[ti:Meanings of 'As']
[al:Ask a Teacher]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2024-01-27]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Bill in China about the word "as."
[00:12.75]Dear VOA,
[00:15.76]Thank you for your high quality American English teaching!
[00:21.07]The following sentence is from one of your recent news, and I can't understand a bit of it. Would you like to help me?
[00:34.49]And the comedy "Poor Things" upset summer hit "Barbie," as Hollywood threw its biggest party since labor disputes shut down much of show business last year.
[00:52.56]To be precise, I can't understand the part after "as Hollywood..."
[01:00.41]I think "as Hollywood..." might be a reason to describe the part before.
[01:09.11]Thanks a lot.
[01:11.02]Yours sincerely,
[01:13.50]Bill YANG from Beijing, China
[01:17.82]Thank you for writing, Bill. 
[01:20.56]This is a very good question.
[01:23.62]The word "as" has many meanings and uses in English. 
[01:30.29]In your example, "as" is a subordinator.
[01:35.86]Subordinators are used to join two clauses and add information.
[01:44.09]In this sentence, "as" shows that the events were happening at the same time. 
[01:53.09]The movie "Poor Things" upset the movie "Barbie" at the same time that Hollywood threw its biggest party. 
[02:05.08]Both things happened at the Golden Globes earlier this month.
[02:13.63]In addition to meaning "at the same time," "as" can be used to establish a reason.
[02:22.70]I don't need to write it down, as I trust myself.
[02:28.58]"I trust myself" is the reason I don't need to write it down.
[02:36.42]"As" can also be used to point to the future. For example:
[02:44.63]As you're coming to the station, you'll see a pub in front of you.
[02:51.40]In this sentence, "as" points to a future time.
[02:57.99]"As" is often used as a subordinator in many longer phrases.
[03:06.00]These phrases include "as long as", "as soon as", "as far as".
[03:15.72]There are many other ways to use "as" in a sentence. 
[03:21.78]It can be a preposition, part of a prepositional verb, and used with adjectives or adverbs for comparison. 
[03:33.43]But we can talk about those meanings another time.
[03:39.23]We hope this explanation helps you understand the meaning of "as" in your example, Bill.
[03:49.87]Do you have a question about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.
[04:03.25]And that's Ask a Teacher.
[04:07.84]I'm Gena Bennett.