My Universe
One song from two countries, and the two things it can teach you: how the letter i has two completely different sounds, and how to build a question with every auxiliary you have learned so far.
Odd one out, and music
First four: which word is different, and why? Example: January · Monday · Sunday · Friday → January, because it is a month and the others are days.
Say the reason out loud, not just the word. "January, because it's a month" is a full sentence in English and it costs you nothing extra to say it.
Useful language
Words from the song
Click a word, then click its meaning. Correct pairs turn green.
Question words
The answer after each question tells you which word is missing. Click a word in the bank, then click a gap.
- _____ is your name? — Marina.
- _____ are you from? — From Recife.
- _____ were you born? — In 1994.
- _____ is your favorite singer? — Chris Martin.
- _____ do you listen to music? — Every day. I love it!
- _____ is it now? — It's 6:30 p.m.
- _____ are you so happy? — Because it's my birthday today!
- _____ do you go to work? — By bus.
One song, two countries
Read first, then play the video with the captions on and follow the words on the screen.
"My Universe" is a song by two bands from opposite sides of the world. Coldplay is from England. BTS is from South Korea.
They released it in 2021. Most of it is in English, and BTS sing part of it in Korean — the two languages sit inside the same song with no break between them.
It went to number one in the United States, which does not happen often to a song that is not entirely in English.
What is it about? Love, and being happy because of another person. One line in the chorus says the whole thing in seven words.
"You make my world light up inside" — My Universe, Coldplay and BTS. It does not mean you turn on a lamp. It means you make me happy.
The song is also a very good pronunciation lesson, because it is full of the letter i — and in English that letter has two completely different sounds.
Say sit, then say site. Say bit, then say bite. The letter is the same and the sound is not. That difference is in almost every line of this song.
Multiple choice
Click an answer and you get the result right away, with the reason.
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Who sings "My Universe"?
Two bands, one song.
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Where are Coldplay from?
They formed in London.
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And where is BTS from?
Which is why half of the song is in Korean.
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When did the song come out?
Twenty twenty-one.
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Which two languages are in it?
And they move from one to the other with no break.
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How did it do in the United States?
Rare for a song that is not entirely in English.
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What is the song about?
One person, and what that person does to the world of the other.
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"You make my world light up inside" means:
English does this a lot: light for happiness, dark for sadness.
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How many sounds does the letter i have in these words?
/ɪ/ as in sit, and /aɪ/ as in site.
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Which of these has the /aɪ/ sound?
igh is always /aɪ/: night, bright, light, right.
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And which has the /ɪ/ sound?
Short, like sit. The other two are long.
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In the word inside, the two letters i are:
/ɪnˈsaɪd/ — short first, long second. The best example in the whole song.
How to build any question
Every question you know fits one of two patterns. Either the verb is be or can, and it jumps to the front by itself — or it is any other verb, and you borrow do, does or did.
- Is Chris English? · Are they here? · Can you sing the song?
- Where is she from? · When were you born?
- Do you like rock? · Does Barbara work? · Where do they live?
- What did you do last night? — did is the past of both of them.
- The answers are different too: what, where, when get information; is, are, do, did, can get yes or no.
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"What is your favorite band?" The answer is normally:
Question words ask for something, not for a yes.
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"Are BTS from South Korea?" The answer is normally:
The question starts with the verb, so it wants a yes or a no.
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Which question is correct?
The verb be goes in front of the person, and does stays away.
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Which question is correct?
Live is not be, so it needs do.
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"______ Barbara work on Saturdays?"
One person: he, she or it takes does.
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"What ______ you do last night?"
Did is the past of do and does together.
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"______ you play the guitar?"
Can moves to the front on its own, like be.
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"______ you at the concert last night?"
The past of be is was and were, never did be.
The letter i: short or long?
- i + consonant + e is almost always long: site, bite, side, inside, rise, paradise.
- igh is always long: night, bright, light, right, high.
- i + consonant with no e is almost always short: sit, bit, different, infinity, big, this.
- The word inside has both: /ɪnˈsaɪd/. Short, then long, in six letters.
- Why it matters: live and leave, sit and seat, this and these — the vowel is the only difference.
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different
No e after the consonant, so it stays short.
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night
igh, and the gh is silent.
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my
Here the sound is written with a y, but it is the same long sound.
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infinity
Both of the first two are short: /ɪnˈfɪnəti/.
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sides
i + d + e. The s on the end does not change it.
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without
The stress is on the second part, and the i stays short.
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inside — the first i
In-. Same sound as in infinity.
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inside — the second i
-side. Same sound as in sides, and there is the e at the end.
Write the missing word
Choose from is · are · was · were · do · does · did · can. Look at the verb after the gap: if there isn't one, you need be.
The quick test. Is there a real verb later in the sentence? live, get up, like, do? Then it is do / does / did. No verb at all? Then it is be.
a______ she from Brazil?
bWhere ______ you live now?
c______ they at school?
dWhat time ______ he get up on weekdays?
e______ it a sunny day today?
f______ you speak English? (about ability)
gWhere ______ she last night?
h______ they like pizza?
iWhat ______ you do yesterday?
j______ it cold yesterday?
k______ we in the same class this year?
lWhere ______ you born?
Order the questions
Put the words in order. Where the cue says add the auxiliary, it is missing and you write it. The others already have it — just put the words in order.
add the auxiliaryshe / from / Where
add the auxiliaryyou / like / pizza
orderthey / at home / Are
add the auxiliaryWhat / you / do / last night
orderCan / speak / you / English
orderlive / they / do / where
orderyou / happy / are
ordercan / play / guitar / she
orderyesterday / were / where / you
orderhe / like / coffee / kind of / does / What
orderdid / it / last night / snow
My universe: who are you?
Five areas, and you have to ask me every question as well as answer it. Ask the question in full — that is the point of the class.
Useful language
Twelve questions for a stranger
Write twelve questions you would ask somebody you have just met: two about who they are, two about their routine, two about their interests, two about their past, two about their future, and two of your own. Use a different auxiliary as often as you can.
My results
Check your score, then copy it and send it to your teacher on WhatsApp.
Play the song once a day this week. Not to study it — just to hear it. Your ear learns the difference between sit and site from music faster than from any exercise I can write.