that condition

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doesn't matter. Like I really enjoy going to the beach,

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So even if it rains tomorrow, I'm gonna drive down

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to the beach. This means, regardless of the weather, I'm

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gonna go to the beach. Here's another example. Even if

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I study all night, I don't think I'll pass the test.

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Even if I study. This means I'm so far behind

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in my studies that studying all night is not gonna

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help me pass the test. That's why I say, even

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if I study all night, I don't think I'll pass

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the test, see what I mean? Even if adds this

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feeling of I don't care what happens, the result is

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gonna be what it's gonna be. By the way, we've

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also got a few fixed expressions that use even These

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are super common and they sound really natural. The first

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one is even so even so means despite that, or

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but still like I told her it was gonna rain,

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even so she forgot her umbrella. It's like saying she

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did it anyway. Or the jacket was expensive, even so

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I bought it. In other words, despite the price I

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bought it, That jacket was expensive, even so I bought it.

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Next is even now, which gives emphasis to now even

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now is about time, and it means still or at

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this moment. Jack suddenly quit the job last month, even

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now I don't understand why he left the company. Or

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I tried texting her a few times last weekend, but

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even now she hasn't replied to my message. There's a

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nuance of surprise or frustration, like wow, really, still even

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now I don't know why she hasn't replied to my message.

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The last one is really common in conversation even better.

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You're gonna love using this one. It's perfect for when

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something turns out to be more awesome than expected. Like

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your friend just got a new job and they gave

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her a bonus for joining the company. You can say

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you got the job and a signing bonus. Even better.

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Or your friend invites you to dinner and surprises you

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with something homemade. You can say, like, wow, an awesome

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homemade meal, and you made crembrulet for the dessert. Even better.

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That concert was amazing last night, and when the band

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introduced Elton John as a special guest, even better. Even

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Better is a short way to say that extra thing

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made a good situation even better than it was. It's

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great for everyday conversations. All right, Let's wrap up with

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a quick review. We use even to show surprise he

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even brought his cat. We use even, followed by a comparative.

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For strong comparisons. This exam is even harder than the

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last one. We use even though. For contrast, even though

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I was tired, I kept working. We use even if

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to say that regardless of the condition, the result won't change.

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Even if it rains tomorrow. I'm going to the beach.

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And then we looked at three fixed phrases. Like even

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so means despite that the jacket was expensive, even so

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I bought it. Even now means like a strong still

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even now she hasn't replied to my message. And even

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better means more awesome than expected. She made dinner and

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my favorite dessert even better. Okay, here's your challenge. Try

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using one or two of these even phrases in your

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own English this week. Think about something surprising that happened,

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or a time you did something even though it was difficult.

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Try using those sentences in your conversations or your right

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and Hey, if you want to practice these with me

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and a group of other awesome learners, come check out

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my podcast Learner's Study Group. We meet once a week

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and go over the language from these podcast lessons together.

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It's a great way to build confidence and improve your speaking.

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Just check the link where you are listening to this

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podcast right now, or visit Myhappy English dot com and

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choose podcast lesson eight eighty from more Info. Thanks for listening,

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and remember, learning another language is not easy, but it's

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not impossible, and I'm here to help you on your journey.

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Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please

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visit Myhappy english dot com. Show your support for Happy

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English by leading us a review, Get English, Get Happy,

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Happy English. Sch