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

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'come 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. 'Come up' is a key phrasal verb for you to know and be able to use as it has a variety of different meanings, which are used in many different areas of life. In this post we will cover all of these different meanings, from some that are very common to some which are used only rarely and in very specific circumstances. So, without further ado, let's get started.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Come Up - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'come' and 'up' Come Up - Meaning 1: Literal Come Up - Meaning 2: To be mentioned in a conversation Come Up - Meaning 3: To occur Come Up - Meaning 4: To approach Come Up - Meaning 5: To appear Come Up - Meaning 6: To become available Come Up - Meaning 7: To become brighter after cleaning Come Up - Meaning 8: To be heard in a court of law Come Up - Meaning 9: To think of something Come Up - Bonus: Common expressions featuring 'come 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 COME UP: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 9 Past tense forms Came up / Come up Separable? No The verb 'to come' is one of the most common verbs in English and is mainly used as a verb of motion, specifically to indicate when someone or something moves towards where the speaker is. It is also used in a wide number of different idioms and phrasal verb constructions, many of which are featured elsewhere on this blog. Then we have the prepositional particle 'up', which is used to talk about movement in the direction away from the ground, towards the sky or to a higher place in relation to the speaker. So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the reason why you are here: the different meanings of 'come up'.... MEANING 1: Literal meaning Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A1 - Beginner Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To walk up The first meaning of 'come up' is a nice and simple one as it is just the literal meaning of the two words 'come' and 'up' combined, in other words when something or someone moves in an upwards direction to where you (the speaker) are. Due to the spatial element of this usage, its usage is limited to only a few situations and these mainly when talking about stairs and buildings. Come up and see me, my apartment is on the fifth floor. When you come up to bed, can you please bring me a glass of water. ARE YOU COMING UP THIS WEEKEND? In informal British English it is common to use both 'come up' and 'come down' to talk about when someone travels from where they live to a different place, often to visit and stay with someone else. Moreover, this is normally when the person has to travel a relatively long distance. There seems to be no set rule regarding whether or not we use 'up' or 'down' but I think that we tend to use 'up' more when the travel is in a northwards direction and 'down' when the travel is in a southwards direction (please note though that many people do not know their geography that well, so I would not pay too much attention to whether they use 'up' or 'down'). I am so excited as my son is coming up from London this weekend with his new girlfriend. When are you next coming up to Scotland? It's been ages since you last came up to visit us! MEANING 2: To be mentioned in a conversation Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To be mentioned, to bring up The second meaning of 'come up' is to be mentioned, talked about or discussed in a conversation. If something 'comes up' during a conversation, it is generally not the main topic of the conversation but it is mentioned at some point during it. If you have read my post about the phrasal verb 'bring up' (link here ), then you may remember that it has a very similar meaning to 'come up' here. They are indeed very close in meaning, but the difference is that when we use 'bring up', there is an element of intention behind it, i.e. someone wants to introduce the topic into a conversation and consequently there is some focus on the person who brings the subject up too. With 'come up', however, there is no element of intention and we are not focused on who introduces the topic - we just use it to say that the subject became a topic of conversation. You may have also heard the expression 'to come up in conversation' before and this is a common way of expressing that something was talked about. Note that in this expression we omit the indefinite article 'a' as it is not required for this expression. Thankfully, the topic of the recent family scandal did not come up during my conversation with my relatives. A: Did anyone mention the reporting issues in the meeting earlier? B: Yeah, it came up. It came up in conversation with your husband that you have recently got a new job. Congratulations! MEANING 3: To occur Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To happen, to occur, to crop up Meaning number three of 'come up' is 'to occur' or 'to happen' and is normally used to describe an unexpected problem or issue. Due to the unplanned nature of the problem, it usually then either prevents us from doing something that we had planned to do or it creates problems for us to do the thing that we had planned, such as making us late. This is a really good one to use when you want to avoid doing something that you do not want to do (and many native speakers do use it a lot). The reason for this is that 'come up' is somewhat vague and non-specific in nature and it simply conveys the idea that there is a problem, without going into details. Of course, some people do then continue to explain what the problem is, however by using 'come up' in this way you do not have to and people understand that it may be something private and so do not normally ask too many questions. For this one, it is usual to use it with the word 'something'. Something's come up and I am not going to be able to make it to dinner, I'm afraid. John and Helen were supposed to come here last night but something came up unexpectedly and they are now not going to arrive until later today. MEANING 4: To approach Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To approach, to come around (time) The fourth meaning of 'come up' is 'to approach someone or something' and can be used to describe when a physical object or person moves towards you or also to describe when a future point in time gets closer. This meaning is closely linked to the meaning of the verb 'to come' and there are moments when 'come' and 'come up' can be used interchangeably to describe a movement towards something, however while we use 'come' to talk about a general movement towards the speaker, we use 'come up' more when the movement is in its final stages and the person or thing is very close or next to the speaker. It is often therefore used when a person approaches another person in order to speak or interact with them in some way. As mentioned above, we also use 'come up' with time, to describe something in the near future which is getting closer to the present. Depending on the speaker's perspective, this can be seconds, minutes, hours, days or even weeks into the future but regardless of the time unit involved, the idea is that something is getting closer and will happen soon. If you ever watch English language television shows or listen to radio shows, you may have heard the presenters talking about what is 'coming up' in the show and this is the standard way of telling the audience what will feature in that particular episode. On a grammatical level, when using 'come up' with time, we tend to use it in the progressive or continuous ('ing) form. It is also worth noting that there is an adjective that has been derived from this usage of 'come up' with time: 'upcoming' and if something is 'upcoming' then it means that it will happen very soon or in the near future. When talking about physical movement, we can use both continuous and simple verb forms. I was at the train station and a stranger came up to me and asked if I was single! Coming up on the left hand side there is the Tower of London. We are coming up to my stop now, so I need to get off the bus. The school holidays are coming up and all of the children are getting excited. MEANING 5: To appear CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To rise, to appear The fifth meaning of 'come up' is to appear or to become visible, however we tend to use it in only a couple of different situations. The first main situation that we use it in, which you can probably guess from the gif in this section, is for the sun, or to be precise, the sunrise. When the sun rises it comes up from the horizon and is visible (ok, not always visible in the UK but is there behind the clouds 😜 ) and then at the end of the day when it disappears from sight, it 'goes down'. The second situation in which you are likely to come across 'come up' in the sense of appearing, is on a computer screen or a smartphone. Like with the second meaning, this is very similar to the phrasal verb ' bring up ' and similarly here, if something comes up on your screen, it normally appears without you intending it to appear. As such, this is commonly found in use with nouns such as 'messages', 'pop-ups' and 'images'. I got up really early in order to watch the sun come up. When the sun comes up, all of the nocturnal creatures go to sleep. MEANING 6: To become available Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To turn up The sixth meaning of 'come up' means to become available and it is used particularly when we are searching for something such as a new job or a new house. During this searching process, if something suitable becomes available, we often say that it 'comes up'. If you have read my post on the phrasal verb 'turn up' (link here ), you may remember that this also has the same meaning and these two are in fact synonyms of each other. I have been looking for a new job for weeks now and nothing is suitable! Something had better come up soon. We were waiting for a 3-bedroom house in our town for a long time, so when one finally came up, we made sure that we submitted an application quickly. MEANING 7: To be heard in a court of law Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To be heard The seventh meaning of 'come up' is quite a rare and situation-specific one as it means 'to be heard in a court of law'. In other words, this means that a the time comes for a meeting to be held in court to discuss a legal matter, typically after a waiting period. Due to the unpredictable and varied nature of court cases in the majority of legal systems in English speaking countries, there is normally a long wait for court hearings and cases to take place and the so when a court case finally is able to take place, we say that it 'comes up'. His court case comes up in a few weeks, so fingers crossed it will go well! When the case finally came up, the defendant had died. MEANING 8: To become brighter after cleaning Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To sparkle For those of you who enjoy cleaning, the eighth meaning of 'come up' is a really useful one for you, as it means 'to become brighter after cleaning or polishing'. We use this one particularly when we are talking about surfaces which are dull or dirty and which after a bit (or a lot) of cleaning become much brighter or cleaner and generally more visually appealing. As you can imagine, this one is used frequently in advertisements for cleaning products! For this usage, we often use an appropriate adverb after 'come up', such as beautifully or nicely to express just how clean the thing at the end. This tabletop will come up nicely after a bit of scrubbing! My car was so dirty but it came up beautifully after I took it to the expensive car wash. MEANING 9: To think of something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To think of, to create, to invent We now come to the ninth and final meaning of 'come up' that we will look at in this post and it means 'to think of or invent something'. This final usage is actually perhaps one of the most common of the uses in English, however I have left it until the end of the post as it requires the additional preposition ' with ' in order to make sense. If you 'come up with something', you conceive (think of) an idea, you make a suggestion or you find a solution to a problem. Regardless of what you come up with however, the general idea is that you invent something new in your brain, which is normally specific to a particular situation. I've come up with an amazing idea for a website and I think it is going to make me rich. Some of the administration team have come up with some suggestions of what we can do at the Christmas party this year. I wasn't sure how to entertain the kids when I was babysitting, so I came up with a new game for them which they loved. You need to come up with a solution to this problem by the end of the day! Photo: Pexels BONUS: Common expressions featuring 'come up' I appreciate that this is a really long post with a lot of information, so well done for reaching this far! Before I finish the post, I just wanted to make you aware of a couple of other uses of 'come up'.... To come up against something - We use this when we face a problem or a challenge when we are trying to do something. In other words, we face obstacles, which can slow us down or prevent us from carrying out a task. Furthermore, if the obstacle that we face makes our task impossible, we use the expression 'to come up against a brick wall'. The local government came up against a lot of resistance to the plans to build a shopping centre from local residents. We tried to overturn the government's decision but every time we did, we came up against a brick wall and so in the end we gave up . To come up with the goods - This informal British idiom is used to describe when someone does something that they are required to do or achieves the results that they are expected to. I didn't think that Roger would be able to complete the sales report by midday but he came up with the goods! Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'come 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 'come 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 'call in' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them. 'Call in' is a phrasal verb with a number of useful and applicable meanings in everyday English. In this post, I will look at these different meanings and uses, from paying someone a short visit, to not going to work due to illness, and I will explain how t use each meaning with the help of illustrative examples. So, without further ado, let's make a start.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Call In - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'call' and 'in' Call In - Meaning 1: To enlist someone's help Call In - Bonus: To call in a favour Call In - Meaning 2: To pay someone a short visit Call In - Meaning 3: To order to return Call In - Meaning 4: To request payment of a loan Call In - Meaning 5: To telephone a television show Call In - Bonus: To call in sick 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 CALL IN: KEY INFORMATION Usage Medium Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Called in / Called in 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 its meanings. Firstly, we have the verb 'to call', which is a verb with several distinct meanings, including giving someone or something a name, contacting someone by telephone, raising the volume of your voice to attract someone's attention and visiting someone. The latter three of these definitions are all useful for the phrasal verb meanings of 'call in' that we will look at shortly. In addition to 'call' we have the prepositional particle 'in', which you will all be very familiar with already, and which is primarily used to indicate being on the interior of something or within something. So, with that in mind, do you think you can guess any of the meanings of 'call in'? Read on to find out what they are.... MEANING 1: To enlist someone's help Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To enlist Separable? Yes We are going to start the meanings of 'call in' with one that is very useful if you ever have a problem that you are unable to resolve yourself and that is 'to enlist (ask for and get) someone's help with a problem or issue'. This meaning is quite a simple one to remember as we use it when we have a problematic situation or issue and in order to solve it we need to call someone, either on the phone or increasingly online these days, to come and resolve the issue for us. In other words, we are requesting that someone comes into the situation to help. An example of this would be if an electrical problem occurred at home and we needed a professional to come and repair it, so we 'call in' an electrician, who comes and fixes the issue for us. Moreover, this usage of 'call in' can also be found in the world of work and employment as it is also used by native speakers to describe when an employee is asked (or ordered) to come to work by management . This is often the case for people who work jobs that involve being on call, such as doctors and vets, however it can be used for anyone who receives a request to come into work, especially if they were not supposed to be working that day. It is also worth noting that it is common for the affected employees to talk about 'being called in' to work, in a passive sense. On a grammatical level, this usage is transitive and takes a direct object (e.g. the electrician) and it is possible to place the direct object either between 'call' and 'in' or after them, without changing the meaning at all. My boiler broke down last week and so I had to call in a technician who came and sorted it for me! The staff in the office building couldn't identify the strange and spooky noises in their building and decided to call the Ghostbusters in. Due to the emergency situation, we are calling in as many doctors and nurses as we can today to help out with the influx of patients. I'm so annoyed, I wanted to go to watch the football match this afternoon but I've been called into work as there is an issue with the IT system. Photo: Pexels BONUS: To call in a favour A commonly used expression that I want to make you aware of here is 'to call in a favour'. This expression is used when you ask someone to do something for you (a favour) because you did a favour for them in the past and they owe you one in return. The Prime Minister called in a favour with an influential businessman to gain support in the run-up to the general election. I leant my next-door neighbour my tools last month when they needed to do some DIY, so today when my lawnmower stopped working, I called in the favour and borrowed his. MEANING 2: To pay someone a short visit Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To drop by, to pop by, to pop in Separable? No The second meaning of 'call in' means 'to visit someone for a short period of time' and this is often used to talk about unorganised or uninvited visits to people's houses. Alternatively, it can also be used when talking about short visits to someone in hospital or at their place of work. The general idea here is that the visit is short and is fairly informal in nature. On a grammatical level, this usage of 'call in' does not take a direct object and is not separable. The additional preposition ' on ' is required when we want to specify the name of the person who we are visiting. Lisa called in to see me yesterday on her way back from work. Are you going to be at home later? We might call in for a cup of tea if we have time. My Dad has been in hospital for the last fortnight and I call in on him most days there. MEANING 3: To order to return Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To withdraw, to recall Separable? Yes The third meaning of 'call in' is 'to order something to be returned'. There are a broad number of uses and applications of this meaning but the general idea of them all is that you request that something is returned to you, or alternatively to its original place. I will now give you some examples of how this is typically used.... When a national bank of a country decides to withdraw a certain type of coin or note in its currency, normally to replace it with a newer version, we can say that it 'calls in' the note or coin in question. In other words, it is asking for it back as it will no longer be able to be used in public circulation. I am sure that when you were a child and and were out playing with your friends, your mother or father called you in when it was time to stop playing, maybe as dinner was ready or it was getting dark. This is another typical example of how 'call in' is used in this way. Another usage here would be with the military when soldiers are stationed at outposts, far from the main bulk of the army troops. If these soldiers stationed at outposts are called in, they are asked to return to the main bulk or military station. Of course there are other uses of how this application of 'call in' can be used, but hopefully you get the general idea that it is all about asking or demanding that someone or something returns to its original place. As children, we always used to play outside in our street until it got dark or our mothers called us in. As a result of the troubles that are occurring in the north of the country, we are calling in troops who are stationed in the south as reinforcements. MEANING 4: To request payment of a loan Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To demand (payment) Separable? Yes The fourth meaning of 'call in' is not so different from the last in terms of concept. It specifically refers to banks and financial institutions which loan money to people and 'call in' is used to describe when they request payment for the loans that they have made to people and businesses. If a bank calls in a loan, it decides that it wants the debt it is owed to be repaid immediately and sends a request to the debtor (the person who owes the bank money) asking for full payment. This can be because of a change in the debtor's circumstances or a change in the bank's financial situation. The main idea idea though is that the bank wants the money now. Due to a downturn in its own financial situation, the bank was forced to call in a large number of its debts. In general, most mortgage providers are not able to call in a loan at random unless specific criteria is met. MEANING 5: To telephone a television show Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To phone in (UK) Separable? No Our fifth and final usage of 'call in' is very much linked to the usage of the verb 'to call' as in calling someone on the telephone, however 'call in' is more specific since it is used to talk about making a phone call to a live television or radio show. This is primarily an American English usage, whereas in British English you may traditionally have heard 'phone in' instead of 'call in', although nowadays I think 'call in' is probably used just as much. From this usage, we also get the noun 'call-in' which describes a TV programme which involves people calling in to participate in it, such as a charity event or a debate. Again, this is the name that you will see on American TV, however on British English we refer to this type of programme as a 'phone-in'. On today's show we are talking about when mortgage lenders call in their loans unexpectedly, so please call in and tell us about your experience if this has ever happened to you. I am currently in the process of creating my own call-in show on my YouTube channel. Photo: Pexels BONUS: To call in sick Before I finish this post, I want to make you aware of another common expression featuring 'call in' and that is 'to call in sick'. This is when when someone calls their place of work to let their manager or employer know that they will not be able to work that day because they are sick (or that's what they want their manager to think 😉) . This is a very standard expression that you will hear in workplaces all over the anglophone world. John won't be in today as he has called in sick. If you need to call in sick, please try and let your manager know before your scheduled start time. 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 in'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'call in'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'pass out' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website 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 'pass out' is used both in British and American English and has three distinct meanings that we will look at in this post. In addition to the phrasal verb meanings, there is also the noun 'pass-out' that we will also cover. So, without further ado, let's get started.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Pass Out - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'pass' and 'out' Pass Out - Meaning 1: To lose consciousness Pass Out - Meaning 2: To distribute Pass Out - Meaning 3: To graduate from military school Pass Out - Bonus: The noun 'pass-out' I love writing this blog and helping learners but I get very little feedback so I don't always know if it is helpful for you. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like and share it or leave a comment at the end. I would be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS PASS OUT: KEY INFORMATION Usage Medium Number of meanings 3 Past tense forms Passed out / Passed out Separable? Sometimes As is customary, let's start by taking a look at the components words that make up our phrasal verb of chose as these often give valuable clues to its meanings. The verb 'to pass' is a regular English verb and will likely be familiar to speakers of other European languages as it has cognate words in many of these languages. It is a very diverse verb in English and has a lot of different meanings, but one of the key concepts behind it is movement, especially the ideas of moving past something or leaving something behind you. The prepositional particle 'out' is, like the majority of English prepositions, one with a large number of applications within the language. The general idea here though is that it is used to talk about a position on, or a movement towards, the exterior of something. Among its many other applications however, it is worth noting in the context of 'pass out' that 'out' can be used as an adverb to mean 'unconscious' or 'sleeping'. Ok, so now we have covered those, let's take a look at the meaning of 'pass out'... MEANING 1: To lose consciousness Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To faint, to lose consciousness, to black out, to zonk out Separable? No In the previous section I gave you a little clue regarding the first meaning of 'pass out', which is 'to lose consciousness' or 'to faint'. In my very humble opinion, I would say that this is definitely the most widespread and commonly used of the three meanings that we will cover in this post. As outlined above, we use 'pass out' to describe when we temporarily lose consciousness, which can be caused by medical conditions, emotional stress or responses to changes in our physical surroundings. In addition to this, we also use 'pass out' to describe someone who quickly falls into a very deep and often unexpected sleep and this is often used by native speakers to describe people who fall asleep in this way due to having drunk a lot of alcohol. On a grammatical level, this meaning of 'pass out' is intransitive and does not take a direct object. In terms of formality, it is relatively informal compared to the official medical terms that a doctor would use, however it is absolutely fine to use in most situations. If you wish to specify the cause of you passing out, then the additional preposition 'from' is required. Helen was in so much pain that she passed out whilst waiting for the ambulance to arrive. If someone passes out, it is important to act very quickly and seek medical advice. John drank so much rum at the party that he passed out on a chair in the corner. Roger passed out from illness and exhaustion. MEANING 2: To distribute Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To distribute, to hand out Separable? Yes The second meaning of 'pass out' is 'to distribute something to a group of people', normally by hand. This usage is derived from the meaning of the verb 'to pass' where one thing is transferred from one person to another (e.g. the salt and pepper at a dinner table), with the prepositional particle 'out' adding the extra meaning of 'to a group of people'. As such, we don't use 'pass out' to describe passing an object to just one person, it's always to a group. The typical environment in which this application of 'pass out' is used is a classroom or an office environment where documents are often distributed to groups of people, but the usage is not limited to these and it can be used to describe when something is given to a group of people by hand. Unlike the previous example, this usage does require a direct object and is therefore transitive. The direct object can either go between 'pass' and 'out' or after them without changing the meaning. Lisa, can you please pass the test papers out to the rest of the class. On my birthday last year I walked around my office and passed out chocolate treats to all of my colleagues. The aid workers passed out water supplies to the victims of the disaster. MEANING 3: To graduate from military school Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? British English Potential synonyms To graduate Separable? No The third and final meaning of 'pass out' is a primarily British meaning and means 'to graduate from military school after finishing the initial training'. The idea here is that the serviceman or servicewoman in question is now qualified and is no longer a trainee and therefore takes part in a ceremony to mark this occasion. In addition to using 'pass out' for graduation from military school, we also use it to describe graduation from training in the police force. Moreover, the graduation ceremony for both these newly qualified police officers and military recruits is called a passing out parade. The noun 'passing-out' also exists in English to describe the act of graduating from police training or a military college. Similar to the first meaning, this usage of 'pass out' is also intransitive and does not require a direct object. A total of 1000 new servicemen and women have passed out of the Royal Military Training Academy so far this year. My son is due to pass out of his police training school next week, so my wife and I are going to his passing-out parade to celebrate with him. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The noun 'pass-out' As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, the noun pass-out also exists in English. It describes a type of ticket or other form of authorisation which allows a person to leave somewhere and re-enter it at a later point of time. This is often used in theatres and other performances where the doors tend to be closed for the show and movement in and out is restricted, however it can be used in a work environment too if you need to leave your place of work for a period of time e.g. for a doctor's appointment. If you wish to leave whilst the performance is ongoing, you will need to obtain a pass-out from a member of staff. My boss wouldn't give me a pass-out last week to go and see my child's school play. 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 'pass 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 'pass 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