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Session 74

Welcome to English In A Minute. Give us a minute and we'll give you a hot tip about English. Grammar, vocabulary... there's so much to learn! And all taught by your favourite BBC Learning English staff!

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    Activity 1
  1. Activity 1

Activity 1

Unless vs As long as

Do you have a minute to spare to learn some English? Georgina explains the differences between 'unless' and 'as long as'. Give us 60 seconds and we'll give you the English!

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Georgina
Hi, I'm Georgina from BBC Learning English. In today's lesson, we look at the difference between 'unless' and 'as long as'.

Unless and 'as long as' can be used to replace 'if' in different situations.

Let's have a look at some example sentences:
I will go to the party if you come too. I will go to the party as long as you come too.
Both of these sentences have the same meaning. Notice that the verb after 'if' and 'as long as' is positive.

Now look at these sentences:
If you don't do your homework, you can't watch the film. Unless you do your homework, you can't watch the film. Both of these sentences have the same meaning. But notice that the verb after 'if' is negative and the verb after 'unless' is positive.

Bye!

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Unless vs As long as

If
Unless and 'as long as' can be used to replace 'if' in different situations

As long as
As long as means 'if'. 

  • I will go to the party as long as you come too.
  • As long as we don't make any loud noises, the baby will sleep fine.

Unless
Unless is the same as 'if not'. Notice that the verb after 'if' is negative but the verb after 'unless' is positive.

  • Unless you do your homework, you can't watch the film.
  • We won't be there on time unless this traffic clears quickly.

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