An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'set out' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my blog all about English phrasal verbs. Each week, I take a different phrasal verb and look at how it is used by native speakers, with a focus on the different meanings that it has and the expressions and idioms that it is used in. The theme of this post is 'set out', which is a phrasal verb that includes the word in English with the most different definitions, 'to set' (check it on Google if you don't believe me), along with the preposition 'out'. Unlike the verb 'to set', its phrasal verb offshoot 'set out' does not have a huge number of meanings, but the meanings that it does have are quite varied. So, without further ado, let's take a look at them.... QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'set out' mean? The phrasal verb 'set out' has five main meanings in English: To start a journey To start trying to do something To arrange To present ideas coherently To plant TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one) Set Out - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'set' and 'out' Set Out - Meaning 1: To start a journey Set Out - Meaning 2: To start trying to do something Set Out - Bonus: The noun 'outset' Set Out - Meaning 3: To arrange Set Out - Meaning 4: To present ideas coherently Set Out - Meaning 5: To plant I love writing this blog and helping learners but I get very little feedback so I don't always know if it is helpful for you. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like and share it or leave a comment at the end. I would be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS SET OUT: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Set out / Set out Separable? Sometimes The phrasal verb 'set out' is formed of the verb 'to set', which, as I previously mentioned, is the word with the most definitions in the English language - according to the Oxford Dictionary the word 'set' can be interpreted in 464 different ways as a verb, a noun and an adjective! Don't worry too much though as I do not think that the average native English speaker would know half of those definitions! The definition of 'to set' that will be relevant for the phrasal verb meanings is 'to place, put or lay something in a specific position'. The prepositional particle 'out' is one that you will certainly already know and also has many meanings in English (though far less than 'set'). I think that the meanings of 'out' that will be relevant for 'set out' are 'to move away from an inside space' and also 'to be visible', although both of these may need some imagination when we come to look at the different meanings of 'set out'. Ok, so now we have covered that, let's check out the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'set out'.... MEANING 1: To start a journey Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To leave, to depart, to embark, to set off Separable? No The first meaning of 'set out' is to leave or depart somewhere in order to start a journey I believe that this meaning originated from the definition of 'set' meaning to place or to put your foot outside, which, when you think about it, is exactly what you do when you start a journey. For this meaning we often require either the additional prepositions 'on' or 'for' to add additional information. We use 'on' to link the type of journey or movement that we are starting such as journey, voyage or trip and we use 'for' to specify the destination at the end of our journey such as home, work, or the name of a town or city. Captain Cook set out on a voyage of discovery over 250 years ago. This morning we set out at 4.00am so that we could get to the top of the mountain in time to see the sunrise. Unfortunately you've missed Roger, he set out for work about half an hour ago! After a long, hard week working away, I am will be setting out for home in the morning. MEANING 2: To start trying to do something CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To start, to start out, to embark Separable? No Our second meaning of 'set out' is similar to the first meaning as it also means to start something, but rather than a journey, we use it to to describe when we start trying to do something, which is usually a long-term endeavour. In other words, this could be used to describe the start of a figurative journey, rather than a literal or a real one, e.g. to start training in a particular career. As mentioned above, 'set out' in this sense is commonly used to describe the action of starting something new, however it can also be used to talk about a person's aims or intentions when they start this new activity or career. For this, the additional preposition 'to' is required when specifying the thing that you are starting or the aim or objective that you had when setting out. When I set out in this business, I had no idea how difficult or stressful it was going to be. I wish someone had told me this when I first was setting out as a young architect. John didn't set out to be a teacher but he ended up becoming one nonetheless. He set out to change people's attitudes and he was very successful at doing so. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The noun 'outset' The noun 'outset', meaning the start or beginning of something, is linked to this phrasal verb meaning and is in common use among English speakers, especially when looking back at the past and talking about things in hindsight. This is normally used with either the prepositions 'from' or 'at'. The project was doomed to fail from the outset. I knew at the outset of the match that it was going to be a really good game. MEANING 3: To arrange Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To arrange, to organise, to lay out Separable? Yes The third meaning of 'set out' is to arrange something in an attractive or organised way. This can be used with both physical and non-physical objects, ranging from nouns as diverse as business documents to window displays in shops, in other words anything that can be organised for other people to view and understand. When talking about documents, we use 'set out' all the time when we design or produce the document such as CVs (resumes for American English learners), letters, certificates and personal statements. In the case of CVs (resumes) people are usually free to set them out as they wish but with letters etc. there are normally conventions which must be followed and therefore we need to set them out accordingly. Alternatively, if we set out physical objects such as window displays in shops, or tables for dinner, then we are referring to physically placing the objects in a way that is (hopefully) organised or attractive. It is also of course possible to set things out incorrectly in an unattractive manner, but generally that is not what people want to do I guess. One last thing to mention here is that the past participle 'set out' (an annoying irregular one) is commonly used as an adjective to describe how well something is structured or organised. The successful candidate for the job had set their CV out in a clear and concise way, which really impressed the hiring committee. The teacher set out the classroom in such a way that all the students had a clear view of the whiteboard. The checklist is really well set out. Everyone should be able to follow it easily. MEANING 4: To present ideas coherently Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate ​Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To structure, to organise, to establish, to define Separable? Yes Meaning number four of 'set out' is linked quite closely to the third meaning that we have just covered as it means to present ideas, arguments and facts coherently. This is really just an evolution of the third meaning, as instead of organising something so it is visually clear, we are instead organising it so that it is conceptually clear and understood by someone. Therefore, this meaning of 'set out' is often used when talking about academic or formal writing or discourse as it used to describe and evaluate how ideas, arguments and perspectives are structured and organised and ultimately how effective they are at conveying the intended message. Again, like in the previous meaning, the past particle 'set out' is often used here. Another way that 'set out' is commonly used in this way is when talking about rules, guidelines, procedures, protocols and regulations etc. 'Set out' is generally used here to describe when these are established and communicated to the people affected by them. The politician clearly set out her justification for why she feels that a referendum is necessary in the newspaper article that she wrote last week. The facts were set out in paragraphs 2 and 3 of the document. The management set out some new rules and guidelines on health and safety for all employees following new legislation that the government had passed. Without a well set out argument, you will never get the council to take notice of your plight. MEANING 5: To plant Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To plant, to sow Separable? Yes This fifth and final meaning of 'set out' will probably only be useful for the green-fingered* among you as it means to plant and seeds and plants in the ground. I would say that due to the niche area in which it is used, this usage is a rare one, especially since it is more common to use the verbs 'to plant' and 'to sow' instead. However, it is always good to be aware of it, if for nothing else to be able to impress your English-speaking friends and colleagues. Try and ensure that the seedlings are set out on a cloudy day in moist soil. These plants must be set out at least 50cm apart from each other. *Green-fingered is an adjective used to describe people who enjoy gardening and who are good at growing plants. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'set out'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'set out'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'put on' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my blog all about English phrasal verbs. Each week, I take a different phrasal verb and look at how it is used by native speakers, with a focus on the different meanings that it has and the expressions and idioms that it is used in. The phrasal verb 'put on' is an extremely common and diversely used phrasal verb in the English language. In this post we will look at its diverse range of meanings and particular uses, including placing clothes on your body, gaining weight and acting in an insincere way. So, without further ado, let's make a start.... QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'put on' mean? The phrasal verb 'put on' has six main meanings in English: To place something on a surface To place something on your body To make something operate To organise a show or event To be deceptive To trick someone TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one) The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'put' and 'on' Meaning 1: To place on a surface (literal) Meaning 2: To place something on your body Meaning 3: To make something operate Meaning 4: To organise an event or show Meaning 5: To be deceptive Bonus: The idiom 'to put on airs and graces' Meaning 6: To trick someone 🇺🇸 Bonus: Common expressions featuring 'put on' I love writing this blog and helping learners but I get very little feedback so I don't always know if it is helpful for you. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like and share it or leave a comment at the end. I would be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS PUT ON: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Put on / Put on Separable? Yes Our phrasal verb of choice this week is made up of the common and diverse verb 'to put', along with the prepositional particle 'up'. The main meaning of the verb 'to put' is to place something in, or move something to, a particular place, and it is used frequently by English native speakers with a wide and varied selection of nouns, both physical and abstract. I think for this reason, there are also multiple meanings and uses of 'put on', which we will look at shortly. The prepositional particle 'on' is one that you will all be familiar with already and means 'to be in contact with and (usually) above a surface', often with the surface supporting the object. Ok, so now we have the basics covered, the first meaning should be a walk in the park.... MEANING 1: To place on a surface (literal) Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A1 - Beginner Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To place, to set, to position Separable? Yes With the individual meanings of the component words in mind, it should be no surprise to you that the first meaning of 'put on' is the literal meaning of the combination of the two words i.e. to physically place an object onto a surface. As such, this is very commonplace language in everyday life and you will certainly hear it sooner or later if you spend time in an English speaking environment. As this one is a straightforward meaning, let's move on, but before we do, here are a handful of examples of typical usage.... Please can you pick up those books and put them on the bookshelf. Have you seen my keys? I put them on the table when I got home but they aren't there anymore. John put his coffee on his car roof and forgot all about it. MEANING 2: To place something on your body Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To get dressed, to try on Separable? Yes The next meaning of 'put on' is a small departure from the literal meaning that we have just looked at but it is nonetheless a similar concept as it means, specifically, to place something on your body, rather than on a generic surface, like a table or a shelf. The majority of the time, 'put on' is used in this sense when we want to wear something and therefore it is used with all types of clothes, including glasses, watches, jewellery and wigs. It is also used to talk about applying make-up to your face. It should be noted that 'put on' is used specifically for the action of placing the item on your body and should not be confused with the verb 'to wear', which is used to describe the state of having an item on you body for a period of time. Will you put on some decent clothes, we have got visitors! Ok your eye test has finished, you can put your glasses back on again now. I was about to put on my trainers and go running this morning when it started raining. Helen put her best dress on and headed out to the office party. MEANING 3: To make something operate Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To turn on, to switch on Separable? Yes The third meaning of 'put on' is to make something operate or function, normally by activating it with a button or switch. This usage derives from the adverbial meaning of 'on', to describe an electrical device that is in operation e.g. the television is on, and so this meaning of 'put on' is used to describe the action of making the device function. This is very similar to the other phrasal verbs 'turn on' and 'switch on'. Interestingly though, whilst you can also turn off and switch off a device, you cannot 'put off' a device.....I'm not sure why, but it does not sound correct at all. Sometimes we do not always refer to the physical device that we are 'putting on', but rather the end product. A prime example of this would be music, as it is normal to say that we 'put on music' rather than 'put on a CD player' (an outdated reference, I know). Another such example of this would be food and you can often hear native speakers talk about 'putting food on' to say they will start cooking it. This meaning is separable and the direct object can either go in the middle of the phrasal verb construction or at the end, without altering the meaning. It's so hot in here, can someone put the air conditioning on. Quick, put the television on, you're on the news! Sometimes I like to run a nice bath, put on some classical music and relax. I've put some pasta on, so it should be ready in about 15 minutes. What film shall I put on this evening? MEANING 4: To organise an event or show Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To organise, to stage Separable? Yes This next meaning of 'put on' is to organise a public event, which people can attend and / or watch. This is used to talk about organising shows, plays, concerts, charity events, displays, exhibitions and festivals, as well any other events that I may have forgotten. In this sense 'put on' can be used to describe the act of organising the event as well as to talk about the performer(s) and how well or badly they performed. The local amateur dramatics society is putting on a charity play this week, shall we go? The company is putting on an exhibition to mark their 100th anniversary. The rock band Queen always put on a good show. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Putting on transport In British English 'put on' can also be used to talk about public transport when additional train or bus services are made available to people due to exceptional circumstances. See the examples below.... Due to the ongoing train strikes, the local council is putting on additional bus services to help people get around the city. The company put on extra trains before and after the football game to help disperse the crowds quickly. MEANING 5: To be deceptive Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common British or American? Both Potential synonyms To deceive Separable? Yes The fifth meaning of 'put on' means to deceive people and is used to describe act in a way that is contrary to reality, to try and fool others (or sometimes themselves). This meaning of 'put on' is used when people change the way that they interact with, or appear, to others, such as purposely changing their accent to sound like they come from a different place (putting on an accent) or modifying their facial expressions to hide what they are really feeling. The expression 'to put on a front' can often be used here, specifically when someone appears positive or happy in a situation but in reality they are very sad, scared or nervous. In addition to appearance, we can also use 'put on' to talk about when someone is lying about something and subsequently behaving in a way to support the lie. An example of this would be if someone pretends to be sick and then acts like they are sick by coughing etc. to support the pretence. If other people don't believe that the illness is genuine, they may say that the person is putting it on. One other thing to note here is that we use the adjectival form 'put-on' to describe the fake or dishonest action. He's so good at putting on an American accent. He even fools actual Americans! I put on a brave face at work today but inside I felt like crying all day. John phoned in sick to work earlier today, however his boss believes that he is putting it on so that he can go to his child's sports day at school. Lisa does not come from Scotland, her Scottish accent is obviously put on. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The idiom 'to put on airs and graces' A nice idiom to make you aware of here is "to put on airs and graces", which means to behave in such a way as to impress people and make them think that you are more important or sophisticated than you really are. If you put on airs and graces, you generally want people to believe that you are from a higher social class and often come across as pretentious to other people. MEANING 6: To trick someone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Mainly American English Potential synonyms To trick, to fool, to prank, to have someone on Separable? Yes Our sixth and final meaning is 'to put someone on', which means to trick someone or play a joke on them, often by telling them something that is not true and making them believe it. This usage is primarily American and as such, is not something that I would normally use in my British English. Alternatively, in British English we would be likely to say 'to have someone on' to mean the same thing. Incidentally, 'put someone on' does exist in British English, however the meaning is totally different and would normally be used in the context of telephone calls when we want to request to speak to another person, often in the room. This can't be genuine! Are you putting me on? If you guys are trying to put me on, I think you should know that I can see through your tricks. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Common expressions featuring 'put on' Although we have now examined the different meanings of 'put on' in English, we are not done yet though as there are also a large number of expressions and specific situations in which 'put on' is used and here are some of the most commonly used ones.... To put money on something = To put money on something means to gamble or place a bet. For this, you can state the exact amount e.g. you could put $5 on a team to win a football game, or you can say that you would put money on something, if you are absolutely certain that something is true or will happen in the future. To put on weight = This is another way of saying that you gain weight or become heavier and is primarily British in usage. To be put on medication = If we are ever prescribed medication by a doctor or medical professional, we can say that we have been put on medication, in a passive sense. This applies for both humans and animals. To put a spell on someone = This is one that you may have come across if you are into the fantasy genre as it means to use magic on someone. To put on a (good) spread = If someone puts on a (good) spread, it means that they are hosting a dinner party or event and they provide a lot of food and drink. The word 'good' is an optional extra here but is often used by complimentary guests. To put on charge = Our final usage in this section means to plug something in to recharge, such as a cellphone or a battery of some kind. As you can imagine, this has become a very well-used expression since the rise of the cellphone and I must say it at least once a day. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'put on'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'put on'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'play up' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my blog all about English phrasal verbs. Each week, I take a different phrasal verb and look at how it is used by native speakers, with a focus on the different meanings that it has and the expressions and idioms that it is used in. This post is all about the phrasal verb 'play up' and its different meanings and uses in English. 'Play up' has a few different meanings, however some of these tend to be more commonly used in British English and so are very familiar to me but they may not be to English speakers in the USA or elsewhere. So, without further ado, let's take a look at these different meanings.... QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'play up' mean? The phrasal verb 'play up' has four main meanings: To exaggerate the importance of something To not work properly To misbehave To influence someone to make them like you TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one) Play Up - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'play' and 'up' Play Up - Meaning 1: To exaggerate the importance of something Play Up - Meaning 2: To not work properly 🇬🇧 Play Up - Bonus: My back is playing up! Play Up - Meaning 3: To misbehave 🇬🇧 Play Up - Meaning 4: To influence someone to make them like you Play Up - Bonus: The expression 'stop playing up for the camera!' I love writing this blog and helping learners but I get very little feedback so I don't always know if it is helpful for you. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like and share it or leave a comment at the end. I would be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS PLAY UP: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 4 Separable? Sometimes Past tense forms Played up / Played up As is customary at the start of each post, we'll start by looking at the component words which make up our phrasal verb under the spotlight. Firstly, we have the verb 'to play', which can mean to take part in a game or sport, as well as to portray a character in a performance in a theatre show or movie etc. This second meaning is the one that is more relevant for the phrasal verb meanings, as you will see shortly. Secondly, we have our prepositional particle up, signifying movement to a higher position away from the ground or towards the sky ⬆. So now we have covered the basics, let's move on to the phrasal verb meanings... MEANING 1: To exaggerate the importance of something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Separable? Yes Potential synonyms ​To exaggerate, to emphasise, to big something up The first meaning of 'play up' that we will look up in this post requires a small amount of dishonesty, as the meaning is to exaggerate or emphasise something, in order to make it seem better, more important or more interesting to other people than it really is. In other words, if something is not very important or trivial, but we want other people to think that it is important, we can tell some white lies* and play it up in order to make them think that it is important. The extra emphasis that we place on something when we play it up can be used for both positive and negative purposes; on one hand something could be played up in order to raise publicity for a good cause and on the other hand a small, insignificant detail about someone's past could be played up by another person in order to make them look bad (this often happens in politics). Another key aspect of this meaning is expectation as things are often played up by people in order to increase people's interest levels about something upcoming in the future. A new TV show, a musical performance, a new product being launched onto the market or a baby gender reveal are all things which can be played up by people in order to generate interest. Photo: Pexels Additional nouns that you may come across with 'play up' are rumours or speculation, both of which could be 'played up' for humorous effect by the people who the rumours are about, especially if they are not true. In terms of sentence structure, this use of 'play up' requires a direct object, which can either be the noun specifying the thing being played up, or the pronoun 'it'. The government has been accused of playing up the significance of the tax cuts. It was obvious that the footballer was playing up his leg injury. The media has played up reports of the quarrel between the two politicians. *White lies are lies that people tell which are generally harmless or trivial in nature, often told in order to hide the truth from someone as it will make them unhappy - this is the good kind of lies 😝 MEANING 2: To not work properly Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Common Where is it used? British English Separable? No Potential synonyms To act up, to malfunction The second meaning of 'play up' is primarily used in British English and means 'to not work or function properly'. This is often used by (slightly annoyed) British people when they have problems with items such as their car, their computer or smartphone. When we use 'play up' in this sense, we do not mean that the problematic item has stopped working completely and is now out of order, but rather that it is working erratically, developing problems from time to time or is not working to 100% efficiency. This usage is quite an informal one and in more formal settings a verb such as 'to malfunction' may be more appropriate. Despite its informality however, this usage is in frequent usage among British people, so you are likely to hear it from time to time if you have British friends or colleagues. I am going to be late into work today as my car is playing up. My laptop has been playing up for the last couple of weeks, I think I should get a new one. Photo: Wix Media OUCH! MY BACK IS PLAYING UP! In addition to complaining about dysfunctional equipment or devices, it is also very common to use 'play up' to describe body parts that are not working properly and causing you health problems as a result. This is typically used to describe chronic problems which come and go, such as back pain or pain from a long term injury and, rather understandably, is used most frequently by the older generation. My back is playing up again, I am in agony! Speak up! My ears are playing up and I can't hear you properly! Moreover, with this usage it is also very common for people to add an object pronoun (me, you, him, her or them) to say that the particular malfunctioning body part is causing them pain or discomfort. My eyes play me up from time to time but that's just a normal part of getting old I guess! My feet have been playing me up something dreadful since I ran the marathon! MEANING 3: To misbehave Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Common Where is it used? British English Separable? Yes Potential synonyms To misbehave, to act up For our third meaning, we have another usage that is primarily used in British English and that is 'to misbehave'. Logically, this is really the same as the previous meaning, however instead of a device or body part not working in the way it should, we are rather talking about a person not behaving in the way that they should, in other words they are misbehaving. As this meaning is primarily concerned with bad behaviour, it will come as no surprise to you that it is used often to talk about naughty children. However, we can certainly also use it to talk about pets (my cats play up all the time) and occasionally even adults. Again, this usage is largely informal and more formal alternatives such as 'to misbehave' should be used in formal environments. Furthermore, it is also possible to play someone up. We use this variation when someone is responsible for looking after a child e.g. a babysitter, and the child misbehaves whilst in that person's care. We could then say that the child plays the babysitter up. The kids were so well behaved today, they didn't play up once! Our cats have started playing up ever since the building work on our home started. Ok children, we are off now so please do not play the babysitter up. MEANING 4: To influence someone to make them like you CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Separable? No Potential synonyms To curry favour, to suck up Our fourth and final meaning of 'play up' is a return to the dishonesty that we looked at in the first meaning of this post because it means to act in a certain way in order to make someone like you and treat you well. This could be by flattering them, doing something to help them or buying them gifts - regardless of the action however, the ultimate aim is to gain some sort of advantage from them. For this usage the additional preposition 'to' is required since we 'play up to' the person that we are trying to impress. A typical example of when this is used would be in work environments when someone wants to play up to the boss in order to get a promotion or special treatment of some sort. This usage is not limited to the world of work though and can be found in any situation where someone wants to gain an advantage with another person. Lisa is blatantly playing up to the boss, she's desperate to get his secretary's job! Photo: Pexels Bonus: Stop playing up for the camera! Before finishing this post, I want to give you one more expression which features our phrasal verb 'play up'. The expression in question is 'to play up for the camera', which is used to describe when a person acts in a certain way when they are being filmed, in order to come across well. The idea is that they do not not normally act that way in reality and their behaviour is all just for the camera. Another variation of this is also 'to play up to the camera'. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'play up'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'play up'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'get by' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my blog all about English phrasal verbs. Each week, I take a different phrasal verb and look at how it is used by native speakers, with a focus on the different meanings that it has and the expressions and idioms that it is used in. This week's post is another phrasal verb featuring the ever-popular verb 'to get'; namely 'get by'. In this post, we will look at what native speakers mean when they use 'get by' in a literal sense, as well as its different figurative meanings, including to do the minimum possible required to succeed and to have just enough of something to manage. So, without further ado, let's get started.... QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'get by' mean? The phrasal verb 'get by' has four main meanings in English: To move past something To survive with the minimum possible To satisfy the minimum requirements To go unnoticed TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one) Get By - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'get' and 'by' Get By - Meaning 1: To move past something Get By - Meaning 2: To survive with the minimum possible Get By - Meaning 3: To satisfy the minimum requirements Get By - Meaning 4: To go unnoticed Get By - Bonus: Some golden oldies songs featuring 'get by' I love writing this blog and helping learners but I get very little feedback so I don't always know if it is helpful for you. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like and share it or leave a comment at the end. I would be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS GET BY: KEY INFORMATION Usage Medium Number of meanings 4 Past tense forms Got by / Got by / Gotten by Separable? No The phrasal verb 'get by' is made up of arguably the most popular verb amongst English native speakers, 'to get', and the prepositional particle 'by'. As we have seen in previous posts, the verb 'to get' has a wide range of different uses in English, however the meaning that is most relevant for the different usages of 'get by' is 'to move to and arrive at a different place or position'. The particle 'by' can be used both as a preposition and an adverb in English and the prepositional meaning which we are interested in for this post is 'movement past something'. Now, with the two individual elements of this phrasal verb explained, the first of the meanings should be an easy one to understand so let's go.... MEANING 1: To move past something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level ​B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To move past, to get past Separable? No Following on from the previous section, this first usage of 'get by' is the literal meaning that is produced when we combine the two forms of 'get' and 'by', outlined in the previous section, i.e. to move past something so that you are on the other side of it. This is generally only ever used for physical movement and not in a symbolic or metaphorical way. In general, we use 'get by' in situations where it is difficult to move past something as there is some sort of obstruction, or in other words, when something is blocking your path. In contrast, if there is no obstacle present or we can move past something easily and without restriction, then native speakers are more likely to use another relevant verb of movement such as go, walk or drive. The verb 'to get' in this case implies an element of difficulty to the action. As such, here are some typical situations in which we use 'get by' in this way.... When a road is blocked by a car or another kind of obstruction and you cannot easily drive past it. When a person is blocking a path that you are walking on and you need to walk past them. When a road has been closed by authorities and you need to turn onto it in order to reach your destination. If you park your car here, you will make it difficult for other cars to get by. Sorry, do you need to get by? The police have sealed off the road where I live and will not let me get by to go home. MEANING 2: To survive with the minimum possible Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To make do, to cope, to make ends meet Separable? No The second meaning of 'get by' is 'to survive or manage with the minimum possible amount of something'. When we use 'get by' in this sense, the key idea is that we have only a small amount of something and it is just enough to meet our requirements. In other words, the amount that we have allows us to manage in the given situation, however if we had more of it, either the situation would be better or our lives would be more comfortable. 'Get by' can often have negative connotations, especially when talking about money, as it is often used when talking about financial difficulties, or in extreme cases poverty and deprivation. If we want to express or quantify the small amount that we have, we require the extra preposition 'on' to do this. Alternatively, we can also use 'to get by with' when specifying something that we have, which enables us to do something, but is not ideal for the job (i.e. there are better alternatives in existence). Aside from money, other common nouns which can be used with 'get by' when they are in short supply are sleep, food and knowledge. It is also commonly used in the expression 'get by on my own', meaning to manage without the help of other people, although it will not be easy. I don't earn a lot of money but I get by! It is said that Margaret Thatcher got by on four hours sleep a night. It was a tough situation but I got by with a little help from my friends and family. MEANING 3: To satisfy the minimum requirements Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To scrape by Separable? No For our third meaning of 'get by', we do not have to make such a big leap from the second meaning that we have just looked at, as it means 'to satisfy the minimum requirements of something'. This is very much the same idea as the second meaning, but the focus here is that we achieve a certain requirement such as an examination pass, with the lowest possible mark. For example, if you needed a score of 50% in an exam in order to pass it and you got a score of 51%, you could say that you got by with 51%. Conversely, if you scored less than the requisite 50% mark, then you failed and 'get by' cannot be used here. As per the example above, this is commonly used with examinations and tests, however it can also be used for any other area where minimum requirements must be met in order to quality for something e.g. sports. I got by with low passes in my exams, so I can go to university but I won't be able to go the university or my choice. MEANING 4: To go unnoticed Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To get past, to sneak by, to sneak past Separable? No Our fourth and final usage of 'get by' is one that links back to the literal usage that we covered earlier on in the post. The idea of this is more of an extension of the first meaning because it means 'to move past something or someone without being seen or noticed'. This usage is a good synonym of the phrasal verb 'to sneak past', as it essentially means to move past a person or group of people unnoticed, in order to get to where you want to be. This is something that you often see in action movies where the protagonist has to sneak past some people to get to the place where he or she can save the day! 'Get by' is used intransitively in this sense when the speaker is talking about 'getting by' a person without them being seen or noticed, however it can also be used transitively with a direct object when we want to talk about moving an object or another person past someone without being seen. Lastly, we can also use this meaning of 'get by' when talking about something passing checks or verifications without being noticed or spotted, typically when the thing in question would not normally 'get by' if it were spotted. If you want to get into the club, you are going to have to get by the bouncers. The visitor to the prison tried to get the cigarettes by the prison guards. Although there was an error on my passport application, it still managed to get by the verification checks. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Some classic old songs featuring 'get by' Before I finish this post, here are a couple of golden oldies featuring our phrasal verb of choice 'get by' for reference...enjoy! Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'get by'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'get by'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'make up' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context. Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them. This article is all about the phrasal verb 'make up', which is definitely one that you will have come across before as it is super common. It may be that you are already familiar with one or more of its different meanings, however in this post we will look at all of them, including inventing stories, making a decision and applying cosmetics. So, without further do, let's get started. QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'make up' mean? The phrasal verb 'make up' has seven main meanings: To make peace after an argument To invent a story or information To constitute a whole To compensate for something To prepare something from ingredients or parts To apply cosmetics To decide TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to one) Make Up - The Basics: Key information and the words 'make' and 'up' Make Up - Meaning 1: To make peace after an argument Make Up - Meaning 2: To invent a story or information Make Up - Bonus: Some well known expressions featuring 'make up' Make Up - Meaning 3: To constitute a whole Make Up - Meaning 4: To compensate for something Make Up - Bonus: To make it up to someone Make Up - Meaning 5: To prepare something from ingredients or parts Make Up - Meaning 6: To apply cosmetics Make Up - Meaning 7: To decide Make Up - Bonus: I'm really made up for you I love writing this blog and helping learners but I get very little feedback as to how useful it is and if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I would be most grateful. Thank you! 😊 James Photo: Pexels THE BASICS MAKE UP: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 7 Past tense forms Made up / Made Up Separable? Sometimes The phrasal verb 'make up' is formed of the verb 'to make' and the prepositional particle 'up' and before we explore its different meanings, let's first take a look at these individual words to understand their meanings. The verb 'to make' is a very common verb and is often confused by English learners with the verb 'to do' as the two are quite similar and can often be translated into other languages as the same word. While both verbs have numerous applications in English, 'to make' primarily conveys the concept of creation and production, whereas 'to do' typically involves performing an action. This concept of 'to make' will be useful to keep in mind when we look at the different uses of 'make up' shortly. We are going to make a cake today. John made a lot of noise when he got home last night and woke his wife. Have the children made a mess in the living room? Next we have the prepositional particle 'up', which is typically used to denote a movement in the direction away from the ground or towards the sky ↑ or an increase of some sort. When used in phrasal verb constructions, 'up' can many different ideas or meanings, including completion, improvement, preparation and appearance among other things. When we combine these words, there is no literal meaning whatsoever, so let's now just move straight on to the different figurative meanings of 'make up'.... MEANING 1: To make peace after an argument Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To reconcile, to make peace, to patch things up Separable? No Let's start off the meanings of 'make up' with some positive vibes. For this first application, we are going to need the additional preposition 'with' and the reason for this is that the construction 'to make up with someone' means to reconcile or become friends with them again following an argument or disagreement. 'Make up' is not just limited to friendships though, and is equally used to talk about romantic couples who have disagreements and / or break up and then make peace again afterwards. You should note that the use of this meaning is, however, limited to personal relationships where people's emotions are at play and is not really used to describe business or professional relationships. All John and Helen seem to do is break up and then make up the next day. I wish you and your brother would make up! She's deeply offended and refuses to make up with me. One expression that we often use in a tongue-in-cheek* way to talk about when people reconcile following a dispute or argument is "to kiss and make up". This is used regardless of whether or not the people in question are friends or in a romantic relationship. Oh my goodness, would you two just kiss and make up and end this ridiculous argument! MEANING 2: To invent a story or information Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere ​Potential synonyms To create Separable? Yes For our second usage of 'make up', we are entering into the realm of fantasy and fairy tales as the meaning is 'to invent or create something that does not exist by using the powers of our imagination'. These imaginary creations can range from stories, characters and people to excuses, lies and false information. The key idea is that it is created in our imagination and is not real. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Story Excuse Character Information Unsurprisingly, this meaning is used very commonly with children who tend to enjoy making up stories, characters and scenarios as part of their play activities. However, as you will know, adults are also very good at creating fictional information, excuses and lies and this usage of 'make up' can therefore be used with both innocent and immoral intent. Aside from the verb form, the past particle 'made-up' is also frequently used as an adjective (note the hyphen) to describe something fictional that someone has invented and as such, you will often hear such terms as "made-up story" and "made-up word", among many others. When I was a child, I used to make up imaginary friends because I was lonely. I didn't go to the party - I was too tired so I made up an excuse and said thatI was ill. Although the novel features made-up characters, the story is based on real life events. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Some well known expressions featuring 'make up' There are a couple of well-known expressions of this usage of 'make up' that I really like and want to make you aware of... You couldn't make it up - We use this expression when talking about things that happen in reality that are so strange or bizarre that a person would not be able to create them using their imagination. To make it up as you go along - This second expression is used for situations in which we do not know what we are doing and we just do things by instinct, without preparation or planning. We decide how to do it in the present moment (and hope for the best). MEANING 3: To constitute a whole Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To constitute Separable? No For our third meaning of 'make up', we need to make a 180 degree turn away from the poetic world of fantasy to the much more prosaic and serious world of data, statistics and facts. This meaning of 'make up' is 'to form or to constitute a whole and is used to talk about the different elements or things which combine together to form something bigger or complete. This meaning of 'make up' is commonly used in statistical information, especially when talking about percentages and fractions. It is estimated that the 100 most common words in any language make up about 50% of the words regularly used in it. Greyscale colours currently make up three quarters of cars produced worldwide. Furthermore, 'make up' is also used when we have already given percentages or proportions and we want to talk about the part that completes the remainder of the group. We can use 'make up' here, often with the 'the rest' or 'the remaining X%'. The three of us have all paid a quarter of the bill each, so if you could also pay a quarter and make up the rest, it would be great. In the English exam the weighting of the speaking section is 40%, the listening section is 30% and the reading and writing sections together make up the remaining 30%. Lastly, it is very common to use the passive form 'made up' with the additional preposition 'of' to express the different things which something consists of. Air is made up of nitrogen, oxygen, argon and small amounts of many other gases. All matter is made up of very small particles known as atoms. MEANING 4: To compensate for something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To compensate Separable? No Our next usage of 'make up' is one that is very common in the workplace. If you work for a company in the anglophone world and you need to take some time off e.g. for a doctor's appointment, your boss may authorise the time off but might also say that you need to make the time up. The reason for this is because the next usage of 'make up' means to compensate for something that is lost, lacking or missing. The example above with working hours is a very commonly used one in the English speaking world. Another typical way that this usage of 'make up' can be heard in English is when we have a target or required amount of something e.g. money and we do not have enough of it to reach the target amount. We can use 'make up' here to talk about the amount that is required in order to reach our target amount, i.e. the difference between how much we have and how much we need to have. A common expression featuring this usage of 'make up' that you may hear is 'to make up for lost time', which we use to describe when we do something more quickly, intensely or regularly, in order to compensate for not having done it in the past. For obvious reasons this is often used by middle-aged and older people, perhaps during or after a midlife crisis! Yes, you can have the time off this week to go to the funeral but can you please make the time up next week. Now that my injury has healed I'm training more than ever as I'm making up for lost time! Photo: Pexels BONUS: To make it up to someone If you are ever in a situation where an English speaker disappoints you in some way, it is likely that they will say sorry (especially British people as we apologise for everything) and that they will make it up to you. In the case of disappointing someone, as mentioned above, the idea here links back to the first meaning of making peace following an argument, but the focus here is that we are saying we will do something to remove the negative feelings caused by the disappointment (essentially apologising), with the end objective being reconciliation and peace. Note that the extra particle 'to' is required here to designate the person who we have disappointed and want to make happy again. I'm so sorry that I forgot your birthday. Let me make it up to you by taking you out for a meal. I can't be there this weekend but I will make it up to you, I promise! MEANING 5: To prepare something from ingredients or parts Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To prepare Separable? Yes The fifth usage of 'make up' means to prepare, build or create something by combining different ingredients or parts. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Dish Meal Medication Bed As you can probably imagine from the word 'ingredients', food is frequently used with this meaning of 'make up' and it is very common to use this with any dish or item that can be made by mixing and combining different ingredients together. Another example of where this meaning of 'make up' is in common usage is with material and fabric where we create garments or curtains. Moreover, we can also say that we 'make up a bed for someone' when we create a new, often temporary, bed for them using blankets etc. This is different to making a bed, where we arrange the blanket and pillows on an existing bed. Let me give you some tips on how to make up an amazing and tasty casserole. You can sleep here tonight, I will make up a bed for you in the spare room. MEANING 6: To apply cosmetics Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To do up, to put on one's face, to do your makeup Separable? Yes For our sixth meaning of 'make up', we are diving into the world of cosmetics. I'm sure that most of you reading will be familiar with the noun makeup, meaning cosmetic products that are used to add colour to the face and change or improve one's appearance. It may therefore come as no surprise to you that the noun makeup is derived directly from our sixth phrasal verb meaning, which is to apply cosmetics to the face and body. For this usage, reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself etc.) are required when talking about a person who is applying their own makeup. This is of course not the case for people who get their makeup applied by somebody else e.g. actors and celebrities. Although this usage is still used in everyday English, I would say that the construction 'to do your makeup' is perhaps more common than this phrasal verb form, but it is good to be aware of it nevertheless. Lisa made herself up and put on her best evening gown. MEANING 7: To decide Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To decide, to make a decision, to choose Separable? Yes This final meaning of 'make up' that I want to bring to your attention means to make a decision and is used in the construction "to make up your mind". This is actually more of an idiomatic expression than an entirely different meaning, but it is so common that I wanted to include it as a separate meaning of its own. The structure of this expression is flexible and 'mind' can be placed both in the middle of and after the phrasal verb 'make up', without changing the meaning. John took ages to make up his mind about what food to order at the restaurant. I've made my mind up about where I want to go to university. Photo: Pexels BONIS: I'm really made up for you! One extra thing to make you aware of before the end of this post is the expression "to be made up about something". This is a common idiomatic expression in British English to mean to be delighted or extremely happy about something, normally good news. That's amazing news! I'm made up for you. Roger is made up about his new work contract! Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking and reading. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'make up'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'come over' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them. This week it is the turn of the phrasal verb 'come over', which is a fairly common phrasal verb that shares some of its meanings with the common phrasal verb 'come across' (link here). 'Come over' does also have some other meanings of its own that we will also cover in this post. and so, without further ado, let's take a look at them.... QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'come over' mean? The phrasal verb 'come over has five main meanings: Literal meaning To visit someone's house To be perceived To suddenly feel different To change sides TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one) Come Over - The Basics: Key information & the individual words 'come' and 'over' Come Over - Meaning 1: Literal Come Over - Meaning 2: To visit someone's house Come Over - Bonus: Come on over Come Over - Meaning 3: To be perceived Come Over - Meaning 4: To suddenly feel different Come Over - Bonus: The expression 'I don't know what came over me' Come Over - Meaning 5: To change sides I love writing this blog and helping learners but I get very little feedback as to how useful it is and if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I would be most grateful. Thank you! 😊 James Photo: Pexels THE BASICS COME OVER: KEY INFORMATION ​Usage Common Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Came over / Come over Separable? No Before we go any further, let's first consider the words which make up the phrasal verb 'come over'. This should hopefully give you some much needed logic to some of its idiomatic meanings that we will cover in the post. Our main verb is the extremely common verb 'to come', which is mainly used as a verb of movement to denote a movement towards the speaker or the place where the speaker is, was or will be. In this way, it functions as the opposite of the verb 'to go'. In addition to this, the verb 'to come' also has several other meanings, including to change into a different state and to happen. We then have the prepositional particle 'over', which has several different meanings, but the meaning that is relevant for this phrasal verb is to move across an area, normally from one side of it to the other. So now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of 'come over'.... MEANING 1: Literal Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Separable? No ​Potential synonyms To come across As per usual, let's start by looking at the literal meaning of our chosen phrasal verb. When used literally, 'come over' means to physically move across an area or space, towards where the speaker is, or depending on the context, where the listener is. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Room / Office Road / Street Bridge Field In addition, it can also be used to say that someone is coming towards you, normally with the intention of speaking to you. This is very similar to the literal meaning of the phrasal verb 'come across' but I would say that 'come over' is perhaps used more commonly by native speakers to express this particular meaning. A more advanced usage (C1) of this meaning of 'come over' is to travel over a long distance from one place to another, usually involving crossing a sea or an ocean. This is often used when talking about people visiting a far away country or emigrating from one country to another. Oh no! He's noticed that we're talking about him and he is coming over. Can you come over here for a second? I need your help. The teacher came over to our table to say hello. Paul saw me sitting alone and came over to talk to me. My parents came over to the UK in the 1960s and I was born here not long afterwards. When are you coming over to visit us in Australia? We miss you! MEANING 2: To visit someone's house Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Separable? No Potential synonyms ​To drop by, to visit The second meaning of 'come over' is not so different from the literal version that we have just considered, as it is an informal way to mean 'to visit somebody's house', with the idea that the visitor travels across an area to get to the speaker's (or possibly the listener's) home. This application is usually used when talking about somebody visiting you at your own home and is often expressed either as "come over to my house" or "come over to mine*". It is also absolutely fine to omit the 'to my house' or 'to mine' from the sentence as 'come over' on its own carries this implied meaning when used in the appropriate context. What are you doing later? Do you want to come over to watch a movie? I'll come over to yours next week and we can have catch-up! Do you want to come over for dinner tonight? Amanda usually comes over on Saturday nights to hang out. Thanks for coming over; it's been great catching up! I’m thinking of coming over later if that’s okay with you. * When talking about a person's house, it is normal for native speakers to use the possessive pronouns mine, his, hers, ours etc Photo: Pexels BONUS: Come on over Another variation of 'come over' that you may have heard before, especially in song lyrics, is 'come on over'. This is a common way of verbally inviting someone to join you where you are or to come to your house. Generally speaking, 'come on over' has the same meaning as 'come over', but we tend to use it when we are inviting someone to do something in the present, rather than at a point in the future. Moreover, I would say that it feels a little friendlier and softer than 'come over', which is also not hard or unfriendly. As such, 'come on over' is often used in an encouraging way, especially if the person being invited is reluctant to come for some reason. MEANING 3: To be perceived Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Separable? No Potential synonyms To come across, to seem, to be perceived Meaning number three of 'come over' means 'to be perceived' and again is very similar to the phrasal verb 'come across'. For this meaning, we are primarily concerned with how people, or the things that they say and do, are perceived or understood by others. It can be used to describe both how a person's behaviour and messages or information are interpreted and viewed by other people. When talking about how a person is perceived, we tend to use adjectives to describe a person's character or behaviour e.g. nervous, confident, shy and for this we require the extra word 'as'. Lisa came over as very self-assured in the interview but in reality she was very nervous. The politician comes over as weak and that is why people will not vote for him. She comes over a bit rude sometimes, but she's actually really kind. I don't want to come over as too eager, so I'll wait a bit before texting back. Conversely, when using 'come over' to describe how a message or information is perceived by people, we tend to use adverbs such as well, brilliantly and strongly. Did my speech come over well? Despite the social distancing during filming, the romantic scenes in the film came over brilliantly. The message didn’t come over clearly on the phone. As I mentioned, this application is a synonym of the phrasal 'come across' and whilst both of these are used fairly commonly in everyday English, I would say that 'come across' is used more frequently from my experience. MEANING 4: To suddenly feel different Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To suddenly feel, to be overcome with Separable? No The fourth meaning of 'come over' means to suddenly start to feel different to how you normally feel. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Feeling Chill Wave Sickness / Anger / Sadness / Happiness / Joy / Dizziness This can be in a physical way, for example when an English native speaker suddenly starts to feel sick, dizzy or faint, it is likely that they will use 'come over' to describe the sudden change. Furthermore, it can also be used for behavioural or emotional changes, for example when we begin to feel very angry or sad all of a sudden. Normally, with this application we talk about something that comes over us and therefore this is preceded by a noun. A strange feeling came over me as I walked into the old house. Suddenly, a wave of sadness came over her, and she started to cry. A chill came over Jerry when he heard the door creak open. Photo: Free Images As the singer stood on stage, a sense of calm came over him and his nervousness disappeared. An intense anger came over me when I saw what they had done. A feeling of guilt came over her when she saw the broken vase. A deep tiredness came over me after the long hike. A sense of joy came over the crowd as the band took the stage. BONUS: The expression 'I don't know what came over me' You may have heard a native speaker say "I don't know what came over me!", which is an expression that normally used in an apologetic way when we do not know why we started acting in a strange way. Alternatively, people often use "I don't know what came over him / her" to try and excuse the bad behaviour of another person and infer that they are not normally like that. I'm so sorry about my behaviour last night, I don't know what came over me! Jake was fine one minute and then suddenly he started shouting and screaming. I don't know what came over him! Alternatively, it is also possible for an adjective to follow 'come over'. When doing this, it is normal to include the word 'all' between the word 'over' and the adjective, perhaps to express that the feeling or emotion has taken over us entirely. I was fine one minute and then I came over all dizzy the next and had to sit down. She came over all sad in the middle of our conversation, so I hope I didn't upset her! Olive came over all faint when she saw the blood. I came over all emotional during the speech and had to stop myself from crying! Robert came over all shy when it was his turn to speak. I came over all nostalgic looking through those old photos. Katy came over all flustered when her crush complimented her. MEANING 5: To change sides Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To change sides Separable? No The fifth and final meaning of 'come over' is an uncommon one that means to change allegiance to change sides from one side to an opposing or rival one. Additionally, it is used when people change their views on a particular subject, often in quite a radical way. This is not such a commonly used form of 'come over' but nevertheless you may come across it in the realms of politics, sport (teams) and debates (ideologies and beliefs). This meaning is certainly the rarest out of the ones that we have looked at but I wanted to make you aware of it nonetheless. One expression that you may hear with this application is 'to come over to someone's way of thinking', which is used to describe when someone changes their opinion to agree with someone else's with whom they did not agree with previously. What has made you come over to our way of thinking? Several members of the opposition party came over to support the new bill. Alan used to play for our rivals, but he came over to our team last season. The general came over to our side after realising the truth about the regime. Some of the rebels eventually came over and joined the government forces. During the debate, a few audience members came over to our point of view. Padma finally came over to our way of thinking after hearing all the evidence. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'come over'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'come over'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'turn up' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo : Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them. The subject of this post is the phrasal verb 'turn up'. I have recently done a post about its phrasal verb opposite, 'turn down', so if you can remember the different meanings of that, then you should find some of the meanings of 'turn up' nice and simple as they are just the reverse. You will note that I said 'some' of the meanings as there are others that are completely unrelated to 'turn down' - that would be too easy! So without further ado, let's have a look at them.... QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'turn up' mean? The phrasal verb 'turn up' has seven main meanings: Literal meaning To increase the intensity of something To arrive unexpectedly To be found To become available unexpectedly To fold or modify clothes To turn onto a different road or path TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one) Turn Up - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'turn' and 'up' Turn Up - Meaning 1: Literal Turn Up - Meaning 2: To increase the intensity of something Turn Up - Bonus: Turn it up! Turn Up - Meaning 3: To arrive unexpectedly Turn Up - Meaning 4: To be found Turn Up - Meaning 5: To become available unexpectedly Turn Up - Meaning 6: To fold or modify clothes Turn Up - Meaning 7: To turn onto a different road or path Turn Up - Bonus: Some common idioms featuring 'turn up' I love writing this blog and helping learners but I get very little feedback so I don't always know if it is helpful for you. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like and share it or leave a comment at the end. I would be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS TURN UP: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 7 Past tense forms Turned up / Turned up Separable? Sometimes The phrasal verb 'turn up' consists of the verb 'to turn' and the prepositional particle 'up' and so before we start exploring the meanings of the phrasal verb, let's first look consider each of these words on their own. The verb 'to turn' is a common verb with various meanings, including to change direction, to move in a circular path and to transform from one thing into another. It is a commonly used verb in English and you will find it regularly appearing in a lot of different phrasal verbs because we often require extra directional or spatial information to clarify the action of 'turning' e.g. 'turn around', 'turn over' or 'turn back'. John turned right and then left. The world won't stop turning if you take a day off work. Turn the key to unlock the door. The leaves on the trees turn red in autumn. In conjunction with 'turn', we have the prepositional particle 'up', meaning in the direction away from the ground or towards the sky ↑. 'Up' is frequently used in phrasal verb constructions and can add different ideas, such as to move in an upwards direction (climb up), increasing (go up), preparation (warm up) and sudden changes (wake up), among others. So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the real reason that you are here, i.e. the different meanings of 'turn up' as a phrasal verb.... MEANING 1: Literal Photo : Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To turn, to face up Separable? Yes The first meaning of 'turn up' that I want to cover is the literal meaning, which you have probably guessed, is simply to turn or rotate something so that it is facing upwards. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Face Head Hood / Collar Card / Paper As this one is quite self-explanatory, I don't want to spend too much time on this, but I do want to give you some typical examples of usage, which are turning your head up, so that you are looking in the direction of the sky and turning playing cards up, so that the face of the card is visible. In both of these examples however, it should be noted that other synonyms are often used, such as 'look up' turning your head and 'turn over' for the cards. Lucy turned her face up to feel the warmth of the sun. Michael turned up his collar to protect himself from the cold wind. As the rain started falling, Natalie turned up her hood to stay dry. Adam turned up the brim of his hat to get a better view. The tarot reader asked me to turn up two of the cards that facing down on the table. MEANING 2: To increase the intensity of something Photo : Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To increase Separable? Yes This next meaning of 'turn up' is one of the most commonly used meanings of this phrasal verb and means to increase the intensity of something such as the volume, temperature or power of a device. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Volume Sound Heating / Temperature Television / Radio Music It may be quite obvious to you, but just in case it is not, this meaning is derived from when we turn a dial to a higher number on a device (up), thus increasing its level of output or energy. As you can imagine, it is often used to refer to household appliances and machines that have settings that can be made more or less intense (turned up or down). For this meaning, 'turn up' is used transitively, meaning that it requires a direct object, which is the noun or pronoun whose intensity we want to increase. The direct object noun can either be placed between 'turn' or 'up' or after them, without changing the meaning 😊 I was so cold in my house, so I turned up the central heating. Please can you turn the television up as I can barely hear it. Elizabeth turned up the heater because the room was too cold. Harry turned up the brightness on his phone so that he could see his screen better. BONUS: Turn it up! Although we can and do use 'turn up' to describe the action of increasing the intensity of many different nouns, the most common usage is probably with the noun 'volume'. For this reason, if you hear a native speaker say "turn it up", it is highly likely that what they actually mean is "turn the volume up" or "make it louder and this is usually when he or she likes a song that is being played! I love this song! Turn it up! Can you turn up the volume a bit. I can barely hear it! MEANING 3: To arrive unexpectedly Photo : Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Intermediate Usage ​Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To show up, to arrive, to appear Separable? No So, now we are on to our first truly idiomatic meaning of 'turn up', which is to arrive or to appear somewhere, often (but not always) at an unexpected time or in an unexpected manner. In other words, we can use 'turn up' as a synonym for the verb 'to arrive', but we tend to use it more when there is something unplanned or surprising about the arrival. Examples of this unconventional arrival could be the following.... the person arrives unexpectedly, without forewarning or invitation the person arrives earlier or later than planned or requested there is something funny, surprising or unexpected about the person when they arrive Although I have specifically stated a person in the examples above, it is also absolutely fine to use this with objects when talking about deliveries etc. All of the guests turned up for the party, bar one. My parents turned up just as I was about to leave the house to go shopping. Lisa's car broke down on her way to work and she eventually turned up there at 11am. John mistakenly thought that the party was fancy dress, so he turned up wearing a Superman outfit, much to everyone's amusement. My neighbour turned up on my doorstep last night in floods of tears as her dog was missing. MEANING 4: To be found Photo : Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To be found, to show up Separable? No This third meaning of 'turn up' simply means to be found. This often refers to when we unexpectedly find something that was previously hidden or lost. When we use 'turn up' in this way, it is usually because we have given up on finding the lost item and don't think we will ever see it again. Of course, we can use the verb 'to find' as a synonym here, however 'turn up' adds an extra layer of nuance in the form of unexpectedness or surprise. Sometimes, it can also be used to convey a bit mystery to the reappearance of the lost item. Alternatively, if something is lost, but we are confident that we will find it again at some unknown point in the future, it is equally common to say that "it will turn up". By using 'turn up' rather than 'find', we are saying that we are perhaps not actively going to look for the missing item and it will magically appear in the future. We thought we had lost our cat Arthur when he disappeared. Thankfully he turned up at the house again a week later and we still have no idea where he had been. The stolen car turned up abandoned on a roadside 10km away from where it had been stolen. I've lost my favourite socks. They must be in the house somewhere but I'm not worried as they are bound to turn up. MEANING 5: To become available unexpectedly Photo : Pexels CEFR Language Level ​C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To become available Separable? No For this fourth meaning of 'turn up', we are staying with the familiar theme of something happening unexpectedly, however this time we are talking about unforeseen opportunities or situations that arise when you are looking for something. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Job Opportunity Romance Car Apartment / House As you can see from the list above, this application is used with nouns for things that we have to search for in our lives and are not always available when we want them. Regardless of what the noun itself is, the main point here is that when the opportunity of finding one arises, it is unexpected in some way. This is often as it is when we have started to lose hope of success and are thinking about giving up. Moreover, if we want to offer some encouragement to someone who is having difficulty finding a job for example, we can say that "something will turn up". Equally, when talking about a time in the past when a new unexpected opportunity arose, we can say that something "turned up". My son has been looking for a job since graduating from uni and he has had no luck so far, but I'm sure something will turn up soon. They say that the love of your life normally turns up when you least expect it. That book I’d been looking for finally turned up in a second-hand store. A great job opportunity turned up just when Patricia was about to give up searching. After weeks of searching, a rental apartment finally turned up in Louise's budget. Something interesting always turns up when you're not looking too hard. MEANING 6: To fold or modify clothes Photo : Pexels CEFR Language C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To fold up, to unfold Separable? Yes This next meaning of 'turn up' is specific to clothing and logically links back to the literal meaning of the phrasal verb that we looked at earlier in the post. This meaning specifically means to fold parts of clothes, normally the bottoms of trouser legs, upwards in order to make them shorter, so that they fit the owner better. The part of the garment is literally turned upwards. In everyday speech it is normal to use this in a passive sense and say that you are "getting something turned up" when the garment to be modified is with the tailors. In addition to this, if something is already folded downwards such as the corner of a piece of paper or a collar on a garment, we also say that we "turn it up" when we unfold it. I have sent my new suit to the tailors to get it turned up before the wedding next week. There was a chill in the air and so I turned up the collar on my winter coat. Before sewing, Sally pinned the skirt where she wanted to turn it up. My grandmother taught me how to turn up a pair of pants properly. She turned up the hem of her dress to make it more suitable for summer. He had to turn up his trousers because they were too long for him. MEANING 7: To turn onto a different road or path Photo : Pexel CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? British English Potential synonyms Turn on(to), turn down Separable? No The last meaning that I want to bring to your attention is one that I also looked at in my post about the phrasal verb 'turn down' (link here) as it means the same thing, which is to turn from one road or path onto another and then continue straight along it (confusing, I know!). Native speakers, typically British ones, use both 'turn up' and 'turn down' here interchangeably and there is no discernible difference in meaning that I am aware of; it is just the speaker's choice. It can also be noted that it can be used both for travel by vehicle as well as on foot. By contrast, you are more likely to hear American native speakers and those from other English speaking nations using a synonym like 'turn on' or 'turn onto' here. We turned up the road towards the church and realised that it was the wrong road You need to turn up that narrow track after the second gate. He turned up the hill and disappeared into the fog. They turned up the side street to avoid the traffic on the main road. Just turn up the next road on your left; it's a shortcut to the beach. Beth turned up a quiet little alleyway she hadn’t noticed before. Turn up that gravel path and you’ll see the cabin at the top. After the petrol station, turn up the next street on your right. Photo : Pexels BONUS: Common idioms and expressions with 'turn up' It would be rude of me to finish this post without also giving you some common expressions in which the phrasal verb 'turn up' is used, so here are a few for you.... To turn your nose up at something = This idiom means to show disapproval of something or to refuse something in a judgemental way, often when the person believes that something is not good enough for them. It is often used in reference to snobby or arrogant people but can also be used for fussy cats like mine who occasionally turn their noses up at the food they are given to eat. My cat Henry will eat anything but my other cat Arthur only likes one type of cat food and turns his nose up at anything else. The snobby lady turned her nose up when she was offered the cheap wine. A turn up for the books! = This is an idiomatic expression in British English and is used to describe a very unexpected but pleasing surprise. The roots of this idiom can be traced back to betting on horses as the records of bets were kept by people called bookmakers (colloquially known as bookies) in 'books' and if something unexpected (that word again!) happened, then some lucky gamblers would be very happy! I can't believe I got the job out of 100 applicants; what a turn up for the books! To turn up out of the blue = This expression is very common when talking about someone or something which appears or arrives completely unexpectedly, almost as if they suddenly appear out of the blue sky or from the blue ocean. It is possible to use "out of the blue" on its own without 'turn up' and the meaning would be more or less the same. After signing up to a family tree website, a cousin who I had never heard of before suddenly turned up out of the blue. Photo : Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'turn up'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'turn up'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'see through' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them. In this post, we are looking at the phrasal verb 'see through', which may seem like quite a straightforward phrasal verb, but in fact it has some interesting uses that you may not be aware of. For each separate application, I will give you a detailed explanation of how to use it and lots of examples to aid your understanding. So, without further ado, let's make a start.... QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'see through' mean? The phrasal verb 'see through' has four main meanings: Literal meaning To understand someone's hidden intentions To persevere with something and finish it To support someone in a difficult time TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one) See Through - The Basics: Key information and the words 'see' and 'through' See Through - Meaning 1: Literal See Through - Bonus: 'See-through' as an adjective See Through - Meaning 2: To understand someone's hidden intentions See Through - Meaning 3: To persevere with something and finish it See Through - Meaning 4: To support someone in a difficult time I love writing this blog and helping learners but I get very little feedback so I don't always know if it is helpful for you. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like and share it or leave a comment at the end. I would be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS SEE THROUGH: KEY INFORMATION Usage Medium Number of meanings 4 Past tense forms Saw through / Seen through Separable? Yes Before we start our exploration of the phrasal verb 'see through', let's first consider what the words 'see' and 'through' mean on their own. Our focus verb this week is the verb 'to see', which is a sensory verb, meaning 'to perceive something with your eyes' and I'm sure it will be extremely familiar to most readers. In addition to this sensory meaning, it also has a second meaning in English, which is to understand something after consideration or reflection; possibly as we can see something clearly in our mind once we understand it. The meaning of 'see' that we are interested in for this phrasal verb however, is the first meaning of visual perception. The preposition that is keeping 'see' company in this post is 'through', which is one of those annoying English words with a lot of unnecessary letters (thru is also a less common variant of through and should be limited to informal use only). The main meaning of 'through' is to pass into something on one side of it and out on the other side. In other words, to pass into and out of the interior of something, ending up on the other side of it to the where you started. Ok, so now we have covered the basics, the first meaning should be pretty obvious.... MEANING 1: Literal Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To look through Separable? No After looking at the words 'see' and 'through', it will probably come as no surprise to you that the literal meaning of these words combined is simply 'to see through the middle of something to what is on the other side of it'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Shirt / Top / Dress / Fabric / Material Window Cloud Gap / Crack / Hole This application is used for both materials and substances that are so thin that light pass through them, as well as for surfaces and objects that have physical holes or cracks in them, allowing us to see to the other side. In this sense the modal verb 'can' is normally used to express the possibility of 'seeing through' something. I love this dress but in very bright sunlight you can see through it, so I only wear it on dreary or rainy days. The car accident was caused by the driver not being able to see through the tinted windows. The curtains were so thin that I could easily see through them. Can you see much through the binoculars? This paper is so thin that when you put it on top of another sheet, you can see through it. Native speakers also often add the word 'right' between 'see' and 'through' to emphasise when something can be seen through very easily or clearly. This crack in the wall is getting bigger, you can see right through it and into the garden now! That fish is astonishing! You can see right through it! If we want to insert a direct object into our sentence and talk about who or what we can see on the other side of the transparent surface, we just insert it into the middle of 'see' and 'through', as per the examples below.... I knew that he was coming as I could see him through the window. Now that your clothes are wet we can see your underwear through them! BONUS: See-through as an adjective In addition to the phrasal verb 'see through', we also have the adjective form 'see-through', which is derived from the literal form of this phrasal verb. As you can probably guess, if something is 'see-through', it is transparent or in other words, you can see right through it! This is most commonly used to talk about items of clothing but other nouns that you may hear it with are floor, ceiling and display. MEANING 2: To understand someone's hidden intentions Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms ​To realise, to get the measure of someone Separable? No This second meaning of 'see through' is a slight departure from the literal meaning that we have just looked at, as it does not really involve our eyes at all. The meaning here is 'to understand or realise what a person's hidden intentions are'. Nous commonly used with this application.... Lies Mask Facade Deception Disguise Pretence This meaning is all about deception and pretence. It should only ever be needed if a person is not being genuine or sincere, perhaps because they want to gain something from us or from the relationship. If and when we realise that the person's intentions are not sincere and we understand the true reality of the situation, we can say that we 'see through' them. In addition to seeing through a person, it is also common to use nouns like 'words', disguise', 'pretence', 'lies', 'deception' and 'facade'. The jury immediately saw through the defendant's story in court. I could see through him from the very start. I can't believe that you couldn't!! Lisa saw right through John's clever disguise! Stacey pretended to be nice, but I could see through her fake smile. I saw through John's lies the moment he started making excuses. The boss quickly saw through their plan to manipulate the project deadlines. Kelly thought she could fool me, but I saw through her tricks right away. The teacher saw through her student's excuse for not doing the homework. The suspect tried to act innocent, but the detective easily saw through his act. The audience quickly saw through the politician's empty promises during the debate. MEANING 3: To persevere with something and finish it Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To persevere, to persist, to stick with, to stick something out Separable? Yes In this third meaning we need to change our word order from 'see through something', with the direct object following the verb, to 'see something through', with the direct object now being placed firmly in the middle of the phrasal verb construction. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Project Job / Task Problems / Issues This change of word order and direct object placement gives us a brand new meaning, which is to 'persist or persevere with something until the end'. This is typically used in situations in which you start something that turns out to be more difficult than you originally anticipated and en element of perseverance or persistence is required in order to finish it. Examples of this could be a difficult work project, a romantic relationship that is not going well or a demanding job that you have started. The majority of the time when using 'see something through', the difficult job or situation has already previously been mentioned in the conversation, so we normally only require the pronouns 'it' or 'them'. Also, it is quite common to follow this usage up with the words 'to the end' or 'to completion'. Despite all the challenges, Lucy was determined to see the project through to the end. It won’t be easy, but if we stay focused, we can see this task through. Once I commit to something, I always see it through, no matter how difficult it gets. We need a strong leader who can see this initiative through successfully. I know this is a tough challenge, but let’s see it through together. He had doubts at times, but his passion for the work helped him see it through. My wife and I have been having problems for some time now but we have agreed that we will see them through for the sake of our children. I experienced so many problems when designing my website and I almost gave up but thankfully I persevered and saw it through and now I am a very proud website owner. Lisa has handed in her notice today and will leave at the end of this month but she has promised to see the finance project through to completion before leaving. MEANING 4: To support someone in a difficult time Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To support, to help through, to get through Separable? Yes Our fourth and final meaning of 'see through' is to help and support someone through a difficult period until they are ok again. This is quite similar to the previous meaning that we have just looked at, however rather than seeing something through, in this case the direct object changes from a situation or problem to a person and we see someone through instead. The idea here is that the problem or negative situation is something that will pass with time, however it will be very difficult (or impossible) without other people who support us and help us through to the other side. This support could come in many forms but typically would be giving money, providing emotional support or some other help that we may require until the negative or difficult situation has passed. Alternatively, if we say that something "sees us through", it means that we have enough of it to last for a particular period of time, especially if this period is difficult or challenging in some way. Typically, this could be money, food or something else which we don't want to run out of before we can obtain more of it. I wasn't able to work when I was at university but thankfully my parents paid for my accommodation and saw me through. Hibernating mammals need to store as much fat as possible to see them through the winter. Jenny's best friend saw her through the toughest moments of her life. The charity organisation sees many struggling families through difficult situations. Mel's wife saw him through his illness with unwavering love and care. David's family saw him through his financial struggles with their constant support. We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'see through'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'see through'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'get out' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them. Today we are looking at another phrasal verb with the extremely common verb 'to get', namely 'get out'. It is likely that you are already familiar with this phrasal verb as it is frequently used by native speakers and in this post we will look at the various different meanings that it has in English, as well as the numerous expressions in which it makes an appearance. So without further ado, let's get started.... QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'get out' mean? The phrasal verb 'get out' has seven main meanings in English: To leave an enclosed or internal space To remove something To become publicly known To say something To go places and enjoy yourself To avoid a job, duty or task To feel the benefit of something MEANINGS (Click to jump to each one) Get Out - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'get' and 'out' Get Out - Meaning 1: To leave an enclosed or internal space Get Out - Bonus: The imperative 'get out!' Get Out - Meaning 2: To remove something Get Out - Bonus: 'Get Out' with reflexive pronouns Get Out - Meaning 3: To become publicly known Get Out - Meaning 4: To say something Get Out - Meaning 5: To go places and enjoy yourself Get Out - Meaning 6: To avoid a job, duty or task Get Out - Meaning 7: To feel the benefit of something Get Out - Bonus: Common idioms featuring 'get out' I love writing this blog and helping learners but I get very little feedback so I don't always know if it is helpful for you. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like and share it or leave a comment at the end. I would be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS TAKE OUT: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 7 Past tense forms Got Out / Got Out / Gotten Out Separable? Sometimes By way of an introduction to 'get out', let's first examine the words that it consists of and what they mean individually.... As a result of its many different meanings and high frequency of use, the verb 'to get' is one of the verbs that causes English learners the most headaches. You only need to listen to a conversation between native speakers for a couple of minutes to realise just how common it is. Luckily, we can forget about most of the meanings for this post as the relevant one for the phrasal verb 'get out' is 'to reach or arrive at a particular place'. What time will we get to London? Sarah got home late last night. The prepositional particle 'out' also has many meanings in English and can be used to express a large amount of different ideas and concepts. In this post we will focus on just one, namely 'to move from inside something to outside of it'. which leads us nicely to the first meaning of 'get out'.... MEANING 1: To leave an enclosed or internal space Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To leave, to vacate, to exit, to go out Separable? No If you are ever in a situation where an English-speaking person approaches you and tells you to 'get out!', you can be sure that they want you to leave the room or building. This is because perhaps the most common meaning of the phrasal verb 'get out' is this first one, which is 'to leave an enclosed or internal space'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... House / Room / Building Car Way Debt Road In this initial application, 'get out' is more of a literal meaning of the combination of 'get', referring to reaching or arriving at a place, and 'out', in the sense of no longer being inside something. In other words, it means to leave somewhere enclosed and end up outside of it. When used in this way, 'get out' tends either to be used in affirmative sentences with a modal verb, such as 'have to' or 'need to', or with 'let's' when offering a suggestion. I don't think that this building is very safe, let's get out of here. You shouldn't be in this room. You need to get out now! The teacher told me to get out of the classroom. It was too hot in that pub; I had to get out get some fresh air. Moreover, in negative sentences, it is often used to express when we are not able to leave somewhere or have difficulties leaving and is therefore often found in collocation with 'can't' or 'couldn't'. Helen has accidentally locked herself in her bathroom and can't get out. Arthur the cat got in the box and refused to get out of it again! My grandfather finds it difficult to get out of the bath. When I was younger, I was locked in my bedroom and I couldn't get out. Just to make things a bit more complicated, the use of 'get out' is not just limited to places that we are physically inside, but can also be used for any nouns with which we use the preposition 'in' without physically being inside them, such as way, road, trouble or debt. You need to follow these steps if you want to get out of debt. I will get of your way and let you do your work. How are you going to get out of this terrible situation? Please get out of the road. It's not safe to play there. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The imperative 'get out!' Moreover, as you can see from the examples above, 'get out!' is very useful in its imperative form and is therefore used very commonly in certain situations. However, I do think that this imperative form is somewhat negative in nature and can often come across as rude, impolite or even threatening. Nonetheless, sometimes it is necessary to use it, in order to prevent a problem or dangerous situation from happening as no other expression works as well in these situations. Get out of my way! What are you doing in my house? Get out or I will call the police! Get out right now! I don't want to see you here ever again! Get out of my pub! MEANING 2: To remove something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Advanced ​Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To remove, to pull out, to take out Separable? Yes This second meaning of 'get out' is actually very similar to the first meaning and is just a change in perspective from ourselves to something else. In the previous meaning, we talked about how it means to leave or exit an interior space and for this one we are removing something else from an interior space, i.e. an object or thing which we want to move so that it is no longer inside something. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Nouns for food and drink Phone Books Plates / Glasses Photos Firstly, on a grammatical note, the main difference between this meaning and the previous one is that it is transitive and therefore needs a direct object, which needs to be placed between 'get' and 'out'. We tend to use this application for two reasons, with the first one being to remove something or someone from an internal space as we do not what it or them to be in there. Again, this usage stretches to cover any nouns for which we use the preposition 'in' and does not only refer to enclosed places or spaces. Can you get the spider out of the bath please? I've dropped my wedding ring down the sink and I can't get it out! The dog fell into the swimming pool and the lifeguard had to jump in and get it out. A wasp landed in my glass of wine and I was not sure how to get it out. Other, less obvious, things that you may want to get out from somewhere are ideas and songs from your head or stains and dirt from clothes and surfaces. Ever since you told me that story, I haven't been able to get it out of my head. This is song is too catchy. I can't get it out of my head!! Despite several washes, I have been able to get these grass stains out of my favourite jeans. Karen scrubbed the wall to get the dirt marks out. Furthermore, we can also apply this usage to people and 'get someone out'. Here, the direct object is a person, in which case it is used to mean either of the following... to help someone who is trapped or stuck in something to escape. to enable someone to escape from somewhere such as prison or captivity. Roger got Helen out of the bathroom by breaking down the locked door. Sarah believes that her husband was wrongly jailed and has been trying to get him out for years. Help, I'm locked in the bathroom. Can someone please come and get me out! The second reason that we use this application is in order to take something out of storage in order to use or consume it. The wine glasses are in that cupboard. Could you get them out for me? Can you get the ice cream out of the freezer please, I really want some. Andrew, would you mind getting the extra chairs out of the cupboard so that our guests can sit down. The cats need to go to the vets later, so I've got the carrier out of the cupboard. Is anyone hungry? I'll get some snacks out if you are. Whenever I visit my parents, they always get the photos of when I was a child out to show to my partner. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Get out with reflexive pronouns It is also possible to use a reflexive pronoun ('myself, yourself, etc.) as the direct object when talking about physically removing ourselves from an interior space or, perhaps more commonly, from a situation that we are in. I don't know how long it is going to take for me to get myself out of debt. Lisa got herself out of a toxic relationship last year and is now much happier. MEANING 3: To become publicly known Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To publish, to spread, to leak Separable? Yes The next meaning of 'get out' that we will consider means 'to become known'. This is not in the sense of becoming famous, but rather when secret or previously private information becomes known to people. Nouns commonly used with this application.... News Story Information Details Secret I think logically this application makes sense as we are talking here about private or censored information, which has 'escaped' and is 'out' of its imaginary confinement, meaning that it is now free and available to everyone. It is very common for this usage of 'get out' to be heard with the word 'word' instead of 'information'. Another way that you might come across this usage is in the construction 'it got out that...'. See the below examples. Somehow the secret about Helen's private party has got out and now everybody wants to come. We need to keep this from the press. If word gets out about this, it will destroy our reputation. Despite our best efforts to keep it a secret, the news of our engagement eventually got out. Once the truth got out, the company had no choice but to issue a public apology. Ryan was furious when he realised that his personal information had got out. Rumours about the celebrity breakup got out before the couple could make an official statement. The politician tried to cover up the scandal, but the word got out to the press. MEANING 4: To say something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To say, to speak, to spit out, to utter Separable? Yes Our fourth meaning of 'get out' is 'to say something' and is actually often used when we are not able to speak. When we use this application, we are referring specifically to language and the words that we use. 'To get words out' is just a lengthy way of saying 'to say'. We tend to use this application when the words that we are trying to say are difficult for some reason, meaning that we struggle to say them or we are not able to say them at all. This could be because you are physically unable to say the words due to a medical condition or it could be through stress or worry that you may offend someone or cause an argument. In spoken English, you are likely to hear this usage in the expressions 'get the words out' or the simpler version 'get it out'. Ben was so shocked by the news that he could barely get any words out. Emma took a deep breath and finally got the words out. I was struggling to get the words out through my tears. It was difficult, but he managed to get out the right words and his Mum hugged him. I knew Steve had something to say, but he just couldn’t seem to get it out. Becky stammered a few times before finally getting it out. Mike tried to explain, but he couldn’t get it out properly. I wanted to tell him the truth, but I just couldn’t get it out. Photo: Pexels BONUS: To get something out of someone If we are ever in a situation where we want someone to give us information that is secret or withheld and the person is unwilling to give it, we can say that 'we are unable to get it out of them'. We only tend to use this expression when the information is not given freely by the person to begin with and so we need to encourage or pressure them to share it with us. The detectives questioned the suspect for six hours about who committed the crime but they were unable to get it out of him. My brother refused to tell me what my parents had got me for my birthday but I got it out of him in the end. MEANING 5: To go to places and enjoy yourself Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To go out Separable? No This next usage of 'get out' means to leave your house in order to go to places and have enjoyable experiences. It is quite similar to the phrasal verb 'go out', meaning to leave your house and / or socialise with people, however whilst we can use 'go out' to talk about specific times e.g. "I go out every Friday night", we cannot use 'get out' here. The reason being is that this application of 'get out' is normally used to talk in a general way, rather than about specific instances. In other words, we use it to refer to the idea of going out to different places, rather than a specific time when you go to the cinema or to the beach. In terms of usage, this application of 'get out' tends to be used mostly in negative sentences and occasionally in questions. Moreover, from this, we get the common expression "I don't get out much", which is often used in a humorous way when someone does something embarrassing or awkward in a social situation and they want to be self deprecating. Moreover, it is also quite common to add the additional words 'and about', giving us 'to get out and about', which gives the added implication that the person moves around from place to place. Ever since I've had a baby, I've not got out much. You need to stop playing computer games and get out and about a bit more! After being stuck inside all week, I finally got out for a walk. Beth doesn’t get out much because of her busy work schedule. I need to get out of the house and clear my head. We decided to get out and explore the city over the weekend. It’s important to get out and about and meet new people. Now that the Covid-19 restrictions are lifted, everyone is eager to get out again. If it's nice, I might get out for a walk later. MEANING 6: To avoid doing a job, duty or task Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Intermediate ​Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To avoid, to shirk Separable? No I've purposely left these last two meanings of 'get out' to the end as they both require the additional preposition 'of' to achieve their meaning. Nouns & gerunds commonly used with this application.... Meeting Job / Work Housework / Chore Party Going / Working / Doing The first of these two means 'to avoid doing a job, duty or task that you are supposed to do'. This could be work, a social engagement, an event that you have been invited to or an action that you have to carry out. The idea here is that another person wants (or expects) you to do something, but you don't want to, so therefore you need to find an excuse for not doing it. On a grammatical note, this application of 'get out of' is either followed by a noun or by the a verb in its gerund ('ing) form. I'm so sorry that I can't come to your party tomorrow. I have an important work meeting and I can't get out of it. Is there any way you can get out of going to the the theatre tonight? Peter always finds a way to get out of doing the housework. Natalie pretended to be sick to get out of going to the meeting. I can’t believe you managed to get out of that boring family dinner! Bill tried to get out of paying the bill, but they caught him. Trudie made an excuse to get out of helping with the project. I wish I could get out of working this weekend but there's no way I'll be able to. Richard used a fake emergency to get out of a date that wasn't going very well. MEANING 7: To feel the benefit of something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced ​Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To get pleasure from, to take pleasure in, to delight in Separable? Always This final usage of 'get out' that we will cover also requires the additional preposition 'of' and means to feel the benefit of doing something'. In other words, to obtain something good or positive as a result of performing an action. Another way that we could say this is 'to get something out of something'. Most frequently, this refers to a good feeling, burst of energy or pleasure that we get after performing an action. Some people, including me, get this from doing exercise, while others may get a lot out of giving presentations at work or helping to look after sick people. I don’t think Andrew got much out of the book because he wasn’t really paying attention while reading it. I still do yoga every day because I get a lot out of it. I quit my part time job as I stopped enjoying and apart from the extra money, I wasn't getting much out of it. This pleasurable sensation is sometimes called a 'buzz' or a 'kick', which gives us the common expressions 'to get a kick out of something' and 'to get a buzz out of something, which both mean 'to get a good feeling as a consequence of doing something'. My boss is so rude and horrible to all of us. I swear he gets a buzz out of it. I get a kick out of teaching English and watching their skills improve. My mum volunteers with a charity for elderly people and she really gets a kick out of helping them. In addition to positive feelings, this application of 'get out' is also used to talk about benefits and positive things that we get after as a result of doing something. These can range from knowledge and skills to confidence and peace of mind and I sincerely hope that you English learners get a lot out of my posts! Amy really got a lot out of that leadership seminar; it really boosted her confidence and skills. You’ll get more out of the course if you actively participate in discussions. I always get a sense of peace out of meditation—it helps me relax. They got so much out of their trip to Japan, both culturally and personally. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Common idioms featuring 'get out' Before we wrap up this blog post, there are a few very common expressions with 'get out' that I want to cover..... To get something out of the way - We use this expression when we have to do something unpleasant, boring or stressful in the future and we want it to be over, so that we can stop worrying about it. It could also be used in situations when we are looking forward to something and we want the time to pass quickly between now and then. Examples of this could be when you have a work meeting planned, which you are worried about and you want it to be over so that you can relax. Another would be that you are going on holiday next week, so you just want this week at work to pass quickly. I just need to get today out of the way and then I can go on vacation! Sandra can't wait to get her Dad's funeral out of the way, so she can begin to move on. To get out of hand - If a situation gets out of hand, it means that it has become difficult to control or it has become uncontrollable. The party was going well until a few people got too drunk and things started to get out of hand. A get-out clause - This is something that is often written into official agreements and contracts with the purpose of allowing someone to get out of doing something if a certain situation occurs. This is often used in business English but has also found its way into colloquial everyday English too. Is there a get-out clause in this contract? Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'get out'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'get out'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'bring up' from a native speaker, with lots of example sentences Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them. This post is all about the phrasal verb 'bring up', which has very varied and diverse meanings, especially compared to some of the recent phrasal verbs that I have covered such as 'look at' and 'take over'. In this post we will consider the different meanings that it has and also look at some common expressions that it is used in. So let's not beat around the bush* any longer and let's get started.... *'To beat around the bush' is an idiom that means to talk about things that are not important and not get to the point. QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'bring up' mean? The phrasal verb 'bring up' has seven main meanings in English: Literal meaning To raise a child To introduce a topic into a conversation To vomit To cause to appear on a screen To come to a sudden stop To update or improve TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one) Bring Up - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'bring' and 'up' Bring Up - Meaning 1: Literal Bring Up - Meaning 2: To raise a child Bring Up - Bonus: The noun 'upbringing' Bring Up - Bonus: Some common expressions with 'bring up' Bring Up - Meaning 3: To introduce a topic into a conversation Bring Up - Meaning 4: To vomit Bring Up - Meaning 5: To cause to appear on a screen Bring Up - Meaning 6: To come to a sudden stop Bring Up - Bonus: The idiom 'to bring someone up short' Bring Up - Meaning 7: To update or improve Bring Up - Bonus: To bring up the rear I love writing this blog and helping learners but I get very little feedback so I don't always know if it is helpful for you. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like and share it or leave a comment at the end. I would be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS BRING UP: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 7 Past tense forms Brought up / Brought up Separable? Yes As I mentioned at the beginning, 'bring up' is a phrasal verb with very diverse meanings and consists of the verb 'to bring', meaning to take something to a place with you, and the prepositional particle 'up', meaning a movement in the direction away from the ground or towards the sky ↑. I know from experience of teaching English that the verb 'to bring' can often be confused with the related verb 'to take'. The difference between these two verbs is mainly to do with the position of the speaker and the direction of movement. Both verbs can mean to carry something to a place. If the object is carried towards them, we use 'to bring' and if the object is carried away from where they are when they are speaking, we use 'to take'. Can you bring me some water please? (Here the speaker is not moving and wants the water to come to them, where they are speaking.) I will take some sandwiches with me to work tomorrow. (Here, the speaker is going to move from where they are speaking to go to work and the sandwiches will go with them.) The above is just a brief overview of the differences between these two verbs and more detailed explanations are available elsewhere online. I just wanted to make you aware of the main differences here before we look at the phrasal verb meanings. So, without further ado, let's check them out.... MEANING 1: Literal Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To take up, to bring, to take Separable? Yes To start things off, let's consider the literal meaning of the phrasal verb 'bring up', which is commonly used by native speakers to express the idea of transporting something to a place that is relatively higher than where they are. This application is typically used when someone is upstairs in a house or building or in a higher physical position than the person who they are talking to and they want him or her to bring them something. Could you bring up the boxes from the basement? I've asked Mike to bring up my suitcase to the attic. Linda brought up the laundry basket from the ground floor. The waiter brought up the food to our hotel room. We need to bring up the chairs from the storage room for the party. On a grammatical note, one thing to note here is that we normally insert the object pronoun such as me, him, her, them etc. between 'bring' and 'up'. I think this literal meaning is quite easy and straightforward to understand, so we'll move on to the next meanings but before we go, here are a couple of examples to illustrate usage.... Can you bring me up some water when you come to bed? As it is your birthday tomorrow, I will bring you up some breakfast in bed. MEANING 2: To raise a child Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To raise, to rear Separable? Yes The first non-literal meaning of 'bring up' that we will consider is similar to the common phrasal verb 'grow up', but while 'grow up' simply refers to the process of growing from a child to an adult, we use 'bring up' to talk about how our parents (or primary caregivers), actively look after and teach a child during the growing up process. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Son / Daughter Child / Children Kid Grandson / Granddaughter / Children This can be used to talk about where we lived during our childhood, as well as the beliefs and values that we were taught during this time. It is used by native speakers commonly in both an active and a passive sense alike. In the active sense, we are talking about the parents or caregivers who are the subjects of the verb and in the passive sense we talk about ourselves or other people and what was taught and experienced during the growing up process. My parents brought me up to always say please and thank you and to treat everyone with respect. He was brought up in an orphanage and never knew his birth parents. Lisa managed to bring up four children all by herself after her husband tragically died. Mary worked hard to bring up her children on her own. John and Sue brought up their kids to be kind and respectful. Parents should bring up their children with good values. My friend was brought up in a strict household. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The noun 'upbringing' Did you know that there is a noun that is derived from this application of 'bring up'? The noun 'upbringing' is used to refer to how a person was treated, educated and shaped when they were growing up, or in other words, how they were brought up. I had a very strict upbringing and so I have tried to be a little more relaxed with my own children. What was your upbringing like? Kathy's strict upbringing instilled in her a strong sense of discipline and responsibility. Despite his humble upbringing, Jason worked hard and became a successful entrepreneur. BONUS: Some common expressions with 'bring up' In addition to the noun 'upbringing', there are also a couple of other expressions that feature this usage of 'bring up' that I want to make you aware of.... Were you brought up in a barn? This rhetorical question is a variation of "Were you born in a barn?" and is used to criticise someone who leaves a door open in a room, particularly if it is cold or draughty. Were you brought up or dragged up? This is another rhetorical question which can be aimed at someone who doesn't behave well, implying that their parents did not teach them how to behave properly when they were growing up. Both of the above expressions are normally used in a humorous way and are not meant to cause offence, however it could be offensive if said in an unfriendly way, or if you do not have the right sort of relationship with the person, so I would recommend only using this with people with whom you have a good relationship. MEANING 3: To introduce a topic into conversation Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms ​To introduce, to raise, to mention Separable? Yes Our next meaning of 'bring up' is very different to the previous one that we've just looked at and means 'to introduce a topic or subject of discussion into a conversation'. Nous commonly used with this application.... Subject Topic Point Argument Issue The idea behind this is that the person who brings the subject up, does so intentionally, i.e. the subject did not enter into the discussion by chance but because somebody wanted to discuss it. (By the way, if a subject enters into a conversation naturally, then the phrasal verb 'come up' (link here) would be applicable.) This can be heard often in business English, especially in reference to meetings and agendas for subjects that need to be discussed. It is also equally common to use it outside of the business world, when talking about general conversations or discussions. I've made a note of the issue and I will bring it up at the next management meeting. Why did you have to bring that up in front of my parents?! You know their views on the subject! I didn't want to bring up the funeral yesterday as I could see that you were already upset. Anna brought up an interesting point during the debate. I didn’t want to bring up the argument from yesterday, so I kept quiet. Nick always brings up politics at family dinners. The teacher brought up the importance of time management. Let’s not bring up that embarrassing story again! MEANING 4: To vomit Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level ​B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To vomit, to puke, to throw up, to barf, to be sick, to cough up Separable? Yes Out fourth application of 'bring up' means 'to vomit or to be sick'*. Although this is not the most pleasant of meanings, it happens to us all at some point and is therefore worth covering! Nouns commonly used with this application.... Food / Drink Alcohol Blood Bile Phlegm When we use this application of 'bring up', the focus is not so much on the vomiting action itself, but rather on what is being expelled from the stomach and could be for example blood, poison or something that you have swallowed that you should not have. It is also possible to use 'bring up' in this sense with coughing, for example with phlegm. We can also use the more specific phrasal verb 'to cough up' here as a synonym. The baby brought up some milk after feeding. Kate had food poisoning and kept bringing up her dinner. After drinking too much, Jack ran to the bathroom to bring up his drinks. The motion sickness made Marianne bring up her breakfast. The dog was very sick and was bringing up lots of blood but luckily it was not life-threatening and he has made a full recovery now. My 3-year old son swallowed a small toy part but he brought it up again shortly afterwards before any harm was done. *As a side note, don't forget that 'to be sick' in English can mean to have an illness or disease and also to vomit. The context is key here to understand which one we mean. Meaning 5: To cause to appear on a screen Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To open Separable? Yes Our next meaning of 'bring up' is one that has become MUCH more widespread over the last few decades as it is used particularly with IT and computers and means 'to cause something to appear on your screen'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Document Spreadsheet File Picture Website Menu Results This application is normally used when we click on something to open it, such as a document or web page, but is also used extremely commonly when talking about the results of a search on a search engine (naming no names, you know the ones I'm talking about!). If you right click with your mouse, it will bring up a menu. Can you bring up the results of the test on your screen for me? When I looked up the question online it brought lots of irrelevant results up. Press this button to bring up the settings menu. Can you bring up the document on your laptop? MEANING 6: To come to a sudden stop Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To stop, to halt, to pull over Separable? Yes This sixth meaning of 'bring up' is a rarer one than some of the meanings that we have already covered and means 'to cause a vehicle to come to a sudden stop'. This is especially used for cars, but could be used for all types of vehicles, including boats, where it is specifically used for dropping an anchor in order to stop it. They decided to bring up the ship in the harbour for the night due to the bad weather. The driver brought up the car just before the red light. IDIOM ALERT: The idiom 'to bring someone up short' I think that this is a good time to introduce an idiom with 'bring up' that is linked to this particular meaning. The idiom 'to bring someone up short' is a fairly common expression that is used to express when someone stops what they are doing because something has surprised or shocked them. I was having a productive day yesterday until an email from my boss brought me up short. MEANING 7: To update or improve Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To update, to modernise, to improve Separable? Yes This seventh and final meaning of 'bring up' that I wanted to include in the post is when it is used to describe the process of updating or improving something. This is typically expressed by way of two different set expressions: 'to bring someone up to date' and 'to bring someone up to speed'. When we use it to talk about updating (bring up to date), we can mean updating a machine, a product, a building or anything else which can be modernised so that it is as current as possible. Moreover, we can also use it to mean updating a person (bring up to speed), so that they have all of the most recent information about a given topic or situation. A third, rarer, set expression exists with this application, which is 'to bring something up to standard'. This can also be used in reference to improving something (often, incidentally, by modernising it) so that certain standards are met. The interior designers are planning to bring the interior of the castle up to date. I had a meeting with Roger earlier and he brought me up to speed with everything that I missed whilst I was on holiday. The teaching in the school was very poor, so a team was sent there to bring it up to standard. Can you bring me up to date on the latest project developments? The company is bringing its software up to date with new features. Kelly brought the team up to date on the changes in the schedule. I need to bring my knowledge up to date with the latest technology trends. The teacher brought the students up to date on the recent discoveries in science. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The idiom 'to bring up the rear' Before I finish the post, I just want to give you a bonus expression featuring our phrasal verb of choice 'bring up'. The expression in question is 'to bring up the rear' and is quite appropriate to have at the end of this post as it means to be the last one of a group or category. This is most often used when talking about the last people in a queue, line or group of people who are going somewhere. The slowest hikers brought up the rear of the group. In the marathon, Jamie struggled but managed to bring up the rear. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on it and reading it. I hope that you found it useful and have been able to learn something new. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'bring up'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it with your English-learning friends. See you next time! James 😊 THE END