VOA · Ask a Teacher
Beginner · A2learner speed4:432025-02-20public domain
In Ask a Teacher, real learner questions about English grammar and usage get short, clear answers. Episodes are only a few minutes long and use simple classroom English — a gentle entry point if you are new to dictation practice.
Hit "Start dictation practice" — all 5 minutes are already sliced into sentences, so practice starts immediately. No wait.
Replay each sentence as many times as you need — beginner episodes use short sentences and simple vocabulary.
Switch to Dictation mode, type each sentence, and get a word-by-word diff with your accuracy score.
01This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Anne in China.
02Here is part of Anne's question.
03Hello, teachers.
04Could you please help me understand the difference between extend, expand, stretch, and enlarge when I describe an activity that makes something larger than its current state?
05Thank you, Anne.
06We can use the four verbs Anne asked about to express an increase in physical size or amount.
07We can also use them to express increasing the time an activity takes.
08Extend We often use the verb extend to talk about increasing the amount of time for an activity or program.
09For example, Officials want to extend the school year by six weeks.
10We can use the verb extend to express an increase in people, things, or ideas.
11Consider the following examples.
12The new rule extends to all employees in the company.
13They want to extend the benefits of freedom to people around the world.
14This research will extend our knowledge.
15We can also use extend to express the distance or the area something reaches.
16For example, The rocky mountains extend from the United States into Canada.
17Expand We use expand to express an increase in the size of a project or program.
18And, like extend, we can use expand to talk about including more people.
19Consider the following example.
20Officials want to expand the program to include people from developing countries.
21We commonly use expand in connection with business or industry.
22We want to expand our business to reach more customers.
23Stretch We can use the phrasal verb stretch out to express increasing the time to continue an activity.
24I wanted to stretch out my vacation for an extra two or three days.
25We can use the verb stretch to express improving our ability to do something.
26Learning a new language will stretch your mind and improve your problem-solving abilities.
27Note that when we use the verb stretch in this way, we communicate the idea that the improvement might be a little difficult or take a lot of effort.
28Enlarge Unlike the verb extend, we do not use enlarge to talk about an increase in time.
29Instead, it simply means to increase in size or scope.
30Scope means all of the things connected to an activity or project.
31Consider the following example.
32They have enlarged their research team to examine the effects of pollution on animals.
33For our readers and listeners, what are your questions about American English?
34How are you trying to expand your knowledge?
35We want to hear from you.
36Send us an email at learningenglish at voanews.com.
37And please let us know where you are from, too.
38And that's Ask a Teacher.
39I'm Andrew Smith.
// transcribed with Whisper AI — reading it is easy; catching it by ear is the skill
Practice it by ear
