Discussing Alien Life
2023-09-29
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1Over the last several months, there have been many news reports about possible alien life and strange objects in the skies, sometimes called UFOs.
2The stories have led to public discussion in the United States.
3Today, we have some English terms and structures to share that can help learners take part in the discussion, too.
4Let's start with the basic yes/no question of, "Do you believe in aliens?"
5The verb "believe" is common to hear when talking about non-Earth life in the universe.
6To "believe" something means to accept something as true. Simple answers to this question are:
7Yes, I believe in aliens.
8No, I do not believe in them.
9If you want to emphasize that you believe in aliens, you can use "do" before the main verb of "believe" in the positive form.
10This gives extra emphasis to the main verb. The stress would be on the verb "do" when you speak.
11I do believe in aliens.
12I do believe that we are not alone in the universe.
13Another way we can express our opinion about aliens is through adverbs of possibility.
14Possibility is the likelihood of something happening.
15There are adverbs to show a stronger chance of something happening, like the adverbs "definitely" or "certainly."
16And there are adverbs to show a weaker chance or probability of something occurring like "maybe," "probably" or "perhaps."
17Let's look at short dialogue using these adverbs of possibility.
18Carlos: Do you believe in aliens, Joy?
19Joy: I certainly believe in aliens. I think they are definitely among us.
20Carlos: So, you believe the sightings of UFOs are true?
21Joy: Clearly! The UFOs are probably held in Area 51!
22Carlos: Maybe, they are not enemies. Perhaps, they want to be friendly.
23Joy uses three strong adverbs to express her opinion and show the chance of something happening.
24The adverbs "certainly" and "clearly" are used to add emphasis and confidence to Joy's opinions about aliens.
25She uses the strong adverb "definitely" to show that she thinks there is a strong possibility that aliens might already live among humans.
26Joy also uses a weaker adverb of "probably" to express that she thinks that UFOs might be held in Area 51.
27Notice the placement of the adverbs. Typically, we place adverbs before the main verb in the sentence.
28But some adverbs like "maybe" and "perhaps" can be used in the beginning of sentences.
29Carlos said, "Maybe, they are not enemies. Perhaps, they want to be friendly."
30Next, we have the placement of adverbs with auxiliary verbs like "be" or "have."
31Adverbs always come after the auxiliary verb, but before the base verb, like in these examples:
32I think they are definitely among us.
33The UFOs are probably held in Area 51.
34And lastly, adverbs can be used as interjections or at the beginning of sentences.
35Interjections are short statements that show more of a feeling and are grammatically independent from other sentences.
36They usually have an exclamation mark (!) as punctuation.
37Joy uses the adverb "clearly" as an interjection to answer Carlos' question about UFO sightings.
38Carlos then answers Joy using the adverbs "maybe" and "perhaps" to express his opinion about the chance that aliens are friendly.
39He uses the weaker adverbs here.
40"Maybe" and "perhaps" often come in the beginning of the sentence.
41Today we looked at how we can express our opinion of alien life.
42The verb "believe" is often used to express if we accept aliens as true.
43We can use the verb "do" in front of the main verb in the positive to give extra emphasis to our belief.
44And we looked at the use of adverbs of possibility.
45We can use stronger adverbs such as "definitely" or "clearly" to say that there is a greater chance of something and to add emphasis to our opinions.
46Weaker adverbs such as "maybe" and "perhaps" can express that the likelihood of something is less.
47And finally, we looked at the placement of those adverbs within sentences.
48Now it is your turn. Share your opinions of aliens using the expressions and grammar above.
49Do you believe in life outside of Earth? Are there aliens among us? Let us know in an email to learningenglish@voanews.com.
50I'm Faith Pirlo.
1Over the last several months, there have been many news reports about possible alien life and strange objects in the skies, sometimes called UFOs. The stories have led to public discussion in the United States. Today, we have some English terms and structures to share that can help learners take part in the discussion, too. 2Do + believe 3Let's start with the basic yes/no question of, "Do you believe in aliens?" 4The verb "believe" is common to hear when talking about non-Earth life in the universe. To "believe" something means to accept something as true. Simple answers to this question are: 5Yes, I believe in aliens. 6No, I do not believe in them. 7If you want to emphasize that you believe in aliens, you can use "do" before the main verb of "believe" in the positive form. This gives extra emphasis to the main verb. The stress would be on the verb "do" when you speak. 8I do believe in aliens. 9I do believe that we are not alone in the universe. 10Adverbs of possibility 11Another way we can express our opinion about aliens is through adverbs of possibility. Possibility is the likelihood of something happening. 12There are adverbs to show a stronger chance of something happening, like the adverbs "definitely" or "certainly." And there are adverbs to show a weaker chance or probability of something occurring like "maybe," "probably" or "perhaps." 13Let's look at short dialogue using these adverbs of possibility. 14Carlos: Do you believe in aliens, Joy? 15Joy: I certainly believe in aliens. I think they are definitely among us. 16Carlos: So, you believe the sightings of UFOs are true? 17Joy: Clearly! The UFOs are probably held in Area 51! 18Carlos: Maybe, they are not enemies. Perhaps, they want to be friendly. 19Joy uses three strong adverbs to express her opinion and show the chance of something happening. 20The adverbs "certainly" and "clearly" are used to add emphasis and confidence to Joy's opinions about aliens. She uses the strong adverb "definitely" to show that she thinks there is a strong possibility that aliens might already live among humans. 21Joy also uses a weaker adverb of "probably" to express that she thinks that UFOs might be held in Area 51. 22Notice the placement of the adverbs. Typically, we place adverbs before the main verb in the sentence. 23I certainly believe in aliens 24But some adverbs like "maybe" and "perhaps" can be used in the beginning of sentences. 25Carlos said, "Maybe, they are not enemies. Perhaps, they want to be friendly." 26Next, we have the placement of adverbs with auxiliary verbs like "be" or "have." Adverbs always come after the auxiliary verb, but before the base verb, like in these examples: 27I think they are definitely among us. 28The UFOs are probably held in Area 51. 29And lastly, adverbs can be used as interjections or at the beginning of sentences. Interjections are short statements that show more of a feeling and are grammatically independent from other sentences. They usually have an exclamation mark (!) as punctuation. 30Joy uses the adverb "clearly" as an interjection to answer Carlos' question about UFO sightings. 31Carlos then answers Joy using the adverbs "maybe" and "perhaps" to express his opinion about the chance that aliens are friendly. He uses the weaker adverbs here. "Maybe" and "perhaps" often come in the beginning of the sentence. 32Final thoughts 33Today we looked at how we can express our opinion of alien life. The verb "believe" is often used to express if we accept aliens as true. We can use the verb "do" in front of the main verb in the positive to give extra emphasis to our belief. 34And we looked at the use of adverbs of possibility. We can use stronger adverbs such as "definitely" or "clearly" to say that there is a greater chance of something and to add emphasis to our opinions. Weaker adverbs such as "maybe" and "perhaps" can express that the likelihood of something is less. And finally, we looked at the placement of those adverbs within sentences. 35Now it is your turn. Share your opinions of aliens using the expressions and grammar above. Do you believe in life outside of Earth? Are there aliens among us? Let us know in an email to learningenglish@voanews.com. 36I'm Faith Pirlo. 37Faith Pirlo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 38_______________________________________________ 39Words in This Story 40alien - n. a being that comes from somewhere other than the planet Earth; an extraterrestrial 41fiction - n. a story that describes imaginary events and people 42emphasize - v. to place importance or call attention to 43Area 51 - n. a once-secret military area in the state of Nevada where people think the United States government held beings from other planets 44confidence - n. a feeling that you can do something correctly 45punctuation - n. markings that make it clear how to separate sentences and parts of sentences, so reading is easier