An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'put away' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. How well do you know the English phrasal verb 'put away'? Do you think that you know it well or would it surprise you to learn that it has at least 6 different meanings? In this post, I will explain all of these meanings to you, including the super common ones, the informal ones and one that is so rare that I hadn't even heard of it! In addition, I give you lots of example sentences to show you how to use each one in a natural way. So, without further ado, let's make a start.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Put Away - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'put' and 'away' Put Away - Meaning 1: To put something where it is normally stored Put Away - Meaning 2: To imprison someone Put Away - Meaning 3: To save money Put Away - Meaning 4: To eat or drink a large amount Put Away - Meaning 5: To euthanise an animal Put Away - Meaning 6: To score a goal I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS PUT AWAY: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 6 Past tense forms Put away / Put away Separable? Yes In this post, I will be explaining to you the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'put away' and to get a better understanding of how we arrive at these meanings, let's first consider the words 'put' and 'away' and what they mean individually. 'To put' is a very common verb in English that is a little similar to the verb 'to get' in the sense that native speakers love using it and it has many meanings. Probably its main meaning is 'to place something in, or move something to, a specific position'. Some of the other main meanings of 'to put' include 'to write something' and 'to cause to be in a state or situation', however there are many other uses for it that one day in the future I may write about on a separate blog but for the moment we don't need to worry about them 😀 Where did you put my car keys? Joan put the cake in the oven. What can I put in this email to respond to this customer? That was beautifully put, you should be a writer! You need to put stress on the final syllable of the word. The prepositional particle 'away' is not one that features in many phrasal verbs but nevertheless I am sure that you are very familiar with it as it is a common English word. At its core, 'away' is all about moving from a place or being in a different place to where the speaker is. A secondary sub-meaning of 'away' that is relevant for this article is 'to be in the usual place of storage, often where it cannot be seen'. Often when it is part of a phrasal verb, 'away' implies a movement from a particular place (run away), however it can also be used to add ideas like disappearance or reduction (fade away) and a continuation of an action (chat away). So, now that we have covered the basics, let's look at the different meanings of 'put away'.... MEANING 1: To put something where it is normally stored Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To put back, to tidy away Separable? Yes After reading the Basics section just now, you will hopefully see that this first application of the phrasal verb 'put away' is more or less a literal combination of 'put' and 'away' as it means 'to put something where it is normally stored'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Shopping / Groceries Clothes Things Toys This application is one that is probably most heard in people's homes and refers to the action of placing something back into it's designated place of storage after you have finished using it. Usually, this is when the place of storage is one that is not openly on display in the house, such as inside a cupboard, box or drawer. Although I have included some commonly used nouns with this application in the list above, this is just a generalisation and in reality it is almost endless as 'put away' in this sense could refer to anything that is kept in a specific place when it is not in use. For instance, any of you who have or have had children will likely be familiar with putting away their toys after they have finished playing with them. Alternatively, you may have to put your clothes away after they have been cleaned and dried or you may need to put the Christmas decorations away after the festive period is over. As you can imagine, putting things away is a part of the action of another phrasal verb: tidying up. One other noun that is frequently heard with this application is 'shopping', which refers to the grocery shopping that we buy from a shop or supermarket rather than clothes etc. When we first get home from the supermarket, we need to put the items away in the fridge, freezer, cupboards etc. After dinner, Sally put away the dishes in the cupboard. Please put away your toys before bedtime. Jeremy put away the groceries as soon as he got home. Don’t forget to put your clothes away after folding them. I always put away my laptop when I’ve finished with it. My books were put away neatly on the shelf. Libby put away her winter coats when spring arrived. Kevin put away the tools in the garage after fixing his car. MEANING 2: To imprison someone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To send down, to imprison, to lock up, to incarcerate, to section Separable? Yes Let's now move on to our second meaning of the phrasal verb 'put away', which means 'to imprison someone' but as you will learn, it doesn't always mean to send a criminal to jail. Of course, we do often use this phrasal verb application most commonly with reference to criminals and sending them to jail once they have been found guilty of a crime. You could argue that this is quite similar to the first application in the sense that people who commit crimes should be removed from open society and put somewhere away from the rest of us. On a grammatical level, as we are often talking about the criminal with this application, we frequently use it in the passive voice. The judge put the bank robber away for ten years. The police finally caught the criminal and put him away. If Steve commits another crime, he’ll be put away for life. The gang leader was put away thanks largely to the witness’s testimony. Kate hopes that the new evidence will put the dangerous killer away for good. The police have been working hard to put away the local drug dealers. Kyle was classed as a repeat offender, so the court decided to put him away. They put away several corrupt officials as a result of the investigation. As I mentioned earlier, this application of 'put away' is not just used for criminals and is in fact used to talk about when we remove people from society in general. For example, we can put mentally ill people away in mental hospitals or old people in residential care homes where they can be looked after and will be much better off than if they were still living on the outside. You should note that using this particular application in this way is very informal and could be perceived as insensitive or cruel by people, so I would avoid using this unless you really know the people with whom you are talking. In the past, people with mental illnesses were often put away in asylums. Barbara feared that her family would put her away if her condition got worse. Many elderly people used to be put away in institutions rather than cared for at home. Decades ago, children with disabilities were sometimes put away in special homes. Liam was put away in a psychiatric hospital after the incident. MEANING 3: To save money Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To save, to put aside Separable? Yes Something that I would advise anybody to do if they are able to is to save and invest money and this third application of 'put away' is one that comes in very handy here as it simply means 'to save money'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Money Cash Funds To clarify further, if you put money away, you are putting money into a bank account, savings account, investment fund or even a piggy bank so that you can spend it in the future. You may even hear people using the expression 'to put money away for a rainy day'. Note that you don't need to state where or how you are saving the money e.g. bank account or savings fund with this application, however you can do if you wish. Normally, we use it just to say that we have some money saved. Amy tries to put away a little money each month for emergencies. Phil managed to put away enough last year to buy a new car. If you put away £50 a week, you’ll have quite a sum by the end of the year. Thelma and Mick have been putting away money for their children’s education since they were born. I decided to put away some of my bonus instead of spending it all. By the time she retired, Gillian had put away a comfortable nest egg. We need to put away extra cash for our holiday to Greece next month. Lionel puts away part of every pay check into a savings account. MEANING 4: To eat or drink a large amount Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To feast Separable? Yes This fourth meaning of the phrasal verb 'put away' that we will look at in this post is an another informal one that means 'to eat or drink a large amount'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Food Drink Pint / Beer Meal Course Nouns for food and drink types I would say that the majority of the time that this application of 'put away' is used, it is to brag or show off about how much a person can eat or drink. For example, imagine a group of young men who are out in a bar or at a party. They all want to impress each other by talking about how many pints of beer they can drink, or put away. Of course, this is a massive generalisation and not all groups of young men will do this but I'm sure you get the idea. Alternatively, 'put away' can also be used in this way to express surprise or amazement at how much a person can consume, eat or drink, especially when you don't expect that person to be able to do so. For example, you may see a skinny or very thin person who you think would not eat much but who is actually able to put away a 4-course meal and then eat the rest of their friend's meal and all of the chocolates at the end. I've seen it happen with my own eyes! Remember that this usage is extremely informal and should be avoided in informal situations and when talking to people with whom you need to show respect. Adam can really put away a big breakfast. Suzanne put away three slices of cake without hesitation. They put away a whole pizza in just ten minutes. I couldn’t believe how much pasta he put away last night. Sarah put away two bottles of wine and hit the dance floor. Ryan put away half a loaf of bread all by himself. Alex claimed that he could put away 6 pints of beer in an hour and still be sober, however he tried and failed. Paul’s so skinny, but he can put away more food than anyone I know. MEANING 5: To euthanise an animal Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To put down, to euthanise Separable? Yes This fifth and penultimate usage of 'put away' is quite a rare one that means to 'to euthanise an animal'. Let me start here by clarifying what the verb 'to euthanise' means and that is to kill a human or animal in a humane and painless way, normally by a lethal injection. This is typically because of a terminal illness to avoid the person or animal suffering a painful and extremely unpleasant death. So, when you are putting an animal away, you are doing the same thing, normally at the vets. I have to confess that before researching this blog article I had never heard of this usage of 'put away' and if you had said to me that you were putting your dog away, I would have assumed that you meant that you were putting it in it's kennel away from the house. I have researched this though and it does appear to be used, so I have included it in this article. I should stress however that I would avoid using it as it could create confusion with native speakers due to how rare and unknown it is. It's possible that you may come across it yourselves somewhere though and so at least you can be aware of it if you do. For reference, I would use the synonyms ' put down ' or 'put to sleep' most commonly here. They had to put their old cat away after a long illness. Amanda cried when her horse was finally put away. The shelter put away several animals that couldn’t be rehomed. MEANING 6: To score a goal Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To score Separable? Yes We will end this post with an application for all of those among you who love sport, in particular football (soccer) as this final meaning is 'to score a goal'. Again, as with many of the other meanings of 'put away' that we have looked at, this usage is very informal and probably not one that you will hear many television commentators using much. It is often heard in situations in which there have been several failed attempts to score beforehand. One final thing to note here is that this usage is slightly different depending on where you are in the world. In British English, this is most commonly heard in football. However, in North American English where football (soccer) is less popular, it is used more for sports like ice hockey and basketball to mean to win a game or a match, rather than to score a goal or point. The striker put away his first goal of the game after a brilliant pass. He calmly put away the ball into the bottom corner. Madeleine put away the winning shot to seal the match. The forwarder should have put that goal away; I don't know how he missed! They failed to put away several easy opportunities. Pete put away the cross with a powerful header. The ice hockey team put the game away in the final quarter. 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 away'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'put away'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'get off' 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's post is the second part of my focus on the phrasal verb 'get off', which has so many meanings that it wasn't possible (or fair) to list them all in one blog post. So to recap, in part one (link here ), we looked at the two literal forms of 'get off', plus the meanings of to leave, to finish work, to have time off from work and to receive a less severe punishment than expected. With all that in mind, let's now take a look at the other meanings of 'get off'.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Get Off: The Basics & Meanings 1 - 6 + Bonus Material Get Off - Meaning 7: To fall asleep Get Off - Meaning 8: To send something Get Off - Meaning 9: To enjoy something intensely Get Off - Meaning 10: To French kiss someone 🇬🇧 Get Off - Meaning 11: To be given something by someone Get Off - Bonus: More example sentences featuring 'get off' Get Off - Bonus: Some more idioms with 'get off' 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 MEANING 7: To fall asleep Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced ​Usage Moderate Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To fall asleep, to drift off Separable? Sometimes So we are going to start today's post with our seventh meaning of 'get off', which means to fall asleep, normally after finding it difficult to do so. It is often used by frustrated and tired English speakers when they did not have much sleep the night before because it took them a long time to 'get off to sleep'. It is not always used in a negative way however and could also be used to say that we fell asleep immediately or in the same way that we usually do. You may also be familiar with the expression ' to get to sleep' , which is also commonly used by native speakers and means the same thing. There is no difference in the meaning here that I can tell; I just think that 'get off to sleep' sounds a little nicer. I didn't get to sleep until about midnight last night! It is also possible to use a direct object here when talking about making another person go to sleep (through comfort and not boredom). As you can probably imagine from the context, this is normally used by adults referring to babies and small children. It took me so long to get off to sleep last night. I am absolutely shattered* today! She was so tired that she got off to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Lisa tried all night to get her daughter off to sleep but nothing worked. * Shattered is an informal adjective meaning very tired or exhausted. MEANING 8 : To send something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Moderate Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To send, to send off, to despatch Separable? Yes Ok, so now we are on to meaning eight of the phrasal verb 'get off'. As you can see, it is very versatile and has a large number of different uses, so I hope you are keeping up 🤪. This eighth meaning of 'get off' means to send something and this is normally in reference to an email, parcel or a letter in the post. This usage is a little informal, however it is still fine to use in a professional work environment, apart from perhaps official documentation and legal documents. Another similar phrasal verb that could be used as an interchangeable synonym here is 'send off', with no real change in meaning. For this usage, we usually also need to add the extra preposition 'to' and the name of the recipient. I have written the email and will get it off to my manager shortly. We have got a birthday card off to him in the post, so he should receive it in the next couple of days. MEANING 9: To enjoy something intensely Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Moderate Where is it used? Everywhere ​Potential synonyms ​To get a kick out of, to enjoy (a lot), to be excited by something Separable? No For our ninth usage, we need to add the additional preposition 'on', to give us 'to get off on something', which means to enjoy something intensely. This is an informal way of describing when people get an element of excitement or a buzz from doing something and can often be used for something sexual in nature. We also use it to talk about criminals' enjoyment of the crimes that they commit, bosses and senior employees in companies who enjoy the power that they have or also when someone enjoys a type of drug or natural high. The main idea behind this usage however, is that the enjoyment experienced by the person is intense. My friend gets off on true crime podcasts. He really loves them. Lisa's boss loves the power of his position; he really gets off on it. MEANING 10: To French kiss someone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where it is used? British English ​Potential synonyms To kiss, to make out Separable? No Ok bear with me, we are nearly there now... For the tenth meaning on our whistle-stop tour* of the phrasal verb 'get off', we are looking at a usage which is particular to British English and means to French kiss someone i.e. to kiss someone using tongues in a romantic or sexual way. This would be the equivalent of 'make out' in American English. For this usage, the additional preposition 'with' is required in order to say who the amorous person was kissing. From my experience, this is mainly used by teenagers and young adults and is not something that you are likely to hear often, so let's move on to the final meaning of 'get off'. *A whistle-stop tour is a tour on which someone visits many different places in a short period MEANING 11: To be given something by someone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Intermediate Usage Moderate Where is it used? Everywhere ​Potential synonyms To take, to fetch, to receive Separable? Yes So, now we come to the last meaning of 'get off' that we are going to look at on this blog post....give yourselves a pat on the back for coming this far! Only one more to go! We use this final meaning of 'get off' to express when a person gives us something or when we receive something from another person. It is also possible to use it when we take something from someone, however this is only with their consent and would not normally be used to talk about stealing something from them. A direct object is required here to express the item that we are getting or receiving and this needs to go between 'get' and 'off'. This could be something that somebody gives us, like a birthday present or alternatively it could be something that we need to get from somebody else for a work purpose. This form is an alternative (and perhaps more informal) form of to get something from someone. I got some lovely birthday presents off my parents this year. John: Where did you get that cake? Lisa: I got it off Helen, she has brought some homemade cakes into the office today. Can you go and get the signed report off the CEO before you leave today, please. Photo: Pexels BONUS: More example sentences with 'get off' Memorise and use the sentences below in conversations to help your English come across as more natural and fluent.... It took me so long to get off to sleep last night! No matter what I try, I just can't seem to get off to sleep. I will get this off to you straight away! Can you get this [letter / email] off to [person] as soon as possible. [person] really gets off on [noun]! Can you go and get the [noun] off [person]. I got a [noun] off [person] for my birthday. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Some more idioms with 'get off' Before finishing the post, I just want to make you aware of another couple of common expressions that native speakers often use with 'get off'.... To get off to a good / bad start = This expression is used all the time by native speakers to say if something has started well or badly. Other adjectives to mean good or bad are also perfectly acceptable to use here. The English football team got off to a good start in the World Cup but then crashed out in the semi finals. My day got off to a really bad start when my alarm did not go off and I overslept! To get off the subject = To start talking about discussing things during a conversation which are not relevant to the main subject being discussed. It is also possible to use the alternative "to get off topic", which means the same. We started talking about the current political situation but somehow we got off the subject and ended up talking about online videos. We seem to have gotten off topic, can we get back to the subject at hand please! Where do you get off? = This is an idiomatic expression that native speakers use when they want to express to someone that they feel that they are being rude, impolite or patronising towards them. In other words, what gives you the right to treat me like that? This idiom is often followed by the verb in the continuous form. Where do you get off talking to me like that?! Where does she get off trying to tell us what to do! She is not our manager! 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. 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 off'. 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 off' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. This post is all about the phrasal verb 'to get off'. It is my first post to focus on a phrasal verb with the verb 'to get', which is a verb with a large number of meanings and usages. My original plan was to try and fit all of the different meanings of 'get off' into one post, but there are just too many and therefore I thought it would be better to give you the information in two separate parts. So, without further ado, let's take a look at the phrasal verb 'to get off'.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Get Off - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'get' and 'off' Get Off - Meaning 1: Literal Get Off - Meaning 2: Literal meaning with a direct object Get Off - Bonus: Get off vs Take off - what is the difference? Get Off - Bonus: Idioms featuring the literal application of 'get off' Get Off - Meaning 3: To leave Get Off - Meaning 4: To finish work Get Off - Meaning 5: To have time off from work Get Off - Meaning 6: To receive no punishment for. crime or wrongdoing Get Off - Bonus: More example sentences with 'get off' Get Off - Meanings 7 - 11 I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS GET OFF: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 11 Past tense forms Got off / Got off - gotten off Separable? Yes To get things started, let's first consider the individual words 'get' and 'off' and what they mean on their own as this can often help to understand some of the phrasal verb meanings. As learners of English, I am sure that you will be aware that the verb 'to get' is used extensively  by native speakers and it probably seems that it can be used to express almost anything in English, especially in spoken language. It is true that we love the verb 'to get' and we use it all the time because it is so versatile and has such a large number of meanings. This also means that there are also many phrasal verbs derived from the verb 'get', which often have several meanings or more....sorry about that but I will do my best to explain them all as best I can on this website 😀 Some of the key meanings of the verb 'to get' are to receive, to arrive and to catch someone, however there are many more. The prepositional particle 'off' functions as the natural linguistic opposite of 'on' and is one that can be found in a wide range of different phrasal verbs. It can add various different ideas to phrasal verbs, ranging from separation (break off) and departure ( set off ) to explosion ( go off ) and cancellation (call off). So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move and discover the different ways that we can use 'get off'.... MEANING 1: Literal Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere ​Potential synonyms ​To alight, to disembark, to get down Separable? No Let's begin the meanings with the first application of 'get off', which is the literal version that we The meaning of 'get' that is relevant for this first section means to arrive at or reach a particular place. I want to get home before 7pm this evening. My flight got to Paris on time. When we combine this meaning of 'get' with the prepositional particle 'off', the literal meaning that it gives us is to reach, or arrive at, a particular place that is no longer on something. To put this another way, this means to no longer be physically on something that holds or supports us. As I imagine you will already know, this form is very commonly used to talk about leaving or exiting public transport, (hopefully) when you reach your destination. When we got off the airplane in London, we were shocked at how cold it was. Get ready, we have to get off the train at the next station. Please be reminded that you can only use 'get off' for public transport that you can be on . See the list on the ' carry on ' post for more information on this. Apart from forms of transport, the phrasal verb 'get off' is used very commonly with any nouns that we use 'on' with. This would either be things that support or hold us e.g. a sofa or a stage, or surfaces with which something has physical contact e.g. a blanket. My Dad has hurt his back and he finds it difficult to get off the sofa. Photo: Pexels I felt sick when I got off the roller coaster! My cat was sitting on my pink towel and refused to get off! MEANING 2: Literal (with a direct object) Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To remove, to take off Separable? Yes The second meaning that we are looking at of 'get off' is not a different meaning to the first one, but rather the same meaning with the addition of a direct object . In other words, in this meaning we are talking about removing something (direct object) that is on an object or surface. We do not want the thing to be on the object or surface and the end result is that it no longer is. This can either be physically removing it or making it move somehow (asking, shouting, threatening etc). As there is a direct object in this case, this form of 'get off' is separable and the direct object needs to go between get and off. I have been trying to get the cat off my pink towel for 10 minutes and he is refusing to move! Get your dirty hands off the clean sheets! Since the use of 'on' is so widespread in English, 'get off' can be used in many different situations and with many different potential nouns in this way. Common examples of this usage would be telling cats or children to get off an item of furniture, getting the top off a bottle or someone getting the snow off their car in the morning so that they can drive it. Get everything off the table please, it is time for dinner! I've broken my arm, can someone please help me get my coat off? The theatre security guards got the imposter off the stage very quickly! It is also very common to use "get off!" in an imperative form, when asking or telling a person to take their hands off you or to stop physically touching something. Photo: Pexels GET OFF vs TAKE OFF: What is the difference? In many cases this literal meaning of 'get off' is very similar to the phrasal verb 'to take off', however there is a difference in how they are used which you should be aware of. We tend to use 'take off' in positive statements or when there is no difficulty or problem removing the item. In contrast, we use 'get off' with questions and negative statements or when there is a perceived difficulty or problem removing the item. Consider the following examples.... I normally take my shoes off before I enter my house, but today my laces were so tight that I could not get them off! Helen spent 10 minutes trying to get the petrol cap on her car off, which was strange as she can normally take it off in a few seconds. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Idioms featuring the literal application of 'get off' So, before we continue on to look at its idiomatic meanings, I want to make you aware of some commonly used expressions and idioms with 'get off' and parts of the body.... To get something off your chest = To say something to someone that you have wanted to say for a long time. This is usually something that you have been reluctant to say in the past as it may be controversial or cause an argument. I need to talk to you and get a few things off my chest To get your mind off something = In English if something is on our mind, it means it is worrying us and we can't stop thinking about it. It is normally a good idea to do something entertaining or interesting to stop us thinking about it. This is what we call getting your mind off something. I had a long walk by the river earlier which really helped me to get my mind off things. To get off someone's back = To leave someone alone if you have been criticising or pressuring them to do something. This is often used by the person to tell the person criticising or pressuring them to stop. An alternative to this is to get off someone's case. I just wish my parents would get off my back and stop telling me to get a job. My boss is driving me mad, I wish he would get off my case! MEANING 3: To leave Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Intermediate ​Usage Moderate Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms Set off, Leave, Go, Get going Separable? No The first idiomatic meaning of 'to get off' that we are going to look at is the usage meaning to leave a place to start a journey. This is something that native speakers will often use in informal spoken English, often when they are talking about leaving somewhere to go home. It is sometimes used in a continuous form with 'had better be' to indicate that it is time to leave a place or that the person has stayed somewhere later than they had planned. I think I will get off now as I want to avoid rush hour. Look at the time! I didn't realise it was so late, we had better be getting off! MEANING 4: To finish work Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Intermediate ​Usage ​Moderate Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms Leave, finish, clock off Separable? No Our next meaning of 'get off' is to leave work, normally at the end of the day at your agreed finishing time. You could also use it to say that you are finishing at an earlier time than usual, however we do not use it to say that we are leaving a job or stopping working for a company. It is common to use the word 'work' here, but it is not absolutely necessary as people understand from the context that we are talking about work. I get off work at 4 o'clock today, so I could meet you after that. What time do you get off today? MEANING 5: To have time off from work Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Intermediate Usage Moderate Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To take time off Separable? Yes Staying on the theme of work, we can also use 'get off' when talking about taking annual leave or holiday from our job. This is often when we are not yet sure if we can take the time off and we need to check with our manager to see if it is possible. When we use it this way we need a direct object such as 'a day' or 'time'. I need to get the day off tomorrow as I have to take my wife to the hospital. Helen asked her boss if she could get some time off but her request was denied. MEANING 6: To receive no punishment for a crime or wrongdoing Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level ​C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To let off, to escape punishment Separable? Sometimes The next usage of 'get off' is one that we use specifically for criminals and it relates to the punishment that they receive for their crimes. If we want to say that a criminal avoids punishment completely or receives a punishment that is less severe than expected, we can use the phrasal verb 'get off' to express this. Here, the additional preposition 'with' is required to say what the lesser punishment is that the criminal receives. The murderer was found guilty in court but somehow got off with a sentence of 15 years instead of the recommended 25 years. It is also possible to use this form of 'get off' with the criminal as the direct object and normally a lawyer as the subject. We use this when we want to say that a criminal received a lesser punishment or no punishment at all due to the intervention of the lawyer. Roger is such a good lawyer; yesterday at the trial he managed to get the entire criminal gang off. Finally, I just want to make you aware of the expression 'to get off lightly', which means to receive a punishment that is less severe than expected or deserved. Photo: Pexels BONUS: More example sentences with 'get off' Get off the [noun] and give me a hand! Please get your hands off [noun]. Get off me! We need to get off the [public transport] here. I should be getting off now, it's late. I can't get my [item of clothing] off. I've got the day off today. Did you manage to get the week off for our holiday? He got off very lightly, in my opinion. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of part one of this article about the phrasal verb 'get off'. For the second part of this post, click here Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'get off'. 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 across' 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. 'Come across' is a really common English phrasal verb and is a great one for you to master and have in your active vocabulary. You may have just come across this website online now or you may be a regular visitor but either way, I hope it comes across well! If you did not fully understand the last sentence, do not worry as I will explain all three meanings of 'come across. in this article. Furthermore, I will also give you lots of example sentences to show you how it is used by native speakers. So, without further ado, let's begin.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Come Across - The Basics: Key information & the words 'come' & 'across' Come Across - Meaning 1: To move across something towards someone (literal) Come Across - Meaning 2: To find something unexpectedly Come Across - Bonus: Can you come across a person? Come Across - Meaning 3: To seem Come Across - Bonus: More example sentences with 'come across' Come Across - Bonus: Potential IELTS Questions 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 ACROSS: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 3 Past tense forms Came across / Come across Separable? No Before we look at the different ways that 'come across '  can be used as a phrasal verb, let's first look at the basics and consider its individual component words 'come' and 'across'. Firstly, we have the base verb 'to come', meaning 'to move from a place in the direction of where the speaker is' . Alternatively, we can also use it to refer to movement towards where the speaker was in the past or will be in the future. Are you coming to my party later? John came to work in his best suit today. A red car was coming towards us. The second part of the construction is the prepositional particle 'across', meaning 'from one side of something to the other'. 'Across' does not feature in many phrasal verbs but when it does it can add ideas like discovery, communication and movement and we will cover all of these in this post. So, now that we have looked at the basics, let's take a look at the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'come across'.... MEANING 1: To move across something towards someone (literal) Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To come over, to cross, to traverse Separable? No If you think about the meanings of the words 'come' and 'across', it shouldn't be too difficult to arrive at our first meaning of 'come across', which is the literal meaning of the combination of these two words: 'to move across something towards someone'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Road / Street Field Bridge Room You can see from the list of nouns above that this application of 'come across' is used with things that a person can physically move across from one side to the other. However, remember that in order to use it, the person or object must be moving towards where the speaker is (or where they were or will be in past and future tenses). Photo: Pexels She came across the room to tell me something. I've come across the city especially to see you. The horse is coming across the field towards me. Moira dropped her phone as she was coming across the bridge towards me. Although this literal meaning of 'come across' is used relatively often by native speakers, we often use the synonym 'come over' (link here ) instead. Be careful with 'come over' though as it can also be used to talk about a movement above and across somewhere, while 'come across' does not. So now we have looked at the literal meaning of 'come across', let's now move on to its idiomatic meanings.... MEANING 2 : To find something unexpectedly Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms ​To find, to run into, to discover, to stumble across Separable? No The second meaning of 'come across' is perhaps the most common usage of it in English and means 'to find something by chance or by accident'. In other words, to find something without wanting, trying or meaning to do so. Typical nouns that this application is used with: Website Person Video / Image / Picture Book / Article To elaborate, we use this particular application when we want to express that we had no intention of finding what we found. This carries neither positive nor negative connotations; it is simply used to talk neutrally about an experience. As you can see from the table above, 'come across' is often used for information as well as sources of information, such as the internet, media or books. It is not uncommon for language learners like yourselves to use it when talking about discovering a new word in the language being learned. In fact, as a native speaker of English, I still come across completely new words all the time! I've come across this Greek word and I don't know what it means. Are you able to help me? I was going through my emails today and I came across an important one from my boss that I had missed from last week.               Whilst Roger was studying English grammar earlier, he came across this interesting blog all about phrasal verbs!                                                             Of course, this usage of 'come across' can be applied in reference to finding physical objects and material things by chance as well.... I've lost my wallet somewhere in the office today. If you come across it, please can you let me know.                                                                                                                                   After my father died, my mother and I were clearing out his things and we came across some old photos of him from when he was a young man. She came across a beautiful painting in a small antique shop. While hiking in the forest, we came across a hidden waterfall. Although it is relatively informal, 'come across' can be used in both business and everyday English and is heard more frequently than its non phrasal verb synonyms (find, discover). In a negative sense, we can use it to express that we have not seen or heard of something before and therefore this is typically in a perfect tense.   I've never come across this kind of situation at work before and I don't know what to do. Have you ever come across this question in a job interview? Lucille has never come across this English verb before. The policeman asked me if I'd ever come across this picture before. CAN YOU COME ACROSS A PERSON? Yes, we can also use 'come across' to talk about people who we meet or have met in our lives. In this case, it usually means that we see or meet the person by chance rather than seeking them, although this could also be possible in the right context! While it is fine to use it in the sense of meeting someone who you know by chance, it is probably more common to use the phrasal verb 'run into' (or also 'bump into in British English) to describe these kinds of scenarios. I came across a man wearing a bright pink tracksuit in the park this morning. As we walked along the beach, we came across a group of surfers. Moreover, it is fairly common to use 'come across' in this way to talk about people who you have met in the course of your life so far. This is particularly so if he or she is someone you consider to be the most or the least of something or is distinguished form others in some way. It can therefore often be found with the adverbs 'ever' and 'never' as well as comparative and superlatives. I've never come across anyone so rude in my entire! Lucy is the first colleague I have ever come across who has dared to say no to me. Martin has to be the smartest 10-year-old I've ever come across! MEANING 3 : To seem Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To seem, to appear, to come over Separable? No The next idiomatic meaning of 'to come across' that we are going to look at in this post has a very similar meaning to the verb 'to seem' and is used to express how someone or something is perceived by another person. This usage is often followed by a noun, an adjective or sometimes both! Adjectives used commonly with this application: Happy Friendly Rude Arrogant Nice Quiet When used this way, the conjunction ' as' should be used before the noun or adjective. You can also use a verb in this construction, however if you do it must also follow 'as' and be in the gerund form. He comes across as a good guy but in reality he is not at all! The solicitor came across as professional. I John comes across as being highly motivated. It is common for native speakers to use 'come across' when expressing their first impressions of another person, especially if the first impression is a little controversial or negative. Alternatively, it is also used to talk about how someone was perceived in situations where there is an element of judgement from other people, such as giving a presentation, a job interview or going on a date. I haven't spoken to my new manager much yet but to be honest he comes across as a bit arrogant! Well done, you have got the job. I have had some really good feedback from the interviewers who said that you came across really well in the interview! I had a date with a guy last night and he came across as a bit strange, so I don't think I want to see him again. In addition, if you really want to 'come across' in an advanced way, then you should know that we also say it to express how emotions or ideas that are expressed in speech, music or films are felt or perceived by people. When we use it this way, it is typical to state the noun for the emotion or idea before 'come across'. When the King was talking about the death of his mother, his sadness came across in his voice. He is a passionate teacher and that comes across when he is in the classroom. Photo: Pexels MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES WITH 'COME ACROSS' If you can memorise some of the sentences below and use them in a conversation, it will help your English to come across as more natural and like that of a native speaker: I've never come across [noun] before. I came across your [noun] online He / she comes across as [adjective] / a [noun]. If you go to [place], you're sure to come across....... This is the best [noun] I have ever come across. This is the worst [noun] I have ever come across. Photo: Pexels POTENTIAL IELTS QUESTIONS Describe the most polite person you have come across in your life. What type of noise do you come across in your daily life? Discuss some of the most interesting people you have come across in your life. 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 'come across'. 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 'call up' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. 'Call up' is a common phrasal verb in English, with several distinct meanings. In this article, I will explain these different meanings for you, from making a phone call to someone to retrieving something that is stored somewhere. In addition, I will provide you with lots of example sentences of how native speakers use it so that you can impress your English-speaking friends and colleagues with your amazing phrasal verb skills 😀 So, without further ado, let's make a start.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Call Up - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'call' and 'up' Call Up - Meaning 1: Literal Call Up - Meaning 2: To telephone someone 🇺🇸 Call Up - Meaning 3: To be ordered to join the military Call Up - Meaning 4: To retrieve something that has been stored Call Up - Bonus: The noun 'call-up' I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS CALL UP: KEY INFORMATION Usage Medium Number of meanings 4 Past tense forms Called up / Called up Separable? Yes The phrasal verb 'call up' is formed by combining the verb 'to call' with the prepositional particle 'up' and so before we dive into the meanings of 'call up', let's first consider what these constituent words mean on their own. The verb 'to call' is a regular verb, which is all about using our voices. The origins of the word are from old Norse (Scandinavian) and when it was first used in English, it meant to shout loudly, summon someone or name someone. These ancient meanings still exist in modern English and you will see later that some exist in phrasal verbs with 'call' too. One newer meaning of 'to call' that certainly did not exist in Old English was 'to contact someone by telephone', which is one of its frequently used meanings today and will also feature later in the article. I called my son's name when I lost him in the supermarket. You've been called to see the King and explain your actions. What shall we call our new puppy? My name is Katherine but everyone calls me Kate. As soon as I heard the news, I called my Mum. Can you call me when you get chance as I really need to speak to you. Those of you who already have a good knowledge of English phrasal verbs will know that 'up' is a particle that features a lot in them. Perhaps most obviously, we can use 'up' to add an idea of an upwards movement or increase to an action in a phrasal verb (walk up, climb up). Moreover, 'up' can be used to add a wide variety of different meanings to phrasal verbs, like completion (eat up), improvement ( pick up ) and appearance ( show up ). So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'call up'.... MEANING 1: Literal CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To shout up, to yell up Separable? No This first meaning may seem like quite an obvious one for you because it is simply the literal meaning of the combination of the two words 'call' and 'up', i.e. calling in an upwards direction to someone who is in a higher position than you. We typically use 'call up' in this way when we want to get the attention of someone who is in the same building as us. If it is a small building or a house and the other person is a floor or two above us, we use our voice to get their attention and call up to them. Less frequently, if you are in a taller building like a skyscraper and you need to contact someone who is on a higher floor than you, you can also use 'call up' to talk about phoning them....however we will cover telephones more in the next section! Note that when used in this way, 'call up' is often followed by the extra preposition 'to' and is not normally separated. Sophie called up to her brother, who was still in his room upstairs. I called up the stairs to let my husband know that dinner was ready. Luke called up to his mother from the hallway below. Sam and Lucy called up through the open window to their friend on the balcony. Michelle called up the staircase, asking if anyone was home. Paul called up to his colleague Jamie on the 10th floor to see if he wanted to go for a drink after work. Another way that we can use 'call up' in a literal way is when we ask or invite someone to move from a lower level and join us on the higher level. A good example of this would be the stage at a concert or theatre. If the performer calls a member of the audience up on stage, he or she asks the person to come and join them. Note that we can also use 'call up' to ask someone to go to the front of something, typically a large room where there are lots of other people for example a church or a conference. The singer called the fan up on stage. I remember when I was called up on stage at a gig; I was so scared. The graduates were called up one by one to collect their diplomas from the university dean. MEANING 2: To telephone someone CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Mainly American English Potential synonyms To telephone, to call, to ring (up), to phone (up), to buzz, to give someone a ring Separable? Yes Let's now move on to our second meaning of 'call up', which is one that I think that many of you may be familiar with and this is simply 'to contact someone by telephone'. Firstly, you should note that this is an American English usage and some common synonyms that you are likely to hear in British English for this instead are 'to ring (up)', 'to phone (up) and 'to give someone a ring'. Be aware that 'call up' is also understood and used in British English too, just not as commonly as on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. You may be wondering why we use 'call up' when the verb 'to call' means exactly the same thing. To be honest, I am not sure why we started adding the additional word 'up', however note that it does not change the meaning of the verb in any way when you do use it. On a grammatical level, 'call up' is separable and it is possible to 'call someone up' as well as to 'call up someone', however I would say that the separable usage is the more common of the two. Note that if using an object pronoun (me, him etc.) then it must go between 'call' and 'up'. I’ll call Sarah up tonight to see how she’s doing. Could you call up the hotel and confirm our reservation? My ex-husband called me up yesterday just to chat. If you have any questions whatsoever, just call me up. Rebecca promised to call her grandmother up more often. I’m going to call up the electrician to enquire about getting the lights fixed. Don’t forget to call your boss up and let him know you’ll be late. They called up their friends to invite them to the engagement party. MEANING 3: To be ordered to join the military Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To enlist, to conscript, to mobilise Separable? Yes The third meaning of 'call up' is one that some of you may be able to identify with if your country has a programme of compulsory national military service because it means 'to be ordered to join the military'. As I mentioned in the Basics section, one of the meanings of the verb 'to call' is to summon someone, or in other words, to order someone to come to a specified place. This usage of 'to call' is quite rare in modern English as there are not many times that the majority of people are summoned or called to be in a specific place. One exception to this however is with the armed forces and when we talk about being summoned to join the military, we use the phrasal verb 'call up' rather than 'call' on its own. There are three main scenarios in which we tend to use this application of 'call up': the first is when your country has a programme of national service that young adults must participate in and the second is when your country goes to war and you are called up to fight or assist in the military action. On a grammatical note, this application is also separable. Furthermore, it is common to hear it used in the passive voice as we often use it to talk about our own experiences and those of people whom we know, as they are the ones who receive the action. Active example sentences.... The government called up thousands of recruits after the invasion. The army plans to call its reserves up to strengthen the front lines. Authorities initially called up men between the ages of 18 and 25. The navy has called experienced sailors up to man the new fleet. During the crisis, the president called up additional troops. In response to the threat, military officials called up more than 100,000 soldiers. Passive example sentences.... During the war, thousands of young men and women were called up to serve in the army. Pete was called up for military service just after his eighteenth birthday. The government announced that reservists might be called up if the conflict escalates. Jane's father was called up during World War II. The soldier had already completed his military service when he was unexpectedly called up again. In times of national emergency, citizens may be called up to defend their country. The third and final scenario in which this application of 'call up' is used is in relation to sports teams. If someone is called up to play in a sports team, it means that they are selected by the coach or manager to play in a match. Note that this tends to be used more to talk about higher level competitions, particularly national teams. As with the military examples, it is very common for this one to be used in the passive voice. The team manager decided to call two junior players up from the reserves. The federation called up several young athletes to join the senior squad. Melanie was unexpectedly called up for the World Cup qualifiers. Louie was thrilled to be called up for the Olympic bobsleigh squad. MEANING 4: To retrieve something that has been stored Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To bring up, to retrieve, to recall, to remember, to recollect, to dredge up, to invoke Separable? Yes We will finish the meanings of the phrasal verb 'call up' with one that I have given quite a general title, which is 'to retrieve something that is stored somewhere'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Data File Image Memory Spirit The reason that I wrote that this is quite a general title is because there are lots of different ways and scenarios in which you can use this application, however all of them involve retrieving something from a place of storage. Perhaps the most commonly used of these sub-applications of 'call up' is in relation to IT and computers. If you call something up on a computer, such as data, an image or a file, you cause it to appear on the screen so that it is visible (in the same way as you can use 'bring up'). The idea here is that the data is stored somewhere on the hard drive or a cloud and can be retrieved from there to be viewed on the screen. You can call up last year’s sales report from the server in just a few clicks. Laura quickly called the document up on her laptop to show the team. The system lets you call up old or archived messages whenever you need them. Bobby called up the presentation slides that were stored in the cloud. Just call up the customer’s profile by entering their ID number and pressing submit. Another place where we store things is in our heads in the form of memories, many of which are stored in remote parts of our brains and we can also use 'call up' here to talk about when we see, hear, smell, taste or feel something that evokes a memory from the past. It could be an old photograph, the smell of a perfume or an old song that you have not heard for many years; whatever it is though, the end result is that it unlocks a memory from somewhere deep in your brain and makes you remember it again. Note that this is often quite a poetic or literary usage. The old photograph called up memories of Helen's school friends. Hearing that song always calls up images of my grandfather in my mind. The novel’s vivid descriptions call up images of people who have been long forgotten. John's son's mannerisms called up the figure of his late father. Lastly, for those of you who believe in the supernatural, it is also possible to use 'call up' to talk about when ghosts or spirits are summoned from another realm (I guess they aren't really in storage in this case). Again, this usage is pretty rare and is one that can be found most often in novels, stories and movies etc. The sorcerer attempted to call up the spirit of the dead queen. Legend has it that the ritual can call up demons from the underworld. They gathered at midnight to try and call up the ghost of their ancestor. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The noun 'call-up' One last thing to mention before I finish the post is that the noun 'call-up' also exists and to explore this further, we need to go back to the third application that we looked at (to be summoned to join the military). In brief, the noun 'call-up' can be used to talk about the action of calling people up to join the armed forces e.g. a military call-up. In addition, we can also use it for the action of selecting players and athletes to be on sporting teams or squads. The government announced a mass call-up of reservists to fight. Lesley's football career was interrupted by a military call-up. Many families were torn apart by the sudden call-up of young men and women. Jim's impressive form at club level led to an international call-up. Floella earned her first national team call-up at just 18 years of age. 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 'call 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 'call 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 'hold off' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. 'Hold off' is a nice little phrasal verb that many English learners do not learn until they are at quite an advanced level. In this article, I will explain the different ways that you can use 'hold off' and provide you with lots of example sentences to show you how it is used by native speakers in their everyday language. So, without further ado, let's make start.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Hold Off - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'hold' and 'off' Hold Off - Meaning 1: To postpone doing something Hold Off - Bonus: To hold off on doing something Hold Off - Meaning 2: To not happen as expected (weather) Hold Off - Meaning 3: To successfully resist someone I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS HOLD OFF: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 3 Past tense forms Held off / Held off Separable? Yes The phrasal verb 'hold off' is formed of the verb 'to hold' and the particle 'off'. Before we look at its meanings, let's begin by first considering the meanings of the individual words. If you are capable of reading and understanding this article, then you will certainly be familiar with the verb 'to hold' as it is super common in everyday English. It is a very versatile verb and has various different meanings, with perhaps the most common of these being the idea of containing and grasping something in your hand. Moreover, some of its other key meanings include to possess, to have a belief and to delay something (this last one will come up again later). Lastly, as with many other common verbs, 'to hold' is irregular with the past tense 'held' for both forms. Can you hold the baby whilst I open the door. My boyfriend held my hand as we walked along the beach. This bottle holds 1 litre of liquid. The bank doesn't hold much money overnight to deter robbers. Sarah holds the view that this sort of behaviour is wrong. Can you hold the order as we are not ready to receive it yet. 'Off' is an extremely commonly used particle in English that is also frequently found in phrasal verb constructions. When used in phrasal verbs, 'off' can add different ideas like separation (break off), deactivation (turn off), completion (pay off) and spontaneity ( take off ), among others. So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'hold off'.... MEANING 1: To postpone doing something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To postpone, to put off, to delay, to defer, to refrain Separable? No We'll begin the meanings of 'hold off' with probably the most common of them all, which is 'to postpone doing something'. Firstly, if you are not familiar with the verb 'to postpone', it means to delay something until a later time or date and this first meaning of 'hold off' means the same thing. For example, you may hold off sending an email until a later time or you may hold off cutting the grass in your garden for a few days if the weather is bad. One difference to note between 'postpone' and 'hold off' is that while 'postpone' can be used to talk about delaying both nouns and actions, 'hold off' tends to be used only in reference to actions. As a result, this application of 'hold off' tends to be followed by the verb for the action expressed in the gerund ('ing) form as you can see in the example sentences below. You should note that the period of time is not an important factor here; it is possible to hold off doing something both for a few minutes, a few days or a even a few years. I would say that this application does not usually stretch to very long or indefinite periods of time however as we use it to talk about actions that we or other people plan to do and so there is an element or intention or desire to do the action behind it. We decided to hold off announcing the project until all of the details were finalised. I think you should hold off making a decision until you’ve heard everyone’s opinion. The Jones family have chosen to hold off buying a new car until next year. Debbie wanted to hold off telling people about her pregnancy until she was past the 3-month mark. The company have decided to hold off launching the product until market conditions improve. I think we should hold off asking for funding until we’ve prepared a stronger proposal. Sam tried to hold off responding to the criticism until he had more information on it. Photo: Pexels BONUS: To hold off on doing something If you've been studying English for a while, then you will know that sometimes it can be a bit strange and here is one of those instances of its weirdness. In addition to 'to hold off doing something', we can also add the preposition 'on', giving us 'to hold off on doing something', which means exactly the same thing. I've no idea why we sometimes add this additional preposition as there is no real difference in meaning that I can tell but we just do it sometimes, so it is always useful to be aware of it to avoid any confusion. Let’s hold off on sending the email until the manager approves it. Karen is not yet sure if she will hold off on putting her house on the market as she doesn't know if she wants to move. MEANING 2: To not happen as expected (weather) Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To stay away Separable? No A very common stereotype about the UK is that it rains a lot here and that the weather is generally bad. It may surprise you to learn that it doesn't rain as much as you think and it is not always so bad, however it is undeniable that British weather is changeable. As a consequence of this sometimes unpredictable climate, this second application of 'hold off' is one that you may hear a lot if you spend some time here as it means 'to not happen as expected' and is typically used to refer to weather. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Rain Storm Snow Wind Fog You can see from the list of nouns above that this application of 'hold off' is reserved for types of weather that are generally unpopular with many people. Typically, we use 'hold off' when we have plans to do something or to go somewhere outside, which bad weather would ruin or cancel. If you are in the UK or somewhere else with changeable weather, or if bad weather is forecast or probable, you might use 'hold off' to say that the expected bad weather did not happen in the end. Oftentimes, we can use this application to express when the bad weather did arrive but not until after the point at which it was expected, meaning that you were able to do your outdoor activity. Lastly, we can also use it to express wishes and desires that any bad weather that has been forecast will stay away until a later date or after your planned activity. The rain held off until after the wedding ceremony, so we were able to stay outside. I hope the snow holds off until I get home. The storm held off long enough for us to finish the game. Luckily, the heavy winds held off during the parade and everything went well. If the fog holds off for a few more hours, our flight should leave on time. British people love to talk about (or moan about) the weather, so if you are ever in the UK and you use this one, you will fit in just like a local 😀 MEANING 3: To successfully resist someone Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To deter, to hold back, to fend off Separable? Yes Our third and final application of 'hold off' means 'to successfully resist someone' and has a couple of distinct uses. When I think of this application of 'hold off', the first idea that comes to mind is the idea of resisting an attack of some sort (and actually this is probably the rarest in terms of real life application). The idea here is that if someone attacks you, particularly if you are trying to defend somewhere that they are trying to get to, you hold them off if you resist their attack. In other words, you stop them from defeating you, in many cases so that they are unable to move past you. Of course, this application does not have to be used just with a physical attack as we can use 'hold off' in this way to describe any time that we resist or attack someone or something and delay or prevent them from achieving their goal. This may be an athlete in a race who manages to stay in front of another runner who is accelerating hard to move past them, it may be blocking a dog's path to stop it from attacking another dog or it may even be something like stopping a fire from spreading to another place. Here are some more examples for you.... The soldiers managed to hold off the enemy until reinforcements arrived. Lucy held off her opponent with a series of quick moves. The salesman tried to convince me to sign the contract, but I held him off until I had more time to think. The firefighters held off the flames until backup units reached the scene. Lastly, we can also use this application for situations in which you need to keep someone at a distance from you or to stop them from approaching you or going somewhere. In some of these cases, the phrasal verb 'hold back' could also be a good synonym for this. The police used barriers to hold off the crowd. Louise held off the reporters who were trying to get too close. The security guards managed to hold off the fans until the singer had left the building. If you see Malcolm approaching me at the party, can you try and hold him off and stop him from speaking to me. I can't forgive him for what he did! Photo: Pexels So there we have it; three distinct ways to use the phrasal verb 'hold off'! Firstly, the idea of delaying doing something until a later, secondly the idea of bad weather staying away and (literally) not raining on your parade and lastly, the idea of resisting someone and physically stopping them achieving a goal. 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 'hold off'. 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 'hold off'. 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 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. 'Put up' is a common phrasal verb in English that is used in many different areas of life, ranging from things as diverse as construction to resistance. It has a broad variety of different uses, many of which are used for quite specific situations and I will do my best to cover all of these in this post. Please like and share the post if you find the article useful (I won't know otherwise)! Also, feel free to leave a comment at the end with your own sentence featuring 'put up' 😊 TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Put Up - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'put' and 'up' Put Up - Meaning 1: Literal Put Up - Meaning 2: To construct something Put Up - Meaning 3: To place something on display Put Up - Meaning 4: To tolerate Put Up - Meaning 5: To provide money (for financial support) Put Up - Meaning 6: To make something available for sale Put Up - Meaning 7: To propose someone for election Put Up - Meaning 8: To accommodate someone temporarily Put Up - Meaning 9: To resist something Put Up - Meaning 10: To increase a price Put Up - Bonus: Some common expressions with 'put 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 PUT UP: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 10 Past tense forms Put up / Put up Separable? Sometimes Before we look at the different phrasal verb meanings of 'put up', let's break down its component words to see if they can offer us any clues to the phrasal verb meanings that we will look at shortly. Firstly we have 'to put', which is certainly one of the favourite verbs of English native speakers as it is in frequent use in everyday English. The general idea behind it it is to move or place something into a position, but it does also have other meanings, such as causing emotions or states to change and expressing something with words. The prepositional particle 'up' is one that features in many phrasal verb constructions and is generally used to refer to movement to a higher place or position. Furthermore, it can also be used for increases in numbers, rates and percentages etc. Now we have covered the basics, let's dive into the different phrasal verb meanings.... MEANING 1: Literal Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Separable? Yes Before we look at the idiomatic meanings of 'put up', I want to begin with the literal meaning, which you may well be aware of. When we combine 'put' and 'up' in the literal sense, we are talking about placing something in a position that we perceive to be in a higher position than us e.g. a high shelf or a storage space near the ceiling. Moreover, this is used when there is a movement upwards and into a space, such as the little boy in the picture who has put his finger up his nose. I've had to put the ball of string up on the top shelf to stop the cats playing with it. John discretely tried to put his finger up his nose but to no avail as all of his colleagues saw him. MEANING 2: To construct something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate ​Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To construct, to erect Separable? Yes If you are familiar with a certain well-known Joni Mitchell song, you will know the lyrics " they paved paradise and put up a parking lot " and the usage of 'put up' here is our second meaning, which is 'to construct something, so that it is in an erect or an upright position'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Building Wall Tent Fence This is commonly used with nouns such as buildings and walls, for which there is a building process and at the end of it there is an upright standing structure. This application is for both permanent and temporary structures and thus can also be used with other nouns such as tents, barriers and police cordons. Additionally, we can use it for imaginary walls and barriers, such as emotional walls that people 'put up' to stop themselves being emotionally hurt. Grammatically, this form of 'put up' takes a direct object and can therefore be separated, although we tend to place the object at the end a bit more, however placing the object between 'put' and 'up' is fine to do and not wrong. They demolished the old church and put up an apartment block in its place. We managed to put the tent up in less than 20 minutes! Police have put up a cordon around the crime scene whilst the investigation takes place. Lisa put up an emotional wall after her divorce to avoid getting hurt like that again. MEANING 3: To place something on display Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To hang up Separable? Yes The third meaning of 'put up' is to place something somewhere so that is it on display for people to see. This is normally used with things that are hung on walls such as pictures, posters, notices or mirrors. However, it can also be used for signs, cameras and anything that can be placed in a suspended position above the ground. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Picture Poster Advert Mirror Notice Sign The idea behind this meaning is to put something in a position where it is visible to people. Logically this would need to be somewhere high for optimised visibility, which is why the particle 'up' is required. Notably, this application is also used for decorations, in particular party decorations and Christmas decorations and lights, as these are normally suspended. Strangely, we do also use this for a Christmas tree, even though it is placed on the ground and not suspended from anything. On a grammatical note, this usage of 'put up' is separable and takes a direct object, which is the item that is suspended. One extra thing to note here is that the opposite of 'to put' in phrasal verb constructions is often the verb 'to take' and therefore the phrasal verb to express the opposite action of this meaning of 'put up' is 'take down' and not 'put down'. The local council have put up a network of CCTV cameras around the city to improve public safety. Our cat went missing a week ago. We've put posters up all over the neighbourhood and are hoping that someone finds him soon. We put up our Christmas decorations on 12th December every year and take them down again on 6th January. MEANING 4: To tolerate Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To tolerate, to bear, to endure, to cope with Separable? No This fourth meaning of 'put up' is a really common one that you may already be familiar with and means 'to tolerate'. For this usage we require the additional preposition ' with '. If you 'put up with something', you accept and live with a situation that you do not like, you do not agree with or is not ideal. It is in regular use in English, especially in spoken English, and is more commonly used and informal than its synonym 'to tolerate'. On a grammatical note, you cannot separate this usage of 'put up' and the indirect object always has to come after the word ' with '. If the direct object is a verb action, it needs to be in the gerund ('ing) form. I don't think I can put up with this for much longer! Lisa only puts up with Roger's snoring because she loves him. Nobody should have to put up with being bullied at work. MEANING 5: To provide money (as financial support) Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To finance, to bankroll Separable? Yes Our fifth meaning of 'put up' is to provide money in order to support someone or something financially. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Money Cash Funds Capital If you propose to 'put up money' for something, you are essentially offering to provide the finance for something, such as a project, a business startup or an event in order to make it possible. As you can imagine, this application is used a lot in the world of finance and investment as companies and trust funds are often looking for investors to put up funds in order for them to grow and expand. Aside from the finance sector however, this usage of 'put up' can also be used to describe any time a business or a person is provided with the money to undertake a project of venture. It is not really used for personal lending or borrowing for non-business purposes though, as the words 'lend' or 'loan' would normally be used more naturally here. The company is doing so well that it is now looking for investors who are willing to put up the capital to enable it to expand into overseas markets. We have asked the bank to put up the money and we are waiting for their decision. Helen's rich grandfather put up the money for her to buy a new premises for her shop. MEANING 6: To make something available for sale Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To put on the market, to sell Separable? Yes Meaning number six of 'put up' is 'to place something onto the market in order to be sold'. Here, the additional words 'for sale' are normally used. You may already be familiar with the expression 'to put something on the market' and this form with 'put up' is a synonym of this. The most common example of this that you are likely to hear is with houses as when someone decides to sell their house, they put it up for sale. It can equally be used to talk about placing anything on the market to be sold though. Another variation of 'put up for sale' is 'to put something up for auction', i.e. when you decide to sell something via a public sale to the highest bidder. A further possibility here is 'to put something up for rent', when you decide to rent it out, normally on a long term basis, rather than sell something. After a long period of deliberation, we have decided to put our house up for sale. The apartment was put up for rent by the new owners not long after they had completed the purchase. I've sorted out all of my old clothes and put the best ones up for sale. MEANING 7: To propose someone for election Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To nominate, to put forward Separable? Yes The seventh meaning of 'put up' is one that you often hear around the time of a political election as it means 'to propose a candidate for election'. This is used when a political party has decided the person who will represent them in the election and they would say that they "are putting up this candidate for election", therefore formally naming the person that they have chosen. Another similar usage to this, albeit in a very different area of life, is used when parents decide that, for whatever reason, they cannot look after their child and so opt to put it up for adoption. I guess we use 'put up' in this sense as by doing so, the child is being made available to the public so that the most suitable people can adopt and take care of it. The Green Party have announced the candidate that they are putting up for election in this constituency. My parents put me up for adoption when I was a baby, so I have no memory of them. MEANING 8: To accommodate someone temporarily Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To accommodate Separable? Yes The eighth meaning of 'put up' is to accommodate another person in your house on a temporary basis. This is normally used when a friend or a member of your family finds themselves in a situation where they have nowhere to live or stay and so they stay at your house temporarily. In other words, if you put someone up, you provide them with a place to sleep for a short period of time. Grammatically, this application of 'put up' is only used in a separable way with the person who is temporarily staying at the other person's house always going between 'put' and 'up'. Moreover, this usage of 'put up' is used equally commonly in both an active and a passive way, depending on if the person speaking is the person staying at the other's house (passive) or is the person who is letting their friend sleep at theirs (active). I am having a new kitchen fitted at my house, so my brother is putting me up for a couple of nights whilst the work is carried out . My brother is having a new kitchen fitted, so we are temporarily putting him up until it is completed. Can you put me up for a few days until I make up with my wife? MEANING 9: To resist something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level ​B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To resist Separable? No For the ninth meaning of 'put up', we are thinking about the idea of resistance as here we often combine 'put up' with nouns such 'fight' or 'resistance' to give the idea that something is opposed, fought or resisted in some way. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Fight Resistance Struggle With this usage, we do not tend to separate the words 'put' and 'up' and place the appropriate noun after the phrasal verb. There is no way that the local residents are going to accept this without putting up a fight. The army put up little resistance when the neighbouring countries' troops invaded. MEANING 10: To increase a price Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To increase, to raise, to hike Separable? Yes Our final meaning of 'put up' is more of a British usage that unfortunately has been used a lot over the last few years and that is 'to increase a price'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Prices Costs Rates Charges For this usage, we are talking specifically about when a decision is made by a company or a business to increase prices, rather than prices increasing in general. In fact, normally companies are forced to put up their prices due to a rise in general prices such as wholesale and overhead costs. This usage is separable and is fine to use in both a separable and inseparable way, without affecting the meaning. Due to an increase in our overheads, we have had to put up our prices to ensure that we still make a profit. We are putting up our prices on 1st January, so please check out our website in the coming weeks as the new prices will be published on there. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Some common expressions with 'put up' Before we finish this post, I want to make you aware of some other expressions and specific uses that the phrasal verb 'put up' is featured in. Put up or shut up - This is an idiomatic expression that we use when we want to tell someone to either justify what they said, or else keep quiet. To put your hand up - This is something that is used very commonly in classrooms and, to a lesser extent, business meetings and other group activities and is simply when someone puts their hand in an elevated position above their head to signify that they know the answer to a question or want to speak. To put your hands up - The plural form is very different to the singular and is used to express when a person puts both hands in an elevated position in front of their face to show that they are surrendering. This is normally to the police when they are being arrested for a crime. Moreover, 'put your hands up' is also used in many modern pop songs in a different way as a call to start dancing or show appreciation. To put your feet up - This final expression means 'to sit down and relax' and is normally used after a period of hard work. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'put 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 'put 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 'work out' from a native speaker, with examples and exercises. 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 'work out' is a well known phrasal verb with a number of different meanings in English. I am sure that you will be familiar with at least some of them, especially as one or two have featured in popular songs in recent years. So, without further ado, let's take a look at them.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Work Out - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'work' and 'out' Work Out - Meaning 1: To do physical activity Work Out - Meaning 2: To find the answer to something Work Out - Meaning 3: To solve a mathematical sum Work Out - Meaning 4: To understand someone's character Work Out - Meaning 5: To plan something in detail Work Out - Meaning 6: To have a good result Work Out - Meaning 7: To work your notice I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS WORK OUT: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 7 Past tense forms Worked out / Worked out Separable? Sometimes Let's make a start by examining the constituent words of 'work out', as this can offer some understanding of the different phrasal verb meanings that it has. The verb 'to work' is a verb that I'm sure everybody will know as it is used multiple times by most English speakers daily and is a verb which is used with both love and hate in equal measure. 'To work' actually has a variety of different meanings in English, however the main two meanings are 'to engage in physical or mental activity in order to accomplish a job (often for financial reward)' and 'to function properly'. The prepositional particle 'out' is generally used to talk about movement away from an inside, enclosed or central place or space. In addition, 'out' has many other uses as a preposition, , adjective, adverb and even a verb, but behind many of its meanings there is an underlying idea of completion or conclusion, which is relevant for some of the meanings of 'work out' that we will cover shortly. So, now that we have covered the basics, let's take a look at the meanings of 'work out'.... MEANING 1: To do physical activity Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere ​Potential synonyms To do exercise Separable? No The first meaning of 'work out' that we will look at is probably the most well known of all of its different meanings and means 'to engage in physical activity'. Typically this is by doing some form of vigorous exercise such as going running, swimming a dance class and perhaps most commonly, training in the gym. Generally when we use 'work out' in this way, we are referring to doing solo activity rather than participating in a team sport. The general idea is that we complete a session of exercise, normally for the benefit of our health and well being. Grammatically, this meaning of 'work out' does not take a direct object and cannot be separated. As an alternative to the verb, it is worth noting that the noun 'workout' is used equally as much as the phrasal verb form, if not even more so. For this, the constructions 'to have a workout' or 'to do a workout' are normally used in the appropriate tense. I usually work out seven days a week and rarely have a rest day. John was working out in the gym when his wife called him to tell him that they had won the lottery. I've already done a workout today and don't intend to do another one. Lisa had such a stressful day at work and so decided to have a good workout in the gym to try and forget all about it. MEANING 2: To find the answer to something Photo: Wix Media CEFR Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms ​To figure out, to understand Separable? Yes Now for the second meaning of 'work out' and for this we are moving away from physical activity and focusing instead on mental activity as the meaning is 'to find the answer to something by using your brain'. This is the first in a series of meanings which are all to do with engaging in mental activity to in order to determine some information. For this second meaning, the idea is to undergo a mental process in order to find the answer to a question. As such, we do not use it to talk about answering questions that we already know the answer to as there is no process involved with this - we know the information already and can recall it. 'Work out' here is rather all about the mental activity required to arrive at an answer by using the available clues or information that we have. Typically, 'work out' can be used for for things like crossword clues, sudoku, riddles, puzzles and complex quiz questions. Furthermore, it also frequently used to talk about when people attempt to understand the reasons why something happens or has happened, e.g scientists conducting experiments to understand phenomena or emergency service employees attempting to understand how a car accident has happened. In all of these cases, someone is trying to find out the answer to something by using the clues or evidence that they have. Grammatically, this usage of 'work out' does take a direct object and is therefore separable. It is worth noting however that often instead of a direct object, we often rephrase the question that we are trying to answer as a statement (invert the verb and the object), e.g. 'how did the accident happen?' becomes 'work out how the accident happened'. Alternatively, we can just use the question word on its own. In these cases 'work' and 'out' cannot be separated. I've almost finished this crossword. I just can't work out this last clue!! For years, scientists have been trying to work out how to stop volcanoes erupting but are no closer to achieving their goal. The police have managed to work out that the murder suspect was in the area when the crime was committed but they do not have any evidence to convict her yet. My cat has been acting very strangely and nobody in the family can work out why. Helen was fascinated by the magician at the party and was not able to work out how he performed his illusions. MEANING 3: To solve a mathematical sum Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To calculate Separable? Yes The third meaning of 'work out' is a continuation of the theme of finding the answer to something and means specifically 'to solve a mathematical sum'. In other words, this meaning of 'work out' is to determine the numerical amount of something by using addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, or a combination of these. Again, in a similar fashion to the previous meaning, this also involves the process of calculation to arrive at the answer to something, this time a sum. In addition, we can also use 'work out' here to give the answer of a sum once the calculation process has ended. For this we use the construction 'works out at ...', with the additional preposition ' at ' required before the answer to the sum. We can also use the construction 'works out to be' here in some cases. The students were asked to work out some mathematical equations during the exam. What is 129 x 75? Can you work out the answer without using a calculator? I've looked at the costs for our family holiday this year and it it works out at just over £2000.00. Roger has started buying his groceries online as it works out to be $50 cheaper a week than when he goes to the supermarket. MEANING 4: To understand someone's character Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To figure out, to make out Separable? Yes Meaning number four of 'work out' is the third and final one to do with finding the answer to something and it means specifically 'to understand someone's character'. Unlike the previous two meanings, we often tend to use this version of 'work out' in negative sentences often with 'can't' when we are unable to understand someone's character. This is normally because they act in a strange way or exhibit some unconventional personality traits and we do not understand why they act and behave the way that they do. This meaning of 'work out' tends to be used in a negative way, especially if there is a romantic element involved. Aside from just one person, you can also use this application of 'work out' to talk about groups of people. Again, this would almost always be in the negative sense, with the idea being that it is impossible to understand them and we will never be able to. His behaviour is very erratic, I just can't work him out. Helen thought she had worked Roger out, but she quickly changed her mind when he Lisa's has never really had much success with romance. She just can't work men out. MEANING 5: To plan something in detail Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To thrash out, to plan Separable? Yes The fifth meaning of 'work out' is 'to plan something in detail' and this is a meaning that you are likely to come across in the business world if you need to use English in your job. For this meaning of 'work out', we are mainly concerned with plans, systems, procedures and processes as these are all things that require a process of mental work and time to complete. The idea here is that the thing that you are planning is complex and involves many details, so a lot of thought needs to be given to it in order to plan and create it effectively. 'Work out' in this sense can be used for just one person's efforts or a collaborative effort between different people. This form of 'work out' takes a direct object and is separable. The direct object is always the thing that you are planning. We sat down this morning to try and work out a contingency plan for an economic recession. When our first child was born we were completely disorganised and didn't know what to do but within a few days we had worked out a system between us of feeding the baby and making sure we both got enough sleep. Did you manage to work out a procedure for resolving invoice queries in a timely manner? MEANING 6: To have a good result Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To succeed Separable? No (only with the word 'itself') Our sixth meaning of 'work out' is 'to have a good result', or alternatively, 'to have the desired result'. For this meaning, as you can guess, we are entirely focused on the results of something and if we say that 'something worked out', then it means that the end result was good or was what we wanted it to be. This can be used across a broad spectrum of situations, from romantic relationships to the execution of plans. When 'work out' is used in this way, we often use additional collocational words such as 'in the end', 'for the best' and 'well'. On a grammatical note, this meaning of 'work out' does not take a direct object and is not normally separable. However, there is one instance where we can use it separably with the reflexive pronoun ' itself '. When we say that something 'works itself out', we mean that a complicated or undesired situation is resolved naturally with minimal intervention. We were worried that something would go wrong on our wedding day but thankfully everything worked out well! I was so certain that my business would go bankrupt but at the last minute an investor stepped in and everything worked out in the end. We had a really complicated legal issue at work last week but miraculously it worked itself out after a few days. MEANING 7: To work your notice Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced ​Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To work your notice Separable? Yes This seventh and final meaning of 'work out' is a rare meaning that is only used in very specific circumstances, but I wanted to make you aware of it nonetheless. The meaning of this seventh usage is 'to work your period of notice in a job after you have tendered your resignation'. In other words, when you decide to leave your job within a company, there is normally a period of notice that contractually must be worked before you can leave e.g. one month. We use 'work out' here to say that a person will 'work out their notice' and stay at the company until the time when they are permitted to leave. I'm leaving Phrasal Verbs Ltd and I am going to work out my notice as agreed with my manager. He left the company last week. He stormed out after an argument with a co-worker and is refusing to come back or work his notice period out. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'work 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 'work 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 'get back' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. The phrasal verb 'get back' is a commonplace phrasal verb in English, with several meanings, which we will cover in this post. You may also be familiar with it as it is the title of a hit song by the ultimate British music band, The Beatles. Read on to find out more about this useful phrasal verb and all the ways that you can use it effectively to communicate in English. So, without any further ado, let's make a start... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Get Back - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'get' and 'back' Get Back - Meaning 1: To return to a place Get Back - Bonus: Get back here! Get Back - Meaning 2: To return to a previous state Get Back - Meaning 3: To return to a subject Get Back - Meaning 4: To have something again Get Back - Meaning 5: To take revenge on someone Get Back - Meaning 6: To respond to someone with information Get Back - Bonus: 'Get back!' used as an imperative Get Back - Bonus: Some music featuring 'get back' to finish I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS GET BACK: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 6 Past tense forms Got back / Got back - gotten back Separable? Sometimes As is customary, let's start by taking a look at the component words that make up our phrasal verb of choice, as these often give valuable clues to their meanings. Firstly, we have the verb 'to get', which as I have stated before is perhaps the most beloved of verbs by English speakers because it can be used in so many ways (however, this also makes it a nightmare for English learners!). To make it simpler for the purposes of this post, the meaning of 'to get' that is relevant for the phrasal verb 'get back' is the meaning 'to arrive'. The preposition 'back' is a frequently used word in English, although it is perhaps not one of the most common prepositions used in phrasal verb constructions. Luckily, 'back' has relatively few meanings compared with most other prepositions and the general idea of it is 'to return'. So, now we have covered the basics, let's move on to the meanings of 'get back'.... MEANING 1: To return to a place Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary ​Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To return, to get in, to get home Separable? No The first three meanings of 'get back' that we will look at are all about 'returning' in some way and this first meaning is 'to return to a place', after having been somewhere else. This meaning is taken directly from the meaning of 'to get' as in 'to arrive', in combination with the idea of 'returning' that we get from the preposition 'back'. One of the most common ways that this is used is to describe when we return home. This could be after a quick trip to the shop, a day at work or a two-week holiday. The general idea is that we use 'get back' to describe the moment that we arrive at home. Aside from home, we can use 'get back' to talk about the moment that we return to a place after leaving it for a period of time. Due to the nature of this, we tend to use it mainly for places in which we habitually spend a lot of time e.g. work, however we can use it for a starting point for a small journey or trip of some kind too. On a grammatical level, this form of 'get back' is not separable and does not take a direct object. The extra preposition ' to ' is required to specify the place that you are returning to, except for with the noun 'home' as we do not use ' to ' with this noun. I went to the Ed Sheeran concert last night and I didn't get back until 2am. I am so tired! Our flight home later has been delayed so we won't get back to the UK now until midday. The first team to get back to the starting point will win the orienteering competition. John's doctor's appointment was only supposed to be 10 minutes but he was gone for more than an hour and didn't get back to work until 4pm. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Get back here! If we want a person to return from somewhere, it is very normal in everyday English to use 'get back here!' as an imperative to demand that they come back from where they are. This could be when the person is physically and geographically in a different place, however it is often heard by parents with young children and dog owners who shout 'get back here!' to their children or dogs who have run away from them but are still visible or in hearing distance. Sometimes, we also add the word 'now' for extra impact! MEANING 2: To return to a previous state Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To return, to go back Separable? No For this second meaning of 'get back', we are staying with the general theme of 'returning' but rather than returning to a physical place, we are instead talking about returning to a previous state of being or existence. I would definitely say that the most frequent usage of this application of 'get back' is to talk about the general situation in our daily lives. When things in our lives change and we no longer have the normality that we previously did, we can say that we want things 'to get back to normal'. Or, when normality resumes, we can instead say 'things have got back to normal'. A prime example of when this usage of 'get back' was said all the time was during the Covid-19 pandemic and thankfully things have got back to normal now 😀 In addition to 'get back to normal', some other similar expressions that you may hear are 'get back to how things were' and 'get back to before'. Furthermore, we don't just use 'get back' in this way to talk about a return to normality; we can use it to talk about a return to previous conditions and previous levels e.g. in the economic or scientific fields. I really hate the end of year holidays! I can't wait for things to get back to normal after the new year. It took a while but family life has finally got back to how it was before. Scientists think that it may take many years for carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere to get back to pre-industrial levels. MEANING 3: To return to a subject Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To return Separable? No The third meaning of 'get back' is another variation on the theme of 'returning' and this time means 'to return to a subject or topic'. This is often used during a conversation or discussion when the subject of the conversation goes off topic, or in other words moves away from the original subject. Somebody usually then says that we need 'to get back to the subject or matter' that was originally meant to be discussed. Guys, can we please get back to the subject in question. I have another meeting shortly. I had a lovely chat with the careers advisor about my future career plans, although at one point we did go off topic and started talking about food but we soon got back to the topic. MEANING 4: To have something again Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To retrieve, to return, to have back Separable? Yes The fourth meaning of 'get back' is 'to have something again', meaning that you are in possession of something again after a period of not being in possession of it. Again, this usage of 'get back' carries the same central idea of 'returning' as the idea here is that something is returned to you, so that you have it once again. Usually, this application is used for physical items such as a car or a book, but it can also be used for anything that we possess and that is ours, whether that be a skill that we lost and gained again, a relative who was away for some time and returned or a feeling such as confidence, that we temporarily lost and regained. Unlike the first three meanings in the post, this usage of 'get back' does take a direct object and is separable. Although, it is possible to place the direct object after 'get back', I would recommend putting it between 'get' and 'back' as it sounds much more natural. My car has been at the garage all day and I am waiting for them to call me to let me know when I can get it back. John's luggage got left in the airport when we was coming home from his holiday and it took almost one week for him to get it back. I need to get my cellphone back from my friend who borrowed it an hour ago! My disease is finally cured and I am grateful to have got my health back! MEANING 5: To take revenge on someone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To avenge, to exact revenge on Separable? Yes Meaning number five of 'get back' is to take revenge on someone or to do something harmful to them because they have wronged you in some way. In other words, if you 'get someone back' for something, you are trying to hurt them in such a way that is equal to (or perhaps worse than) how they hurt you. This usage of 'get back' is different from the previous ones that we have looked at in this post so far because the idea of 'returning' is not the central idea. The main idea of this usage of 'get back' is rather linked to a different, informal meaning of the verb 'to get', which is to catch someone and punish or hurt them in some way. This is a meaning of 'to get' that people often use in a playful way e.g. when playing with and chasing children, however it can be very serious and threatening in tone when used among adults. Grammatically, this usage of 'get back' takes a direct object, which always goes between 'get' and 'back'. There is also a second variation of this usage of 'get back' that you should know, which is 'to get back at someone'. This carries the same meaning as the first variation, however often with this one we need to specify why we want to take revenge and for this the additional preposition ' for ' is required. For British English enthusiasts, we also have the variant 'to get your own back on someone', which again means the same thing ands is in common usage. Oh I am going to get you back for this! I played a practical joke on my best friend and embarrassed him in front of all our other friends and he has been trying to get me back for it ever since. In an attempt to get back at his neighbour for playing loud music all night, John started doing some loud drilling work early the next work. MEANING 6 : To respond to someone with information Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To come back, to respond, to let someone know Separable? No The sixth and final meaning of 'get back' is 'to respond to someone with information or an answer to a question'. This is a commonly used application of this phrasal verb, especially in business English. With this meaning, we are back to the idea of 'returning' again, as the idea here is that when someone asks you for information that you do not have, you need to go away and return once you have the information in question. Alternatively, this could be used if you have not decided something and you need some more time to make your decision. For this usage, the construction is 'to get back to someone' and we therefore require the extra prepositional particle ' to '. The representative at the water company is going to get back to me with an explanation of why my water bill is so high. I'm not about that to be honest. Can I go away and check with our accounts team and get back to you? They finally got back to me to let me know that they couldn't attend the wedding. Photo: Pexels BONUS: 'Get back!' used as an imperative You may remember earlier in the post, I mentioned about using 'get back here' as an imperative to request that someone returns to where you are. There is another way that 'get back' is used as an imperative and that is simply 'get back!', which is normally used a demand to people to move backwards or away from something that is potentially dangerous or hazardous. As a consequence, this is likely to be said by people in the emergency services such as police officers and firefighters. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Some music featuring 'get back' to finish Before I finish the post, for anyone is interested, here is a link to the track 'Get Back' by The Beatles...can you tell which meaning of 'get back' they are using in the song? 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 back'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'get back'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'blow up' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. The English phrasal verb 'blow up' is one that many of you may be familiar with as it has some very commonly used meanings. However, did you know that there are in fact at least eight ways that English native speakers use 'blow up', two of which are extremely new additions to the language. In this post, we will look at all eight of these meanings as well as a nice idiom that you can use to impress your fellow English learners. So, without further ado, let's get started.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Blow Up - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'blow' and 'up' Blow Up - Meaning 1: To explode Blow Up - Meaning 2: To inflate Blow Up - Meaning 3: To lose your temper Blow Up - Meaning 4: To enlarge Blow Up - Meaning 5: To become stormy or windy Blow Up - Bonus: Political scandals Blow Up - Meaning 6: To exaggerate Blow Up - Meaning 7: To inundate with calls and messages 🇺🇸 Blow Up - Meaning 8: To go viral Blow Up - The idiom 'to blow up in someone's face ' I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS BLOW UP: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 8 Past tense forms Blew up / Blown up Separable? Yes As per usual, let's start by taking a look at the component words that make up our phrasal verb of choice, as these often can often provide valuable clues to its meanings. The verb 'to blow' is a fairly common verb in English that is primarily used to talk about the movement of air. It does however have some other uses in English, such as to describe a violent outburst of activity or an electrical fuse that stops working due to a too much electrical current. Additionally, 'to blow' also has a number of unrelated informal meanings and uses in English. The prepositional particle 'up' is one of the most commonly used prepositions in phrasal verb constructions and is used to refer to a higher place, level or value, often in relation to the speaker. Moreover, used as an adverb, it is generally used to describe movement towards a higher place or level. So, now we have covered the basics, let's take a look at the meanings of the phrasal verb 'blow up'.... MEANING 1: To explode Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To explode, to destroy, to be destroyed Separable? Sometimes We are going to start the meanings of 'blow up' with a bang, or perhaps more aptly an explosion, as this first meaning is 'to explode'. This is most commonly used with nouns such as bombs, buildings, cars and engines, but it can be used with anything that could potentially explode. As you can probably imagine, when something explodes it is normally with a lot of power or force and usually the item that 'blows up' is almost always destroyed in the process. As a consequence of this, we have also come to use 'blow up' to describe something that has been destroyed due to an explosion. A bomb blew up in the centre of the city but luckily nobody was injured or killed. If this canister blows up, we will be seriously injured! A supernova is the name used to describe when a star blows up. Now we are not quite finished with this meaning of 'blow up', as there is another variation that you should be aware of. So far, we have considered 'blow up' from the aspect that something explodes without any human intervention, however we also have the variation 'to blow something up' when a person intentionally makes something explode in some way. This 'intentional' form of 'blow up' takes a direct object, which can either go between 'blow' and 'up' or after them. When talking about the destructive results of an explosion that a person has caused, we tend to use the passive form 'blown up' to describe the destroyed or damaged object. Sadly, this could also be used to talk about a person who is killed by an explosion, but this is a happy, positive blog, so let's move on quickly from that.. Scientists at NASA are working on plans to blow up any life threatening asteroids which may hit the Earth. On the 5th November every year in the UK we celebrate Guy Fawkes night, which commemorates the failed attempt by Guy Fawkes to blow up the houses of parliament in London in the year 1605. The monument was accidentally blown up by the government last year and is now in ruins. MEANING 2: To inflate Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere ​Potential synonyms To inflate Separable? Yes The second meaning of 'blow up' is directly linked to the air movement that characterises the verb 'to blow', as it means 'to inflate', or in other words to fill something with gas or air. Typical nouns that we use with this application of 'blow up' are balloons, tyres, airbeds, inflatables for swimming pools and sports balls. Essentially, it used for anything that we fill with air or gas, normally to make it function. Grammatically, this form of 'blow up' takes a direct object and is separable, with the direct object going either between 'blow' and 'up' or after them. Lisa felt tired and breathless after blowing up 50 balloons for her birthday party. This airbed is not fully inflated, it needs blowing up a bit more, otherwise I will not be able to sleep on it. My Dad forgot to bring the foot pump to the beach today, so I had to blow up the dinghy myself and it took so long. MEANING 3: To lose your temper Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced ​Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To lose your temper, to lose it, to go off Separable? Yes The next meaning of 'blow up' is to lose your temper and become very angry, normally in a sudden or quick manner (a little like an explosion). This is a relatively informal usage of 'blow up', but nevertheless it is one that is used fairly commonly among native speakers. It is worth noting that if we want to specify the person to whom the anger is directed, then we require the additional preposition ' at '. As such, 'to blow up at someone' is a common expression that native speakers use for to describe these angry outbursts and to say to whom the anger was directed. My husband is normally a very calm and composed man but he does sometimes blow up if something irritates him. My teacher blew up at me in the classroom today for no reason at all! I think she was having a bad day. MEANING 4: To enlarge Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level ​B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To enlarge, to magnify Separable? Yes The fourth meaning of 'blow up' is to enlarge something (make it bigger), in order to be able to see it more clearly or in more detail. Most commonly, this application of 'blow up' is used in relation to photos and text, where the details are not always visible at the standard size. We can also use the past particle 'blown up' as an adjective here, to describe a photo or text that has been enlarged or magnified. Again, this is a transitive usage, so you can insert the direct object between 'blow' and 'up'. I can't read the writing on this document very well. Is there any way that we can blow it up? At normal size the picture does not seem very interesting but when you blow it up, some very curious details are revealed. The police are examining a blown up image of the crowd at the football game to see if they can identify the hooligans who caused the trouble. MEANING 5: To become stormy or windy Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To get windy Separable? No The fifth meaning of 'blow up' that we will look at in this post is to 'become windy or stormy'. This is typically used when we know that a storm or period of windy weather is going to develop very soon, or is even beginning to develop in the present. However, we can also use it to refer to the past when talking about a time when a storm or windy weather was starting. As standard, we would normally say that "a wind or a storm blows up". There is however a second possible variation, which is more common in American English and this is 'to blow up a storm" or "to blow up a gale*". This second variation means the same thing. On a grammatical note, unlike the other meaning that we have considered so far, this usage of 'blow up' is not separable and it does not take a direct object. Come on guys, I think we should go home now as there is a storm blowing up and I think it will be a strong one. It was a calm, sunny morning and I was getting on with my work on the farm when suddenly a strong wind blew up, which was then shortly followed by heavy rain. * The noun 'gale' is a term for a very strong gust of wind. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Political scandals In addition to weather storms, it should be noted that we also use this meaning of 'blow up' to talk about scandals and political storms that become public and well-known. A political storm blew up last week in the UK when politicians were accused of wasting taxpayers' money. MEANING 6: To exaggerate CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To exaggerate Separable? Yes The sixth meaning of 'blow up' is one that I am sure that most people have done at some point in their lives and that is 'to exaggerate something'. If something is 'blown up', then it is made to sound bigger, more important or more serious than it really is. Sometimes, when we use 'blow up' in this way, we add some additional information such as the end result of the exaggeration and for this we can use the additional preposition ' into ' - see the examples below. Moreover, a commonly used phrase for this that you may come across is to 'blow things up out of (all) proportion', which essentially means to overreact to something and therefore make it seem more important or serious than it really is. This story about the politicians wasting taxpayers' money has been completely blown up. It involves maybe just one or two politicians and they haven't wasted too much money! The press completely blew the story up out of all proportion. It was so unnecessary! The violence last night in the city has been blown up into some kind of civil war. It really was not as bad as everyone is claiming! MEANING 7: To inundate with calls and messages Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Mainly American English Potential synonyms ​To inundate Separable? Yes This seventh meaning of 'blow up' is a very new addition to the English language and means to inundate someone with phone calls and messages. This usage of English first started being used around the beginning of the 21st century as mobile phones and the internet became widespread among many people in the USA, which is where this usage originated. If someone 'blows up' your phone, they are not making it explode, but rather they are sending you lots of messages and / or calling you repeatedly. It is not just limited to phones though as it can be used to describe excessive communication attempts with any communication device. As you can imagine, due to its recent introduction into English, this usage is mainly used by young people and from my perspective still seems and sounds very American, although that will probably change as time passes. My boss has been blowing up my phone all morning because I haven't gone to work today. Helen's friends have been blowing up her phone all morning since she announced that she and Roger are going to get married. MEANING 8: To go viral Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To go viral Separable? No This eighth and final meaning of 'blow up' is another one that has come into existence in the modern internet era and it means 'to go viral online'. If something 'blows up the internet', it goes viral, meaning that it spreads quickly and widely among internet users, normally via social media and is therefore seen and reacted to by a large number of people. Another slight variation of this is 'to blow up on the internet', which essentially means the same thing. This new story about Taylor Swift has blown up the internet this week. I really want my social media posts to go viral and blow up on the internet someday. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The idiom 'to blow up in someone's face' I know this idiom sounds quite violent and painful but thankfully it does not imply any real physical danger. If something blows up in someone's face, it means that something goes wrong, such as a plan or some action that is being undertaken, and this then harms or creates a problem for the person who is carrying out the action or plan. John was so desperate to get a pay rise at work that he agreed to take on more hours but it blew up in his face when he became sick from exhaustion and had to leave the company. 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 'blow 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 'blow 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