An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'pick up', with lots of examples in context. Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about English phrasal verbs! This post is all about the phrasal verb 'pick up'. When I was researching this post, I was quite shocked when I realised how many uses and meanings this innocent little phrasal verb has. For instance, it if you pick someone up from an airport, it has a completely different meaning to picking someone up in a bar, which also has a different meaning to picking someone off the ground. Moreover, if you can pick up an infection, it is a bad thing but it is a good thing if your health picks up! Don't worry if this is confusing, as in this post, I will explain all of the different meanings of 'pick up' for you, with lots of examples in context. So, without further ado, let's make a start. Don't forget to leave a comment at the end! PICK UP: KEY INFORMATION For an explanation of the terms in the table, click here. THE BASICS Before we look at the meanings of 'pick up' as a phrasal verb, let's firstly consider the meanings of the component words 'pick' and 'up'. The verb 'to pick' is a fairly common English verb with two main meanings. The first is a synonym of the verb 'to choose', while the other, more relevant, meaning is to remove or detach something, normally with your hands and this is commonly used when referring to picking fruit, flowers and plants. Helen picked some flowers and put them in a vase. Picking fruit is a popular job for travellers. The prepositional particle 'up' is extremely common in phrasal verb constructions and often adds an idea of an increase or a movement towards to a higher position. Furthermore, it can also add the ideas of completion and readiness to phrasal verbs! So, now that we have looked at the basics, let's check out the many different meanings of the phrasal verb 'pick up'.... MEANING 1: To lift something from a surface The first meaning of 'pick up' is the closest meaning to a literal meaning that we have and is 'to remove something from a surface by lifting it, normally by hand'. As you would imagine, the most common surface that people pick things up from is the ground or the floor, and this is often implied with this meaning of 'pick up', although it can potentially be used with any surface. Don't forget that the extra prepositions 'off' or 'from' are required to specify the surface and both of these can be used interchangeably. The sofa was so heavy that it took four people to pick it up and move it. I picked up my jumper and hung it in the wardrobe. Pick these toys up from the floor now! John picked up a book off the shelf and started reading it. In addition to objects, 'pick up' is often frequently used with people and animals. My husband picked me up and carried me to bed. John's dog wasn't able to jump over the fence, so he picked him up and carried him over it. The central idea here, which will recur again later, is possession. The reason for this is when you pick something up, it is in temporarily in your hands and therefore in your possession. For example, if I pick up a newspaper from a table, it is in my hands and I have possession of it, although I do not own it. MEANING 2: To collect someone or something If, like me, you do not have your own car, then it is highly probable that from time to time you need someone to pick you up when you need to travel somewhere and there is no public transport. That's because the second meaning of 'pick up' is to collect or fetch someone or something from a place. This is typically by car but can be used for other forms of transport. The idea here is that a person with a car drives to a place to collect someone and then takes them somewhere, whether that be home, work or somewhere else entirely (the destination is irrelevant here). The action of picking up is usually organised or booked in advanced and aside from a person picking someone else up, it is also possible to be picked up by a taxi, bus or other form of booked transportation. Our plane arrives at midnight and so my Dad has agreed to pick me up from the airport. Roger’s car is in the garage and he refuses to take the bus, so his wife is picking him up from work. The taxi has been booked and will pick us up from outside the shopping centre at 3pm. I am working today, so your Dad will pick you up from school In addition to picking up people, it is also very common to hear 'to pick up something', which is used as a synonym of 'to collect'. For example, a forwarding company will pick up a parcel from you, you might pick up your clean washing from the laundromat when it is done, or you may pick up your medication from the pharmacy when it is ready. I wasn’t at home when the courier tried to deliver the parcel, so now I have to go to the depot to pick it up. Your order is ready, so please arrange to come and pick it up at a suitable time. My medication is ready to be picked up at the pharmacy. MEANING 3: To learn something Have you ever learned a few words of a language just by being in the environment where it is spoken, without even really trying? If you have, then you could say that you have picked up a few words of the language. The reason for this is that the third meaning of 'pick up' is 'to learn something without trying very hard or without being formally taught'. In other words, you acquire this knowledge without much effort. This is commonly used with language but can also be used with other skills, for example someone could pick up basic electronics by watching other people do it or you might pick up the basics of needlework by practising it on your own and learning from your mistakes. Once again, this meaning goes back to the idea that something comes into your possession and in this instance it is knowledge or a skill. I lived in a France for a couple of months and managed to pick up quite a lot of French whilst I was there. My Dad was a carpenter and I picked up a lot of carpentry skills by watching him as a child. Through exposure to many different fields, industries and people in my career, I have picked up a lot of different skills. MEANING 4: To improve Our fourth meaning of 'pick up' is 'to improve' or 'to recover'. Unlike the first three meanings that we have just looked at, this one is used in an intransitive way (with no direct object). I would say that although this usage can be used in any area of life where we talk about improvement, it is most primarily heard in the world of business and economics. In business, it refers to improvements or upturns, when a company has more customers and business and is making more money, while in economics it signifies that the economy is growing and is generally viewed very positively as lots of rich people get even richer! Following a slow first quarter, business has now started to pick up and is predicted to continue improving for the rest of the year. Japan's economy is picking up slowly, however fears remain that the country could fall into a recession. Sales are picking up this year and so we hope to make a good profit. MEANING 5: To detect or notice something When I was younger, I used to have an alarm clock with a built-in radio in my bedroom. At the time, I lived close to an airport and every so often when I listening to the radio, I was able to hear the airplane pilots' communication with the airport as they were landing. The reason for this was because my radio somehow detected and received, or picked up, the signal. So, as you will now be aware, the next meaning of 'pick up' is 'to detect something' and is very often used used with machines. As in the case of my radio, with certain types of machine, not only does it detect a signal but also receives it. Other types of machines that you will hear this being used with are alarms, scans, microphones and radar as well as things like anti-virus programs on your computer which scan to try and pick up viral threats and malware. The scans did not pick up any signs of cancer in the patient. You may find it difficult to pick up this radio station in the mountains. Our CCTV system picked up some very strange activity outside our house last night. Aside from machines, this application of 'pick up' can also be used with humans, in which case this would be a synonym of the verb 'to notice', especially if something is subtle or not very obvious. You should note that when used with humans in this way, we normally add the preposition 'on'. In other words, if you pick up on something, you notice it. Apparently Helen had been crying when she came into the office this morning but I did not pick up on it at all. I've picked up on some tension between you two. Is everything ok? John is very observant, he picks up on anything like that. MEANING 6: To stand up after a fall Ok grammar fans, this next meaning is a reflexive one and means 'to stand up again after a fall'. If you're not sure about reflexive verbs, they are those verbs where the subject and object of the clause are the same and in English we show this with the -self pronouns (myself, yourself etc.). I talk to myself all the time. The dog grooms itself . Whilst 'to pick yourself up' can be used in situations where you literally fall over onto the ground, it is more often used in a figurative way to mean 'to take action to recover from a difficult, stressful or traumatic life situation'. I fell over outside my office in front of all my colleagues, but I picked myself up and continued like nothing had ever happened. Following a bitter and stressful divorce, Susan picked herself up again and started rebuilding her life as a single woman. I know that you feel very sad now, but you just need to pick yourself up and get on with things. You'll soon forget about this! MEANING 7: To be arrested Hopefully, this next meaning will never apply to any of you, as it means 'to be arrested by the police'. If someone is picked up by the police, it generally means that they have committed a crime of some description and are then caught by the police, placed under arrest and taken to the police station. This can be used in both an active and a passive sense, with the police picking up a criminal and a criminal being picked up by the police. Examples of usage.... The burglar was picked up by the police a few streets away from where the crime had been committed. My brother was picked up by the police, who falsely accused him of a crime he didn't do! Criminal gangs often use children and teenagers to carry out their work as they are less likely to get picked up by the police. MEANING 8: To meet someone romantically Although I have called this next meaning of 'pick up', "to meet someone romantically", it is actually a bit more than that. In this sense, if you pick someone up, you meet them by chance, start talking or flirting with them and end up kissing them or even having sex with them. You normally hear this usage when it occurs in bars, pubs and nightclubs or anywhere else where is my be a bit surprising or unexpected. This usage is quite informal and perhaps a bit more American to my ears. It is usually used in the active sense as in a passive sense it doesn't quite sound right to me. John always seems to be able to pick up girls without even trying. What's the weirdest place that you have ever picked up a guy? MEANING 9: To win something The ninth meaning of 'pick up' that we will look at is 'to win' and is used specifically when referring to awards and prizes. This meaning is just a nice synonym of the verb 'to win' and you will often hear it on English language news programmes when talking about big awards ceremonies such as the Oscars and the Grammys. Incidentally, we don't tend to use 'pick up' when referring to winning games or races. This movie is expected to pick up a few awards at the Oscars next month. I didn't expect to pick up the award for best manager tonight, so I just want to thank you all for your support and for voting for me. The company picked up the innovation prize for the third year running. Another time that you may hear this used however, is when referring to parliamentary elections. 'Pick up' is frequently used here to talk about the number of votes a candidate receives or picks up. The Green party are expected to pick up a lot of votes in the election this year. The candidate who picks up the most votes will be elected as the new mayor. MEANING 10: To refer back to something For those of you who enjoy debates, discussions and dialogue, this next meaning should be very useful for you as it means 'to refer back to something' and is used frequently in conversations of this type when someone wants to further discuss an earlier point that someone made. I'll give you an example of how this works. In a debate, one person speaks and gives three points as part of his or her argument. The next person then speaks in response and wants to refer to the first point that the first speaker made. He or she might then say, 'I'd like to pick up the point that you made earlier about XXX', to mean that they want to refer back to the person's point. The reason that they are doing this is that they want to comment on the point, refute it or develop it in some way. Note, that often the additional preposition 'on' is used, however this is not always required. I'd like to pick up what you said about the spending cuts earlier. I just wanted to pick up on the point that you made about the new legislation. MEANING 11: To resume something after an interruption Many of us love a coffee break when we are at work but inevitably we have to start our work again once we have had our caffeine hit and this brings me to the eleventh meaning of 'pick up', which is start something again following an interruption'. In terms of usage, this can be used for interruptions from anything as short as a lunch break to a break of a few years. The idea is that you stop what you are doing for a time and then start it again at some point in the future. You may often hear this application being used with the adverbs 'back' or 'again' or a combination of both of these. I don't know about you but I am ready for lunch. Shall we go and eat and pick this up again afterwards. Roger learnt German when he was at school but stopped when he left. He picked it back up last year after a trip to Berlin. MEANING 12: To criticise someone Here we are, finally, at the 12th and final meaning of 'pick up'. Extremely well done if you have made it this far!! This final meaning of 'pick up' is 'to criticise someone' and for this we require the additional preposition 'on'. If someone picks you up on something, it means that they criticise something that you have said, or sometimes done. For example, a language teacher may pick their student up on their pronunciation of a word or a manager in a company may pick their employee up on the unsuitability of their clothes. 'To pick someone up on something' is a set word order and cannot be changed. I never pronounce my t's properly and my mum always picks me up on it. The strict teacher always picked up her students on their bad language. IDIOM ALERT Before I finish the post, there is one more idiom that I want to make you aware of that features the phrasal verb 'pick up' and is in common usage in everyday English. To pick up the bill is an idiomatic expression that means to pay for something, normally used in a bar or restaurant. For example, if you pick up the bill in a restaurant, you pay the entire bill for all of the people on your table. A common variation of this idiom also exists: 'to pick up the tab'. Everyone left the restaurant, leaving me to pick up the bill for all 10 people! My teenage daughter doesn't understand the value of money yet and still expects my and my husband to pick up the tab for everything. We have now reached the end of this post and i hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. Now it is YOUR turn. Leave a comment on the blog post with your own sentence using 'pick up', comments or suggestions....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 😊

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'take out', with lots of examples in context. Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs! This is a post on the phrasal verb 'take out' and its different meanings and uses in English. I'm sure many of you will already be familiar with the phrasal verb 'take out', especially if you have spent time in the USA and eaten fast food there. Do you know the other meanings of 'take out', though? For instance, did you know that 'taking someone out' can either mean something very nice or very horrible, depending on the context? Or, did you know that someone can take something out on you, which may also take it out of them. I appreciate that this is very confusing, but don't worry as in this post, I will explain to you all of the different ways that 'take out' is used by native speakers, with lots of examples in context to help you understand and learn them. So, without further ado, let's get started.... PS Don't forget to leave a comment at the end with your own sentence using 'take out'! TAKE OUT: KEY INFORMATION For an explanation of the terms in the table, click here. THE BASICS Before we look at the meanings of the phrasal verb 'take out', let's first take a moment to consider the meanings of the individual words 'take' and 'out' on their own. Firstly, we have the verb 'to take', which is frequently found near the top of the lists of the most common verbs in the English language and which you will certainly be familiar with. The verb 'to take' has a lot of different meanings and uses in English, however the most relevant meanings for the purposes of this post are perhaps 'to remove something' and 'to carry something with you'. In addition to 'take' we have the prepositional particle 'out', which is normally used to refer to either being on, or moving towards, the exterior of something. When used in phrasal verbs, 'out' often adds the idea of movement away from the interior of something, as well as the ideas of resolution and exclusion, among others. Now that we have considered its constituent words, let's move on to the reason you are here and the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'take out'.... MEANING 1: To remove something from an interior space I always like to try and start these lists of phrasal verb meanings with one that is nice and simple and this post is no different. The first meaning of 'take out' that I will explain to you is 'to remove something from an interior space'. As I mentioned above, one of the principal meanings of the verb 'to take' is to remove something from a place and when we combine this with the meaning of 'out', as in moving from an interior space to an exterior one, it gives us the nice literal meaning of removing something from an interior space. This literal meaning of 'take out' can be used in many different areas of life. You can use it to describe actions as diverse as removing the trash from your house, removing the batteries from a device when they have run out and having a dentist extract a tooth from your mouth. Regardless of the situation or circumstances, the general idea is that something is removed from an internal space, so that it is no longer there. If you can remove it or extract it from an interior place, you can take it out. Examples of usage.... In order to clean the fridge properly, I had to take out all of the food so that it was empty. John went to the dentist last week and had five teeth taken out. We will carry out the operation today and then you will have to come back in two weeks so that we can take out the stitches. Take your thumb out of your mouth when you are speaking! I can't understand what you are saying! As I was taking the clean clothes out of the washing machine, I noticed that they had all turned pink. MEANING 2: To buy food and eat it elsewhere If you have ever spent time in the USA, then you may be very familiar with this next meaning of 'take out', which is 'to buy food and drink from somewhere and then go somewhere else to consume it'. It literally means that you are taking the food out of the restaurant. This is an application that you will hear mostly in fast food establishments where this usage originated and where customers are asked if they are eating in or taking out as standard. However, since the Covid-19 pandemic it has become more and more popular with traditional restaurants too (although perhaps not the 5-star ones). You should note that this is more of a North American usage and in the UK and Australia 'take away' is used instead (also carry out in Scotland), however 'take out' is absolutely fine in these countries and will be understood very well. Examples of usage.... Ok, so one burger and fries. Are you eating in or taking out? We bought some takeout food and went and ate it next to the river. MEANING 3: To take someone somewhere for pleasure Did you know that when functioning as adjectives, the particles 'in' and 'out' can be used to mean if a person is at home (in) or not at home (out). From this particular usage of the word 'out', we get our third meaning of the phrasal verb 'take out', which is 'to take someone to a place, for pleasure or fun'. This usage of 'take out' is all about treating someone or doing something nice for them. Normally, the person who takes out the other person will organise and invite the lucky recipient and, more often than not, will pay for them too. Most commonly, this application of 'take out' is used with bars and restaurants but can also apply to the theatre, cinema, museum or any other place where you may go for pleasure. It is important to note that we do not tend to use 'take out' for any overnight trips or holidays to a different place as 'take away' would be used here instead. Examples of usage.... My son is taking me out to London for the day tomorrow. Roger took Lisa out to the cinema last night. Can you babysit next Friday night for me? It's John's birthday and I would love to take him out for a meal as a present. MEANING 4: To enter into a financial agreement Do you own a car, motorbike or other vehicle? If you do, there is a very good chance that you have had to buy insurance for it at some point and this brings us to the next meaning of 'take out', which is 'to enter into a financial agreement with a company'. To clarify, if you enter into a financial contract with a company, for example by agreeing with them to supply you with a loan or a mortgage, then you can say that you 'take out' a loan or a mortgage with them. I'm not sure exactly where this comes from, however one possible suggestion would be that in the past, if you wanted to 'take out' a financial policy or agreement with a bank, you would need to go to the bank to sign the documents and take a copy of them out with you to keep at home as your own personal record of the transaction....who knows? It's possible I guess! This also covers when you buy an insurance or any other type policy with a company as well and in this instance you say that you 'take out insurance'. Examples of usage.... It is a legal requirement to take out home insurance when you buy your new house. I tried to take out a mortgage with my bank, however the application was declined as I did not have enough money. We took a car insurance policy out with a company, which has since gone bankrupt. MEANING 5: To kill someone So, as we established earlier in the post, if a person offers to take you out, then it is usually a good thing and you should definitely agree. However, if someone looks at you with an angry look on their face and threatens to take you out, then you should probably think twice before agreeing as it is more likely that they want to kill you or do you harm, which is the next meaning of 'take out' that we will look at. In addition to killing or murdering someone, 'take out' can also be used to mean 'to injure someone to the point that they cannot fight you back or will no longer pose a problem to you. This usage may have originated from the idea that someone is 'in' a fight or a game, and once injured or hurt, they are then forced 'out' as they are no longer to compete. Luckily for most people, the chances of someone threatening to take you out in this way are extremely small, however it is something that you may come across whilst watching English-language TV shows and movies. Moreover, this usage is a relatively informal one and not one that you are likely to hear in official or formal situations. 'Take out' can also be used to talk about destroying things rather than killing people and this is perhaps most commonly heard when talking about warfare and the military. Grammatically speaking, this application of 'take out' is often used in the passive sense with the verb 'get'. For example, if someone gets taken out by someone or something, it means that they are killed or prevented from continuing in a competition or fight. Examples of usage.... One of the most important aspects of this computer game is to take out as many enemy spies as possible. The boxer took his opponent out in less than five rounds. The army has taken out all of the enemy's ships. I almost got taken out by a falling tree as I was cycling home during the storm last night. Ok, so we have looked at the first five meanings of 'take out' now, so just take a minute to absorb them and let them sink into your memory. The next two meanings that we will look at all require an additional preposition to make sense....once you're ready to continue, scroll down ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ MEANING 6: To treat someone badly because you feel bad Have you ever been in a bad mood and then shouted at someone or treated them badly because of it? If you have, then you might say that 'you took your bad mood out on them' as the next meaning of 'take out' is to treat someone badly because you are feeling bad. For this usage, we require the additional prepositional particle 'on' and the construction is as follows: 'to take something / it out on someone'. We tend to use this application of 'take out' when there is a specific reason why we are in a bad mood. This could be anything from feeling tired, having a bad day at work, having an argument with somebody or feeling disappointed about something. Whatever the cause of our ill temper, the result is always the same, i.e. we behave horribly towards someone else, although it is not their fault. People are not the only victims of this negative treatment though, as it is also possible to take a bad mood out on objects or things, normally by abusing them or even breaking them as a way of getting rid of the negative emotion. Examples of usage.... When the England team lost the football game, John took his bad mood out on his friends. I'm sorry for yesterday. I was in a bad mood and I took it out on you. I understand that you have had an argument with your boss, but I will not tolerate you taking it out on me! Sarah had a bad day at the office yesterday and so she took it out on the punching bag in the gym later that evening. MEANING 7: To make you feel very tired For the final usage of 'take out', we are looking at a more idiomatic meaning, which is 'to make you feel very tired or exhausted'. For this we need the additional preposition 'of', giving us the following set structure: 'to take it out of someone'. If something takes it out of you, it takes away all of your energy and makes you feel very tired and exhausted. This can be used for anything that tires you out, from looking after children to speaking a foreign language for a long period of time. Don't use this for when you feel a little bit tired though, it should be reserved for really tiring activities that make you want to lie down and sleep for a few hours afterwards! Examples of usage.... It was Freddy's first day at school today and he was so tired when he came home; it really took it out of him. I love looking after my grandchildren but it takes it out of me! John has been training for the marathon this week and it has taken it out of him. Well this brings us to the end of the post. I sincerely hope that it hasn't taken it out of you! Before we finish, let's quickly recap the different meanings of 'take out' to ensure that they stick in your memory.... Firstly, we have the literal meaning, which is to remove something from an inside space. If you go to a restaurant, buy some food and then take it somewhere to eat it, you are taking it out. If someone takes you out, it can mean either that they take you somewhere for pleasure or that they want to kill you or remove you from a competition. We also use 'take out' with insurance policies, mortgages and financial agreements when we first agree to them. If someone has a bad day, they may treat you badly as a result and take it out on you and lastly, if something makes you feel very tired, it takes it out of you. Now it is YOUR turn. Leave a comment below with your own sentence using 'take out' or any questions or comments that you have....don't be shy! Sign up below to receive weekly phrasal verb posts straight into your inbox and be the first to access each blog post as soon as it is published! Lastly, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'come down', with lots of examples in context. Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about English phrasal verbs! 'Come down' is a common phrasal verb in English with a variety of different meanings. For example, you can come down with a cold, possibly whilst you're coming down from a weekend of partying. Alternatively, you may hear an an English speaker say that they are coming down to your city or that they will come down on you like a ton of bricks. If these all seem a little strange to you, do not worry as in this post I will outline and explain all of the different ways that this versatile little phrasal verb is used in English. So, without further ado, let's get started....don't forget to leave a comment at the end! COME DOWN: KEY INFORMATION For an explanation of the terms in the table, click here. THE BASICS Let's begin by considering the meanings of the individual words 'come' and 'down'. The verb 'to come' is one that you will certainly be very aware of as an English learner. It is primarily concerned with movement, specifically towards where the speaker is, was in the past or will be in the future. 'To come' is also regularly combined with particles, giving a large number of common phrasal verbs and expressions. It is an intransitive verb and does not take a direct object and this equally applies when it is part of a phrasal verb. As such, it is usually used for meanings where there the active agent initiating or causing the action is not specified. You will undoubtedly also be very familiar with the preposition particle 'down', which normally functions as an adverb and adjective in English. Commonly, it refers to movement towards the ground or a lower place, but it also has many other applications in English and, notably for this post, can be used to refer to things in written form, things that fall onto the ground and also movement towards a more southernly place. As an adjective, 'down' can mean sad or depressed and this is a theme that we will explore later in this post. So, now that we have covered the basics, let's check out the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'come down'... MEANING 1: To decrease Let's start the meanings of 'come down' with a nice and easy one, which is 'to decrease', and is specifically used to talk about prices and levels. This meaning of 'come down' is a combination of the movement aspect of the verb 'to come' with the particle 'down', providing us with the concept of decreasing. As I mentioned, this application is normally used with levels, specifically when referring to ones that can fluctuate (go up and down) over time. We don't tend to use 'come down' in situations where one person is involved and actively causes the decrease to happen, but rather when it occurs organically or naturally, such as levels of inflation in the economy or a person's heartbeat after jogging for twenty minutes. Examples of usage.... I am a diabetic and my sugar levels were very high earlier today, but luckily they have come down to normal levels again now. Is there any chance that the wholesale price of gas will come down again this summer? The levels of CO2 in the atmosphere have gradually been coming down over the last two decades. During an economic recession, it is normal for the prices of many commodities to come down. MEANING 2: To fall and hit the ground The next meaning of 'come down' is another nice and easy one and is quite similar to the previous one, except that now we are talking about physical things falling, rather than prices and levels. To clarify, this meaning is 'to fall and hit the ground' and is again derived from the same meanings of the words 'come' and 'down' as the first meaning. As you can imagine, we can use this application of 'come down' with reference to anything that falls and lands on the ground, whether that be from a previously standing position or from the sky. As such, we often use this for the weather, specifically with rain and snow, especially in the UK! However, aside from that, this meaning of 'come down' is typically used when something falls to the ground because it is broken or damaged in some way and for this we can talk about fallen trees, an aircraft that crashes or collapsing structures. Again, similar to the first meaning, there is generally no direct human intervention involved or implied when something 'comes down'. Examples of usage.... A lot of snow came down overnight and many of the roads are blocked this morning. It is autumn and the leaves are coming down off the trees. A number of trees came down in the storm last week but luckily they did not land on any power lines. The airplane came down in the field and somehow the pilot and all of the passengers miraculously survived. MEANING 3: To be removed or dismantled One of the many meanings of the particle 'up' is to describe something that has been erected or is hanging on a wall. For example, if your Christmas tree is up, then it is standing in your house and if a picture is up on the wall, then it is hanging on the wall in an elevated position. As you will be aware, 'down' functions as the opposite of 'up' and therefore if a structure is no longer standing or if something is no longer hanging in an elevated position, we can say that it has 'come down'. This usage of 'come down' can be used to refer to any objects that are placed in a high position and subsequently removed, as well as for structures that are built and later dismantled. Unlike the previous two examples, there is human intervention with this usage, however grammatically we tend to omit the person or people who perform the action, which is inferred from the context. Examples of usage.... It is the January 5th today, so the Christmas tree and decorations will all have to come down tomorrow. I really dislike those curtains. They need to come down soon! The telecom mast came down last year as the company wanted to replace it with a newer one. MEANING 4: To travel to a place Every once in a while, friends of mine from Scotland contact me to tell me that they are coming down to England on a trip and they want to know if I will be available to meet up with them. The reason that they say they are coming down is because the next meaning of 'come down' is to travel in a southwards direction to a place. Interestingly, the opposite of this is 'come up', so if I ever go northwards to Scotland, I tell them that I am coming up to see them. Of course, we are not all geography experts, so this isn't a hard and fast rule, however most people have at least a basic idea of the locations of their major cities and tend to apply this usage naturally as they imagine their up or down movements on a map. To note, for this usage we only use 'come down' when we are talking to someone who is at the destination. For example, when my friends tell me that they are visiting me, they say that they are coming down to England because I am in England, however when they tell their friends who are in Scotland about their trip, they say instead that they are going down to England (unless the friends in Scotland are travelling with them). Examples of usage.... My parents are coming down to London this weekend to see me. John came down to Florida for a few weeks last summer and we met up. The next time you come down, please can you bring me some scotch whisky. My parents are going to come down with me to Melbourne next week. MEANING 5: To stop feeling happy or high As we are on the subject of trips to places, do you ever feel sad, low or a bit depressed after returning from a holiday or vacation? I often do and at such times I might say that I am coming down from the high of my holiday, because the fifth meaning of 'come down' that we will consider is 'to stop feeling happy or high'. To clarify, when used in relation to people, the noun 'a high' is used to mean a very happy and exciting moment and if you are 'on a high', you are feeling happy or pleased about something for example, your favourite football team has won the cup or you have had a job promotion. Moreover, if you use the adjective 'high' to describe a person, it means that he or she is under the influence of drugs and therefore is not able to think or act properly etc. Do you know the famous English expression "what goes up must come down"? Well, based on the premise of this, when someone is high, be it naturally or from drugs, they must eventually come down again, which generally means feelings of sadness and depression that are associated with being 'down'. Although this is used for people like us who often feel sad after vacations and holidays, this application of 'come down' is in fact primarily used to talk about people when they stop feeling the effects of drugs and alcohol, which can often be quite serious and damaging to their mental health. Examples of usage.... It was such a great weekend and it took me a long time to come down from it. If you're coming down, you should drink lot of water and practice breathing exercises. John came down from the marijuana and immediately wanted to smoke some more. Ok, so we have looked at the first five meanings of 'come down' now, so just take a minute to absorb them and let them sink into your memory. The next three meanings that we will look at all require an additional preposition to make sense....once you're ready to continue, scroll down ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ MEANING 6: To feel the first symptoms of an illness Don't you just hate it when you are feeling fine one minute and then the next minute you can feel a tickle in your throat and the first signs of an illness are appearing. When this happens, you can say that you are coming down with an infection as the sixth meaning of 'come down' that we will consider is 'to feel the first symptoms of an infection'. For this usage, we require the additional preposition 'with'. This is the only meaning of the construction 'to come down with' in English and the word order of this is fixed and cannot be changed. As you have probably gathered, this application of 'come down' is all about the initial period of an illness or a disease, when the symptoms first start to show and you go from being well to being ill. We only use it for infectious diseases such as coughs, colds and the flu that tend to be short-term and we do not use it for other types of diseases such as cancer. Examples of usage.... I'm not going to come with you to the cinema tonight as I think I am coming down with a cold and I want to stay at home and rest. We were supposed to go on holiday to Spain last week but the whole family came down with Covid the day before we were due to fly, so we had to postpone it. Lisa has come down with a nasty bug and won't be in the office today. MEANING 7: To be the most important factor We all have to make difficult decisions at times in our lives. Usually, when making these tough decisions, we have to identify what the most important factor is and then base our decision on it accordingly. This is where our seventh meaning of the phrasal verb 'come down' is required as it means 'to be the most important factor'. For this usage, we require the additional preposition 'to' and, as with the previous one, the word order is fixed and cannot be changed. As I stated earlier, "to come down to" normally applies to decision making, for example "what I decide to wear tomorrow will come down to what the weather is like" however we can also use it for situations, particularly problems and questions, where one factor is more important than the others. Examples of usage.... I'm not sure whether or not to sell the house. It all comes down to how money we will make if we do. The government are currently working out if they need to increase their expenditure but it will all come down to how effective the spending will be. Our problem essentially comes down to the fact that we don't communicate enough. In penalty situations, the result of the football game will come down to whichever team has the best goalkeeper. MEANING 8:To punish someone The final meaning of the phrasal verb 'come down' that we will look at is 'to severely punish someone' and for this we require the additional preposition 'on'. If someone comes down on you, it means that they punish you in some way for something that you have done wrong. Usually, we add an adverb such as 'hard' or 'soft' to describe if the punishment was severe or light. Examples of usage.... If he finds out what you have done, he will come down hard on you! Regardless of what she does, Roger always comes down soft on his daughter. The authorities came down on the criminals like a ton or bricks. We have now reached the end of the post, so let's quickly recap the different meanings.... Firstly, we can use 'come down' to talk about a reduction in levels and prices. A second meaning is to describe something that falls to the ground, is removed from an elevated place or is dismantled. If someone visits you from a place more northern than where you are, you can say they are coming down to see you and if you have taken drugs or have had a natural high and the good positive feelings start to fade, you can also say that you are coming down. Lastly, we can come down with an illness, meaning that we start to feel ill and somebody can come down on us, which means to punish us! Now it is YOUR turn. Leave a comment on the blog post with your own sentence using 'come down', comments or suggestions....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 😊

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'back up', with lots of examples in context. Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about English phrasal verbs! Read on to learn more about the phrasal verb 'back up'... If you are a regular user of computers, which many of you probably are, then the phrasal verb 'back up' is a phrasal verb that you are sure to recognise. However, do you know its other uses and meanings outside of the world of IT? For example, have you ever backed a friend or colleague up when they needed it or have you ever had a problem in your house caused by water backing up? Don't worry if not as in this post I will outline the different ways to use this "supportive" little phrasal verb and explain to you how to use it like a native speaker. So, without further ado, let's make a start.... BACK UP: KEY INFORMATION For an explanation of the terms in the table, click here. THE BASICS To start the post, let's first look at the individual words 'back' and 'up' and what they mean on their own... The English word 'back' will most likely be most familiar to you as an adverb and a noun; giving the idea of a reversing action or a return when used as an adverb and referring to the rear part of something, most commonly the part of the human body between the buttocks and the neck, as a noun. It may surprise you to learn that the verb 'to back' also exists in English and means to give support to something, such as an idea, a project, a plan, a cause or a political candidate or party. As well as that, it has a second, less common, meaning, which is 'to reverse or go backwards'. Regular visitors to my website will be well aware of the usage of the prepositional particle 'up', which is used in phrasal verb constructions to add the idea of an increase or a movement towards a higher place, as well as the ideas of preparation, improvement and readiness, among others. Ok, so now we have looked at the basics, let's take a look at the various meanings of the phrasal verb 'back up'.... MEANING 1: To support someone As we have just established, the main meaning of the verb 'to back' is to give support to something and this first meaning of 'back up' is very much linked to it as it also means to support, however it tends to be used slightly differently. When we 'back' something, we are saying that we agree with it and therefore support it in a passive way. However, with 'back up' we tend to take it one step further and give our support in a more active way, even being willing to take over from the person that we are backing up if necessary. An example of this to illustrate it would be if a person wants to confront their boss at work but they don't feel comfortable doing it on their own, so they ask some colleagues to go with them to give them support in case they need it. In other words, to back them up. Here, we would not tend to use the verb 'to back' as we want the supporting person to be actively involved if possible. From this meaning, we also get the noun 'backup' (or back-up), which refers to extra resources, equipment or people that can be called on for support when we need it. For example, the police always request backup in American TV shows and movies when they have a serious crime to deal with. Going back to the phrasal verb 'back up', in addition to people, it can also be used for giving support to proposals and ideas. To clarify, if a proposal or an idea is put forward, it often requires some sort of action to confirm or support the idea and for this we can also use 'back up'. Examples of usage.... I knew that the teacher was going to shout at me, so I made my friend come into the office with me to back me up. The employee was backed up by his company during the court trial. Don't worry Sergeant Smith, backup has been requested and will be with you shortly. I took an extra pen into the exam for backup in case the ink ran out on the first one. Your ideas are very promising, but they will need to be backed up by some positive actions before we can provide you with finance. MEANING 2: To confirm that something is true Let's continue with the theme of support for the next meaning of 'back up', which is 'to confirm that something is true'. To give you an example, when I was younger, I was falsely blamed for taking my sister's chocolate bar from the fridge and eating it (shocking, I know!). She thought it was me and was very angry with me, despite my assurances to her that I hadn't taken it. Thankfully, my Dad backed me up by telling her that it wasn't me. He knew that it was my brother who had taken it and therefore was able to confirm the truth. Of course, the example that I have just given you is a typical one that occurs in everyday life, however this application is also regularly used in the fields of science, research and criminal investigations. In all of these areas, in which hypotheses, theories and suspicions are routinely checked and tested, evidence is often required to confirm that they are true and the phrasal verb 'back up' is always used in these situations. Grammatically, you may often see this application being used in the passive form (backed up by...), especially in the fields of science, research and statistics. Examples of usage.... John, please can you back me up and tell Lisa that what I am saying is true. When the teacher accused me of bullying another student, my best friend backed me up and said that I had not. The witness' statement backs up what the victim said. The team of scientists were overjoyed when the results of their recent experiment backed up the theory that they have been working on for several months. These things do not exist and this has been backed up by science many times over the years. MEANING 3: To make a copy of a computer file Along with receiving telephone calls from call centres trying to sell you something and siblings blaming you for stealing chocolate bars, one of the most annoying things that can happen to you is when you work very hard on something for a long time on your computer and then you lose all your work because you DIDN'T SAVE IT 🤬. This annoying occurrence brings us to the next meaning of the phrasal verb 'back up', which is 'to make a copy of a computer file'. As you can probably guess, this usage of 'back up' is a relatively new one due to its link to computers, however it is quite widespread in modern English as IT is now an integral part of daily life, whether that be in our personal or working lives. It is common to hear this application of 'back up' used with nouns such as 'work' and 'files' as well as 'computers' and 'devices'. Grammatically, this application of 'back up' is separable and you can 'back up your files' or 'back your files up' without any change in meaning. Examples of usage.... My computer battery has just died, but luckily I had just backed up my work when it did, so hopefully I haven't lost anything. Don't forget to back up your work before you log out. She wasn't able to back up her files, so she lost them all when she shut her computer down. It is important to back up your computer on a regular basis. MEANING 4: To move backwards You may remember from earlier on in the post that I mentioned that another, less common, meaning of the verb 'to back' is 'to move backwards' or 'to reverse' and this fourth meaning of 'back up' derives directly from that as it means exactly the same, i.e. to move backwards. I would say though that 'back up' is actually used more commonly than just 'back' on its own when talking about reversing. Most commonly, this application of 'back up' is used with cars as another way to say 'reverse' and this in particular sounds quite American to my ears, although you do still hear it used in this way in British English. When used with a vehicle, it is a separable usage with the vehicle either going between 'back' and 'up' or after them. It is also possible to use 'back up' to talk about a person physically moving backwards, however this is normally only by a few footsteps. When used this way, we do not normally separate the phrasal verb as there is no direct object (vehicle). Furthermore, it is often used as an imperative to ask people to move backwards. Examples of usage.... I backed the car up a few metres in order to let the other cars pass. As Roger was backing the lorry up, he accidentally knocked over the signpost on the side of the road. Backing up a car is one of the things that you will be instructed to do on your driving test to prove that you are a competent driver. I was too close to the fire, so I backed up a few paces to where it was cooler. Back up a bit please! These people need to get past. MEANING 5: To gradually collect or accumulate Our final meaning of 'back up' is one that can be heard being used in a few different areas of life to talk specifically about things that flow and it means 'to gradually collect or accumulate'. The first thing to mention here is that this application of 'back up' is all about a process that takes place over time. It starts when there is a small amount of something and then over time more and more of it collects until there is so much of it that there is a negative consequence. Let's take a look at some commonly used nouns with this usage of 'back up'.... Water - The nature of water and liquids in general is that they flow, whether that be down a river or along a pipe. Whenever there is a situation where the flow of water is blocked or obstructed in some way, it tends to accumulate behind the blockage, leading to problems once the accumulation is too big. This can often be heard when talking about water pipes in a building, sewers or also natural waterways such as rivers and streams. Traffic - We often talk in English about the flow of traffic on our roads and highways. Like with water, whenever there is a blockage on the road, such as a car accident, then the traffic backs up behind it and a traffic jam forms. This is one that I am sure most of you know all too well. Work - Although there isn't a physical flow with work like there is with water and traffic, there is still the idea of a flow of jobs and emails coming into a business and then leaving again once completed. As such, we can also use 'back up' with work to describe when we have too much work to do and cannot do it all straight away, meaning that there will be a delay due to the acculmuation of tasks that have to be done. It is quite common to hear this usage in a passive sense, i.e. to say that you are 'backed up'. Another noun that can be used here is backlog. Hopefully you have got the main idea of this meaning of 'back up' from the examples given! Examples of usage.... Due to a blockage in the pipe, the sewer was backed up and a specialist company had to come and resolve the issue. Try and avoid the M5 motorway if possible as there has been an accident and the traffic is beginning to back up. We are really backed up at the moment, so it may take a little longer than usual to receive a response from our team. This brings us to the end of the post, so let's quickly recap the different meanings of 'back up' to ensure that they stick in your memory... So firstly we had the idea of 'back up' used as a form of support, both by actively supporting someone in a situation and then by confirming that something is true. If you back up your files on a computer, it means that you have a copy of them in case you lose them in the future. 'Back up' can also be used to mean to reverse a vehicle or to move back a few paces and lastly, it can be used to describe something that accumulates so much that it causes a problem! Now it is YOUR turn. Leave a comment on the blog post with your own sentence using 'back up' or any questions or comments that you have....don't be shy! Sign up below to receive weekly phrasal verb emails and be the first to access each blog post as soon as it is published! Lastly, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'get over', with lots of examples in context. Hello and welcome to my website all about English phrasal verbs! Read on to learn more about the phrasal verb 'get over'.... 'Get over' is a common phrasal verb in English with a variety of different meanings. In this post, I will explain the different meanings that it has and how they are used by native speakers, including getting over an illness, getting over a message, getting something over with and even not being able to get over something. So, without further ado, let's make a start.... GET OVER: KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here. THE BASICS The phrasal verb 'get over' is formed of the hugely common verb 'to get' and the prepositional particle 'over' and before we look at the different meanings of this phrasal verb, let's first look at these individual words. You do not need to have had much contact with the English language to know that the verb 'to get' is very common. Indeed, I know from my students that it is a very frustrating word for English learners as it has such a lot of different meanings and uses....I think even native speakers are confused by it sometimes! We don't have the time to cover all of the meanings of 'to get' here, however some of its relevant meanings for the purposes of this post are that 'to arrive' and 'to become'. The particle 'over' can be used as a preposition, adverb and adjective and is often used to describe moving across from one side of something to the other, often with the idea of moving above it. Moreover, as an adjective, it can be used to mean 'finished' or 'complete' and gives the idea that something is now in the past. So, now we have looked at the basics, let's move on to the meanings of the phrasal verb 'get over'... MEANING 1: To cross something Ok, let's begin with a nice and easy meaning of 'get over', which is 'to cross something from one side to the other'. This is normally by moving across its surface or in the air above it. This movement could take the form of climbing, walking or even driving, the main idea is that you move from one side of it to the other. We mostly use this application of 'get over' to talk about when when you or other people are crossing from one side of something to the other, so grammatically, this does not take a direct object and is therefore not used separably. However, if we are talking about a person carrying or taking something across, then we are able to use it separably as the thing being carried is a direct object. Again, we would only tend to use 'get over' when there is some sort of challenge or difficulty involved as 'take over' or 'carry over' would normally be used here. You may have also heard someone being told in English to 'get over here' or 'get over there' as these imperative forms of 'get over' are used quite often to tell someone to move to a different place. This can often be considered as quite rude or severe though, so hopefully it wasn't aimed at you! Examples of usage.... I'm not sure how my dog got over the garden fence. The explorers looked up at the mountain and tried to figure out a way to get over it. A car had broken down in the middle of the bridge and we weren't able to get over it, so we had to turn back and go a different way. The sprinter developed an injury during the race and sadly wasn't able to get over the finishing line on his own. Some of the other athletes picked the injured athlete up and got him over the line. The police were puzzled as to how the criminals had managed to get the drugs over the border. John, get over here and show me what I need to do. MEANING 2: To recover from something For those of you who are regular visitors to this website, you may remember a post that I've recently written about the phrasal verb 'go through' (link here). If you have read this, you will hopefully know that one of its meanings is to suffer a traumatic or negative experience. This second meaning of 'get over' is like a part two of that meaning as it means 'to recover from something traumatic'. As with 'go through', this application of 'get over' is used when we experience something traumatic that causes physical or mental suffering, typically with relationship break-ups, grief following the death of a loved one and physical injury or illness. 'Getting over' something is a process that happens over a period of time, from a few days to many years and, in some cases, it can never happen at all. You may also be familiar with the imperative expression "get over it!", which is used as a way of telling someone to accept a situation and stop worrying or being sad about it. Alternatively, "you'll get over it" is a frequently used and often sarcastic expression to say to someone who is overreacting about something that their problem is not very important. Examples of usage.... It took me a few months to get over my ex-girlfriend and move on. I've been sick with a really bad cold recently and I am still getting over it. John has never gotten over the death of his mother when he was a child. Get over it, Lisa! That was 2 years ago! It is time that you moved on with your life. MEANING 3: To overcome something For the next meaning of 'get over', we are going to keep to a similar sort of idea as the previous usage as this one is 'to overcome' something. More often than not, this meaning of 'get over' is used with fears and if we can 'get over' a fear of something, it means that we are no longer scared or afraid of it. For example, when I was younger I had a mild fear of spiders but then I lived with someone who was TERRIFIED of them and so every time a spider appeared in the house, I had to remove it. By doing this, I quickly got over my fear and now they do not bother me...that is a true story, by the way! In addition to fears, 'get over' is also used with finding solutions difficulties and problems., however less frequently so. This usage is also inseparable and we cannot add a direct object between the words 'get' and 'over' here. Examples of usage.... When I was a child I was petrified of the dark, but I got over my fear when I became a teenager. Getting over a phobia of something takes a lot of mental will power but it is possible! How are you going to get over this issue at work? MEANING 4: To be very surprised by something Ok, for this next usage we need to switch things up a little bit as this one only exists in a negative form with the modal verb 'can'. If you hear a native speaker say that they can't get over something, it is possible that they are talking about not being able to recover from something, but it is generally more likely that they are saying that they are very surprised by something. This is quite a strange and idiomatic usage (as is normal for English) and I think it was probably originally used in the sense that someone was shocked by something very bad and then found it difficult to recover (as per meaning 2). However, the usage has changed over time to now mean only shock or surprise at anything, whether it be good or bad, and that they find it hard to believe. Examples of usage.... I can't get over how much you look like your Dad! You've grown so much since I saw you last year, I can't get over it! Sarah couldn't get over how rude the waiter was to her in the restaurant. She was speechless! MEANING 5: To successfully communicate something Have you ever been in a situation in which you have needed to communicate a message to someone in a particular way? If you have, you were probably hoping to get the idea of the message over in the correct way. Or, in other words, you wanted the person to understand the message in the way that you intended. The reason for this is that the next meaning of 'get over' is to successfully communicate a message, an idea or some information to another person or group of people. Unlike the other applications of 'get over' that we have considered so far, this one can be used separably and does take a direct object, which is usually the idea, message or information that you want to convey. Examples of usage.... The company is desperate to get the idea over to its customers following their last desperate advertising campaign. Despite making a few mistakes, the politician managed to get his message over to the audience during his speech. Did I get my point over ok? MEANING 6: To do something unpleasant but necessary For our final meaning, we require the additional preposition 'with' as 'to get something over with' means to finish doing something that is unpleasant, yet unavoidable. Whether it be work, a confrontation, something frightening or stressful or even a trip to the dentists, we can use 'get it over with' to express that we must do something undesirable and so it is just best to do it immediately or as quickly as possible, so that it is done and we can forget about it. This usage combines the meaning of 'get', as in to arrive, with the meaning of 'over', as in to finish or complete something and so literally means 'to arrive at a point when something is finished', i.e. the unpleasant thing. This is a set expression and should always follow the same word order, with the horrible but necessary activity placed between 'get' and 'over'. A frequently used variation of this expression is 'to get something over and done with', which means the same thing. Examples of usage.... Come on Doctor, I know that this will be painful, so can we please get it over with. I just want to get this week at work over with as quickly as possible as I am going on holiday next week. Let's get this over and done with so that I can go home and forget about it. IDIOM ALERT! As is customary at the end of a post, I like to end things, where possible, with a useful idiom featuring the phrasal verb in question and this post is no different. If someone tells you 'to get over yourself', they are not asking you to somehow climb over yourself, but rather to stop being conceited, vain or pretentious. In other words, stop behaving like you are better or more important than other people. Hopefully nobody will ever say it to you, but I think we all know someone to whom this idiom could be applied! Examples of usage.... Oh stop acting like you're the King of England and get over yourself! Get over yourself, John and stop complaining! This brings us to the end of the post. So, to recap, we can use the phrasal verb 'get over' to express climbing or crossing something from one side to the other; we 'get over' something traumatic or an illness and if we are lucky we can 'get over' our fears and no longer be scared of something. If we can't get over something, then we find it very surprising or hard to believe and if we get something unpleasant over with, we do it quickly so that we can forget all about it. Lastly. I hope I have been able to get the meanings of this lovely phrasal verb over to you in a satisfactory way and that you have learnt something new today. Now it is YOUR turn. Leave a comment on the blog post with your own sentence using 'get over'....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 😊

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'go through', with lots of examples in context. Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about English phrasal verbs! Read on to learn more about the phrasal verb 'go through'... 'Go through' is a common English phrasal verb with a lot of meanings that are in common usage in everyday speech. We can go through red lights, documents, traumatic events and competitions and sometimes we just don't go through with something. If all this sounds strange to you, read on and learn all the different ways that 'go through' is used in English! So, without further ado, let's get started....don't forget to leave a comment at the end! GO THROUGH: KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here. THE BASICS The phrasal verb 'go through' is made up of the verb 'to go' and the prepositional particle 'through', so before we look at the meanings of the phrasal verb itself, let's take a moment to familiarise ourselves with the individual words. 'To go' is one of the most common verbs in the English language and its main meaning is the idea of movement, either from one place to another or simply leaving a place and starting a journey. In addition to this, it has a wide variety of less common uses and meanings and is used to form the 'going to' future tense. The particle 'through' is used to express movement from one side of something to the other, especially if it is an internal space. Furthermore, 'through' is also used with time, specifically the passage of time, and it also functions as a synonym of 'by' and 'as a result of', among other things. You may also have seen the alternative 'thru' used in English, which is an informal variation of 'through' and is only really used for "drive-thru' restaurants and in non-formal written communication. Now that we have looked at the basics, let's take a look at the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'go through'.... MEANING 1: To physically move through something (literal) Let's begin things nice and easily with the literal meaning of the combination of the words 'go' and 'through', i.e. to move from one side of something to the other. Most commonly you will hear this usage with everyday nouns such as 'door', 'window' and 'tunnel', as people or things regularly pass from one side of these to the other. We also use this for rooms, especially when moving from one room to another room or to a different part of a building, such as from the dentist's waiting room to the dentist's office or from the public area of an airport to the departures area via customs. One last usage that you may come across here concerns driving a car, as when a red traffic light is showing and a car does not stop and continues driving, we say that it 'goes through a red light'. Examples of usage.... Go through the door on your left and then follow the corridor until the end. John threw the cricket ball in the wrong direction and it went through the kitchen window. The doctor is ready to see you now, Mr. Smith. Please go through. I am just going through customs at the airport, so I will give you a call once I am on the other side and in the departure lounge. Roger was late for a work meeting and went through several read lights to try and get there on time. MEANING 2: To suffer a negative experience It is an inevitable fact of life that our existence is not always a happy one and from time to time we all have negative experiences and periods of suffering. When these unavoidable situations occur, we can say that we 'go through' them, as the next meaning of the phrasal verb 'go through' is 'to experience unpleasant and negative situations'. As you would imagine, this application of 'go through' is used when talking about such things as disease, depression, abuse, death, grief and poverty, among other things. Moreover, it is used by speakers to label any period of suffering, trauma or severe unhappiness. This usage of 'go through' is quite strong in nature, so if you say you have gone through something, you want people to know that you have really suffered. For example, you would not use it for something trivial like losing your car keys or having a headache. Grammatically, this application of 'go through' does take an object, but it is not separable. One thing to note with this usage is that although the past participle form is 'gone through', native speakers do also regularly use 'been through' as an alternative, without any discernible change in meaning. To note, the phrasal verb 'be through' does not otherwise exist in English. Examples of usage.... Helen went through a lot in her childhood. How dare you judge me! You have no idea what I have gone through in my life. I went through a bout of depression last year but I am feeling much better now. She has recently been through a nasty divorce from her husband. MEANING 3: To check something methodically Let's move on from the previous depressing usage of 'go through' to the next meaning, which is 'to check something methodically'. For this usage, we are thinking mainly about the actions of searching and sorting. Firstly, we use 'go through' when we want to check documents in a methodical and effective way from beginning to end, either to look for something in the document or to check for errors. Secondly, we can also use it for spaces such as rooms, drawers, wardrobes when we are are searching for something and we want to make sure that we have covered every single space in our quest to find it. Lastly, it is also possible to use 'go through' to mean to methodically check a set of items such as records or clothes etc, in order to to sort them into different categories. For example, if you have too many old clothes in your wardrobe, you might go through them one by one to decide which items you want to keep and which you want to throw away. As with the previous meaning, the past participle 'been through' is often used here in perfect tenses. Examples of usage.... Would you mind going through this document and checking for any errors before i submit it? I've gone through my bedroom several times and I cannot find my phone charger anywhere! Sarah went through a pile of her old clothes to decide which ones she wanted to keep. My mum has been through my entire wedding guest list to decide if she is happy with all of the guests that I have invited! MEANING 4: To practise something Do you enjoy giving presentations? Some people love them and some people are terrified of them. Regardless of how you feel about them, it is always a good idea to practice for them in order to give the best presentation that you can. This brings me to our next meaning of 'go through', which is 'to practise something' and is normally used in preparation for a test, a presentation or a performance. The process of 'going through' something normally involves practising something from beginning to end, hence the idea of 'through'. As mentioned before, it can be used for presentations, speeches, exam revision, stories, excuses and anything else that may need a an element of practise before the real event. Another time that you may hear this is with actors who 'go through' their lines prior to a performance in order to practise and memorise them. Examples of usage.... Can we just go through the presentation one more time? I went through my wedding speech so many times the day before, so when I did it, it was perfect. Let's just go through our story one more time before we go to the police. It needs to be watertight! MEANING 5: To exhaust resources The next meaning of 'go through' that we will consider is one that we can all be guilty of occasionally and that is 'to use a lot of something'. Normally, this application of 'go through' is used for items that can be depleted or run out and typically includes food, resources and money. It can be applied both to a resource that we can use until it has all gone or to a resource that we use a lot of over a period of time, especially when this is not normal, in which case there can be a degree of surprise or moaning attached to it. Examples of usage.... My grandchildren have been staying with me this weekend and I have managed to go through 3 cartons of milk! It normally takes me a week for just one! I didn't realise London was so expensive. I went through all of my spending money in the first three days and I had to ask my parents to send me some more. You've gone through all of the bread, so if you want some, you will have to go and buy some more. MEANING 6: To be approved If you have ever been lucky enough to buy your own property, you will more than likely have experienced a waiting period whilst the the legal process was being completed, at which time you can say that the house sale has 'gone through'. That is because another meaning of the phrasal verb 'go through' is 'to be officially approved'. For this usage of 'go through', it is mainly focussed on situations where there is a process over a period of time before something is officially accepted. Unsurprisingly, this can often be a legal process involving lawyers. Typically, these types of situations include property sales, laws, business deals or plans and divorces, all of which require an element of negotiation, paperwork and time before they are accepted or approved, or go through. Examples of usage.... The sale of the house went through last month, so we are finally able to move to our new home now. The proposed law was opposed and did not go through in the end. Our divorce is due to go through next month, so I will be able to get married again after that. MEANING 7: To progress to the next round of a competition For some reason whilst preparing for this blog post I was not able to find this next usage of 'go through' in a dictionary, however it is most certainly used on a fairly common basis by native English speakers and it is 'to progress to the next round in a competition'. This application of 'go through' is in regular use for any competitions where there are rounds, typically with quarter finals, semi finals and a final. Unsurprisingly, it is also in common use when referring to sport. Oftentimes, we will specify what the next round is with the additional preposition 'to', however this is not always necessary and 'go through' on its own can be sufficient. Examples of usage.... The winner of today's game will go through to the next round of the competition. Only the first two athletes in this race will automatically go through. England have gone through to the final of the World Cup after beating Italy in a tense match. MEANING 8: To go through with something For our eighth and final usage of 'go through' we need the additional preposition 'with'. If someone 'goes through with something', it means that they talk about doing something and then actually do it. This is often when the action is unpleasant or difficult in some way. Often, you hear it after people make threats and then carry out the threatened action. To make this a little clearer for you, let's look at an example.... John told me that he was going to steal some food from a shop. I didn't believe him, so I was very shocked when he went through with it and stole the food. Here is another example.... Helen always talked about ending her marriage to Roger but I didn't believe her as I thought she was joking. She did go through with it in the end and now they are divorced! Examples of usage.... I can't believe you went through with it! I didn't think you would! That is just a threat to make you worried. There is no way that he would actually go through with it. Do you think John will go through with it and take me to court? This brings us to the end of the post, so thanks for reading. Now it is YOUR turn. Leave a comment on the blog post with your own sentence using 'go through'....don't be shy! Sign up below to receive weekly phrasal verb emails and be the first to access each blog post as soon as it is published! If you found the post useful, please share it on social media, so together we can help as many English learners as possible to understand and master these tricky phrasal verbs. See you next time! James 😀

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'let off', with lots of examples in context. Hello and welcome to my website all about English phrasal verbs! Read on to learn more about the phrasal verb 'let off'.... How well do you know the phrasal verb 'let off' and the different meanings that it has in the English language? Have you ever needed to be let off public transport or have you perhaps been let off from a fine or punishment in your life? Maybe you enjoy letting off steam in the gym or fireworks on New Year's Eve? If some of these sound a little strange to you, don't worry as in this post I outline the different meanings of 'let off' and how they are used in English, so without further ado, let's get started. Don't forget to leave a comment at the end! LET OFF: KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here. THE BASICS In order to understand the meanings of the phrasal verb 'let off' as well as possible, we'll start by considering the meanings of the individual words 'let' and 'off'. The verb 'to let' is a common irregular verb in the English language, whose main meaning is the idea of permitting or allowing something to happen. While it does have other less common meanings, such as 'to rent out property', its other main function as a verb is in the contraction let's (let us), which is used to introduce a suggestion to do something that involves you and the people you are addressing. 'To let' features in several different phrasal verb constructions, which are all useful ones to have in your active English vocabulary. The prepositional particle 'off' is the opposite of the particle 'on' and has multiple meaning and uses in English, notably 'to not be supported or attached to something' and to 'move away from something or somewhere'. It is a common inclusion in phrasal verbs and is often used to add ideas of departure, separation and completion, among others. Now that we have looked at the basics, let's take a look at the individual meanings of the phrasal verb 'let off'.... MEANING 1: To allow someone to disembark To start, let's think again about the individual meanings of the words 'let' and 'off' and consider what the literal meaning of 'let off' would be, which is 'to allow someone to disembark or leave something that they are on'. In the gif above, you can see Marge Simpson frantically running around on an airplane shouting "let me off" as she is asking - or demanding - permission to be able to disembark, perhaps because she is scared or has decided that she does not want to leave...I haven't seen the episode, so maybe you can tell me in the comments.... Anyway, back to the phrasal verb explanation....so, essentially this usage is a pure combination of the meaning of 'let' as in 'to allow' with the meaning of 'off', as 'in no longer being on something'. In terms of usage, this meaning can potentially be used with any surfaces or things that you are physically 'on' and for which you need permission to be able to leave or disembark. In reality, this is mainly used with forms of mass transport such as trains, boats and airplanes. You may also hear it, less commonly, with fairground ride such as big wheels or roller coasters. This meaning is separable and takes a direct object, which is the person or thing disembarking or leaving. The direct object can either go between 'let' and 'off' or after it, however when using an indirect personal pronoun (him, her, them etc.), this must go in between the two. Examples of usage.... A passenger fell ill on the bus, so the driver stopped in order to let him off. The ferry docked in Cherbourg to let passenger and cars off, before continuing on to St Malo. Paralysed with fear, Katherine pleaded with the roller coaster operators to let her off before it started. MEANING 2: To not give someone a punishment If any of you readers are criminals or have criminal tendencies (which I hope is not the case), then this next meaning of the phrasal verb 'let off' will be a very positive one for you as it means 'to not give someone a punishment'. The idea here is that when someone commits a criminal offence or does something wrong that normally requires a punishment, they do not receive one and there is no retribution for their wrongdoings. This is of course great news for offenders but often very frustrating for victims. However, what is perhaps equally annoying for victims is when a criminal is found guilty of a crime but receives a lighter punishment than they deserve. The phrasal verb 'let off' can also be used in these situations, however it should be noted that the additional preposition 'with' is required here to specify the lighter punishment that the offender receives. So, to summarise, the second meaning of 'let off' is to not receive a punishment at all, or to receive less punishment than you deserve! Examples of usage.... A notorious thief was caught by the police but then let off after he promised to never steal anything again. There was uproar in the court this morning when the killer was let off with a short prison sentence. There were fears that she would be let off lightly, however the punishment was severe. The traffic warden let me off with a fine of £10 as it was an emergency. IDIOM ALERT! Before we move on to the next meaning, I have a nice idiom linked to this meaning to share with you: 'to let someone off the hook'. This is a common idiomatic expression in English to mean to remove the blame from someone if they have been accused of a crime. For example, if John accuses Roger of stealing his wallet and then afterwards John finds the wallet under his bed, Roger has been let off the hook as it was clear that it was lost and Roger did not steal it. In some instances, it can also be used when someone is found to be guilty of a crime but receives no punishment or retribution for it. Additionally, we can also use 'let someone off the hook' to describe when someone helps us or allows us to avoid a responsibility or something that we do not want to do. Examples of usage.... The politician was accused of speeding in her car but has been let off the hook as there is not enough evidence to support it. Lisa has made some horrible comments about Helen recently but Helen is prepared to let her off the hook as she doesn't want to lose their friendship. I was supposed to be working an extra shift today but luckily my work has let me off the hook and I can rest instead! MEANING 3: To be allowed to not to do something We all have duties, responsibilities and tasks in life that we have to do but don't always want to do, so once in a while it is really nice when someone tells us that we do not have to do them....or, in other words, that we are 'let off' from doing them. To clarify, this next meaning of 'let off' is 'to be allowed not to do something'. This usage is primarily British and again takes the meaning of 'let' as in 'to allow' with 'off' adding the idea of not doing something. Typically, this application of 'let off' is used with tasks or responsibilities that an authority figure, parent or boss expects you to do and it is these authority figures who perform the action of 'letting someone off' from a task or job. Another common way that this is used is when your boss or company management permits you to finish work earlier than normal, in which case you would say that you have been "let off work early". Examples of usage.... I normally have to do the washing up after dinner but my parents have let me off from doing it today as I have injured my hand. Lisa's mother is in hospital and her work has kindly let her off a couple of shifts, so she can care for her. It is the Scotland football game tomorrow and work are letting us off an hour early to watch it. MEANING 4: To make something explode For our next meaning of the phrasal verb 'let off', we are thinking specifically about things that explode and go bang as this meaning is 'to make something explode'. This application takes the idea from the verb 'to let' as in to 'allow something' and combines it with the idea of moving away, release or departure that we get from the particle 'off'. In other words, we are permitting something to be released, in this case explosive energy. Thankfully, there aren't many things in life that do explode and most of the time we experience them second-hand via movies and tv. One common item that can be let off by normal people like us is a firework and every year many people all around the world let them off during times of celebration. Aside from fireworks, other nouns commonly used with this application of 'let off' are bomb, firecracker and gun. Examples of usage.... I couldn't sleep last night as somebody was letting off fireworks until 1am! Luckily, the terrorists plan to let off a bomb at rush hour was foiled by the emergency services. I am not sure whether or not John let off the gun on purpose. MEANING 5: To release liquid, air or chemicals The fifth and final meaning of the phrasal verb 'let off' is a slightly less frequently used one that means 'to release air, liquid or chemicals'. This is a usage that you may come across in a wide variety of areas of life as it is used to describe any escape or release of air, liquid or chemical from a container. This is regardless of whether it is intentional or unintentional e.g. a leak. I think that this is perhaps most commonly used with water as we use so much of it, however other common nouns that it is used with are steam, oil and air. 'Let off' can also be used to talk about flatulence, e.g. to let off gas or a fart. Examples of usage.... When ricotta cheese gets warm, it is normal for it to let off some water. The air pressure in my car tyres was too high, so I had to let off a bit of air from them. Plants often let off chemicals to attract bumble bees to them. Once the water is boiling, remove the lid to let some of the steam off. IDIOM ALERT Before I finish this post, I just want to make you aware of a super common idiom that exists with the phrasal verb 'let off'. 'To let off steam' means to get rid of negative energy or feelings by doing some physical activity or making a lot of noise. This ultimately comes from the idea of pressure building up inside you (like steam does in a sealed pan when boiled) and when you do something to relieve the pressure, you let off the 'imaginary' steam and you feel calm again. Examples of usage.... Q: Is John okay? A: He'll be fine, he was a bit angry, so he has gone for a run to let off steam. If you're feeling stressed, one of the best ways to let off some steam is to have a hard workout at the gym. This brings us to the end of the post, so thanks for reading. Now it is YOUR turn. Leave a comment on the blog post with your own sentence using 'let off'....don't be shy!!! If you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media, so together we can help as many English learners as possible to understand and master these tricky phrasal verbs. Also, please leave any comments, questions, suggestions or examples of 'let off' below. I really love reading them. If you want to receive new blog posts directly email every week, please sign up on the form below.

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'put down', with lots of examples in context. Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about English phrasal verbs! Read on to learn more about the phrasal verb 'put down'... To 'put down' is a common phrasal verb in English with A LOT of different meanings. We can happily put down a baby but putting down an animal will make us very sad. Moreover, you can easily put down words, music or a telephone but sometimes putting down a book is difficult and if somebody puts you down, you may put it down to jealousy! If all of this seems strange to you, read the article and all of it will become clear! So, without further ado let's get started...don't forget to leave a comment at the end 😊 PUT DOWN: KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here. THE BASICS To begin, let's consider the words 'put' and 'off' and what they mean on their own, as this can be very helpful to understand some of the phrasal verb meanings that we will look at in this post. As a learner of English, I am sure that you are very familiar with the verb 'to put' as it is one of the 30 most common verbs in the language and is used frequently by native speakers. The verb 'to put', like most common English verbs, has a wide variety of different meanings and uses, however perhaps the main meaning is 'to place or move something into a specified position'. Another meaning of 'to put' that is highly relevant for the phrasal verb 'put down' is 'to write something'....more on this to come later 😀 The prepositional particle 'down' is all about the idea of moving lower or being in a lower position ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ and it's inclusion in phrasal verb constructions often adds this idea to the verb. Moreover, 'down' can also add the ideas of reduction, defeat and failure to phrasal verbs. A meaning of 'down' as an adverb that is relevant for 'put down' is 'in writing' or 'on paper'. So, now that we have looked at these two innocent little words, let's take a look at all of the different meanings they create when we combine them together....there are a lot of them! MEANING 1: To stop holding or carrying something Let's start things off with a nice easy meaning, which is 'to stop holding something in your hands or carrying something'. Most of the time, when we hold something in our hands and we stop holding it, we tend to place it either on a surface in a lower position or on the ground, so the direction of the 'putting' action is downwards and so 'put down' has developed to encompass this idea. We can use 'put down' to talk about any object that we physically stop holding or carrying, however one collocation that is particularly common is with the noun 'telephone'. 'To put the (tele)phone down' is a synonym of the phrasal verb 'hang up' (link here) and actually just means to end a phone call. This meaning originally derived from the old style of landline phones with which people stopped holding the receiver and placed it down on the phone in order to end a phone call, however this usage has survived until today and is still heard today with smartphones. Another great usage to know with this meaning of 'put down' is with books. If someone is reading a book that they find highly enjoyable and don't want to stop reading, they may well say that they 'can't put it down'. Examples of usage.... Put down the gun, John. I've put my car keys down somewhere in the house and I can't find them anywhere! Helen put her handbag down on the counter and paid for her coffee. Roger said goodbye to Lisa and put the phone down. This book is so good, I've been reading it all morning and I just can't put it down . MEANING 2: To record something in written or musical form As I mentioned earlier, one of the main meanings of the verb 'to put' is 'to write something' and this is very relevant for this second meaning of 'put down' as this is 'to record something in writing'. 'Put down' can be used as a synonym of the verb 'to write' and a direct object such as 'words' or 'sentences' is always required as this usage is transitive. Aside from writing, this meaning also extends to music and if you 'put down' some music, it means that you record music, normally in a studio. It is possible to 'put down' an entire song or just an element of a song, such as the vocals or the drums. Lastly, you may have come across the expression 'to put down in words', which is a fairly common way to mean 'expressing your thoughts or feelings in written form'. Examples of usage.... I put down a few paragraphs this morning and now I don't know what to write. It's very difficult to put down in words everything that I am feeling at the moment. The singer went into the studio last week and put some vocals down on a new song that he is working on. We've put down a few tracks on the album but we are still writing the others. MEANING 3: To add something to a list We have just talked about 'put down' meaning to record information in written form and this next meaning is an extension of that as it means 'to add something to a list'. In other words, if you 'put something down' on a list, you simply add it as an item. Of course, there are many types of lists that exist such as shopping lists, to to-do lists, lists of invitees to social events and waiting lists and 'put down' can be used for each and every one of these. It can be used in a slightly more idiomatic way too, as if you 'put your name down' on a list, it doesn't just mean that your name is included but can often also mean that you agree to take part in something or agree to do a particular job. Examples of usage.... I've made a list of what I want for Christmas and I've put down everything that I can think of. The doctor has put my name down on the waiting list for an operation, so hopefully it will happen soon. I hope you don't mind but I've put your name down as a reference for my next job. I've put my name down to do the raffle competition at this year's village fete. MEANING 4: To criticise someone When used in phrasal verb constructions, the particle 'down' can often have quite negative connotations and this next meaning is a clear example of that. The reason for this is that to 'put someone down' means 'to criticise' or 'to insult' someone, or in other words, to say something horrible about them. Grammatically, this usage of 'put down' is normally used separably, with the person who receives the insult or criticism going between the words 'put' and 'down', either their name or the direct object pronoun (me, him, her etc). You should also note that the noun 'put-down' also exists and this just means an insult or a criticism. Examples of usage.... My husband always puts me down in front of our friends. Tim tried to put Lucy down but she quickly shut him up. Lisa was sick and tired of constantly being put down by her manager, so she quit her job. John wasn't sure what he had done to deserve such a vicious put-down from Roger. MEANING 5: To attribute something to something From now on, we will be looking at some more advanced usages of 'put down' and for this next meaning one', we require the additional preposition 'to'. Imagine that you have recently started having severe headaches and at about the same time, you also started to get very stressed in your job. As both things started happening at the same time, you would probably put the headaches down to the stress. In other words, you think that the headaches are caused by the stress, but of course you don't know this for sure. So, to confirm, this fifth meaning of 'put down' is 'to attribute something to a probable cause' and you should note that the construction of this is as follows: to put + result + down to + probable cause Most of the time, this application is used to talk about negative things and situations and what we think is the cause of them but of course this can be used for positive situations too, albeit less commonly. Notably, I often hear people using this in a past tense form to talk about when they believed one thing was the cause of a problem in the past but now they know what the real cause was and that their original assumption was wrong. Examples of usage.... My teenage son has been acting strangely recently and I just put it down to his hormones but I've since found out that he has been taking drugs. I put my constant tiredness down to being so busy all the time but it turns out that I had a vitamin deficiency. He's still making lots of mistakes in his job role but he is still quite new, so let's put it down to inexperience. MEANING 6: To kill an animal humanely As an animal lover with pets of my own, this meaning of 'put down' makes me sad as it means 'to kill an animal in a humane way'. Firstly, let's be clear that 'put down' does not mean to kill an animal in general, but rather to kill an animal that is old, very sick or dangerous. The act of 'putting down' is usually carried out by a vet or professional and is done humanely, i.e. in a way that causes the animal the least amount of suffering possible, thankfully. A more pleasant euphemistic synonym for this application of 'put down' is 'to put to sleep'. Grammatically, this application is often used in a passive way, usually in the causative form with 'have' or 'get'. Examples of usage.... Our dog was very sick, so we had to have her put down, so that she wouldn't suffer anymore. The governor ordered the vet to put the dangerous animal down, to ensure that it couldn't hurt anyone else again. We had to get our rabbit put down yesterday and I am devastated. MEANING 7: To put a baby to bed As you will undoubtedly know, the meanings of individual English phrasal verbs can be extremely diverse and this is quite evident when considering this next meaning which is all about babies. The difference between putting down an animal and putting down a baby is enormous and you don't want to mix these up as 'to put down a baby' simply means 'to put a baby to bed'. Alternatively, this can also be used for any situation where you lay a baby down so that it goes to sleep. I think that this usage is quite self-explanatory as it often stopping holding the baby and placing it down on a bed or in a cot. On a grammatical note, this application is transitive and takes a direct object, which is always the baby. It is therefore also separable and usually a word such as 'baby' will go between 'put' and 'down' or alternatively the name of the child. Examples of usage.... Shhhh! Be quiet, I've just put the baby down. Most days, Lisa puts the baby down for a nap at about 2pm, at which time she does the housework. Putting a baby down for a sleep is not always easy when your house is as noisy as mine. MEANING 8: To pay a deposit If you are ever in a situation where you want to buy something expensive like a house or a nice car, it is likely (unless you're very rich) that you will not have enough money to pay for it all and you may therefore need to make a deposit payment, with the intention of paying the rest of the money over a period of time in the future. This action of paying a deposit, or a down payment, to secure a sale is also known as 'putting down' a deposit. To clarify, this eighth meaning of 'put down' is to make a deposit payment. It is normally used with large purchases that people cannot afford to make at one time. Grammatically, this is separable, with the money or deposit being the direct object of the verb. The additional preposition 'on' is often used to specify the item being purchased. Examples of usage.... John put a deposit down on his new house and took out a mortgage to pay for the rest of it. I've put down £500 on a new car and it is being delivered next week! If I put down some money as a deposit, my company will reimburse me. MEANING 9: To reduce prices This ninth meaning is primarily British usage and means 'to reduce', specifically when talking about prices. When a business, company or shop puts down its prices, it lowers them, therefore making them more desirable to its customers. Sadly, this is not something that we are seeing much of at the moment as usually companies are forced to put their prices up instead. Examples of usage.... We have decided to put down our prices on some of our high end products. The government is forcing energy companies to put down their prices as many people are not able to afford them at present. I refuse to put my prices down any further! MEANING 10: To suppress a rebellion The penultimate meaning of 'put down' that we will consider is a rarer one that means 'to suppress a rebellion'. Despite being a more infrequent usage, this is still one that you may come across in English and it is therefore useful to know. To explain this application further, it is used whenever a group of people rebel against authority in some way and the rebellion is limited, suppressed or stopped. This can often be heard in conjunction with nouns such as riot and coup and it normally involves an element of force from the authorities, police or armed forces to make it stop. Examples of usage.... The riots were quickly put down by the well-trained army. Security forces put down the coup within hours. MEANING 11: To land an airplane Well done if you have made it this far! We are now onto our final meaning of the phrasal verb 'put down', which is 'to land an airplane'. On a grammatical note, this usage of 'put down' can be used both transitively and intransitively (with and without a direct object). Used intransitively, the airplane is the subject and 'put down' is used as a synonym of the more commonly used verb 'to land'. Often, here we use the additional preposition 'in' to specify the name of the city or country where the plane 'puts down'. For transitive uses, the pilot is the subject and the plane then becomes the direct object of the verb. Examples of usage.... The plane put down in San Francisco twenty minutes earlier than scheduled. The pilot put the aircraft down on the wrong runway, nearly causing a serious accident. This brings us to the end of the post, so thanks for reading...it was a long one! Now it is YOUR turn. Leave a comment on the blog post with your own sentence using 'put down'....don't be shy!!! If you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media, so together we can help as many English learners as possible to understand and master these tricky phrasal verbs. Also, please leave any comments, questions, suggestions or examples of 'put down' below. I really love reading them. If you want to receive new blog posts directly email every week, please sign up on the form below.

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'call on', with lots of examples in context. Hello and welcome to my website all about English phrasal verbs! Read on to learn more about the phrasal verbs 'call on' and also its variant form 'call upon'.... This post is all about the English phrasal verb 'call on', however as I am feeling generous this week, I have also included the variant form 'call upon' for you, so you get two for the price of one! In this post, I will explain all of the different meanings of 'call on' and 'call upon' and how native English speakers use them in everyday language. In the post, I use 'call (up)on' to refer to both verbs as in most cases they mean the same thing. So, without further ado, let's get started.... CALL (UP)ON: KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here. THE BASICS Let's begin this post by considering the different meanings of the individual words 'call', 'up' and 'upon', which all make up our phrasal verb of choice. Firstly, we have 'to call', which is a frequently used verb in English, with several distinct but related usages, such as giving someone or something a name, telephoning someone or shouting loudly to get someone's attention. Another less common usage of 'to call', which is highly relevant for the phrasal verb 'call (up)on' is 'to make a request or a demand'. Secondly, we have the prepositional particle 'on', which you will certainly be very familiar with already. 'On' can be used in a huge variety of different ways in English and functions as an adverb, a preposition and even as an adjective. When used in phrasal verb constructions, 'on' can often add the ideas of progression and continuation. Last but not least, we have the prepositional particle 'upon'. This is formed by the combination of the particles 'up' and 'on' but actually serves as a more formal synonym for 'on'. 'Upon' is an older English term that is being gradually replaced by 'on', but can still be heard today, especially in formal language and also in place names in the UK, for example Shakespeare's birthplace is the town of Stratford-upon-Avon (Avon is the name of a river). So, now that we have covered the basics, let's take a look at the meanings of call (up)on.... MEANING 1: To formally ask someone to do something The first way that the phrasal verb 'call on' and its variant 'call upon' are used in English is 'to formally request someone to do something'. This is often when the request is made publicly, either physically in front of people or broadcasted via tv, radio or the internet. Have you ever been to a wedding in an English-speaking country? If not, I'm sure as an English learner you will have certainly seen weddings on English language TV or movies. If you have, you may have heard the bride or groom say the following words during the ceremony as part of their vows.... "I call upon these persons here present to witness...." Now, the wording above probably seems strange to you and that is because it is archaic, old-fashioned English that is no longer used anymore outside of formal situations and ceremonies. What the person is actually doing is just requesting that all of the guests witness the vows that he or she is making. As weddings are traditional ceremonies, much of the language used in them has been preserved from older English and so 'call upon' tends to be used here rather than 'call on', although 'call on' is being used more and more, especially in more modern ceremonies. In addition to weddings, 'call (up)on' is often used by people who have an audience or following to ask for some type of change from a government or an organisation. As the nature of these requests can often be urgent or desperate, it is common for them to become demands or orders, depending on the level of influence that the person has. In these situations, 'call on' is perhaps used more than the more formal 'call upon', although you can still hear both. Examples of usage... I call upon all persons here present to witness that I, John Smith, take thee, Lisa Jones, to be my lawful wedded wife. The Head of the National Education Committee has called on the government to act urgently in order to resolve the matter. The councillors called on the city mayor to resign and step down, however he refused to do so. The government is calling on all doctors to reconsider their planned strike next week. MEANING 2: To invite someone to speak The next meaning of 'call (up)on' derives directly from the first usage that we have just looked at and this is 'to invite or to ask someone to speak'. This application of 'call (up)on' is again a formal usage that you tend to hear more in official and ceremonial environments, especially in a courtroom or at a ceremony, event or business meeting when someone is asked to make a speech. As this is a formal usage, you are far more likely to hear the traditional English variation 'call upon', although 'call on' is used more and more in modern English, which is a trend that I do not think will end anytime soon. For this particular usage, it is quite common for it to be used in the passive sense, i.e. to be called (up)on. Examples of usage.... I now call upon the CEO to address the board and outline the agenda for this AGM. I'd like to call upon the headteacher of the school to say a few words. The court now calls upon the witness, Mr. Steven White, to provide us with a detailed description of what he saw on the evening of the crime. During the inquest, the Prime Minister was called on to speak several times. MEANING 3: To make use of a quality that you possess Imagine that you have a superpower, such as flying or being invisible, but this superpower is not one that you use all the time, it is rather just used when you 'activate' it in times of need. To describe this activation of your superpower, you could say that you 'call (up)on it', which is kind of like saying that you request for it to work. Sadly, in reality nobody has such a superpower (that I know of), however we do all have individual talents and abilities that we can use from time to time and for this we would say that we 'call (up)on' them we need them, which is the third meaning of this phrasal verb. The talents and abilities that a person can call (up)on are generally something that a person is able to do but does not do often or has not done for a long time. As such, the range of these skills is almost limitless and can range from songwriting skills, to keeping calm in high pressure situations or speaking a foreign language. In addition to talents and abilities, 'call (up)on' can also be used in this way with strength and energy, especially in times of need. Examples of usage.... Whilst filming the movie, the actress called on her ability to improvise in the moment. Despite swearing to never do it again, the psychic decided to call on her ability to see into the future one more time. In order to pass this exam, I had to call on every last bit of my memory. Jane will need to call on every ounce of strength that she has to get through this next challenge. MEANING 4: To visit someone Our final usage of 'call (up)on' is a bit of a departure from the usages that we have considered so far as this one means 'to visit someone'. In general, this tends to be used when the visit is unplanned, short or both. This is a primarily British English usage that is commonly used in everyday spoken language and is more informal than the verb 'to visit'. Due to the 'visiting' aspect of this application, it is used most often to describe visiting someone at their home, however it can also be used for visits to see people in hospital or any other place where they are staying for a period of time. Due to the more informal nature of this meaning, 'call on' is almost always used here as 'call upon' in this situation would sound overly formal. It is also possible to use the variation 'to call in on someone' here (just to make it a bit more complicated), which means the same thing but can also imply that the visit was very short e.g. you go to someone's house to check that they are ok and leave after 5 or 10 minutes. One last thing to note here is that to 'call on' someone can often be used when talking about door to door salespeople, who visit potential customers at their houses in order to sell them something. In this sense, it is quite negative in nature. Examples of usage.... We called on my Dad on our way back from our holiday. John called on his best friend last night but nobody was at home. I am going to call in on Lisa in the hospital later to make sure that she is ok. This brings us to the end of the post, so thanks for reading. Now it is YOUR turn. Leave a comment on the blog post with your own sentence using 'call on'....don't be shy!!! If you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media, so together we can help as many English learners as possible to understand and master these tricky phrasal verbs. Also, please leave any comments, questions, suggestions or examples of 'call (up)on' below. I really love reading them. If you want to receive new blog posts directly email every week, please sign up on the form below.

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'pull up', with lots of examples in context. Hello and welcome to my website all about English phrasal verbs! Read on to learn more about the phrasal verb 'pull up'... In this article, we are looking at the phrasal verb 'pull up', which has a surprising number of uses and meanings in the English language. You may need to pull up if you are driving your car, doing some gardening, sitting down with a group of people or showing information on your computer screen. If you go to the gym, you may regularly do pull-ups or someone may even tell you to pull your socks up! If all of these seem strange to you, don't worry as in this post we will look at all of the different meanings of this tricky phrasal verb. So, without further ado, let's get started.... PULL UP: KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here. THE BASICS The phrasal verb 'pull up' is comprised of the verb 'to pull' in combination with the prepositional particle 'up' and before we look at the different meanings of this phrasal verb, let's just take a quick look at the meanings of the two individual words. The verb 'to pull' is a widely used English verb, whose main meaning is to apply a force to something in order to bring it closer to you, most commonly with your hands or arms. Less commonly, it can also be used to mean 'to make something move with you or behind you', such as a horse pulling a cart. The idea of force or exertion is often an underlying theme with this verb. 'To pull' is a frequent base verb in phrasal verb constructions, normally in situations describing movement or stopping a movement. The prepositional particle 'up' is perhaps the most commonly used particle in phrasal verb constructions and can add many different elements of meaning, depending on the context, typically ranging from the ideas of movement in an upwards direction and increases to improvement and readiness. So, now that we have covered the basics, let's take a look at the meanings of 'pull up'.... MEANING 1: Literal Having just considered the words that make up the phrasal verb 'pull up', the literal meaning of these words should be very easy for you to work out, i.e. to pull something or someone in an upwards direction. This is quite similar to the verb 'to lift' or 'to lift up', however 'to pull up' is used more specifically when you are in a higher position than the thing that you want to lift and the lifting motion is towards you. Examples of usage.... The sailor decided it was time to leave, so he pulled up the boat's anchor. After the cow fell down the slope, the farmer had to pull it up the hill using a rope. What about pull-up as a noun? If you are someone who goes to the gym regularly or who enjoys working out, you may have heard the term 'pull-up' being used in reference to an exercise. Although we do not use the phrasal verb 'to pull up' so much in this context, it has produced the name of a type of exercise called a 'pull-up', which involves using your arms to lift yourself upwards, normally towards a metal bar (like in the gif above). How many pull-ups can you do in one go? I hate doing pull-ups because they hurt my shoulders so much! MEANING 2: To uproot Before we start considering the more idiomatic meanings of the phrasal verb 'pull up', I want to consider this next application as it is very much linked to the literal meaning of 'pull up'. This usage is definitely one for the gardeners among you as it is 'to pull a plant and its roots up from the ground, so that no part of it remains in the earth'. A common expression that you may hear for this action is 'to pull a plant up by the roots'. This is similar to the synonym verb 'to uproot', however 'uproot' is often used when animals and wind cause a plant to be removed from the ground and I think 'pull up' retains the exclusive sense of being pulled in an upwards direction out of the ground by a person's hands. Examples of usage.... We've pulled up all of the weeds in the garden and now it looks so much better! He pulled up the rose plant by the roots as he wanted to move it to a different part of his garden. MEANING 3: To slow down and stop Now we have reached the part of the article where we can say goodbye to the literal and logical meanings of 'pull up', because from now on most of them are a bit more idiomatic. This includes our next meaning, which is 'to slow down and stop'. This meaning is perhaps the most commonly used and is the one that I, as a native speaker, think of first when I hear 'pull up'. With this application, we are talking solely about bringing a vehicle that is in motion to a stop, particularly with cars, buses, trains and airplanes. We do not use it to talk about people slowing down and stopping moving...however we do use it for humans in a slightly different sense, which we will look at later on in the article. Normally, this application of 'pull up' is followed by a preposition that denotes where the vehicle stops, such as on (the side of the road), at (the traffic lights), in front of, behind etc. However, sometimes you may also hear 'pull up to' something and this means to stop next to something or very close to it, as referenced in the song below.... On a grammatical note, in the table above, I have stated that this application of 'pull up' can be used separably, which is true, although I think that the majority of the time we tend to use it without a direct object (e.g. car, bus) as this is usually determined from the context. Examples of usage.... John pulled up on the side of the road when he noticed smoke coming from his car's engine. The police car pulled up to the group of teenagers. Helen arrived at the train station just as her train was pulling up. The fishermen pulled their boat up to a little island where they knew there would be a lot of fish in the water. MEANING 4: To move a chair closer If you're ever in a situation in an English-speaking environment where you ask to join a group of people who are sitting down, they may respond to you by saying 'pull up a chair', which is essentially a way of saying 'yes' to your request. The reason for this is that another usage of 'pull up' is 'to bring something closer to you or to a specific place in order to sit down on it'. As you can imagine, this application of 'pull up' is principally used with nouns for items that you typically sit on, such as chairs, stools and seats but it could feasibly be used for any object that you can move and subsequently sit on. In many cases, it often serves as a figurative form of invitation to join someone or a group and participate in what they are doing. This could be anything from a business meeting to eating a meal or watching a movie with a group of people. Another common idiomatic expression in British English that you may come across is 'pull up a pew', which again means the same thing, i.e. 'sit down and join us'. For those of you who do not know, a pew is a long seat, similar to a bench, that is specifically found in churches and places of worship. Due to their size, they are not so easy to move and are rarely found anywhere outside of a place of worship, hence the figurative sense! Examples of usage.... Hi Lisa, do you want to sit with us for lunch? Pull up a chair and join us! I want to show you something at my desk. Pull up a chair next to me and I can show it to you. Q: Is this seat free? A: Absolutely, pull up a pew! MEANING 5: To reprimand someone When someone makes a mistake in their work or does something wrong, it is likely that they will be reprimanded for their mistake, or in other words, they will be 'pulled up on it'. The reason for this is that the next meaning of 'pull up' is 'to rebuke someone when they have made a mistake', or in other words to criticise or shout at them. This is not only limited to mistakes and can also be used for people's behaviour too, especially when they break rules. For this application of 'pull up', we require an additional preposition and for this you have the choice of THREE different words to choose from: on, about and over. Don't worry, whichever of these you choose will not affect the meaning. So, the structure of this particular usage of 'pull up' is.... To pull someone up on / about / over something Note also here that this is separable and the direct object (the person who has done something wrong) always goes between 'pull' and 'up'. This usage of 'pull up' is one that you commonly hear in the workplace, schools and in dealings with the police and other authority figures. Often, this is used for small errors and less significant mistakes that do not incur severe punishments and for which a verbal warning is sufficient. At other times, an experienced or naive person may be pulled up on something to ensure that they do not do it again. Examples of usage.... Lucy's teacher pulled her up about talking too much in class. I don't think John realises that what he is doing is not permitted. I will make sure that I pull him up on that, so that he is aware. The police stopped me in my car and pulled me up as my rear brake light was not working. Thankfully, I avoided a fine! Megan's parents have pulled her up on using swearwords so many times, but she doesn't seem to listen. MEANING 6: To stop what you are doing suddenly Earlier in the article, I explained how 'pull up' can be used to mean to bring a moving vehicle to a stop and that this usage could not be applied to humans but another usage could...well this is that usage! If a person pulls up, it does not mean that they stop moving, but rather that the action that they are performing, whatever that may be, is interrupted or stopped somehow. Like the first meaning that we looked it, there can an element of motion if the person is moving or walking but it can be for any action that is in progress at the time of the interruption. It's also very important to note that the interruption or disturbance to the action is almost always surprising or a shock, which is normally implied in this application of 'pull up'. There is also a fairly common expression that derives from this usage: 'to pull someone up short', which means 'to make someone stop what they are doing suddenly or abruptly'. For those of you who love grammar, it may interest you to know that this usage of 'pull up' is ergative. This means that it can be used both transitively and intransitively (with or without a direct object), with the subject of the intransitive verb becoming the direct object in an equivalent transitive sentence.... Transitive: The beautiful scenery pulled Linda up short. Intransitive: Linda pulled up short at the sight of the beautiful scenery. Examples of usage.... The sight of my mother standing at my front door pulled me up short. The runner suddenly pulled up and fell over onto the floor, screaming in pain. MEANING 7: To show information on a screen Well done if you have made it this far...we are nearly done I promise! For this next meaning of 'pull up', we are thinking about computers, smartphones and other devices with screens as this meaning is 'to make something appear on a screen'. If you pull something up on a screen, you open a file or programme in your computer so that it appears on the monitor. If you have read my article about the phrasal verb 'bring up' (link here), this may sound familiar to you as this is actually a synonym of this particular application and both of these have exactly the same meaning. I would say however 'bring up' is perhaps more commonly used but it is nevertheless very useful to have this in your vocabulary too. Examples of usage.... Can you pull up the sales forecast spreadsheet for me so I can look at it quickly, please. I pulled up the results of the game on my screen. MEANING 8: To make an airplane move upwards The eighth and final meaning of 'pull up' that we will look at is quite a specialist niche usage for airplanes and means 'to make an airplane move in an upwards direction'. This usage is actually a shortened form of 'pulling up the nose' for when the pilot makes the nose of the plane point upwards. This is similar to the phrasal verb 'take off', but while 'take off' specifically describes when an airplane leaves the ground, 'pull up' is used to describe any time that the pilot makes the airplane go higher, whether that be during takeoff or in mid-flight. This is often used for when an airplane has to change its course or cannot land safely due to bad weather and the pilot must then pull up in order to circle around to try and land again. Example of usage.... The was not able to land the aircraft due to the strong winds and so he pulled up in order to make a second attempt. IDIOM ALERT!! Before I finish this article, I want to make you aware of a nice idiom that exists featuring the phrasal verb 'pull up', which is 'to pull your socks up'. If someone tells you to pull your socks up, it means that you are not doing well at school or, sometimes, in a job and therefore you need to make more of an effort in order to get better grades or not lose your job! John doesn't work hard in class and next year he really needs to pull his socks up if he wants to pass all of his exams. This brings us to the end of the post. Thank you so much for taking the time to read it and I sincerely hope that it has helped you a little bit further on your English learning journey. If you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media, so together we can help as many English learners as possible to understand and master these tricky phrasal verbs. Also, please leave any comments, questions, suggestions or examples of 'pull up' below. I really love reading them. If you want to receive new blog posts directly email every week, please sign up on the form below.