3 ways to use 'as long as' - English Grammar

TRANSCRIPT

Hi guys. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on "as long as". Now, this lesson is not about "as long as" in a comparative sense, like, if I say, "My arm is as long as three rulers, maybe?" But it is about three other ways that we can use this very common, everyday expression. So a couple things that we have to learn about "as long as", and we'll do them in a three-step process.

No. 1: we're going to look at this sentence, and you will tell me what is the correct way to finish it. So the sentence is, "I will remember you as long as I live/I will live." Which one do you think is correct in this situation? Okay, well, you already have "I will" in the first part of the sentence, so you don't really need it in the second part. The reason for this is that we generally use "as long as" in the present tense, okay? So: "as long as I live". We don't really say "as long as he will live" or "I will be here" or whatever it is. Generally, we just keep it in the present tense. Now, it is possible to use in the past as well. We just don't really use it with "will". What does "as long as" mean? Well, in this situation, it actually means, like, "for the duration of", "for the duration of the period". So "for the duration of my life", "as long as I live", "for the duration of this period", okay?

The second sentence says, "You can come as long as you're quiet." So if you have a friend who's very talkative, who's very social and loud, and you don't want to them to come with you to, let's say, the grocery store or in a public place. But you tell them, "as long as you're quiet, you can come." What do you think "as long as" means in this situation? What can you replace it with? When you look at the context, you might think of the word "if", right? So "as long as" can also be used
to mean "on the condition that", okay? So, "as long as" here means "on the condition that".

"On the condition that you are quiet, you can come." So think of it a little bit like "if", okay? Now, finally, we have "The meeting could be as long as three hours!" Now, after "as long as", we said that we can use it for duration, and this is definitely duration, not condition. But what we are doing is we are emphasizing, right? It's to emphasize a really long time. So if you want to emphasize a really long time, you can also use "as long as". So we can use it for emphasis before a number. And I apologize for my writing. I think you guys can understand that, okay? So we can use "as long as" to talk about duration. We can use it to talk about conditions, and we can also use it to emphasize a number like a really long time.

So I have three more sentences at the bottom, and I'd just like you to tell me how we're using "as long as" in these three situations. "I will help as long as you buy pizza!" So if you have a new building, a new apartment, you have just moved in a new house, and you're painting. You need to paint your house. You invite some friends, and one of your friends says, "Okay, I will help as long as you buy pizza -- right? -- for us, for helping." So this is obviously condition, okay? So I'm going to just put -- maybe I'll write it here -- "condition", just "con." This is a condition. I will help as long as you buy pizza, on the condition that you buy pizza. "He can talk for as long as 1 hour!" So if you have, again, a very talkative, chatty person, a talkative friend, and you want to emphasize -- right -- -that, "Oh, my goodness, they can talk forever." So here, this is for emphasis. And finally, "As long as I'm here, I will help." So again, this is for duration -- "for the period of time that I am here", okay? So guys, here are three ways that you can use this very common, everyday, English expression.

[Cami]

As long as you continue recording fantastic videos like this, I will watch you! :)

[ayamjago]

I will watch your video as long as you keep the video simple and clear to understand.

[Xisto]

Thanks for the class Alex. This one is a little bit harsh, but I will try to handle it.

[ericliu]

Thanks Alex. You're really a wonderful teacher. I've learned a lot from you.

[johnnyferrosa]

Perfect lessons Alex! Keep going and greetings from Brazil!

[edivaldoamarante]

Ok Alex you are the kara
(You teach Very Well)

[rolezen]

Cool. Really didactic video. Do you have anything about "far out"?

[engvidAlex]

Thanks for all of your support, guys!

[engvidAlex]

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[MalenasBazaArte]

I will watch your videos AS LONG AS you keep up the good work!

[abubardewa]

I dont care who you are and where you from as long as you love me .
: Backstreet boyz

[АлександрСкороход-ез]

I will watch you as long as you speak English =)

[BrazilianDaftPunkFan]

It's yours my friend, *AS LONG AS* you have enough rubies.

[mrmoody]

Anyone here from india ? 🙄

Let's vote 👍🏻

[Netpilation]

As long As I watch your lessons I won't fail my English exams
As long as you upload video i'll keep watching it

[jenithk]

I will never respect you as long as you respect me😎

[sap]

As long as you teach like the performance that you shown in that video, I will watch you! :)

[WagnerSouzaBR]

Congratulations, You are a Great Teacher. Thank´s

[rahulghosh]

as long as we are alive, we will continue to watch your next videos.{is it right???} 

Congrats buddy I love your intimate style