Hi.
Welcome to www.engvid.com.
I'm Adam.
Today's lesson is a bit more grammar-based,
or I guess you could also call it vocabulary-based.
We're going to look at the word "under", but
we're going to look at it in a very specific
context.
And I had a lot of people asking me about
certain words that begin with the word "under"
and then take another word with it.
So, first let's make sure we understand what
the word "under" means.
First of all, it's a preposition, meaning
it has a function in terms of movement of
things or location, or positioning.
And it means... when we're using it now as
a prefix... actually, I should write this
word for you.
"Prefix".
A "prefix" is a part of a word that comes
at the beginning of a word, joins to another
word and becomes a new word together.
So, as a prefix, "under" essentially keeps
the same meaning as it does as a preposition.
It means less, or lower, or not enough, or
beneath/below which is the traditional meaning
that most people know.
So, here are some words with "under" as a
prefix, and it basically means exactly the
same thing with the extra word.
So, what do I mean?
"Underachieve".
If you underachieve, you achieve less than
you could; less than your full potential.
Right?
An "underachiever" is also somebody who we
would think of as lazy or doesn't really try
too hard or doesn't really care very much.
This person is an underachiever because he
or she can reach a certain level, but doesn't
really try to, and that's why he or she is
an underachiever.
Lower: An "undergraduate".
A lot of people know this word.
An "undergraduate" is in university, is a
person studying for a bachelor's degree.
Now, here is the graduate, person who's graduated
from the bachelor's program and maybe will
go to a master's or a PhD.
So, an undergraduate is under that; lower
level of student within the system.
Okay?
So it basically means the exact same thing
as the two parts; "under" and "graduate".
Lower than a graduate.
Not enough: "Underdeveloped" means it hasn't
been fully developed; it's not developed enough
- very straightforward.
And beneath/below: "Underground".
So, the train is... the subway is underground
- means it's under the ground, and we just
squeeze the two words together; "under" becomes
a prefix, "ground" becomes... stays the same
and you have a new noun.
Now, the problem that a lot of people have
is when the two words join together and have
a completely different meaning or a different
connotation.
Okay?
And a "connotation" means the words may mean
the same thing, but the idea behind them is
a little bit different.
Okay?
So let's look at some examples.
"Undertake".
Now, if you're going to undertake something,
if you're going to undertake a task or you're
going to undertake a project - essentially,
it means you're going to do it or you're going
to at least commit to doing it, or accept
the responsibility of doing it.
Okay?
So, we have... we have some plans; we're going
to undertake these plans next week; we're
going to do them, we're going to make them
happen next week.
Now, the problem is: If you say: "Take under",
"take under" means, like, take below; take
under the ground or whatever.
"Take under" can also be a phrasal verb.
So if you take someone under your wing - means
you're... you're going to teach them, you're
going to take responsibility for them.
When you put it the other way around, first
of all, there's no space so it's one word,
and it has a different meaning: Do.
So that's where it becomes a little bit tricky
for English learners because you don't know
where these differences are.
With all of these words, all you do is just
rearrange the order: "Develop under" means
developed not enough.
"Achieve less", "graduate lower than somebody
else".
Right?
So it's easy to understand.
These ones, not so much.
"Undergo".
"Undergo" means be part of a process, or again,
could also mean do.
So, if you undergo surgery - means you're
going to lie on a bed and a doctor's going
to cut you open, and do whatever he does or
she does.
So if you undergo something, you're part of
that process; undergo surgery, for example.
If you "underestimate"... now, "estimate"
generally means guess something.
So you're guessing something about someone
or about something, but if you "underestimate",
it doesn't mean that you're guessing lower
or you're guessing less; it means you're not
fully appreciating something.
So, if you underestimate a person's strength
or if you underestimate a piece of jewellery's
value - means you don't think of it as much
as it actually is.
So, it's like you didn't guess... you did
the guess correctly, that's true; but you
guessed a lower value for something, or a
lower strength, or a lower size, etc.
"Underlie" basically means be the foundation.
So, technically something lies under, but
it's nothing physical.
Right?
It's just an idea.
So, the theory is underlied by certain other
facts.
So these facts form the basis of a new theory
about something else.
So, you can guess this meaning; something
lies underneath, but generally it's not something
physical.
So you have to be careful that to know it's
foundation or basis for something.
To "undercut", again, you could cut, like
a tree, you undercut a tree means you're cutting
it at a lower level and it's topping over
- but a more common use of "undercut", again,
and especially in business, means to offer
a lower price for something.
So, for example, I have a company and this
person has a company, and we are both bidding;
we're both making offers for our contract
with the government.
This guy says he'll provide them with whatever
the product is for $10 per unit.
Now, $10, he's making a little bit of a profit.
I say to the government: "Okay, I will do
it for $9."
$9, I make almost no profit, but I get in
with the government and I'll do something
else with them later.
So I undercut my competition by offering a
price that he or she can't afford.
Right?
"Undercut" - offer for much less, and especially
when you're talking about competition.
"Undermine", now this one is very hard to
guess because "mine": "Oh, it's mine.
Like, this pen is mine", but that's not what
it means here.
To "undermine" means to be tricky or sneaky
about something.
So, both me and my friend here want to get
a promotion at a company, so I will undermine
him.
I will go to the boss or I will go to the
manager and I'll say, you know: "This person,
he cheated on his last report.
He didn't actually make that many sales."
So I undermine his chances of promotion.
I'm a little bit tricky, I'm a little bit
sneaky, I do something a little bit bad to
make him or her look worse, and I get the
promotion.
Okay?
So these are all verbs.
Now, we also have adjectives that are a little
bit difficult to guess.
If something is "understated" it means it's
a bit more subtle or delicate.
So, "subtle" doesn't... isn't spelled like
it sounds, so I'll write it for you.
If something is subtle, it's not... it's not
very obvious.
Okay?
So, if someone... if a woman is wearing an
understated dress, it means... like, let's
say she's very rich or she has a very good
body, but her dress is understated means it's
not too showy or it doesn't show off her body
too much.
It's just enough to be nice, but not enough
to, like, shout for attention.
Okay?
It's a good word, actually.
"Underhanded", it doesn't mean the bottom
of your hand or the bottom of your hand; depends
which way you hold it.
"Underhanded" is also a little bit like "undermine".
"Undermine" is a verb; "underhanded" is an
adjective.
If you're doing something that is underhanded,
it's sneaky or tricky.
It's not really nice.
It's a little bit of a cheating way to get
a certain goal or result, etc.
And then we have nouns.
Now, we had "undertake" basically means to
do.
"Undertaker" - completely unrelated.
An "undertaker" is a person who prepares dead
bodies for burial.
So, when a person dies, the family sends the
body to the funeral home, or the undertaker
comes to their house and takes the body, and
prepares it; like, if it does makeup, or if
it dresses it - again, different cultures,
different ceremonies, but the undertaker is
that person who handles the dead body.
Okay?
An "understudy"... it's....
Again, it's not a verb, even though "study"
is a verb.
An "understudy" is a noun, and when you have,
like, a play and you have an actor or actress
who has the lead role... now, the company
that is producing the play wants to make sure
that nothing happens; like the show will go
on, so they have an understudy.
This is a person who studies all the same
lines, and practices and rehearses the same
as the main character.
If something bad happens to the main actor
or actress, the understudy can come in and
take over until the main actor comes back.
"Underworld".
It could literally mean "underworld", like
Hell, like underneath our world there's another
world where the Devil lives or dead souls
go to live; but in everyday use, it means,
like, the criminal world.
If you think about mafia or gangs, things
like that - criminals live in a different
type of world; it's called the underworld.
And then "underwriter".
If you're talk... if you're thinking about
business, an "underwriter" is a person who
will guarantee a loan.
So, usually you're talking about insurance
companies or banks, so if they have... if
you take out a loan, somebody will underwrite
your loan.
So if you can't make the payment, the bank
doesn't worry about it because somebody else
will make the payment, and you'll pay that
person back later.
Okay?
So, again, a lot of these words you can guess.
The ones that you can't guess, hopefully I
made them a bit clear here.
But, again, use the dictionary.
If you're not sure what a word means, don't
guess.
Confirm in the dictionary or ask a native
speaker who knows it, and make sure you know
all these words.
But in case you did get all these and you
want to make sure you practice them, please
go to www.engvid.com.
There's a quiz where I will quiz you on all
these words; make sure you actually understood
them.
And, of course, don't forget you can ask me
all the questions you want; I'll be happy
to explain these words or other words like
them.
And don't forget to come back and subscribe
to my channel, give me a like if you like
the video, and I'll see you again soon with
more vocab, grammar, and other lessons.
Bye-bye.
