An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'catch on' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. This post is all about the phrasal verb 'catch on', which is one that can be used to talk about a variety of different subjects like understanding, fashion and being realistic. It has two main meanings in English and in the post I will explain both of these for you, as well as its other lesser known meanings, including one that is used in Irish English only. As per usual, I will give you lots of example sentences in context to show you how each one is used. So, let's get started and find out what 'catch on' is all about.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Catch On - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'catch' and 'on' Catch On - Meaning 1: Literal Catch On - Meaning 2: To become popular or fashionable Catch On - Meaning 3: To understand something Catch On - Meaning 4: To start thinking realistically 🇮🇪 I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS CATCH ON: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 4 Past tense forms Caught on / Caught on Separable? Sometimes Before we get started with the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'catch on', let's first take a moment to consider the meanings of the individual words 'catch' and 'on' and what they mean on their own.... Catch - 'To catch' is a common irregular verb with several meanings that can be frequently heard in contemporary everyday English. The most common meaning of 'to catch' is probably 'to stop something that is travelling through the air and not let it fall to the ground'. Another extremely common meaning that it has is 'to capture a person or animal that is trying to escape or move away from you'. Additionally, some lesser used meanings of 'to catch' include 'to travel with public transport', 'to get an infectious disease' and 'to make contact with something and get stuck to it'. The aim of the game is to catch the ball when it is thrown. Whoever catches the bouquet of flowers will be the next person to get married. The police caught the criminals after a long car chase. James catches the train to work every day. My sister has caught a cold, so she is not coming to the party. My coat got caught in the car door. On - The prepositional particle 'on' is one that is extremely common in phrasal verbs and typically functions to give ideas like contact and continuation or sometimes both ( go on , carry on , put on ). Furthermore, when 'on' appears in phrasal verbs it can add ideas like activation (turn on), focus (work on) and transfer ( pass on ). So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'catch on'.... MEANING 1: Literal Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To snag Separable? Yes Let's begin by easing ourselves in gently with the first meaning of the phrasal verb 'catch on', which is the literal meaning. It may surprise you to learn that this one is not as commonly used as some of its other meanings. You should also note that when used literally, 'catch on' is a prepositional verb phrase and it is not strictly a true phrasal verb usage, however it is one that you are likely to come across and so I wanted to include it for you. Nouns commonly used with this application..... Clothes (Coat, Trousers, Pants, Sleeve) Hand Finger Foot With so many different meanings of the verb 'to catch', you may be wondering what the literal meaning of 'catch on' could be. To clarify, the meaning of the verb 'to catch' that we are taking literally is 'hitting something and sticking to it', which is essentially what this first meaning is. We simply then add the prepositional particle 'on' to specify what the thing sticks to. Let me explain by way of an example. Imagine that you are walking through an area that is overgrown with grass, plants and weeds etc. As you are walking, you move past a rose bush with lots of sharp thorns (like the picture above) and one of the thorns sticks into your trouser leg, meaning that when you move it again, your trousers tear. In this situation, you could say that " you caught your trouser leg on a thorn ". On a grammar note, this usage is always used in separable way in active sentences. It is also very common to use it this way in the passive voice, particularly with the 'get' passive: 'to get something caught on something'. Active sentences.... Norman caught his sleeve on a nail as he walked past the fence. Abigail caught her necklace on the door handle and almost broke it. Philip caught his backpack on a low branch while hiking. I caught my coat on the corner of the table as I stood up. Marianne caught her hair on the zip of her jacket. Rob caught his trousers on a piece of wire climbing over the fence and ripped a big hole in them. Passive sentences.... The fishing line caught on a rock at the bottom of the river and the fisherman could not get it out again. The kite string caught on a lamppost and wouldn’t come free. Kate's necklace got caught on the door handle and snapped. As he climbed over the fence, Mark's trousers got caught on a piece of wire. Lucy tried to pull away, but her scarf had got caught on a nail. The curtain got caught on the window latch and wouldn’t close properly. One other time that you may come across 'catch on' in a (kind of) literal sense is with the expression to 'catch on fire', which just means to begin burning. The old wooden shed caught on fire after lightning struck it. One of the candles tipped over and the curtain caught on fire. MEANING 2: To become popular or fashionable Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To become popular / trendy, to take off, to blow up Separable? No For our second application of the phrasal verb 'catch on', we are going to look at one of the two most common meanings, which is 'to become popular or fashionable'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Idea Style Trend Fashion / Look Movement Meme One thing that we can all be certain about in life is that everything changes from one day to the next and nothing stays the same forever. One area in which this is most obvious is with things that become popular with people; in society, new styles of clothes, music artists and hairdos are constantly becoming trendy and then being replaced by something else newer when people grow bored of them. In these instances when something first becomes popular with people, we can say that it " catches on ". This is similar to the usage that we have with 'fire' that I mentioned in the last section as if something catches fire, the fire tends to increase very quickly until the whole object is burning and in this figurative sense, the fire is the trend that burns through society. We can use this application with anything that becomes popular or mainstream among people, however we can also use it when something does not become popular when it was expected to. On a grammatical note, this usage is inseparable. Sometimes, we add the additional preposition 'with' to specify the group of people with whom something becomes popular. That new fitness trend is really starting to catch on. The idea didn’t catch on at first, but now it’s everywhere and everyone is talking about it. It took a while, but the concept eventually caught on. Some trends catch on quickly, while others fade away. That hairstyle never really caught on outside the big cities. His music is finally catching on with a wider audience. The product failed to catch on in the European market. For some reason, the trend never quite caught on with younger people. It was popular for a while, but it didn’t really catch on long-term. MEANING 3: To understand something Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To realise, to understand Separable? No Let's now move on to our third meaning of the phrasal verb 'catch on', which is the other of the commonest applications, especially in spoken English, and means 'to understand or to realise something'. To explain further, we do not really use this application for when someone understands something easily or immediately, rather it is mainly used when someone takes time to understand something. This is particularly the case if he or she found it difficult to understand it. Alternatively, we can also use 'catch on' in this way to talk about when someone is late to realise that something is happening, specifically when all of the other people understand it or know what is happening. Like with the previous application, this one is also inseparable. It is sometimes followed by the additional preposition 'to' to specify the thing that is understood or realised. It took me a while, but I finally caught on. Kerry eventually caught on to what was happening after we'd been trying to show her for 10 minutes. Alma didn’t catch on at first, but eventually she understood the joke. Ben’s quite quick; he usually catches on straight away. By the time I caught on, it was too late to say anything. It took them ages to catch on to what we were doing. They haven’t caught on yet, but they will soon. Jeremy caught on that something wasn’t right. MEANING 4: To start thinking realistically Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Common Where is it used? Irish English Potential synonyms To wake up, to see sense Separable? Yes Our fourth and final usage of the phrasal verb 'catch on' is one that is limited geographically to the Emerald Isle (Ireland) and means 'to start thinking realistically'. To give you more information, this application is used in situations in which a person is being naïve about something or has ideas about things that are never going to happen in reality. It tends to be quite critical or corrective in tone as the speaker often wants the other person to stop believing that something will happen or is possible when it is not. As I mentioned, this is an Irish English and even though I am from the UK just across a very small sea from there, I have to admit that I have never heard it before. Michael needs to catch on and realise how serious this is. You’d want to catch on; that’s never going to work. Marie hasn’t caught on yet if she thinks Brendan’ll change. They need to catch on and stop wasting money like that. Catch on, will you? You can’t keep doing this. Paul’d want to catch on fairly quickly in that job. If you don’t catch on soon, you’ll be in trouble. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'catch on'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'catch on'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'fall in' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. This blog article is all about the phrasal verb 'fall in'. This useful little phrasal verb has at least 4 distinct uses in English and can be used to talk about different subjects like accidents, old buildings, military marches and new friends. In the article, I will explain all of these meanings for you and give you lots of example sentences for each so that you know when and how to use them. So, let's make a start and find out what 'fall in' is all about.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Fall In - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'fall' and 'in' Fall In - Meaning 1: Literal Fall In - Meaning 2: To collapse Fall In - Meaning 3: To form a line Fall In - Bonus: The idiom 'to fall in line' Fall In - Meaning 4: To become friendly with someone I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS FALL IN: KEY INFORMATION Usage Medium Number of meanings 4 Past tense forms Fell in / Fallen in Separable? No The phrasal verb 'fall in' is formed by combining the base verb 'to fall' with the prepositional particle 'in' and before we look at what this little combination of words means in English, let's first just consider the individual words 'fall' and 'in' on their own. Fall - 'To fall' is a common English verb whose main meaning is 'to move in a downwards direction, typically in a very quick and uncontrolled way'. When used this way it is often followed by prepositions like 'down', 'on' and 'in' which give extra meaning to the falling action. In addition to this main meaning, 'to fall' can also be used to mean 'to decrease', 'to be on a certain day' and 'to change state'. It is an irregular verb and when used in the past tense, it can often be confused by learners with another irregular verb 'to feel' (fell & fallen vs felt & felt). The pavement is very icy; be careful that you don't fall! Many buildings fell down during the earthquake. I fell over when I was out jogging yesterday. The number of website visitors fell by 10% last month. My birthday falls on a Saturday this year. Jane always falls asleep when watching television. In - If you are able to read and understand this blog article, then you will undoubtedly know the word 'in' and will therefore require little explanation from me about this. In short, the word 'in' is used to talk about being in or moving towards interior spaces and it functions as the opposite of the particle 'out'. When used in phrasal verbs, 'in' can often carry this idea of movement into or towards an inside space (move in) as well as ideas like joining an activity or situation (join in), arrival ( come in ) and beginning (set in). Now that we have covered the basics, let's now move on to the main event, i.e. the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'fall in'.... MEANING 1: Literal Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To tumble in, to drop in Separable? No The first of the meanings of the phrasal verb 'fall in' that we will look at is the easiest and most obvious of all its meanings as it is just the literal meanings of the two words combined, i.e. to fall and land in or inside something. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Water Ocean / Sea / River / Lake Swimming Pool Hole Crack Bath We use this literal application to describe any situations in which a person, animal or object drops from somewhere and ends up in an internal space or a completely new environment. I think most commonly this is used with nouns for bodies of water such as sea, ocean, lake and river to describe when a person accidentally accidentally falls and lands in one of these. Aside from this, we can use this application with nouns that describe spaces that are enclosed except for the top, which therefore allow people or things to fall inside. Be careful near the edge of the dock or you might fall in. Luke slipped on the wet stones next to the canal and fell in. One of the children leaned too far over the boat's edge and nearly fell in. Mary lost her balance while reaching with the fishing net and fell in. The dog ran too fast along the riverbank and fell in. WHAT ABOUT FALL INTO? As you can see from the examples above, we use 'fall in' when the water, hole or internal space is clear from the context. However, if you want to specify this information, we need the particle 'into' rather than 'in'.... The little boy leaned too far over the edge and fell into the pool. Pam lost her footing and fell into a deep hole in the ground. My dog chased the ball and accidentally fell into the lake. One of the hikers tripped on a rock and fell into a narrow crevice. Kevin's phone slipped from his hand and fell into the water. Another time that you may hear this literal usage being used in a slightly different sense is when someone is already in something and falls to the floor. For example, it is very common for people to fall in the shower, i.e. they are already in the shower cubicle when they fall. In this case we do not use 'fall into the shower' as there is no change from where the person fell to where they ended up e.g. they fell in the shower and landed in the shower. My mum fell in the bath and hit her head. Photo: Wix Media One last usage of this literal application is one that I am sure most of you know, whether you are romantic or not, and that is 'to fall in love', which if you weren't sure means 'to develop a deep romantic connection with someone, normally your partner or spouse'. This one is heard in so many pop music songs, it is very difficult to avoid it! I fell in love with you the moment that I saw you! We've fallen in love with each other and we are going to get married. MEANING 2: To collapse Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To collapse, to cave in, to subside Separable? No The second meaning of the phrasal verb 'fall in' that we will look at is all to do with buildings and means 'to collapse'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Floor Ceiling Roof Wall Specifically for this application, we are not usually talking about an entire building that collapses but rather parts of it, particularly those which are supported in the air like the roof. If these supported parts of a building collapse and fall towards the interior of the building, we say they "fall in". Note that we would not say this if the part of the building fell and landed outside of the building's walls. Of course, this normally does not happen in buildings that are occupied and well maintained but rather with derelict and unused buildings that have been empty for a long time. Moreover, you may hear this in cases where buildings are damaged by natural disasters or wars. In addition to buildings, you can also use this with other structures like bridges or mines, however it is less common to do this. Part of the old roof suddenly fell in during the storm. The ceiling of the house is likely to fall in now that the fire has weakened the beams. The ground fell in beneath Fred's feet when the old tunnel collapsed. The walls of the abandoned house slowly fell in over the years. The bridge began to shake and then part of it fell in. A section of the mine has fallen in, trapping several workers underground. The rotten wooden floor suddenly fell in under the weight of the furniture. When they removed the support beam, the whole structure began to fall in. MEANING 3: To form a line Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To get in line, to queue up, to line up Separable? No Unlike the previous two applications of the phrasal verb 'fall in', the third one has nothing to do with physical falling and more to do with the military and means 'to form a line'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Soldiers Troops Recruits Cadets What is the first thing that you think of when you read the word 'army'? Many of you might say fighting and weapons, especially with what is happening in the world right now, however I imagine that some of you will think of a military parade where hundreds or thousands of military personnel are walking or standing in perfect lines. When the soldiers take their place in the line and become a part of this large military formation, we can sat they 'fall in' (or that they 'fall in line' - more about this later). This may be a line in a marching parade or it may be a line on the military base where they are inspected e.g. first thing in the morning. The sergeant shouted for the soldiers to fall in immediately. The recruits quickly fell in outside the barracks. At six o’clock sharp, the platoon fell in for inspection. The officer ordered the troops to fall in on the parade ground. When the whistle blew, the cadets fell in in two neat rows. The commander told everyone to fall in and prepare to march The battalion fell in before the ceremony started. Additionally, it is also possible to hear the variations 'to fall in behind someone' and 'to fall in beside someone', meaning to walk behind and next to someone respectively. This is again something that you will hear in the military but it is also possible to hear these variations used for normal people when they are walking in a line or in groups, e.g. school children on a class trip or tourists on a tour. The late arrivals hurried to fall in behind the rest of the platoon. The children were told to fall in behind the teacher for the walk back to school. Two new recruits fell in beside the others in the second row. The officer ordered the latecomers to fall in beside their assigned partners. The scouts quickly fell in behind the group and the march continued. The walking tour guide asked the new people to fall in behind the others as they set off to their next destination. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The idiom 'to fall in line' Whilst we are still on the third application of 'fall in', I want to make you aware of a nice and useful little expression featuring it that you can use to elevate your English and impress your friends and colleagues: 'to fall in line'. We can use this expression to talk about both people and organisations when they begin to follow the rules that they are expected to follow and behave in the way that they should. It is typically used after a period of time when they have not followed the rules or have not done what an authority has asked them to do. The company warned that employees who refused to fall in line with the new rules could face disciplinary action. If the smaller countries refuse to fall in line, the agreement could collapse. Eventually, the younger players fell in line and followed the captain’s instructions. MEANING 4: To become friendly with someone Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? British English Potential synonyms To become friendly with, to befriend Separable? No Our fourth and final meaning of the phrasal verb 'fall in' is one that is more common in British English and means 'to become friendly with someone'. For this application, we also require the additional preposition 'with' to specify the people concerned. To give you more context for this one, this application tends to be used when someone makes friends or starts spending a lot of time with another person or group of people by chance or when you don't plan or expect to meet new people. It often implies that the person who has 'fallen in' with the others starts to join in with their activities or even starts to think and act like them. Examples of this range from positive ones, for example when someone is travelling alone and makes friends with other travellers who they they then travel with, to negative ones when someone starts to spend time with a bad crowd of people and he or she changes negatively as a consequence. While travelling in Spain, Pierre fell in with a group of backpackers. Linda fell in with some old friends at the conference. On the train, I fell in with a couple who were also visiting the city and we had dinner that evening. Johannes fell in with the wrong crowd when he moved to the city. During the festival, we fell in with a group of musicians and followed them around all evening. Leanne quickly fell in with the other students in her class. On the hike, we fell in with another group heading the same way. Ron worried that his son had fallen in with a bad crowd. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'fall in'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'fall in'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'give away' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. This post is all about 'give away', which is a common English phrasal verb that can be used to talk about a wide range of subjects including football matches, competitions, secrets and weddings. In the post, I will explain 5 different ways to use it in English and for each of these, I will provide you with lots of example sentences to show you how and when to use them. In addition, I will give you an expression and a noun featuring 'throw away' that you can also use to impress your friends and colleagues. So, let's make a start and find out what the phrasal verb 'give away' is all about.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Give Away - The Basics: Key information & the individual words 'give' and 'away' Give Away - Meaning 1: To give something for free Give Away - Meaning 2: To reveal something secret Give Away - Bonus: The idiom 'to give the game away' Give Away - Meaning 3: To formally present a bride for marriage Give Away - Meaning 4: To cause a game or competition to be lost Give Away - Meaning 5: To be mismatched in weight, height or time Give Away - Bonus: The noun 'giveaway' I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS GIVE AWAY: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Gave away / Given away Separable? Yes I know that you are here to learn about the phrasal verb 'give away', but the first step that we need to take in this process is to look at the individual words 'give' and 'away' and what they mean on their own.... Give - 'To give' is an irregular and frequently used verb in English with a range of different meanings. Its main meaning ,and the one that you are likely to know, is 'to transfer the possession or ownership of something from one person to another for free'. In addition to this, we can also use the verb 'to give' to mean 'to pay money', 'to make or produce a noise', 'to perform an action' and 'to break, bend or change shape under pressure' among others. I am giving my son a cellphone for his birthday. How much money would you give me to clean your house? The little girl gave a squeal when she saw a spider on the wall. The politician plans to give a speech in parliament about this. My new shoes finally gave after I had worn them for a while. Away - The prepositional particle 'away' is a common word in English but is not one that we see very often in phrasal verbs. We tend to use 'away' as an adverb to talk about moving from one point to another that is more distant and as an adjective it's main meaning is probably 'in a different place'. When it appears in phrasal verbs 'away' can add the idea of a movement away from a place to the main verb (walk away, go away), as well as ideas like disappearance (wash away), gradual reduction (fade away) and continuous or repeated actions (chat away). So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'give away'.... MEANING 1: To give something for free Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To donate Separable? Yes The first application of the phrasal verb 'give away' that we will look at is the most common one and therefore the one that you are most likely to have come across before, which is 'to give something for free'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Clothes Furniture Prize Money Land To put this one another way, if you give something away, you give or donate something to another person without asking for payment or for anything in return. This is often used when the person giving the item away does not want or need it anymore. For example, if you have a baby, there will be lots of things that you need for it that you will no longer need as the baby grows into a child. Therefore, many people give these baby things away to friends or relatives. You should note that we don't use this for giving birthday or Christmas presents as it is used more for things that we already own, while we buy new things for gifts. I decided to give away my old clothes because they no longer fit me. Valerie gave most of her books away before moving to a smaller apartment. We gave away all the children's toys after they grew out of them. Mike gave away his old bicycle to a neighbour's son. They decided to give their furniture away, rather than paying to move it to their new house. I usually give magazines away after I’ve finished reading them. Emma gave away her old laptop when she bought a new one. I've just given several bags of clothes away to a local charity shop. Somewhere else that you are likely to hear 'give away' being used is in reference to competitions when companies and businesses offer prizes to people who enter them as part of a marketing or promotional strategy. When they do this, they often say that they are 'giving away' whatever prize is on offer. In fact, one of the meanings of the noun 'giveaway' means 'competition' and is often used as a synonym for it - more about this later! Our local radio station is giving away concert tickets this week. The company is giving away a free holiday to Mexico to one lucky winner. We’re giving away five smartphones in our latest competition. The website is giving away gift cards to celebrate its anniversary. More rarely, in addition to small everyday items and prizes in competitions, 'give away' can also be used for when countries hand control of an island, piece or land or area to another country or owner. The President has recently criticised his ally for agreeing to give away the islands. Lastly, we can also use 'give away' to talk about when something is sold very cheaply or much cheaper than it should be sold for. It is like saying that the price for the items is so low that it is almost like you are giving it to someone for free. This usage may often be preceded by the adverbs 'virtually', practically' or 'almost'..... They gave the house away for far less than it was worth. Vernon practically gave his car away because he needed the money quickly. Beth felt she had virtually given the painting away when she later discovered its real value. MEANING 2: To reveal something secret Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To let out, to tell, to disclose, to divulge Separable? Yes Next up, we have our second meaning of the phrasal verb 'give away', which is one that is all about secrecy and trust and means 'to reveal something secret'.... Nouns commonly used with this application.... Secret Information Feeling Nature / Identity When we think about secrets and things that are secret, the main focus is on the idea that something is known by only a small group of people and others are not supposed to know it. This may be something verbal that you tell someone or it may be an action, a feeling or the true nature of something that a person wants to hide from other people. We can use this application of 'give away' to talk about all of these. Firstly, we can use it to talk about revealing confidential information that someone else wants to keep secret and making it known to others. This isn't limited to secrets exchanged between people; it may also be something that we would prefer others not to know at that moment, so that they can discover it for themselves later e.g. the ending of a movie or the answer to a question that they need to solve. Note that we use 'give away' often when this hidden information is revealed accidentally or unintentionally. John accidentally gave away the surprise party during dinner. Please try not to give the ending of the film away again; I don't want to know what happens! Kelly gave away our plans without realising it was supposed to be confidential. The report gave away details of the company’s future strategy. Someone in the team gave the secret away before the official announcement. I won’t give away the answer; you need to work it out yourself. The interviewer almost gave away the winner before the final results were announced. The newspaper article gave information away that the government wanted to keep private. In addition to this, we can also use 'give away' with non-verbal information such as feelings and thoughts. This is often done by facial expressions and behaviour. For example, if someone is not happy about something but does not want to admit it verbally, their facial expressions or body language may give away their unhappiness instead. Likewise, if someone is lying about something that they have done, their behaviour or any evidence that they have left behind may give away the fact that they are not being truthful. Once again, 'give away' is typically used here when the non-verbal information is revealed unintentionally. You should note that when we use it in this way, we say that something " gives the person away ", with a direct pronoun being used for the person (him, her, them etc). The fraudster's nervous smile gave him away immediately. The way that Michelle avoided eye contact gave away the fact that she was lying. Rebecca's sudden hesitation gave away her uncertainty. Graham's reaction gave away how upset he really was. Her expression gave away the surprise before she said anything. The small mistake in the document gave away that it was fake. Lastly, we can also use this for when something non-verbal reveals information that was previously unknown even if it wasn't intentionally hidden or kept secret e.g. someone's accent may give away where they come from or someone's clothing may give away what job they do. Martin's strong Liverpool accent gave away where he was from. The mud on Benjamin's shoes gave away that he had been outside. The smell of smoke gave away that something had burned. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The idiom 'to give the game away' Before we finish this second application of 'give away', there is a common expression that I want to make you aware of that includes it: 'to give the game away'. This nice little idiom simply mean 'to unintentionally reveal secret or hidden information' and is commonly used in reference to surprise plans, lies, deception and hidden strategies. Oswald almost gave the game away by mentioning the surprise party in front of her. Ed was trying to act confident, but his shaking hands gave the game away. His nervous laugh gave the game away, and everyone realised he was lying. MEANING 3: To formally present a bride for marriage Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To present, to escort, to walk down the aisle Separable? Yes Do you enjoy weddings? Have you been to many in your life? If you have ever been to an English-language wedding, then you are likely to have heard this third application of the phrasal verb 'give away', which means 'to formally present a bride for marriage'. In many English-speaking countries, there is a tradition in wedding ceremonies that the bride enters the church, along with her father, who walks with her up the aisle (to the front of the church), where the groom is waiting for her. This action is viewed as symbolic of the father formally presenting his daughter to the groom and giving his permission for her to marry him. This procedure is known as 'giving away', with the idea that the father gives the bride away. Of course, in the modern world, marriage has become a lot more diverse in nature and not all marriages follow this tradition anymore. It is still widely practised though. Moreover, if the bride's father has died or does not have a good relationship with her, it is possible for another person to give her away in place of her father. Lucy's father gave her away at the wedding ceremony. Naomi asked her older brother to give her away on her wedding day. When Tina's father passed away, her mother gave her away at the ceremony. Alan's daughter asked him if he would give her away at the wedding. Mandy's grandfather proudly gave her away as she walked down the aisle. Both of Amy's parents gave her away together. MEANING 4: To cause a game or competition to be lost Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere? Potential synonyms To hand over, to cause to lose Separable? Yes For the final two applications of the phrasal verb 'give away', we are going to focus on sport and competitions and therefore this next one is 'to cause a game or a competition to be lost'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Game Match Lead Points Earlier in the post, I talked about the idiomatic expression 'to give the game away', meaning to reveal secret information, however we now have a second usage of this phrase as it actually also means to lose a game or competition because of a mistake or error that a competitor or player makes. This is a very common usage in team sports, especially football (soccer). It is mainly used when a team has a winning advantage or is in a position when they could win and then somebody makes an error or plays very badly, enabling the opposing team to steal the advantage and win the game. At it's core, this usage means that the team would have won if it were not for the poor play, which handed the victory to the opponents. It is understandably something that causes a lot of annoyance among fellow team members and fans. The team gave the game away with two late defensive errors. They gave away the match in the final minutes. A careless penalty gave the game away to the opposition. We were winning comfortably, but a series of mistakes gave it away. The goalkeeper’s error gave the match away. They dominated most of the game but gave it away in the last five minutes. One poor decision gave the championship away. The team gave away a two-goal lead and lost 3–2. MEANING 5: To be mismatched in weight, height or time Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To concede Separable? Yes Our fifth and final usage of the phrasal verb 'give away' is a rarer one that is also used in sports and means ''to be mismatched in weight, height or time'. When two competitors or teams face each other in a competition, they are usually quite evenly matched in terms of ability and size, e.g. boxers normally fight other boxers who are in the same weight category as them and football teams typically play other teams who are in the same league. There are times however when this is not the case and there is a mismatch in terms of ability, size or strength. When this happens the bigger or better competitor has a clear advantage over the other and to describe this, we say that the smaller or less able competitor gives away something to the other one. Note that when forming this usage, we are always talking from the perspective of the disadvantaged competitor and we follow the structure below: to give away + amount + noun + to + the competitor with the advantage. For example, if one boxer in a match is 20cm shorter than his opponent, we can say that he gives away 20cm to his opponent. Likewise, if a runner has a head start of 5 seconds over another runner in a race, we can say that the runner who starts second gives away 5 seconds to the first runner. The boxer gave away nearly ten kilos to his opponent. Harry was much shorter and gave away several inches in height. The younger player gave away five years of experience. Despite giving away a lot of weight, the wrestler still won the match. She gave away three inches in height but played much more aggressively. The horse gave away several kilograms to the others in the race. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The noun 'giveaway' As with many phrasal verbs, 'give away' also has a noun that is derived from it: 'giveaway'. You may remember from earlier in the post that I mentioned that one meaning of the noun 'giveaway' is a competition in which a company runs a marketing campaign where someone can win a prize and this is one that you is fairly common, especially online where most of these 'giveaways' are found.... The company is running a giveaway where you can win a free holiday. I entered an online giveaway for a new smartphone. The YouTuber announced a giveaway to celebrate reaching one million subscribers. One other separate meaning of the noun 'giveaway' links back to the second application that we looked at (to reveal something secret) and we can use the noun here to mean a clue, sign or detail which reveals the secret or previously unknown information. It is quite common to add the word 'dead' before the word 'giveaway' when the sign or clue is very obvious.... His strong accent was a clear giveaway that Richard wasn’t from the area. The nervous look on Shakira's face was a giveaway that something was wrong. The spelling mistakes in the email were a dead giveaway that it was a scam. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'give away'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'give away'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'make for' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. This post is all about a phrasal verb that is relatively less well-known than many others: 'make for'. This nice little phrasal verb is one that can be used to talk about many diverse subjects like cocktails, emergencies and good television. In this post, I will explain its three different meanings for you, with lots of example sentences for each one and also give you a nice little idiom that that features it. So, let's get started and find out exactly what the phrasal verb 'make for' means.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Make For - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'make' and 'for' Make For - Meaning 1: Literal Make For - Meaning 2: To go towards somewhere Make For - Bonus: The idiom 'to make a beeline for someone / something' Make For - Meaning 3: To make something possible I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS MAKE FOR: KEY INFORMATION Usage Medium Number of meanings 3 Past tense forms Made for / Made for Separable? No Let's start the post in the usual way by analysing the individual words that make up the phrasal verb that I will be explaining; in this case 'make' and 'for'. Make - The verb to make is one that you are likely to have learned very early in your English learning and is extremely common. As a verb, 'to make' has a large number of uses, of which the most common ones are probably 'to create' or 'to form', 'to cause' and 'to force'. Despite how common it is, 'to make' is a verb that is often confusing for English learners as it is often mixed up with the verb 'to do' and common mistakes occur like 'to do a mistake' (for reference it is to make a mistake 😉 ). As with the majority of the most common verbs, 'to make' is irregular.... I am making dinner for my wife this evening. The children were making a lot of noise. We made a mistake and ended up losing a lot of money. My parents made me go to university. For - The prepositional particle 'for' is not one that is typically found in phrasal verb constructions; in fact this is the first time I have covered it on this website! We use 'for' in English for several different reasons, with perhaps the most common one being to talk about purpose or intended benefit. In other words, we use it to explain why something is done or to describe the person who benefits from something or is helped by it. In addition, we can also use it to talk about the duration of an action and to talk about how much something costs, among other meanings. The black bin is for normal waste and the green bin is for garden waste. I have a bought an engagement ring for my girlfriend. The flight from London to New York lasts for 7 hours. I paid £300 for this sofa. Now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings that we get when we combine these two words to form the phrasal verb 'make for'.... MEANING 1: Literal Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level A1 - Beginner Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To prepare for, to cook for Separable? Yes We are going to start our exploration of the phrasal verb 'make for' with the literal version of the combination of these two words, which is 'to create or make something for the benefit of another person'. As this one is so literal in meaning, it is not really classed as a true phrasal verb but I wanted to include it in the post just in case you wondered about it. I will keep it short as I am sure that the meaning is one that you are already very familiar with. When we talk about making something for someone, we are typically referring either to when we make something for them to eat or drink, e.g. a meal, a cup of coffee or a cocktail. Additionally, we could be talking about physically creating something for someone to have or to use, e.g. you might make a jumper for someone by knitting one. One last usage to be aware of is 'to make time for someone', which is commonly used to talk about ensuring that you have enough time in your life to spend with a friend, family member, partner or spouse. Rita made a cake for her sister’s birthday. I’ll make some tea for you. Ron made a sandwich for his son. Jo and Mike made a special meal for their guests. Loretta made a scarf for her grandmother. I will always make time for you, darling! Note that it is very common for speakers to drop the word 'for' when the indirect object pronoun (me, him, her etc.) comes directly after the word 'make'.... My husband makes me a coffee every morning. Joseph made her a playlist. We can also use this literal sense to describe when something is made with a specific purpose. This can be literal or it can be used to describe when one thing is very suitable or even perfect for a purpose. This knife was made for cutting meat. This room was made for weddings! They are the perfect couple; they were made for each other! MEANING 2: To go towards somewhere Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To head for, to go to, to travel to, to move to Separable? No The second meaning of the phrasal verb 'make for' that we will look at in this post is the first of the true phrasal verb meanings and is 'to go towards somewhere'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Door Exit Home Shelter To clarify this meaning, we use 'make for' when we want to talk about moving in the direction of a specific place or point. However, although this application does mean the same as 'go to', there are some differences in nuance and usage between the two that you should know. While we use 'go to' in a neutral way to talk about a movement, we tend to use 'make for' more when there is something dramatic, urgent or deliberate about the movement. Consider the following sentences.... When the fire alarm went off, the people went to the exit. When the fire alarm went off, the people made for the exit. In sentence 1, the tone is very neutral and is absolutely fine to use, however in the second sentence the tone is more urgent and the idea that is conveyed is that the people moved quickly and directly to the door as a result of the alarm. The best way that I can explain for when to use 'make for' in this way is when you see or visualise your destination and you go directly towards it with purpose or speed, making reaching this end point your only objective or intention in that moment. As a result, this application of 'make for' can often be found in stories and descriptive writing and is not as common as the more neutral 'go to'. On a grammatical note, this application is never separable and must always be followed by the destination or end point (this could be a pronoun like 'it' or 'there' if this is clear from the context). When the lights suddenly went out, everyone made for the exit. As the storm grew stronger, we made for shelter. Hearing footsteps behind him, Steve quickly made for the main road. The deer froze for a second, then made for the trees. The hikers checked their map and made for the summit of the hill. Ben waved goodbye and made for his car. The children spotted the ice cream van and immediately made for it. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The idiom 'to make a beeline for someone' Admittedly, as a native speaker, I am aware that English has some very strange and bizarre expressions and this idiom that I am going to tell you about now is definitely included in this! The expression 'to make a beeline for someone / something' is a common saying that people use to talk about when a person or animal goes directly to someone or something, like I have just explained in the previous section. For example, the moment my brother goes into a pub, he makes a beeline for the bar to get a beer (true fact - he loves beer!) or if you see someone that you want to talk to at a party, you may make a beeline for them and ignore all the other people that you pass on the way. The kids made a beeline for the swimming pool. Spotting a familiar face in the crowd, Sandra made a beeline for him. My wife got home from her run and immediately made a beeline for the fridge. MEANING 3: To make something possible Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To make possible Separable? No The final meaning of 'make for' that I will explain for you is the most advanced of the three and means 'to make something possible'. When we want to say that something (or a combination of things) contribute to, result in, produce or create something, we can often use 'make for' to express this. This application is quite formal and can be used to talk about subjects as diverse as movies, football, work and politics. It is generally used to deliver statements and is therefore often used in the simple present tense. Nevertheless, it is a high level usage and one that you could potentially use as a synonym for words like 'result in' or 'creates'. Good communication makes for a successful relationship. A clear structure makes for an effective lesson. Lack of sleep makes for a bad day at work. Warm weather makes for a perfect picnic. Too much noise makes for a stressful environment. Political instability makes for economic uncertainty. Poor planning rarely makes for successful outcomes. The argument between the competitors made for brilliant television! Short deadlines don’t always make for quality work. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'make for'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'make for'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'throw up' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. This post is all about 'throw up', which is a common English phrasal verb that is used to talk about topics like illness, surprise and haste, among other things. In this post, I will explain five different ways to use it, and provide you with lots of example sentences for each one so that you can impress your friends and family with your exceptional phrasal verb skills. So, let's make a start and find out what the phrasal verb 'throw up' is all about.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Throw Up - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'throw' and 'up' Throw Up - Meaning 1: Literal meaning Throw Up - Meaning 2: To vomit Throw Up - Meaning 3: To build something quickly 🇬🇧 Throw Up - Meaning 4: To reveal something of interest or note 🇬🇧 Throw Up - Meaning 5: To leave a job or career 🇬🇧 I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS THROW UP: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Threw up / Thrown up Separable? Yes We form the phrasal verb 'throw up' by combining the verb 'to throw' with the prepositional particle 'up' and before we start looking at the phrasal verb meanings, let's first quickly consider these two words as individual lexical units..... Throw - The verb 'to throw' is an irregular verb in English, whose main meaning is to send something through the air, most commonly with your hands. In addition to this, 'to throw' also has a number of less common meanings, which most notably for this blog post are 'to carelessly or casually put something somewhere' and 'to quickly move a part of your body'. Furthermore, 'to throw' is commonly used in phrasal verbs and like many common verbs, it is irregular. John threw the ball to Jane. Can you throw that pen to me? Ben hurriedly threw the boxes in the loft. Kate threw her head back and laughed loudly. Up - If you are a regular visitor to this website, you will know that 'up' is a super common particle in phrasal verbs and appears in many common ones. Sometimes, it can be used to add the literal meaning of a movement upwards or an increase to the base verb ( go up ), however most of the time it is used to add ideas and meanings to the verb that are not so obvious, such as completion (use up), creation ( set up ), improvement (smarten up) and disruption ( break up ). So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'throw up'.... MEANING 1: Literal Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level A1 - Beginner Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To toss up, to fling up Separable? Yes Let's begin our exploration of the phrasal verb 'throw up' with the easiest and most obvious of all its meanings, i.e. the literal one: 'to throw something in an upwards direction'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Ball Confetti Mortarboard caps Mud Dust Water Hands Photo: Wix Media As the meaning of this is easy to understand, I don't think we need to spend too much time on it, but just to confirm, it is simply used to talk about propelling an object upwards into the air with your hands. This is something that a tennis player does when starting a game or what university graduates traditionally do as part of their graduation ceremony. Usually, the words 'into the air' follow the words 'throw up' here. The students threw their graduation caps up into the air when the ceremony ended. Barbara threw a paper aeroplane up into the air, and it glided gently back down. The rugby player threw the ball high into the air, hoping his teammate would catch it. Sam closed his eyes and threw his father's ashes up into the air, letting the wind carry them away. Although this application is elementary level English at its most basic level, you should know that we can also use it in more advanced ways too. One such way is when something causes either an object or material to rise into the air as a result of movement or an impact with the ground. For example, a runner may throw water up as they run through a puddle or if something heavy falls and hits the ground, it may throw dust, dirt or rocks up into the air. The car sped down the dirt road, throwing up clouds of dust behind it. The construction trucks rumbled past, throwing up stones and grit from the road. The strong wind hit the waves, throwing up white foam along the shore. The explosion threw up a thick cloud of smoke that could be seen for miles. One other way that you can use this application in a more advanced way is with body parts, typically your arms and hands. If you throw your hands or arms up, it means that you move them very quickly upwards towards or above your head and is typically as a result of a strong emotion, shock or to protect yourself. If you are a good dancer (like me 😉), you may also throw your hands up on the dance floor, which is in fact a lyric that you may hear occasionally in dance music songs. Eleanor threw up her hands in frustration. Paul threw up his arms when he realised he had won. The crowd threw up their hands as the band finally came on stage. Startled by the noise, Melanie threw up her arms to protect her face. Throw your hands up in the air and get down to the funky beat! MEANING 2: To vomit Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To vomit, to be sick, to bring up, to barf, to puke, to bring up Separable? Yes I think that this second application of the phrasal verb 'throw up' is the one that you are most likely to know as it is the most common and means 'to vomit'. For any of you who are not clear on what the verb 'to vomit' means, it is to eject food or drink from your stomach out of your mouth, typically when you are ill, drunk or on a boat. It is generally a rather unpleasant experience! One thing to note here with this application is that it is very informal and therefore it is unlikely that your doctor or medical physician would use this. It is a very common way to talk about vomiting in informal conversations among native speakers though. On a grammatical note, it is used the majority of the time in an intransitive way (without a direct object) to talk about and focus on the action of throwing up itself. Vincent felt so sick that he had to run to the bathroom and throw up. Marlene threw up after eating something that had gone off. The smell was so strong it nearly made me throw up. Ashley drank far too much wine and ended up throwing up outside the restaurant. Sarah's son woke up in the night and threw up all over the bed. I think I’m going to throw up; I feel terrible! My daughter gets motion sickness and sometimes throws up on long journeys. Dave suddenly turned pale and threw up in the sink. We can also use this application in a separable, transitive way when we want to focus on the the food or drink that was eaten and then came back out again. You should note that this is much less common in everyday English and whilst it is technically separable, most native speakers still use it inseparably.... Tom threw up his lunch after going on the rollercoaster. The baby kept throwing up her milk so her worried parents took her to the doctor. Jeremy drank too quickly and threw up everything he’d eaten. Jacob has accidentally swallowed a coin and we are hoping that he will throw it up again soon. MEANING 3: To build something quickly Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Mainly British English Potential synonyms To build, to erect, to construct, to put up Separable? Yes The third of our applications of the phrasal verb 'throw up' is one that is also fairly informal and is used in reference to building and construction, meaning 'to build something quickly'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Building House Structure Fence Wall If we consider the action of throwing, we can say that it is stypically an action that is done with some speed or force, otherwise the object that is thrown would just fall to the ground without travelling very far. When we combine this idea of speed that we get from throwing with the idea of a building rising into the air during the construction process, we arrive at the idea of building something quickly. While speakers do often use this to talk about places where lots of new buildings appear seemingly out of nowhere in a neutral way, you should note that this can also carry a note of criticism that the buildings are of poor quality because not much care was taken in the hurry to build them. Furthermore, this application is not just used to talk about buildings and can extend to other structures that can be built by people such as tents, fences and walls too. While using 'throw up' in this way would be understood by most native English speakers, including Americans, it is definitely a more British English usage. The scout leaders threw up a temporary shelter in less than an hour. The housing developers threw up a row of cheap flats on the edge of town. After the storm, volunteers threw up makeshift tents for the displaced people. The company threw up an office block in record time. We threw up a fence around the site overnight to secure everything. A few food stalls had been thrown up near the festival entrance. The army threw up defensive walls along the border. Within weeks, new houses had been thrown up across the hillside. MEANING 4: To reveal something of interest or note Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? British English Potential synonyms To produce, to yield Separable? Yes Our fourth application of the phrasal verb 'throw up' is one that is often used to talk about surprise and revelation and means 'to reveal something of interest or note'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Results / Findings Ideas Problems / Issues Questions To clarify, we use this application of 'throw up' to refer to situations in which unexpected facts or information become known for the first time, normally as a result of something that someone has done or said. Often, this new information then raises problems or issues for the people who receive the information. For example, this could be when the results of an investigation into something produce answers that were not anticipated or it may be when a court case or public debate raises ethical or moral questions that had not been considered or discussed beforehand. The main idea behind this application is that the results are surprising or different to what we expected, for example we would not use it if the results of an investigation were as expected. As with the previous application, this one is also most common in British English, where it can be found regularly in journalism, the media and academic writing. The investigation threw up several unexpected findings. The latest survey on religion has thrown up some surprising results. Our new IT system quickly threw up technical problems after it was installed. The political debate threw up some interesting points about education reform. That court case threw up some important ethical issues, which we are still discussing today. The trial threw up conflicting testimony from key witnesses. The merger threw up unexpected legal complications. The audit threw up some irregularities in the company’s accounts. MEANING 5: To leave a job or career Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? British English Potential synonyms To give up, to quit, to leave, to abandon Separable? Yes Here we are at the final application of the phrasal verb 'throw up', which is a rarer one that means 'to leave a job or a career'. Nouns commonly used with this applications.... Job Career Position Office Post If you throw up a job or a career, it simply means that you quickly or suddenly leave your job, abandon your career or stop doing something professionally. This is normally used when it is by choice and not when it is forced and can often imply that that there was some drama or conflict that led to the 'throwing up' action. Again, this is another primarily British usage, although I must say that I don't think I have ever heard it before in conversation (maybe I just haven't been paying enough attention). Some sources say that it is a bit old-fashioned, which could perhaps explain why I don't know it. Let me know if you ever come across it and where; I'd be interested to know! Andrew threw up his job after a disagreement with his manager. Wendy threw up her post as company director with immediate effect. The finance minister threw up his office following the scandal. My Dad shocked his colleagues when he threw up his position and walked out. After years of frustration, Matilda finally threw up her career in finance. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'throw up'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'throw up'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'let out' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. This post is all about the English phrasal verb 'let out', which is one with very diverse meanings that range from making a sound, to increasing the size of an item of clothing. In the post, I explain all of the different meanings that 'let out' has and also give you a useful idiom that you can use with your English-speaking friends and colleagues. As per usual, there are lots of examples for each usage to show you how they are used by speakers in everyday language. So, let's make a start and see what 'let out' is all about.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Let Out - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'let' and 'out' Let Out - Meaning 1: To allow to leave Let Out - Meaning 2: To make a sound Let Out - Meaning 3: To end 🇺🇸 Let Out - Meaning 4: To tell a secret Let Out - Bonus: The idiom 'to let the cat out of the bag' Let Out - Meaning 5: To rent a property to someone 🇬🇧 Let Out - Meaning 6: To make an item of clothing larger I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS LET OUT: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 6 Past tense forms Let out / Let out Separable? Yes Before we look at the meanings of the phrasal verb 'let out', let's first consider the two little words that form it, 'let' and 'out', and what they mean on their own. Let - 'To let' is a very common irregular English verb whose main meanings are 'to allow or to permit something' and 'to not stop something from happening'. In addition to this, 'to let' has another less common meaning that is key for this phrasal verb, which is 'to rent your house or property to someone' and we will come back to this later. As I mentioned, 'to let' is an irregular verb and its past tense forms are 'let' and 'let'. I let my cats sleep on the bed. I remember the first time my parents let me drink a glass of wine. Our boss won't let us finish early today. Can you let me know that you got home safely. We are planning to let this property. Out - The prepositional particle 'out' is one that is commonly found in phrasal verb constructions and functions as the natural opposite of the word 'in'. We use 'out' to talk about moving towards or being on the external part of something or moving away from something. These ideas are often carried across to literal phrasal verbs like 'go out'. In addition to this, 'out' can also add the ideas of emergence or visibility ( come out ), completion (figure out), exhaustion ( run out ) and distribution (hand out), among others. So, now that we have covered the basics, let's now move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'let out'.... MEANING 1: To allow to leave Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To release Separable? Yes The first meaning of the phrasal verb 'let out' that we will look at is the literal meaning, which is simply to allow someone or something to leave an internal space. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Person Dog / Cat / Horse Water Air Breath Like a good pet owner, every morning when I come downstairs I feed my cats, Arthur and Henry. Once they have finished eating, they run to the back door because they want to go outside and they need me to let them out. In other words, they are bored of the house and want to see what exciting things they can find in the garden and it is me who can open the door and allow them to go outside This is just one example of many situations in everyday life when you can use this first application of 'let out'. It is not just used with cats or dogs but also people. For example, you can open the door to let a passenger out of a car or nightclub security staff can let customers out of the door when they want to go home. The key idea behind this is that the person or animal that wants to leave the internal space cannot do so without the assistance or permission of another person who is usually in control of the space. On a grammatical note, this application is separable and the direct object (the person or animal leaving the space) can go between 'let' and 'out' or after them, without changing the meaning. The teacher let the students out of the class five minutes early. Tim's parents wouldn’t let him out of the room until he apologised. The security guard let the visitors out after the tour ended Amanda forgot to let the cat out, so he scratched at the bedroom door all night. Could you let the chickens out in the morning? Boris quickly let the horse out of the stable. The prisoners were let out of jail at dawn. We weren’t let out until the rain finally stopped. You should also note that we can also use this application for liquids and gases that are contained inside something and escape when somebody makes it possible. Most commonly, this is with the nouns 'water' and 'air'; for example if you have an air bed, you will need to let the air inside it out before you can fold it and put it away. Likewise, if you have a nice relaxing bath, you will need to let the water out at the end once you have finished. Andrew accidentally let the air out of the car tyres. Don’t let the all of the air out of the balloon yet! The valve slowly began to let out gas from the container. Someone has let the air out of my bike tyres again! The workers opened the gate to let the water out of the dam. Paul loosened the pipe and let out some water MEANING 2: To make a sound Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To emit Separable? Yes The second of our applications of the phrasal verb 'let out' is very similar to the first but is a bit more specific and means 'to make a sound'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Scream Cry Shout Sigh Groan To give you some clarification, we mostly (not always) use this application in reference to sounds that people make. This tends to be when the sounds are quite sudden or unexpected. These are often tied to emotions or reaction like screaming, sighing, groaning or laughing. The use of this application of 'let out' can often convey the idea that the sound was involuntary or unplanned. Less commonly, we can use it to talk about objects and machines that make a sound that is typically short and unexpected. For example, a train might let out a whistle sound as it is moving along or a smoke alarm might let a high-pitched sound out when triggered by burnt toast....I'm sure you get the idea 😊 Grammatically, whilst this application is technically separable, it tens to be used more in the non-separable way by native speakers. Pam let out a loud scream when she saw the spider. The audience let out a collective gasp as the lights suddenly went out. Pippa let out a nervous laugh during the awkward silence. Jason let out a groan when he realised his mistake. Alan let out a shout of frustration and slammed the door. The football fans let out a cheer when their team scored in the final minute. The little boy let out a frightened cry when he fell over. Anthony let out a sharp yell as the cold water hit him. The brakes on the car let out a squeal as the car came to a stop. One other time you can use this application is in reference to your breathing. If you let a breath out, you release a breath from your lungs and mouth. This may be because you were holding your breath for a specific reason or maybe if you are worried about something, you may let out a big breath when you hear some relieving good news. Ruth closed her eyes and let out a long breath. She didn’t realise she had been holding her breath until she finally let out a long exhale. MEANING 3: To end Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? American English Potential synonyms To break up, to finish Separable? No For our third application of the phrasal verb 'let out', we are turning our attention to a usage that is common in North American English and means 'to end'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... School Class Theater / Concert / Show Movie / Film Meeting Firstly, we cannot use this application to mean 'to end' in every sense of the word; for instance we cannot use it to mean to mean that someone's life ends or that a TV show ends. Specifically, we use this application to talk about things that people go to or attend. One of the most common times that you may come across this usage is in relation to school and classes. If a class 'lets out', it means that the class finishes and the students are free to leave. Similarly, school or college can also let out at the end of a term when the holidays begin. In addition to this, we can also use 'let out' to refer to places where people gather in large groups to watch or attend something, e.g. church, business meetings, movies at the cinema or theatre shows. When the event or show ends and the people are therefore officially free to leave, we can say that it 'lets out'. Grammatically, this is different to the other uses we have looked at so far as there is no direct object and it is therefore an inseparable usage. We do not really use 'let out' in this way in British English and would use other verbs to say this instead e.g. 'break up' to talk about schools finishing for the holidays. In British English, it is possible to use 'let out' in a separable, transitive way with students and classrooms (see the first application), however the meaning here is slightly different as the focus is on the teacher allowing a student / students to leave (the teacher let the student out to go to the bathroom), whereas with this application the idea is that the event or show is finished and people are free to leave as they have no reason to stay. My school lets out at 3:15pm every afternoon. What time does your maths class let out today? The students rushed outside as soon as school let out. The movie let out later than we expected. The traffic was terrible because the concert had just let out. We waited outside the theatre until the show let out. Crowds filled the streets after the football game let out. MEANING 4: To tell a secret Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To blab Separable? Yes The next meaning of 'let out' that we will explore is one for all of you who love to gossip and talk about what other people are doing (that includes me) and means 'to tell a secret'. I imagine that most of you reading this have at one time or another been told secrets about other people that you have promised not to share with others. If at any time you have then told another person the secret information (and asked them not to tell anyone either) then you could be guilty of letting out the secret. I would say that most of the time we use this application of 'let out' when the secret information is revealed accidentally or under pressure from other people. Moreover, it tends to carry the idea that once you have revealed the secret, everyone knows about it and it is therefore no longer hidden information. Marie accidentally let out the surprise about her sister's birthday party. Jonah let out the secret before he could stop himself. I can’t believe you let out what we discussed in private. Charlotte promised not to tell anyone, but she eventually let it out. Mark was trying to keep it quiet, but the truth somehow got let out. After hours of questioning, the prisoner finally let out the truth. Heidi let out the news during a moment of frustration. Paul didn’t mean to let it out, but he was too excited to stay silent. Kathy let out that they were planning to move abroad next year. Our CEO accidentally let out that the company was considering lay-offs. Photo: Pexels BONUS: To let the cat out of the bag Photo: Pexels Whilst we are on this fourth application of our chosenphrasal verb 'let out', I need to tell you about a lovely little idiom that we have for it: 'to let the cat out of the bag'. If someone 'lets the cat out of the bag', they reveal some secret information by mistake, typically which is about something that is planned in the future, such as a birthday party or a surprise trip somewhere. I was planning a secret trip to take my fiancée to Paris and propose to her but my brother let the cat out of the bag and told her. John knows about his surprise party? Who let the cat out of the bag? MEANING 5: To rent a property to someone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? British English Potential synonyms To let out Separable? Yes If you remember from the Basics section earlier, I mentioned that one of the less common meanings of the verb 'to let' is to rent your house or your property to someone and this meaning is vital for our next application of 'let out', which is 'to rent a property to someone'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Room House Flat Apartment Villa Office You should note that this usage is primarily a British English usage. If you ever drive or walk around town or city in England, Scotland or Wales, you are likely to see some signs outside of buildings, which from a distance can look like 'toilet' but actually say 'to let'. These signs are placed on the exterior of properties to advise people that the building, or a part of the building e.g. room or apartment, is available for rent, or in other words it can be 'let out'. It can be used to talk about both residential and commercial property e.g. offices and shops but not for other things like cars or bicycles. When we use this, we can use it both actively and passively. When used in an active sense, the focus is on the owner of the property who makes it available for someone to live in it or use it, in exchange for money. For this, you need the additional preposition 'to' to specify the person who is renting the property. The couple decided to let out their flat while they were working abroad. Susan lets out two rooms in her house to university students. The landlord let out the property to a young couple. James plans to let out the cottage during the summer months. They’ve been letting out their house in the Cotswolds since they moved to London. Used in the passive voice, this meaning of 'let out' is used to indicate that someone is already renting a property or that it is no longer available. I'm afraid that that this apartment has already been let out. The property was let out within a week of being advertised. Several offices are currently being let out in this city centre building. The house was let out fully furnished. MEANING 6: To make an item of clothing larger Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To enlarge Separable? Yes We've now come to our sixth and final usage of the phrasal verb 'let out' and this one is a rarer usage that means 'to make an item of clothing larger'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Dress Skirt Trousers / Pants Jacket / Coat If you have ever owned an item of clothing that you cannot wear as it is too small for you, you may have considered making it larger so that it fits you. This process is known in English as 'letting out' and if you 'let out' a piece of clothing, you simply adjust it to make it bigger. Typically, 'letting out' can only be done with those items of clothing that have extra fabric in them to enable the adjustment to happen. Unless you are the person who is performing the letting out action, you would use this application in the passive voice, particularly the causative passive e.g. to have / get something let out. This dress feels a bit tight; could you please let it out slightly? The tailor let out the waist of his trousers after he put on weight. Marlene had the sleeves let out to make the jacket more comfortable. I’ll need to get this skirt let out before the wedding. The suit was too tight, so Kevin asked the tailor to let it out. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'let out'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'let out'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'run down' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. This post is all about the phrasal verb 'run down' and its different uses and meanings in English. In it, I will explain 5 different ways that it can be used by native speakers, ranging from being used in a literal sense to finding something that you have spent a long time looking for. As per usual, I will provide you with lots of example sentences for each application so that you can impress your friends and colleagues with your superb phrasal verb skills! So, without further ado, let's make a start.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Run Down - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'run' and 'down' Run Down - Meaning 1: Literal Run Down - Meaning 2: To hit somebody with a vehicle Run Down - Meaning 3: To gradually reduce something 🇬🇧 Run Down - Meaning 4: To criticise someone unfairly Run Down - Meaning 5: To find someone or something Run Down - Bonus: The adjective 'run-down' I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS RUN DOWN: KEY INFORMATION Usage Medium Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Ran down / Run down Separable? Sometimes How well do you know the words 'run' and 'down' on their own? Before we dive into the meanings of the phrasal verb 'run down', let's first just briefly consider the meaning of its two component words and what they bring to the phrasal verbs that they appear in.... Run - The verb 'to run' is one that you will surely have used many times in your English conversations. Its most well-known meaning is 'to move on your feet at a speed that is faster than walking' and is something that I try and do several times a week to stay fit. We do not just use it for this though and it can also be used to mean 'to flow' when talking about a liquid like water, 'to operate' when talking about a machine and 'to manage' when talking about a business. As with most of the commonest verbs in English, it is irregular. I run 10km at least once a week to keep fit. John heard someone running through his garden at 4am this morning. The water from the flood ran along the street. We need to get this machine running again as we are losing money. Sarah runs a cosmetics business. Down - You will surely all know the prepositional particle 'down' and that its primary function is to talk about a movement in a downwards direction or a decrease. These ideas can be carried across into phrasal verbs like ' go down ' or 'fall down', however in addition to this, 'down' can introduce a number of other ideas and concepts into a phrasal verb. These include reduction (slow down), defeat ( take down ), control ( hold down ) and recording information (write down). So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'run down'.... MEANING 1: Literal Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To flow down Separable? No Our first one application of 'run down' is not technically a phrasal verb meaning as it is just the literal meaning of the two words combined but I wanted to include it on here to help you to recognise it and distinguish it from its other meanings. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Stairs / Steps Hill / Mountain Slope Street Literally, when we combine these two words we get the idea of running (moving faster than walking) in a downwards direction. This may be down a slope, a hill or it may be down some steps from a high position to a lower one. The elevator wasn't working, so I ran down the stairs. The surfers decided to run down the sand dune and into the sea. The cows began to run down the steep hill when the storm approached. The hikers were forced to run down the side of the embankment to reach the stream. The thief jumped off the ledge and managed to run down the slanted roof before falling to the ground. You should know that English speakers (confusingly) also use the words 'up' and 'down' to talk about a movement along something, especially a street or a road, when there is no upward or downward movement at all. For example, you could say that you "walked up a road" or "walked down a road" and in both cases 'up' and 'down' mean the same thing; it is a purely metaphorical usage because there is often no elevation involved. We just do it some reason 🤷 The athlete decided to run down to the end of the field. I saw you the other day running down the road past the museum. As I mentioned in the Basics section earlier, we can also use the verb 'to run' to talk about a liquid that flows like water. In a literal sense, we can therefore use 'run down' to talk about when a liquid moves in a downward direction from a higher place to a lower one. Of course, it is equally possible to use this application with the metaphorical 'down' that we just talked about too. Tears began to run down Sarah's cheeks. The water just ran down to the bottom of the hill, taking everything in its path with it. Blood was running down Peter's leg. Without proper gutters, rainwater will run down the side of the house. Water was running down the street when the drains were blocked. MEANING 2: To hit somebody with a vehicle Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To run over, to hit, to knock down, to knock over Separable? Yes The second of our applications of 'run down' is the first proper phrasal verb meaning and means to 'to hit somebody with a vehicle'. To explain further, we can use this application of 'run down' to describe whenever a car, bicycle, van, bus etc. collides with a person or animal on the road, usually knocking them to the ground. When 'run down' is used in this sense, we cannot directly infer if the victim was killed, injured or was ok and this typically comes with extra information from the speaker. ISN'T 'RUN DOWN' THE SAME AS 'RUN OVER'? Some of you reading this may be familiar with the phrasal verb 'run over', which can also be used to mean the same thing, however there are some subtle differences to be aware of..... Firstly, 'run over' to is more common than 'run down' when talking about hitting someone with a vehicle Secondly whilst both are used to mean to be hit by a vehicle, 'run over' carries the idea that the vehicle hit and drove over the unlucky person, while 'run down' implies more that they were just knocked to the ground in the collision. Lastly, 'run down' can be used when a driver intentionally hits someone with a car and it is often associated with careless or irresponsible driving, whilst 'run over' does not usually carry this concept of a deliberate action. The police say a motorcyclist has run down a pedestrian on the crossing. The truck ran down a cyclist at the J1 intersection. By the time they called the police, the driver had already run down three people. Sue was reversing and almost ran down a child that was running behind the car. Leon might run someone down if he keeps texting while driving. Karen would have run Terry down if he hadn’t jumped out of the way at the last minute. As with 'run over', it is also common to use 'run down' in the passive voice to talk about the victim of this type of incident, especially when we don't know who the driver was. When doing this, we can use either the auxiliary verbs 'to be' or 'to get'. Unfortunately, a woman was run down outside the supermarket yesterday. Several cyclists have been run down in that area already this year. Phil was distracted and nearly got run down when crossing the street. MEANING 3: To gradually reduce something Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Mainly British English Potential synonyms To use up, to reduce, to wear down Separable? Yes The third and middle meaning of 'run down' that we will cover means 'to gradually reduce something' and can be used to talk about both a reduction in the quantity and the quality of something. When we run something down, we simply use something and do not refill, replenish or repair it, therefore allowing the number or quality of it to decrease. On a grammatical level, when we do this, we are using the verb transitively (with a direct object) and it is separable. You should note that we can also use 'run down' in an intransitive way (without a direct object) to describe when something gets lower or reduces through usage over time and in these instances, 'run down' is not separable. There are several key sub-applications that we have with this meaning and so, to make this easier to explain and for you to understand, let's consider the different ones.... Batteries - For many people, a nightmare scenario is when the battery symbol on their cellphone goes from 🔋 to 🪫. In other words, the power in their battery decreases to empty or 'runs down'. This doesn't just have to the battery on a cellphone however and it can be applied to anything with a battery or level that reduces with usage. My phone's battery ran down completely during the concert. If you leave your car headlights on overnight, you will quickly run down the battery. Continuous video streaming can run the battery down very quickly. Business - It is also possible for someone to run a business or organisation down, meaning that they reduce its size, importance or stock levels. There are many reasons why this may happen, which range from bad management or mistakes causing it to happen, to more intentional reasons like the business is closing. Note that this usage is almost always used in the transitive sense and therefore takes a direct object and is separable. The management's plan is to run the old factory down over the next two years and move production overseas. The company had been running down for a long time before it finally went bankrupt. Instead of investing in new products, the survey revealed that many firms were simply running down their existing stock. The new owners acquired the rival company only to deliberately run its operations down. This government has systematically run down public services since it took office 3 years ago. The property business could be sold or run down, depending on market conditions. Quality - It is also possible to use 'run down' to describe when the quality or condition of something gets worse. Most frequently, this is heard in relation to areas and places like cities and districts within them. It is not heard so often in this way, however the adjectival form 'run-down' that comes from it is and we will look at that at the end of the post. The landlord let the apartment building run down because he didn't want to pay for maintenance. After the original owner passed away, the once-beautiful estate was allowed to completely run down. The government was accused of deliberately letting the railway network run down before they sold it off. You shouldn’t run your car down like that; regular oil changes are important. MEANING 4: To criticise someone unfairly Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To criticise, to denigrate, to disparage, to put down Separable? Yes Let's now move on to our fourth meaning of 'run down', which is to criticise someone or something unfairly. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Person / People or their pronouns Work Company / organisation If you are a person who creates things for people to use and enjoy, criticism is unavoidable. Sometimes this can be good in the sense of constructive criticism, sometimes this can be bad and sometimes it can be unfairly bad. In this third case, when a person or something is criticised negatively in a way that is unkind or too strong, we can use this application of 'run down'. Note that we can use this application for anything that can be criticised, including people, companies or organisations and work. Consider the following scenario in which 'run down' could be used.... During a staff meeting, a colleague of mine kept criticising my work, saying that it looked “unprofessional,” even though it was perfectly good. His comments weren’t helpful and not true; he just wanted to make her look bad. In this situation, we could say that person's colleagues was purposely trying to run their work down, even though there was nothing wrong with it. On a grammatical note, this usage is also separable and the person or thing being 'run down' can go between 'run' and 'down' or after it. The only exception here is if it is a pronoun (me, him etc), in which case it must go between and not after. Lisa always runs other people down to make herself feel superior. Don’t run me down just because I have a different opinion to yours. Bill ran Carmen down in front of everyone instead of giving constructive feedback. They keep running that company down even though they know nothing about it. I hate it when people run others down for trying something new. Megan felt hurt because her friends ran her down over her outfit. Stop running his ideas down; at least he’s contributing, which is more than you! You shouldn’t run yourself down; you’ve done a wonderful job. MEANING 5: To find someone or something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To find, to locate, to hunt down, to track down Separable? Yes We have now come to our fifth and final meaning of the phrasal verb 'run down', which is a rare one and means 'to find someone or something, typically after a long search'. To give you more clarity with this, we typically use 'run down' in this sense when we have spent a long period of time looking for, tracking or even hunting something and we eventually locate it. We can use this application to describe two things: to physically chase or search for someone until they are caught and to find someone through a process of enquiry and information seeking rather than physically running after them. The detective managed to run down the crucial witness after a month of searching for him. The police finally ran down the criminal in a nearby alley. It has taken me all morning to run that specific report down in the archives. The hounds were able to run down their prey after a three-hour chase. Photo: Pexels THE ADJECTIVE RUN-DOWN So now that you have read all of the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'run down', you should now have excellent knowledge of it, however to truly become an expert in all things to do with 'run down', you should also be aware of the following adjectival uses.... The most common way to use 'run-down' as an adjective is in reference to the condition of something and this is typically to talk about an area of a city (or sometimes an entire city). If an area of a city is very poor with little investment, high crime and poverty, you can say that it is 'run-down'. They lived in a run-down neighbourhood near the old train tracks. The park has become run-down after years of neglect. The town centre looks run-down compared to how it used to be. Likewise, if you do not look after your physical health properly, do not eat well, sleep enough and rest, you may be prone to more illnesses and infections than if you were healthy. In these situations, you can say that you are 'run-down' or feeling 'run-down'. Jo’s been working too much lately and looks really run-down. After the flu, Shaun felt weak and run-down for weeks. A good night’s sleep should help you feel less run-down tomorrow. Lastly, you can also use 'run-down' to describe something that has been allowed to almost be reduced to nothing like a phone battery or stock levels in a business. My car has a run-down battery and the nearest town is 50km away. The run-down stocks will be an issue if the next shipment is delayed. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'run down'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'run down'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'go in' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. This post is all about the common phrasal verb 'go in'. In the post, we will look at all of the different meanings and applications of it in English, including everything from simply entering somewhere to criticising someone or something. I will explain how to use each one in a natural way with the help of lots of example sentences and so at the end of the post, you should hopefully feel nice and comfortable with using this useful phrasal verb. So, without further ado, let's make a start.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Go In - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'go' and 'in' Go In - Meaning 1: To enter Go In - Bonus: Go in vs Go into Go In - Bonus: Some extra meanings of 'go in' used literally Go In - Meaning 2: To mentally absorb something 🇬🇧 Go In - Bonus: The idiom 'to go in one ear and out the other' Go In - Meaning 3: To enjoy doing something Go In - Meaning 4: To participate in a group activity Go In - Meaning 5: To attack or criticise someone harshly I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS GO IN: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Went in / Gone in Separable? No At the beginning of each phrasal verb post, I like to break down the chosen phrasal verb into its constituent words and look at what each one means on its own. Whilst I am sure that all of you reading this will be very familiar with the words 'go' and 'in', let's just briefly consider them from the perspective of the phrasal verb 'go in'.... Go - The verb 'to go' is one of the most common verbs in the English language and it's main meaning is to refer to movement from one place to another, away from where the speaker is. It can be used to talk both about leaving somewhere and travelling to somewhere. In addition, 'to go' has a wide variety of other uses and applications, like forming the 'going to' future tense, talking about where something belongs or fits and to fade or no longer work properly. 'To go' is highly irregular, with perhaps the most illogical past tense form in the entire English language: 'went' 🤷‍♂️ We are going to London to watch a show in the West End. Kathy went to the shops with her daughter. Come on, it's late. Let's go home. Mark is going to get a new job next year. The black book goes on the top shelf, next to the picture. I am getting old and my hearing is going. In - Like the verb 'to go', you will all have no problem understanding the prepositional particle 'in' as it is so common in English. We typically use 'in' to talk about being or moving towards the interior of something and its use in phrasal verbs can often reflect this in a literal sense (move in, walk in). Aside from this, 'in' can also add ideas such as participation (join in), submission (hand in), confinement (lock in) and compliance ( give in ) to phrasal verbs. So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'go in'.... MEANING 1: To enter Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level A1 - Beginner Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To enter, to go into, to access, to get in Separable? No Let's start the meanings of the phrasal verb 'go in' with the most obvious of all of its applications, i.e. to enter a place, which is essentially a literal meaning of the two words combined. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Room House / Apartment Office Building Sea / Water / Lake For this first usage, we are perhaps most concerned with nouns for internal spaces that we can enter such as a house, a building or a room. When you 'go in' one of these*, you simply enter it from the outside. Note that 'go in' is only used when the speaker is outside of the internal space and 'come in' would be used if they were inside it and another person was entering. It’s beginning to rain; let’s go in! Pam opened the door and went in. I knocked the door but no one answered, so I went in. The lights were on inside the house, so Ash decided to go in. We were freezing cold, so we went in to warm up. Luke hesitated for a moment by the door and then went in. If the door is unlocked open, just go in and take a seat. You should note that we do not only use 'go in' to talk about entering internal spaces and we can also in fact use it with nouns for environments like river, ocean or forest. The water looks cold, but I’m going in anyway. The sea is too rough right now; don’t go in! The forest was dark, yet the hikers still went in. *Go in vs Go Into Something that can be confusing for learners of English is the distinction between 'to go in' and 'to go into' as they both technically mean the same thing but are used differently. We tend to use both of these when we talk about entering somewhere, with the focus for 'go in' being on the movement, while for 'go into' the focus is the destination. For example, if you want to talk about the action of entering a house but you do not need to mention the word 'house' as it is obvious from the context, you would use 'go in'. However, if you want to specify the noun  for the place that you are entering, then ' go into ' sounds better. Everyone is already inside; are you going in? The house was empty, so Lucy went in and closed the door behind her. Are you going into the house ? John went into his office  and slammed the door shut. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Some additional uses of 'go in' used literally There are also some other instances of when you might hear 'go in' in a literal sense that are slightly different to the meaning that I explained above...... Photo: Pexels The sun  - We use 'go in' to talk about the sun when it goes behind a cloud, making the day feel cooler and slightly darker. This is a particularly British usage (we have a lot of clouds) and the opposite phrasal verb for when the clouds move away and the sun is visible once again is ' come out '. It was lovely and warm until the sun went in. A household object - When we talk about household objects, such as plates, boxes or cutlery and where they are kept in the house, we use 'go in' to say that something is always kept in an internal space like a drawer or cupboard. The knives and forks go in the cutlery drawer, next to the sink. Cooking ingredients - If you enjoy cooking, you may often hear 'go in' being used to talk about when specific ingredients are added to a cooking mixture. First add the flour and stir for 2 minutes and then the peppers and tomatoes go in. Work / School - If you are ever sick and you cannot go to work or school, you might use 'go in' to say that you are not going that day. As with the previous uses, we would only use this when the place is known from the context. I feel so sick today and can't work, I'm not going to go in. MEANING 2: To mentally absorb something Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Mainly British English Potential synonyms To absorb, to understand, to stick Separable? No For our second meaning of 'go in', we are not going to move too far away from the 'entering' idea that we just looked at in the previous section as this one means 'to mentally absorb something'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Information Fact Words Advice First of all, if you are not sure about the verb 'to absorb', let me explain what it means, which is 'to gradually take something in', like a sponge does with water. When used with information, the water is the information and the sponge is our brain absorbing and holding it. We use 'absorb' in this way to say that we have learned and understood something and 'go in' functions here as a direct synonym of it as it means the exact same thing. Linking back to the previous application, essentially the information that we are learning here is entering our brains via our senses. The other key idea to note here with 'go in' is that the information is understood, retained and not forgotten again. You will often hear native speakers using this particular application in a negative sense when information does not go in. For example, when you are reading a book and you have to read the same page three or four times as you are not concentrating properly or the subject is difficult to process and the information is just not going in. Note that you do not need to use 'my head' or 'my brain' with this application as 'go in' on its own will be completely understood in the context. I hear what you’re saying, but it’s not really going in. Nothing was going in because I was too tired. The teacher kept explaining it, but it just wouldn’t go in. I’ve read this paragraph three times, and it still isn’t going in. The instructions weren’t going in at all, so I asked my friend to explain them to me. The information went in eventually, but it took a while. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The idiom 'to go in one ear and out the other' This is a good point in the article to introduce you to a nice little idiom featuring 'go in' that exists: 'to go in one ear and out the other'. If something goes in one ear and out the other, it means that the person hears it but either forgets it again straight away or does not pay any attention to it. It is something that many frustrated parents use to talk about their teenage children! It's always the same with Pete; you tell him something important and it goes in one ear and out the other again! MEANING 3: To enjoy doing something Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To enjoy, to like, to care for, to be fond of, to be partial to Separable? No The third of our applications of 'go in' is a rarer meaning than the first two and means 'to enjoy doing something'. For this application, we require the additional preposition 'for', giving us the following construction: 'to go in for something' We use this particular application to talk about when we have a hobby or a pastime that we enjoy doing on a regular basis and it is often used to talk about someone's personal preferences in these areas. Typically, activities that are used with this application are things like running, cycling, playing chess and fishing as well as nouns like parties, horror movies or photography. It can be used to talk in both a positive and negative sense about what you do and don't usually enjoy doing, however I would say that you typically hear it more in a negative sense. This is particularly so if you make an exception to something that you don't normally like, e.g. you don't normally like horror movies but you enjoyed one that you watched or you don't usually enjoy parties but you had a great time at one last week. Lucy really goes in for yoga and meditation. I don’t usually go in for extreme sports but I am tempted to try abseiling. My brother’s never gone in for formal parties; he's more of a stay-at-home kind of guy. My parents used to go in for long-distance running. I don’t usually go in for reality TV but this show is a bit different to the usual rubbish. Nikki’s started going in for photography lately. Ben doesn’t go in for junk food anymore now that he is a gym junkie. I’ve never really gone in for competitions but I thought I would enter this one. Do you go in for team sports or prefer solo activities? MEANING 4: To participate in a group activity Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To participate Separable? No This next application of 'go in' is a great one for all of you who enjoy taking part in group activities as that is exactly what it means: 'to take part in a group activity'. As with the previous application, we need another preposition to bring this meaning to life but this time we are swapping the word 'for' with 'on', giving us the construction.... 'to go in on something' We can use 'to go in on something' in two different ways and therefore I have split this application into separate sub-sections; 'to jointly participate in a plan or action' and 'to share the cost of an investment or action with others'. Firstly, let's consider joint participation in a plan or action of some kind. We would typically use this application in business English when people collaborate with one another. This could be for many reasons, such as to initiate a plan, start a business or embark on a research project. When you go in on something in this sense, it means that you achieve or create something together with the help of other people and it is not just you on your own. Peter went in on the business as a silent partner. I’ll go in on the proposal if you promise to handle the budget. Several teams are planning to go in on the research project. Lorraine went in on the plan despite the risks. The second of our sub-applications of 'go in' is one that also involves co-operation between people, however this one is specifically about money. For this one, we are talking about when people each contribute a portion of the cost of something, so that they have enough between them to buy it. You are most likely to hear this in an office or work environment when an employee celebrates a big birthday or leaves the business and all of his or her colleagues go in on a present and card for them. This could also be used for when people jointly invest in something and each contribute some of the funds. We should go in on a joint birthday gift for Brian instead of buying separate ones. The whole family went in on renting a beach house for the summer. Do you want to go in on half of the bill with me? My colleagues went in on a lovely farewell present for me. MEANING 5: To attack or criticise someone harshly Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To attack, to criticise Separable? No We have now reached our fifth and final meaning of the phrasal verb 'go in' and this one is 'to attack or criticise someone or something harshly'. Like with the previous application, we also require the additional preposition 'on' here. If you go in on someone or something, then you criticise them and give lots of negative feedback, which are often unfair or too harsh. When talking about going in on someone, it can also mean to shout aggressively at someone when they have done something wrong. As far as I know, this is quite a new and modern usage of 'go in on' and is still relatively rare, however I do hear it more and more in informal spoken English, so if you do want your English to sound as up-to-date as possible, you should try and use it 😃 Roger's manager went in on him for missing the deadline. People online went in on the brand after the scandal came out. The teacher went in on the class for not preparing for the exam. Commentators went in on the referee’s decision, which they called stupid! Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'go in'. If you enjoyed this post (and if it went in ok 😉), please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'go in'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'cut up' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. How well do you know the English phrasal verb 'cut up'? In this article, I will be explaining its five different meanings for you, which include some that are used in American English, some in British English and some that are used everywhere in the English-speaking world. In addition, I will provide you with lots of example sentences for each different application of 'cut up' to show you the different ways that each one is normally used by native speakers. So, without further ado, let's get started.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Cut Up - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'cut' and 'up' Cut Up - Meaning 1: To cut something into pieces Cut Up - Meaning 2: To be physically injured Cut Up - Meaning 3: To be emotionally upset 🇬🇧 Cut Up - Meaning 4: To drive in a dangerous way 🇬🇧 Cut Up - Meaning 5: To misbehave 🇺🇸 I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS CUT UP: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Cut up / Cut up Separable? Yes As per usual on Phrasal Verbs Explained, let's start things off by taking a look at the individual words that form the phrasal verb that I will be explaining, which in the case of 'cut up' are the words 'cut' and 'up'..... Cut - The irregular verb 'to cut' is one that has a variety of different meanings in English, with perhaps the most common of these being 'to use something sharp to break the surface of something or to separate it from something else'. In addition to this, we can use the verb 'to cut' to mean 'to reduce or stop something', 'to delete something' and also even 'to record music', among other less common meanings. The grass in the garden is very long; I think I will cut it today. Sarah has had her hair cut very short. The local council has cut funding for youth services. The band cut their new record in a studio in the Scottish Highlands. Up - The prepositional particle 'up' is the one that is the most common in phrasal verb constructions and can add a variety of different meanings to a phrasal verb, depending on the context. Perhaps most obviously, when 'up' appears in a phrasal verb it can give the idea of an upward movement or an increase ( go up ), however it can also add such diverse meanings as completion (eat up), preparation ( set up ), appearance ( show up ) and ending ( break up ). So, now that we have covered the basics, let's take a look at the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'cut up'.... MEANING 1: To cut something into pieces Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To chop up, to slice up, to cut Separable? Yes Our first meaning of the phrasal verb 'cut up' is one that will hopefully be nice and simple for you and means 'to cut something into pieces'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Food Vegetables Meat Tree Paper Did you know that in English, it is perfectly acceptable and correct to say that someone can cut a tree down and then cut the same tree up?! It sounds completely wrong because once you cut a tree down, it is impossible for it to go back up again and of course that is not what we mean when we say this. What we actually mean is that once the tree has been cut down, it is then cut into small pieces or logs. The word 'up' in the instance above does not refer to an upwards movement but rather it signifies the result of a cutting action and we can therefore use 'cut up' to describe when we cut anything into smaller pieces. This may be a parent cutting up their child's food to make it easier for them to eat or somebody cutting up a piece of paper into smaller pieces to make something out of them. Note that there is a distinct difference between 'cut' and 'cut up' in this context. If you use 'cut' on its own, it normally refers to one slice or cutting action. In contrast, 'cut up' would mean that the cutting action is repeated until the task is finished and the original item is divided into many pieces. This application is separable, with the direct object (the item being cut) going either between 'cut' and 'up' or after them with no change in meaning. My mum cut the vegetables up before adding them to the soup. Please could you cut up the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Martin cut up the paper so the kids could use it for crafts. The chef cut the fruit up and arranged it on a platter. Would you mind cutting up the meat for the baby? The carpenters cut up the old carpet to make it easier to remove. I cut the apples up and put them in the bowl. The butcher cut up the whole fish for his customer. MEANING 2: To be physically injured Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To be cut, to be injured Separable? Yes Let's now move onto our second meaning of the phrasal verb 'cut up', which is a painful one as it means 'to be physically injured'. You may or may not be aware that if you 'cut yourself' in English, it means that you injure yourself in such a way that your skin is broken and you bleed. For example, it is common to cut yourself when shaving or when cutting up food in the kitchen (a nice link back to the previous application there 😉). If you have been unlucky enough to be in a situation in which you sustain several cuts to your body or more, e.g. a fight or a car accident, then you could say that you are " cut up ". Note that we mainly use this application in a passive sense to talk about the result of a painful experience in which a person has been cut many times. It is not typically used in an active sense e.g. you do not cut someone up in this way, as if you do, it will likely be understood to mean cut into small pieces as in the first application. Sometimes, we add the extra word 'all' to form the expression 'all cut up', to intensify how badly injured a person is. The little boy fell into the bushes whilst playing and got cut up by the thorns. Susie's arms were badly cut up after climbing over the fence. The boxer’s face was all cut up by the end of the fight. I got cut up when I fell off my bike on the gravel road. Ben's hands were all cut up from working with broken glass. Jane came back cut up and bleeding after the accident. The soldier has been cut up by flying debris. MEANING 3: To be emotionally upset Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? British English Potential synonyms To be upset, to be distressed Separable? Yes For our third application, we are moving from physical pain to mental distress as it means 'to be emotionally upset' and is primarily a British English usage. Much like with the previous application, for this one we are concerned with the after effects of a negative experience, however this time it is something that makes us sad, emotional or very hurt. If you are 'cut up' emotionally, then you are mentally distressed in a way that is stronger than being upset and is often heard in reference to people who experience romantic loss and heartache. For example I might be upset if my partner forgets our wedding anniversary but I would be 'cut up' if my partner left me for another person. If we think back to the first application of 'cut up', it is a bit like our inner peace or happiness has been cut into lots of different pieces and is usually used to describe a deep or intense emotional upset. As with the second application, we also do not usually use this application in an active sense as it tends to be used more as a way of describing the state of a person's emotions following a traumatic experience. Becci was really cut up about not getting the job. Alan’s still cut up over the way the relationship ended. I would be so cut up if I found out that she was cheating on me! I was pretty cut up when I heard about his terminal illness. Natasha's parents were deeply cut up after the accident. John sounded really cut up on the phone after the argument with Jo. Marcia got very cut up about her crush not texting her back. MEANING 4: To drive in a dangerous way Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Common Where is it used? British English Potential synonyms To cut off Separable? Yes Our next application of the phrasal verb 'cut up' is another one that is mainly used in British English and means 'to drive in a dangerous way'. I should state here before we go any further that 'cut up' is not used to talk about dangerous driving in general, but rather it refers to something specific that drivers of vehicles do that is both dangerous and irresponsible. Have you ever been in a situation when you have been in a car on a dual carriageway or multi-lane freeway, either as a driver or a passenger, and a car driving in front of you in another lane has suddenly moved sideways into your lane so that you have to apply the brakes very quickly to avoid an accident? If so, then you have experienced being 'cut up' by another driver as this is precisely what it is. To give you a better idea of what cutting up is, check out this video, which shows a classic example of someone doing it... For those of you who are more familiar with American English, 'cut off' would be the equivalent used instead. The car suddenly cut me up on the motorway, forcing me to brake hard. A van cut up the motorcyclist as it changed lanes. Nicholas was fined for cutting up another driver at the junction. Don’t cut people up like that; it’s extremely dangerous. The taxi cut us up just before the roundabout. Sandra accused the lorry driver of cutting her up in traffic. Another car cut him up while overtaking, almost causing an accident. I can't stand it when drivers cut you up without indicating. MEANING 5: To misbehave Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? American English Potential synonyms To misbehave, to play up, to act up Separable? No We now come to our fifth and final application of the phrasal verb 'cut up' for this one we are going to switch to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean as this one is an American usage that means 'to misbehave'. To clarify, what I mean by 'to misbehave' is to act or behave in an unacceptable way, often by breaking rules. Specifically, when someone 'cuts up', it means that they misbehave, usually by being silly, noisy or disruptive in order to attract attention to themselves or make others laugh. As you can imagine, it is often used to refer to naughty and excited school children when they are not listening and preventing their teacher from teaching them. Typically, this usage implies harmless behaviour, which is annoying for those who have to deal with it. Unlike many of the other applications we have looked at, this usage is not separable and does not take a direct object. Some of the kids were cutting up in the back of the classroom. Joseph kept cutting up during the meeting and couldn’t stay serious. If you don’t stop cutting up, you’ll be sent out of the room. The boys were just cutting up and laughing instead of doing their work. Taylor was cutting up at lunch with her friends Mary-Sue and Keisha. The audience started cutting up when the comedian forgot his jokes. They've been cutting up all afternoon instead of practising. Stop cutting up and pay attention to what I am saying! Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'cut up'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'cut up'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'pull back' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. Are you familiar with the English phrasal verb 'pull back'? Do you know any of the ways that it can be used or the meanings that it has? In this post, I will explain all of these meanings for you, starting from its most literal use through to less well-known and specialised ones. In addition, I will provide lots of example sentences for each one to show you the kinds of situations in which native speakers use them. So, without further ado, let's begin.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Pull Back - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'pull' and 'back' Pull Back - Meaning 1: To pull something in a backwards direction Pull Back - Meaning 2: To withdraw 🇺🇸 Pull Back - Meaning 3: To move away from fighting Pull Back - Meaning 4: To close the gap with a leader Pull Back - Meaning 5: To decrease I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS PULL BACK: KEY INFORMATION Usage Medium Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Pulled back / Pulled back Separable? Yes Before we get started with our exploration of what the phrasal verb 'pull back means', I would first like to quickly consider the individual words 'pull' and 'back' as this may help you with your understanding of the phrasal verb meanings. Pull - The verb 'to pull' is is a common regular English verb, whose main meaning is the idea of exerting or applying a force to move something towards oneself. It does have other meanings too, which include 'to attract', 'to cancel' and 'to injure a muscle'. In addition, 'to pull' is used in a large number of phrasal verbs, often involving a movement of some sort. The horses pulled the carriage across London. The moon pulls the oceans on Earth towards it, causing tides. My last show pulled a large crowd. The TV company has pulled the series due to low ratings. John pulled a muscle in his leg when he was running. Back - As a word, 'back' is extremely versatile and can be used as an adverb, adjective, verb and noun, each often with the core ideas of reversing and returning. We don't often see it in phrasal verb constructions but when we do, it can convey several different ideas depending on the context. These include concepts of 'returning' ( come back , go back), responding (call back), delay ( hold back ) and reversal (put back). So, now that we have looked at the basics, let's move on to the real reason that you are here, which is of course the meanings of the phrasal verb 'pull back'.... MEANING 1: To pull something in a backwards direction Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To yank back, to tug back, to haul back Separable? Yes There are some phrasal verbs used in everyday speech that do not have literal meanings and there are some that do. 'Pull back' is one of those that appears in the second category and the first application that we will look at in this post is when it is used in its literal sense, which is 'to pull something in a backwards direction'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Person Curtain Cover Hood Reins The great thing with literal meanings of phrasal verbs is that they do not need much explanation as the meaning is clear. However, you should note that when used literally 'pull back' can have two meanings: it can can either mean to pull something in a backwards direction, towards the speaker, or to pull something back tp the place where it originally was. Let's focus first on the idea of pulling something in a backwards direction as this is the one that you tend to hear much more than the other. For this we need to define 'backwards' as the opposite direction to that which we are facing or moving in. Consequently, when we use 'pull back' in the literal sense, it is often to mean to pull something in the direction towards oneself, as people are typically facing forwards most of the time. As a result, we can often use 'pull back' to talk about when horse riders pull the reins towards them to try and slow the horse or when a pilot of an airplane pulls the stick towards them to make it fly higher. Often, we add the additional preposition 'on' here (see below). The rider pulled back on the reins to slow his horse. Startled by the heat, Elaine quickly pulled her hand back from the stove. The fisherman pulled back the net after it got caught on a rock. Billy gently pulled back the child from the edge of the sidewalk. Furthermore, we can also use this application of 'pull back' to talk about moving something to expose what is underneath it. This is perhaps heard the most with 'curtains' as when you open them, you pull them back to the position that they were previously in before it was dark. Other nouns that are common in this sense are 'sheet' or 'cover', as when you pull back the sheet or cover on something (e.g bed), you expose what is underneath it. I'm going to pull the curtain back to let more light into the room. The mechanic pulled back the hood to inspect the car's engine. When the man pulled back the hood on his coat, I realised it was my cousin! Jane pulled back the bedsheets and found her cat hiding there. Of course, it is also possible to use this to talk about pulling, hauling or tugging something back to the place where it was originally. This is however not heard so much as it is not such a common action in modern life. The farmer pulled the trailer to the field opposite and now he has to pull it back. The contestants of the game had to pull the vehicle from the castle to the lake and then pull it back to the castle again. MEANING 2: To withdraw Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? American English Potential synonyms To pull out, to back out, to withdraw Separable? Yes Our second meaning of the phrasal verb 'pull back' is an American usage primarily that means 'to withdraw' and is often heard in business and professional English. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Deal Transaction Enterprise Support Merger This application is usually heard in situations when a person or a business was originally planning to do something like invest in something, enter into a contract with someone or proceed with a transaction. However, after their initial agreement, they then change their minds about it as they realise that it could have negative consequences in the future, it s risky or it is not a good idea in general. This mind-changing is known as 'pulling back', or in British English it would be more common to say 'pulling out'. To understand how we arrive at this meaning, we need to imagine our intentions or plans as things that are moving forwards into the future. When we change our mind and decide not to proceed with them, we are stopping that forward movement towards the future and therefore pulling it back towards us. The company decided to pull back its expansion plans due to rising costs. Investors began to pull back after the market showed signs of instability. The firm pulled back from the deal when the risks became clearer. Several venture capital funds pulled back their support for early-stage startups. The retailer pulled back on international operations to focus on its core market. After regulatory pressure increased, the bank pulled back from high-risk lending. MEANING 3: To move away from fighting Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To pull out, to retreat, to withdraw Separable? Yes Our third meaning of 'pull back' is one that is similar in meaning to the previous one, but this time instead of business transactions, we are thinking about soldiers and armies instead. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Army Soldier Troops Men Units Quite simply, when an army general or high ranking officer pulls back his or her troops, it means that they order them to move away from where any fighting is taking place, or away from the frontline. This may just be to a safe place that is nearby or it may be to move back completely to the army base or even their home country. We can use this application both with and without a direct object. The following example sentences are all with a direct object (army, troops etc) with the subject of the sentence being the person or organisation that orders the pulling-back action to occur. When used this way, it is separable and the direct object can either go between 'pull' and 'back' or after them. The general ordered the troops to pull back before nightfall. Commanders decided to pull their units back after securing the objective. The military pulled back its frontline units to regroup and resupply. After deciding that war was not the answer, the President demanded that all troops on the frontline be pulled back. In contrast, when the army or the soldiers become the subject of the sentence and nobody is ordering them to 'pull back' but it is their decision to do so, we can use it in intransitively (without a direct object) - see below. When used like this it is not separable. The army pulled back from the border to avoid further escalation. The soldiers pulled back to a defensive position outside the city. After heavy resistance, the forces were forced to pull back temporarily. The peacekeeping contingent pulled back as negotiations resumed. Troops began to pull back once civilians had been evacuated from the area. MEANING 4: To close the gap with a leader Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To claw back, to catch up Separable? Yes Are you a sports fan? If you are, then this next application of 'pull back' is one that could prove to be very useful for you when talking about your favourite sports in English as it means 'to close the gap with a leader'. Firstly, for clarification purposes when I say "close the gap", what I mean is to make the gap or the difference between the scores in a game smaller. We normally use this application in a game or match between two different opponents, teams or sides (not usually more unless it is in reference to a specific competitor in a race). As the game progresses, one of the two players or teams will naturally score more points than the other and will therefore be in the lead. Once this initial lead has been established, we can use 'pull back' to describe when the team who is losing scores points or goals and closes the gap in the scores. To use another very common phrasal verb, they catch them up. To give you an example, let's imagine a football game between Liverpool FC and Arsenal Photo: Wix Media FC. 30 minutes into the game, Liverpool are winning 3-0 but then in the next 30 minutes Arsenal score 2 goals and Liverpool don't score any, making the score 3-2. At this point, you could say that Arsenal are pulling it back because they have closed the gap from 3 goals at the beginning to 1 goal. You should note that we can also use it describe when the losing team or player ends up winning the match, so in the case of the above if Arsenal scored another 2 goals and Liverpool none, we could say that "Arsenal pulled back from 3-0 down to win the game 4-3". Note the use of 'from' to highlight the score and 'down' to indicate that the team being discussed were losing (we use 'up' for the team when they are winning). The home team pulled back just before halftime, making the score 2–1. After a slow start, the runner pulled back two seconds on the leader in the final lap. The team conceded a goal early but pulled back with a goal in the 70th minute. Despite trailing most of the game, they pulled back to within one point late in the fourth quarter. Amelia was behind after the first round but pulled back in the second to stay in contention. The underdogs pulled back from a three-goal deficit to win the match, thrilling the crowd. Solomon fell behind early in the race but steadily pulled back as the finish approached. MEANING 5: To decrease Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To drop, to dip Separable? No Lastly, we come to our fifth and final meaning of 'pull back', which is a rarer one that most of you will probably not need in your everyday English, meaning 'to decrease'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Stock / share Price Index Market For this usage, we are focussing specifically on the mysterious and arcane world of stocks and shares. If a price or the value of something in the stock market drops or decreases, it is often described as 'pulling back'. Likewise, we could also use this to describe currencies as these are also things that constantly rise and fall in value. Unlike, most of the other applications of 'pull back', this one is not separable as it is used to describe something that is not directly caused by a person's actions (although it does happen indirectly as a result of people's actions). Technology stocks pulled back after reaching record highs last week. The market is expected to pull back slightly following the central bank’s announcement. Shares pulled back in afternoon trading as investors locked in profits. After a strong rally, the index pulled back by two percent. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'pull back'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'pull back'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END