An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'go 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. The phrasal verb 'go off' is a multifaceted phrasal verb with many different meanings, ranging from food that is no longer ok to eat to losing your temper. In this post we will cover eight different meanings that it has, as well as some common everyday idioms that features in. So, without further ado, let's get started.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Go Off - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'go' and 'off' Go Off - Meaning 1: To leave and go somewhere else Go Off - Meaning 2: To happen or proceed Go Off - Meaning 3: To stop functioning (electrical device) Go Off - Meaning 4: To be activated Go Off - Meaning 5: To go bad (food) Go Off - Meaning 6: To stop liking something Go Off - Meaning 7: To lose your temper Go Off - Bonus: The expression 'to go off on one' Go Off - Meaning 8: To go to sleep 🇬🇧 Go Off - Bonus: Some common expressions featuring 'go off' I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS GO OFF: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 4 Past tense forms Went off / Gone off Separable? No The phrasal verb 'go off' consists of the verb 'to go', which is one of the commonest English verbs that you will undoubtedly be very familiar with. The verb 'to go' is all about movement and travel and is used extremely frequently by English speakers to talk about movement from place to place, as well as departing or leaving a place. Another meaning of 'to go' can also be 'to become' and it is used to talk about a change of some sort. As you will see, many of the phrasal verb meanings that we will look at shortly carry both or either of these ideas of changing and moving. The prepositional particle 'off' has a large number of meanings and applications in English, which is perhaps why there are so many varied meanings of 'go off', as you will now see.... MEANING 1: To leave and go somewhere else Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To leave, to depart The first meaning of 'go off' means simply 'to leave somewhere and go elsewhere' and is commonly used by native speakers in this sense. When used an adverb, one of the many meanings of 'off' on its own is 'to leave' and so if you ever hear a native speaker say that "they are off", it probably means that they are about to leave where they are and they wish to say goodbye. We don't tend to use 'go off' to announce to people that we are leaving somewhere, but we do certainly use it to talk about describe the action of departing a place. Often, this 'go off' can be used interchangeably with 'go' with little or no difference in meaning. However, this first usage of 'go off' does not just mean 'to leave' because it also carries the idea that the person is going to a different place, especially if they are likely to be there for a while. In this case we often tend to state the place where the person has 'gone off' to and it is really common among native speakers to use it with nouns like university, work, bed and holiday. John and Helen were here earlier but they have gone off to a friend's house for dinner. My son is going off to university in a few months and I am going to miss him terribly! Lisa is not here I'm afraid. She has gone off backpacking around Argentina and Chile and will be away for a few months. 'Go off' can also be used to say that someone has left a place suddenly or unexpectedly. Roger was here one minute chatting to everyone and then suddenly he just went off to the toilet and he was there for ages! MEANING 2: To happen or proceed Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To proceed, to happen The second meaning of 'go off' means to happen or to proceed and is used to talk about the way in which something happened. This is usually to describe some kind of planned event, action or occasion and to evaluate how well it proceeded, normally to say whether or not it went well or if there were issues or problems. Most of the time this application of 'go off' is used in the past tense as it is describing how successfully an event 'went off'. When talking about an event that was successful, native speakers will often use adverbs such as well, successfully, smoothly or seamlessly. Alternatively, we also use 'without a problem / issue', however there is one expression which definitely wins the prize for the most commonly used : 'to go off without a hitch' (as per the gif). A hitch is a word to describe a slight problem, issue or setback and this expression is used a lot by native speakers, so it is a great one to learn and use. Conversely, when talking about unsuccessful events or events where unexpected things happened, it is more usual for native speakers to say that something 'did not go off without a hitch' or that it 'did not go off as planned / expected'. If you want to elevate your language a little bit more, you can always insert an extra 'as + adverb' into the mix such as 'as well as planned' or 'as successfully as expected'. The wedding went off perfectly! I don't think there were any issues at all! The marketing manager was really pleased as the promotional event that he had organised went off without a hitch. My birthday party didn't go off as planned unfortunately. The bad weather meant that neither the caterer nor half of the guests could get there. MEANING 3: To stop functioning (electrical device) Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To turn off The third meaning of 'go off' that we will cover means to stop working or functioning and is used specifically to talk about electrical devices such as lights, televisions, computers and machines. This is used to describe when an electrical device stops working without human intervention, such as when there is a power cut (blackout), when batteries run out or when there is an electrical problem. We would not normally use it when a person's actions make the device go off as the correct phrasal verbs to use in that instance would be 'turn off' or 'switch off'. If you have read my post on the common phrasal verb ' go on ', you may remember that one of the meanings that it has is the exact opposite of this meaning i.e. when electrical devices start functioning by themselves without human intervention. All of a sudden the lights went off and we had to sit in darkness for 10 minutes until they came back on again. Oh no! For some reason my computer has just gone off and I haven't saved my work!!! The lights in airplanes go off automatically during landing and take off. MEANING 4: To be activated Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To be activated, to explode In complete contrast to the previous meaning, this fourth meaning of 'go off' actually means 'to be activated', so basically the opposite meaning! I know this may seem confusing, so let me explain... Whereas in the previous meaning we talked about electrical devices losing power and stopping functioning, with this example we are rather talking about devices that must be activated in some way to perform their main function. Generally, these devices are inactive for most of the time and when they are activated, they perform their function for a temporary period only, such as an alarm. Unlike the previous meaning, this application is not just limited to electrical items and is used with non-electrical items too. Some of the main nouns used with this meaning of 'go off' are: An alarm - This is definitely the natural way that native speakers talk about alarms being activated, especially their morning alarms to wake them up. A gun - We say that a gun 'goes off' when it fires, normally when triggered by accident and not through human intervention or when heard from a distance without knowing who caused the gun to fire. A firework - We talk about 'fireworks going off' when we can hear them, especially if we do not know who is responsible for them. Likewise, we would use this if a firework explodes by accident and not through human intervention. A bomb - If a bomb explodes, we say that it 'goes off'. My alarm goes off at 6.00am every morning. There were fireworks going off everywhere last night! The gun went off by accident but luckily nobody was injured. MEANING 5: To go bad (food) Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To spoil, to go bad Firstly, apologies for the picture in this section, however it is one that gives a very accurate descriptive image of our fifth meaning of 'go off', which is to become inedible due to decomposition. This is primarily a British usage, which we use to to talk about food and drink that we should not consume anymore as it may make us ill and furthermore, would certainly not taste very nice. Like with the first meaning, it is also common in British English to describe bad or mouldy food and drink as 'off' and so this meaning of 'go off' is used to describe the process of changing from edible and healthy to bad and inedible. Eurgh, this milk has definitely gone off. It smells disgusting! If you leave meat out in a warm room, it will not be long before it starts to go off. Sorry, I had to throw your yoghurt in the bin as it had gone off. MEANING 6: To stop liking something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To stop liking, to lose interest For meaning number six of 'go off' we are going to stay with British usages as it means to stop liking something, or alternatively to lose interest in it, and this is a bit similar to the last meaning as it is another case of going from something to positive (like) to something negative (dislike). It can be used to describe when we stop liking people, both in a romantic and a non-romantic sense, as well as items, ideas and activities. This is quite similar to the phrasal verb ' put off ', which can also mean to stop liking something. With 'put off' though, there is normally something which makes us stop liking it, whereas with 'go off' the focus is not the, it is normally either because the novelty has worn off or we have naturally lost interest. I used to like this song but I've heard it so much now that I have gone off it. You can easily go off people! My daughter wanted to go to university in the USA but now she's seen how much it will cost, she has gone off the idea. MEANING 7: To lose your temper Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To lose your temper We've now reached our seventh meaning, so well done if you are still with me! This seventh meaning of 'go off' means to suddenly become angry. This meaning is probably derived from the fourth meaning of 'becoming activated' but instead of an electrical device being activated, in this instance it is a person's anger. If we become angry with a particular person and start shouting at them, we can say that we 'go off on them', with the additional preposition 'on' necessary. Look at the state of the house! You had better clean it up or Mom is going to go off when she sees it! Roger's boss went off at him when Roger told him that he wanted to leave the company. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The expression 'to go off on one' In continuation of this meaning, in informal British English the idiom 'to go off on one' exists to describe when a person suddenly becomes very angry or very excited (or both). Helen went off on one as soon as she realised that her bike had been stolen. My Dad will go off on one if he finds out that you have broken his golf clubs. MEANING 8: To go to sleep Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium British or American? British Potential synonyms To go to sleep, to drop off, to get off We've now come to our eighth and final usage of 'go off', which means to fall asleep. This is another usage found in British English and is quite informal. It is used very similarly to ' get off ' and is used to used to describe the process of falling asleep. I went off to sleep really early last night. I must have been really tired! My baby has gone off to sleep for a bit, so now I have the chance to do some housework. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Some common expressions featuring 'go off' The phrasal verb 'go off' is used in a few more idiomatic expressions, which i want to make you aware of before you test what you have learned in the exercise.... To go off on a tangent - This idiomatic expression is used to describe when a person suddenly starts talking about a completely different or irrelevant subject whilst in a conversation with someone. To go off the boil - This is a chiefly British expression to describe when something becomes less urgent than it previously was. Moreover, if you say that something 'has gone off the boil', it can also mean that it is no longer as popular or successful as it once was in the past. To go off the rails - This idiom is primarily used to describe people who start behaving in a socially unacceptable or inappropriate way and is regularly used to describe rebellious teenagers and adolescents. To go off the deep end - This final idiom that I want to give you means to start acting irrationally, excited or angry, without without fully understanding a situation. We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'go 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 'go 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 'check out' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them. If you follow me on social media or have read many of my posts in the past, you may have noticed that I use the phrasal verb 'check out' a lot. Consequently, I thought it was about time that 'check out' had a post of its own and so in this post we will put it under the microscope and look at all its different uses. So, without further ado, let's get started.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Check Out - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'check' and 'out' Check Out - Meaning 1: To leave a hotel Check Out - Meaning 2: To look at something Check Out - Meaning 3: To prove to be true Check Out - Meaning 4: To ogle someone Check Out - Meaning 5: To enter into a cash register 🇺🇸 Check Out - Bonus: The noun 'checkout' Check Out - Meaning 6: To die 🇺🇸 Check Out - Meaning 7: To stop paying attention to something 🇺🇸 Check Out - Bonus: The expression 'check you 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 CHECK OUT: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 7 Separable? Yes Past tense forms Checked out / Checked out Before we look at the meanings of 'check out', let's take a quick look at the words which make it up . The verb 'check' is a commonly used verb in English, which has a couple of different meanings but the most common one is 'to verify something by examination'. This word can pose problems for some English learners who often use the word 'control' instead of the word' check because it is a notorious "false friend" in many languages and the verb 'to control' in English generally has a very different meaning i.e. to exert power over someone or something. Photo: Pexels The prepositional particle 'out' is one that has featured in many of my posts already and isused to talk about the exterior of something, or movement towards an outside space when used as an adverb. So, with that in mind, let's take a look at the different meanings of 'check out'... MEANING 1: To leave a hotel Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To leave, to vacate, to pay up, to settle up Separable? Yes The first meaning of 'check out' will be familiar to anybody who has ever stayed in a hotel in an English-speaking country, as it means 'to pay the bill for your hotel room and leave the hotel or accommodation where you are staying'. Photo: Pexels The origins of this particular application are relatively recent (1950s) and I believe that it comes from the meaning of the verb 'to check', as in to mark something off a list, which is also linked to the noun 'checklist'. When a guest leaves a hotel, they are marked on the list as being 'out' of their room, which is now vacant for the next guests to use (after the cleaners have been in, of course). The application of 'check out' in this sense also covers the payment process and anything else that may be involved with the guest's departure. In other words, 'check out' has evolved in English to cover the entire procedure. Normally, when using 'check out' in this way, we do not require a direct object, however occasionally it can be used in a transitive way (with a direct object) when referring to a person who is performing the action of "checking someone out" by taking the key from the guest, updating the computer system, taking payment etc. The guest is always the direct object in this case. Moreover, it is very common to hear check out used with certain words such as 'time', 'late' and 'procedure'. Check-out is regularly used as a noun too. Do you have any idea what time we have to check out of our rooms tomorrow morning? There was a problem with the computers in the hotel and the receptionist had real problems checking us out. I've paid for a late check-out tomorrow, so we can stay in bed a little longer. MEANING 2: To look at something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level ​B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To look at, to take a look, Separable? Yes Now we come to the second meaning of 'check out', which is the one that I use a lot on my social media accounts as the central meaning of it is 'to look at something'. There are however slightly different variations within the meaning of this usage, which are dependant on the situation. Firstly, as I mentioned, the core meaning here is to look at something and this can often be used as an imperative when we want someone to give their attention to something, especially if we think that it will amuse, entertain or shock them in some way. Oh wow, check out what Lisa is wearing today! You are not going to believe it! I saw this amazing video online last night, here check it out! Check out my new shoes, they're pretty nice aren't they! A second variation of this usage is to look at something out of curiosity, often because other people have told you about it and you want to see what it is like with your own eyes. For example, if several people tell you that a restaurant is very good, you may also want to go there to check it out for yourself and see what it is like. Further to this however, the action of 'checking out' refers to more than simply seeing something and also includes experiencing something with some or all of your senses and this can be used with anything from music to food and books. A few people have told me that this album is really good, so I am going to check it out tonight to see what all of the fuss is about. When you go to New York, you need to check out this restaurant in Brooklyn. You'll love it! We only moved to the city last week, so we are going to spend this weekend checking out everything that it has to offer. MEANING 3: To prove to be true Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To corroborate, to confirm, to verify Separable? No The third usage of 'check out' is quite similar the second usage that we just discussed as it also means to 'look at something', however, this time in the sense of 'considering it' or 'thinking about it', with the extra element of investigating and verifying if it is true or not. In other words, if someone makes a claim about something and you are not sure if the claim is truthful or not, you may need to check out the details of it in order to establish if what the person is claiming is indeed real. This is quite similar to the phrasal verb ' look into ', but where 'look into' places maximum emphasis emphasis on investigating the details of something, 'check out' is more concerned with whether or not a claim is true or false, although some investigation is also usually required. Can you please leave this with me so I can check out the details and come back to you. The criminal has told the police that he wasn't in the area at the time of the crime, so they are checking out his story now to see if it is true. A notable and frequently used variation of this usage is when we say that something 'checks out', meaning that something proves to be true following an investigation. For this, the verb form is inseparable and we do not place any direct object between 'check' and 'out'. Following their investigation, the police confirmed that the criminal's alibi checked out and he was definitely not in the area at the time of the crime. I've looked into what Lisa is saying about the fraud claims in the company and it checks out. MEANING 4: To ogle someone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To ogle, to leer, to give someone the glad eye, to perv on Separable? Yes The fourth meaning of 'check out' is yet another extension of the 'look at' meaning that we have already covered in the post and it means 'to ogle someone', which means to look at someone with sexual interest. You will note in the potential synonyms section above that we have many ways of describing this in English and in comparison with some of its synonyms, I think that 'check out' is more light-hearted and socially acceptable than others such as 'leer' and 'ogle', which carry more sinister and negative connotations. As such, you may hear this form in English song lyrics and upbeat movies etc. That guy over there in the white and blue t-shirt has been checking you out for the last 15 minutes! He's really into you! I was on a date with a guy last week and I noticed that he was checking out every single woman that walked past, so I went home and left him there. MEANING 5: To enter into a cash register Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Rare / specific Where is it used? American English Potential synonyms To ring through, to serve Separable? Yes The fifth meaning of 'check out' is a meaning that tends to be used in American English and means to operate a cash register in a shop, store or supermarket. This usage is used specifically to talk about the complete action of a cashier entering the goods to be purchased into a cash register, calculating the price to be paid by the customer and taking payment from them accordingly. The best equivalent of this in British English would be 'to serve'. Furthermore, 'check out' is also used in American English when talking about borrowing books from libraries and refers to the action of registering with the library that you are taking the books for limited period of time, at which point the books in question will be marked as 'out' on the library system, in a similar fashion to checking out in a hotel. I am so tired as I have been checking out customers all day and the store was so busy! Lisa checked out five library books last week and has read them all aleady! Photo: Pexels BONUS: The noun 'checkout' Photo: Pexels I imagine that many of you will already know this, but the noun 'checkout' is one which is derived directly from the phrasal verb and refers to the part of the shop in which payment for goods is made. MEANING 6: To die CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare / informal Where is it used? American English Potential synonyms To die, to pass away, to pop your clogs, to kick the bucket Separable? No Meaning number six of 'check out' is a very informal meaning used in American English and is a slang form used to mean 'to die'. As a native British English speaker, this meaning is quite alien to me and is not one that I would personally use, however if you prefer American English then is certainty one worth knowing. MEANING 7: To stop paying attention to something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare / informal Where is it used? American English Potential synonyms To lose interest, to zone out Separable? No Now we have come to our seventh and final meaning of 'check out', which is another informal application, once again used primarily in American English, and means to lose interest in something and to stop paying attention to it. This is often used for situations in which people need to concentrate on something but they get bored and start thinking about something else, in other words they 'mentally check out of the conversation or situation'. Sorry, what did you just say? I'm afraid I checked out about five minutes ago. Roger looked at his pupils and could see some who had clearly checked out and were playing on their cellphones. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Ooh! Check you out! If you spend time with any native speakers, you may have heard them use the expression 'check you out!'. This is a common informal expression that is used to say that you are impressed either with something that somebody has done or with a skill that the person has acquired. For example, if someone shows you a new skateboarding trick that they have learned and you find it impressive, you might say to them "wow, check you out!". You've had your hair cut, check you out! Check you out! You've passed all of your exams and are off to Cambridge university. Im very impressed. 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 'check 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 'check 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 'carry out' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my blog all about English phrasal verbs. Each week, I take a different phrasal verb and look at how it is used by native speakers, with a focus on the different meanings that it has and the expressions and idioms that it is used in. The phrasal verb 'carry out' is a commonly used phrasal verb, both in its literal and idiomatic applications. This is one that you have come across in a business or professional sense as it is very commonly used to describe to work and jobs. That is not its only meaning however, and in this post we will look at exactly how native speakers use it and in which situations. So, without further ado, let's get started.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Carry Out - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'carry' and 'out' Carry Out - Meaning 1: Literal meaning Carry Out - Meaning 2: To perform or complete an activity Carry Out - Meaning 3: To implement a plan or threat Carry Out - Bonus: An extra meaning if you ever go to Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 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 CARRY OUT: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 3 Separable? Yes Past tense forms Carried out / Carried out To begin with, let's take a quick look at the words 'carry' and 'out' , in order to gain some background knowledge on the phrasal verb 'carry out'. Photo: Pexels The verb 'to carry' is a common verb with the core meaning of 'supporting something off the ground and moving with it from one place to another'. When we use this verb we are normally talking about transporting an object, person or animal and it can be used with any nouns for things that can be physically lifted and moved. It can also be used to talk about items which we have with us at all times in our pockets or on our person such as a wallet or an identity card. If you want to use 'carry' at an advanced level, you can use it to describe abstract nouns too, such as conviction, (prison) sentence, warning and guarantee. We then have the prepositional particle 'out', which has many usages in English. The central idea of 'out' is the opposite of 'in'. i.e. the exterior of something. Used as adverb 'out' often means movement from an interior space, which will certainly be relevant for the first meaning of 'carry out' that will look at now.... MEANING 1: Literal Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A1 - Beginner Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms ​To take out, to bring out Separable? Yes Our first meaning of 'carry out' is a nice and easy one as it is just the literal semantic combination of the two words 'carry' and 'out'. In other words, physically supporting something and moving with it from an interior space to an exterior space, or possibly to a different interior space (the key element is that the object is no longer in the original interior space). For this, the object can be any nouns for a thing that can lifted and carried. This literal version of 'carry out' is used mainly for human activity and therefore the indirect object (the inside space) can be any nouns that a person can be physically 'in', so that they can perform the action of 'carrying'. Don't forget the additional preposition 'of' is required for the indirect object. As such, nouns that are commonly 'carried out' include people, furniture, boxes, The list goes on and on but you get the point! Lisa fell over in her office and had to be carried out on a stretcher as she could not walk. Can you please help me carry these boxes out to the car? This bed is too big to be carried out of this room by just one person. MEANING 2: To perform or complete an activity Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To do, to perform, to fulfil, to complete, to conduct Separable? Yes The second meaning of 'carry out' is an idiomatic one and means 'to perform or complete an activity'. I think that this is perhaps the most common application of this phrasal verb as it is used across all walks of life, especially in the world of work and business. 'Carry out' used this way is mainly used to talk about performing a specific task or job such as a car repair, building work, an audit or a review. It is not really used to talk about a general job, vocation or career. Outside of the world of work, it is used to talk about crimes, attacks and other unpleasant activities that some people get involved in. Nevertheless, I'm sure that you can imagine that this application of 'carry out' is used with a diverse and wide variety of different nouns. In many cases, this meaning of 'carry out' is exactly the same as 'to do' when talking about a specific task or job and, in fact, I think that this is one of the rare occasions that the phrasal verb equivalent sounds more formal and elevated than its non-phrasal verb synonym, perhaps because the verb 'to do', is such an ordinary and commonplace verb. We are planning to carry out some research next year on people's attitudes towards climate change. The criminal gang carried out a series of armed robberies over a three year period. The train company is carrying out an excavation of the site this week in preparation for the railway lines to be laid in the next few months. Essential roadworks will be carried out on this road from Monday 18th May for a period of six weeks, so please plan your journey accordingly. MEANING 3: To implement a plan or a threat Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To implement, to go through with, to put into action, to put into effect, to follow through on Separable? Yes The third and final meaning of 'carry out' is to implement a plan or a threat, but can also be used with any other nouns that signify our intentions. In fact, this usage of 'carry out' is all about our future intentions, good or bad, and whether or not we implement them or put them into action. In other words, if you have a plan to do something and then you go ahead and do everything that you planned to do, you can say that you have "carried out your plan". This is exactly the same when talking about threats (which I guess are a type of plan). Other nouns that are less commonly used with this application of 'carry out' are 'commitment', 'instruction', 'idea' and 'strategy'. Despite some unexpected setbacks, we still hope to carry out our plan to make this company the leader within its sector by the end of the decade. We never actually believed that John would carry out his threat to ban his children from watching television, but he has done it! It is essential that you develop a great marketing strategy and then it carry it out if you want your business to survive. Photo: Pexels BONUS: An extra meaning if you ever go to Scotland For anyone with a particular interest in Scottish English, the phrasal verb 'carry out' also has a noun version, 'carry-out', which is in common usage in Scotland to describe several different things related to food and drink. Photo: Freepiks Firstly, it can mean food that is bought at a restaurant and taken away to be eaten, which is called a takeaway in England and a takeout in American English (although I believe carry-out) is also used in the USA to mean the same thing). On the same theme, the restaurant where the 'carry-out' food is bought can be referred to as 'a carry-out' too (confusing I know!). The last meaning of 'carry-out' as a noun refers to alcohol that is bought in a shop or a pub and taken to a different place e.g. home or a party to be consumed. I don't want to cook tonight. Shall we get a carry-out for dinner instead? We didn't want to stay in the bar, so we bought some carry-out wine and took it home 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 'carry 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 'carry 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 'look up' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my blog all about English phrasal verbs. Each week, I take a different phrasal verb and look at how it is used by native speakers, with a focus on the different meanings that it has and the expressions and idioms that it is used in. The phrasal verb 'look up' has a number of different meanings in English, some of which I am sure will be very familiar to you. In this post, I will look at each of its different applications and meanings, with examples of typical usage. So, without further ado, let's get started.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Look Up - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'look' and 'up' Look Up - Meaning 1: To look in an upwards direction Look Up - Meaning 2: To search for information Look Up - Meaning 3: To improve Look Up - Meaning 4: To visit someone Look Up - Meaning 5: To admire and respect someone 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 LOOK UP: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Looked up / Looked up Separable? Yes Before we look at the different meanings of 'look up', let's take a second to consider its constituent parts as this can often be a useful way to understand some of the idiomatic meanings of a phrasal verb. The verb 'to look' is undoubtedly one that you will know very well and means to direct our vision in a particular direction, in order to see something. The prepositional particle 'up' is one that has featured in many posts on this blog already and is used to specify movement away from the ground or towards the sky. So, with those in mind let's take a look at the different phrasal verb meanings, starting with the literal meaning.... MEANING 1: To look in an upwards direction Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A1 - Beginner Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms ​To stare up, to glance up, to peer up Separable? No This first meaning of 'look up' is the literal meaning of these two words combined and therefore simply means to look in an upwards direction. As you can imagine, this literal meaning is generally used to describe the action of moving your head back in order to see something that is higher than or above you. However, it is also used when we are looking down at something and move our heads to "normal" position, in order to see what is happening around us. In this latter case where we start in a looking down position, we need the extra preposition 'from'. This is used more and more in today's world as most people seem to spend a large amount of their time looking down at their smartphones. Photo: Pexels I heard a meowing noise above me and when I looked up I saw a cat in the tree that I was standing under. Look up there, can you see the shooting star? Lisa looked up from her phone and realised that all of her friends had left without her. MEANING 2: To search for information Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To search, to find out Separable? Yes The second meaning of 'look up' is one that I think most of you will be very familiar with as it means to search for information, normally either in a book or online using a search engine or informative website. This application of 'look up' is separable and takes a direct object (the information that you want to find out) and this can be placed either between 'look' and 'up' or after 'up'. Alternatively, the pronoun 'it' can be placed in the middle of 'look' and 'up' if the object has already been specified, to avoid having to repeat it again unnecessarily. Before the rise of the internet, this usage of 'look up' was limited mainly to dictionaries and encyclopaedias and at the tie people said that they "looked something up in a dictionary". Nowadays however, the usage of this meaning has exploded with the rise of the internet and now instead of the dictionary the majority of people "look something up online". I had no idea what the phrase "make do*" meant in English, so I had to look it up! Helen wasn't sure about how to cook rice properly and despite looking up the information online, she still managed to get it wrong. We looked up the word 'set' in the dictionary and were really surprised to learn how many definitions it has in the English language. * To make do means to manage with what is available although it is not ideal or what you wanted. MEANING 3: To improve Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To improve, to get better Separable? No Our third meaning of 'look up' is a very positive and optimistic one, which is always welcome, and it means to improve or get better. It should be noted here that this usage is limited to describing general situations and is not used to talk about specific things or people improving. As such, it is very common to use the noun 'things' in collocation with 'look up' here. Something else to make you aware of with this application of 'look up' is that it is only used in the progressive or continuous ('ing) form to describe a situation which is or is not improving. It has been a really hard few months but things are looking up now and the future is bright! Business is really looking up and we are forecasting a very successful year this year. Things were looking up for me until I lost my job but hopefully I will find another one soon! MEANING 4: To visit someone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level ​C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere - more American Potential synonyms To visit, to contact, to get in touch with Separable? Yes This fourth meaning of 'look up' is a rarer one than the meanings that we have looked at so far and means to visit a person, specifically when you are in the town or city in which they live. To clarify, this application is generally used for interactions with people who you know and who live far away from you and is used as an invitation to say come and see me if you are ever in the area where I live. In terms of the grammar here, this is separable and the object (the person who you are visiting) goes in between look and up, especially if you are the person inviting the other to visit you ('look up me' is completely wrong). We do use this meaning of 'look up' in British English and it would definitely be understood, however it does feel more American in usage to me. Look me up the next time that you are in Denver. It would be great to see you again! If you're ever in Liverpool, you should look my sister up. She will show you around the city and tell you the best places to go. When I am in New York next, I will be sure to look you up. MEANING 5: To admire and respect someone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To admire, to respect, to idolise, to revere Separable? No This fifth and final meaning of 'look up' is to admire and respect someone and I've left it until last as it requires the additional preposition 'to' in order for it to be used. Photo: Pexels If we 'look up to someone' it is something very complimentary and positive and means that we want or aspire to be like that person in some way. This is often (but not always) used for people who are older than us, for people who are respected experts in a field that we are also in or perhaps for famous people who we are fans of or who inspire us in some way. In other words, these people are role models. Regardless of the specifics, the central idea is that we hold these people on a kind of pedestal above us in our minds and to see them we need to look up (as per meaning one). I really looked up to you when I was growing up and I am so pleased to be able to finally meet you in person. He is one of the greatest tennis players of all time and I have looked up to him ever since I started playing tennis myself. Roger desperately wants to a role model for his students and for them to look up to him. 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 'look 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 'look 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 'put on' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my blog all about English phrasal verbs. Each week, I take a different phrasal verb and look at how it is used by native speakers, with a focus on the different meanings that it has and the expressions and idioms that it is used in. The phrasal verb 'put on' is an extremely common and diversely used phrasal verb in the English language. In this post we will look at its diverse range of meanings and particular uses, including placing clothes on your body, gaining weight and acting in an insincere way. So, without further ado, let's make a start.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'put' and 'on' Meaning 1: To place on a surface (literal) Meaning 2: To place something on your body Meaning 3: To make something operate Meaning 4: To organise an event or show Meaning 5: To be deceptive Bonus: The idiom 'to put on airs and graces' Meaning 6: To trick someone 🇺🇸 Bonus: Common expressions featuring 'put on' I love writing this blog and helping learners but I get very little feedback so I don't always know if it is helpful for you. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like and share it or leave a comment at the end. I would be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS PUT ON: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Put on / Put on Separable? Yes Our phrasal verb of choice this week is made up of the common and diverse verb 'to put', along with the prepositional particle 'up'. The main meaning of the verb 'to put' is to place something in, or move something to, a particular place, and it is used frequently by English native speakers with a wide and varied selection of nouns, both physical and abstract. I think for this reason, there are also multiple meanings and uses of 'put on', which we will look at shortly. The prepositional particle 'on' is one that you will all be familiar with already and means 'to be in contact with and (usually) above a surface', often with the surface supporting the object. Ok, so now we have the basics covered, the first meaning should be a walk in the park.... MEANING 1: To place on a surface (literal) Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A1 - Beginner Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To place, to set, to position Separable? Yes With the individual meanings of the component words in mind, it should be no surprise to you that the first meaning of 'put on' is the literal meaning of the combination of the two words i.e. to physically place an object onto a surface. As such, this is very commonplace language in everyday life and you will certainly hear it sooner or later if you spend time in an English speaking environment. As this one is a straightforward meaning, let's move on, but before we do, here are a handful of examples of typical usage.... Please can you pick up those books and put them on the bookshelf. Have you seen my keys? I put them on the table when I got home but they aren't there anymore. John put his coffee on his car roof and forgot all about it. MEANING 2: To place something on your body Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To get dressed, to try on Separable? Yes The next meaning of 'put on' is a small departure from the literal meaning that we have just looked at but it is nonetheless a similar concept as it means, specifically, to place something on your body, rather than on a generic surface, like a table or a shelf. The majority of the time, 'put on' is used in this sense when we want to wear something and therefore it is used with all types of clothes, including glasses, watches, jewellery and wigs. It is also used to talk about applying make-up to your face. It should be noted that 'put on' is used specifically for the action of placing the item on your body and should not be confused with the verb 'to wear', which is used to describe the state of having an item on you body for a period of time. Will you put on some decent clothes, we have got visitors! Ok your eye test has finished, you can put your glasses back on again now. I was about to put on my trainers and go running this morning when it started raining. Helen put her best dress on and headed out to the office party. MEANING 3: To make something operate Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To turn on, to switch on Separable? Yes The third meaning of 'put on' is to make something operate or function, normally by activating it with a button or switch. This usage derives from the adverbial meaning of 'on', to describe an electrical device that is in operation e.g. the television is on, and so this meaning of 'put on' is used to describe the action of making the device function. This is very similar to the other phrasal verbs 'turn on' and 'switch on'. Interestingly though, whilst you can also turn off and switch off a device, you cannot 'put off' a device.....I'm not sure why, but it does not sound correct at all. Sometimes we do not always refer to the physical device that we are 'putting on', but rather the end product. A prime example of this would be music, as it is normal to say that we 'put on music' rather than 'put on a CD player' (an outdated reference, I know). Another such example of this would be food and you can often hear native speakers talk about 'putting food on' to say they will start cooking it. This meaning is separable and the direct object can either go in the middle of the phrasal verb construction or at the end, without altering the meaning. It's so hot in here, can someone put the air conditioning on. Quick, put the television on, you're on the news! Sometimes I like to run a nice bath, put on some classical music and relax. I've put some pasta on, so it should be ready in about 15 minutes. What film shall I put on this evening? MEANING 4: To organise an event or show Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To organise, to stage Separable? Yes This next meaning of 'put on' is to organise a public event, which people can attend and / or watch. This is used to talk about organising shows, plays, concerts, charity events, displays, exhibitions and festivals, as well any other events that I may have forgotten. In this sense 'put on' can be used to describe the act of organising the event as well as to talk about the performer(s) and how well or badly they performed. The local amateur dramatics society is putting on a charity play this week, shall we go? The company is putting on an exhibition to mark their 100th anniversary. The rock band Queen always put on a good show. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Putting on transport In British English 'put on' can also be used to talk about public transport when additional train or bus services are made available to people due to exceptional circumstances. See the examples below.... Due to the ongoing train strikes, the local council is putting on additional bus services to help people get around the city. The company put on extra trains before and after the football game to help disperse the crowds quickly. MEANING 5: To be deceptive Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common British or American? Both Potential synonyms To deceive Separable? Yes The fifth meaning of 'put on' means to deceive people and is used to describe act in a way that is contrary to reality, to try and fool others (or sometimes themselves). This meaning of 'put on' is used when people change the way that they interact with, or appear, to others, such as purposely changing their accent to sound like they come from a different place (putting on an accent) or modifying their facial expressions to hide what they are really feeling. The expression 'to put on a front' can often be used here, specifically when someone appears positive or happy in a situation but in reality they are very sad, scared or nervous. In addition to appearance, we can also use 'put on' to talk about when someone is lying about something and subsequently behaving in a way to support the lie. An example of this would be if someone pretends to be sick and then acts like they are sick by coughing etc. to support the pretence. If other people don't believe that the illness is genuine, they may say that the person is putting it on. One other thing to note here is that we use the adjectival form 'put-on' to describe the fake or dishonest action. He's so good at putting on an American accent. He even fools actual Americans! I put on a brave face at work today but inside I felt like crying all day. John phoned in sick to work earlier today, however his boss believes that he is putting it on so that he can go to his child's sports day at school. Lisa does not come from Scotland, her Scottish accent is obviously put on. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The idiom 'to put on airs and graces' A nice idiom to make you aware of here is "to put on airs and graces", which means to behave in such a way as to impress people and make them think that you are more important or sophisticated than you really are. If you put on airs and graces, you generally want people to believe that you are from a higher social class and often come across as pretentious to other people. MEANING 6: To trick someone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Mainly American English Potential synonyms To trick, to fool, to prank, to have someone on Separable? Yes Our sixth and final meaning is 'to put someone on', which means to trick someone or play a joke on them, often by telling them something that is not true and making them believe it. This usage is primarily American and as such, is not something that I would normally use in my British English. Alternatively, in British English we would be likely to say 'to have someone on' to mean the same thing. Incidentally, 'put someone on' does exist in British English, however the meaning is totally different and would normally be used in the context of telephone calls when we want to request to speak to another person, often in the room. This can't be genuine! Are you putting me on? If you guys are trying to put me on, I think you should know that I can see through your tricks. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Common expressions featuring 'put on' Although we have now examined the different meanings of 'put on' in English, we are not done yet though as there are also a large number of expressions and specific situations in which 'put on' is used and here are some of the most commonly used ones.... To put money on something = To put money on something means to gamble or place a bet. For this, you can state the exact amount e.g. you could put $5 on a team to win a football game, or you can say that you would put money on something, if you are absolutely certain that something is true or will happen in the future. To put on weight = This is another way of saying that you gain weight or become heavier and is primarily British in usage. To be put on medication = If we are ever prescribed medication by a doctor or medical professional, we can say that we have been put on medication, in a passive sense. This applies for both humans and animals. To put a spell on someone = This is one that you may have come across if you are into the fantasy genre as it means to use magic on someone. To put on a (good) spread = If someone puts on a (good) spread, it means that they are hosting a dinner party or event and they provide a lot of food and drink. The word 'good' is an optional extra here but is often used by complimentary guests. To put on charge = Our final usage in this section means to plug something in to recharge, such as a cellphone or a battery of some kind. As you can imagine, this has become a very well-used expression since the rise of the cellphone and I must say it at least once a day. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'put on'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'put on'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

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

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'come along' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. Are you familiar with the phrasal verb 'come along'? It may be the first time that you have ever seen it or it may be one that you use regularly in one way but don't know all of its applications. In this post, I will explain the different ways in which we use it in English, from making progress to accompanying someone to a place, and will give you lots of example sentences to show you the types of contexts in which it is used. So, without further ado, let's get started.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Come Along - The Basics: Key information and the words 'come' and 'along' Come Along - Meaning 1: To accompany someone somewhere Come Along - Meaning 2: To appear or arrive Come Along - Meaning 3: To hurry up 🇬🇧 Come Along - Meaning 4: To make progress Come Along - Bonus: The noun 'come-along' 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 COME ALONG: KEY INFORMATION Usage Come Along Number of meanings 4 Past tense forms Came along / Come along Separable? No The phrasal verb 'come along' is formed with the verb 'to come' and the prepositional particle 'along' and so before we start the phrasal verb meanings, let's quickly look at what these individual words mean on their own. If you are capable of reading this post, then you will definitely know the verb 'to come' because it is one of the most common verbs in English. 'To come' is first and foremost a verb of movement and we use it to refer to moving or travelling towards where the speaker is, will be or was, depending on the tense and context. Additionally, 'to come' has a variety of other meanings, which include 'to arrive', 'to originate' and 'to happen'. Like the majority of the most common English verbs, 'to come' is irregular. Joan comes to see me every day. Are you coming to the party tonight? I can't come to work today as I am sick. The train came on time. Pierre comes from Marseille. The prepositional particle 'along' is not as common as some of the others like 'up' and 'down' and consequently is not seen as much in phrasal verbs either. We typically use it to talk about movement in a line, which is on or next to something long, like at the side of a river or road. Alternatively, we can use it to specify a point somewhere on this line. We walked along the boulevard holding hands. Somewhere along this street is my old house. So, now we have looked at the basics and established that both words often indicate a movement of some sort, so let's now see if this idea of moving is carried across into the phrasal verb meanings.... MEANING 1: To accompany someone somewhere Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To join, to accompany, to go along, to go with Separable? No Let's begin our exploration of the meanings of the phrasal verb 'come along' with a nice and friendly one, which is 'to accompany someone to go somewhere'. For this first application, let's imagine that you are planning to go to the cinema tonight with friends. Another friend phones you and says that she is free this evening, so you ask her to 'come along' with you to the cinema. In other words, you invite her to join you. You can use 'come along' in this way for any situation in which you invite someone to go to a place where you are also going. For reference, if you are not going to be there, then you would use 'go along' instead. This is often used by native speakers as a way of gently encouraging someone to come with them somewhere. It feels more like you're offering the person the choice to come and it's perfectly fine if they decide not to, rather than strongly inviting them or pressuring them to accompany you (we all know people who do that). We do not just use this application for invitations though and we can use it to state the fact that someone is coming with you somewhere. Normally, with these statements, it is understood that the person 'coming along' is not the organiser of the trip and was invited by the speaker. We're going to the beach this afternoon; do you want to come along? I'm heading to the shop; you can come along if you like. Lisa came along with us to the concert last night. Do you mind if my brother comes along to the party? They asked if I wanted to come along on their road trip. Pete didn’t want to come along at first, but we convinced him. We’re going for a walk in the park. Come along! Can I come along when you visit your grandmother? My dog always comes along when I go hiking. Nick came along for moral support during the interview. MEANING 2: To arrive somewhere Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To arrive, to appear, to turn up, to show up. to materialise, to emerge, to occur Separable? No This second application of 'come along' is perhaps the most commonly used one and means 'to arrive' or 'to appear', depending on the context. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Opportunity Chance Bus Person Job Baby / Child As you can see from the list above, the commonly used nouns with this application are very diverse, which is a reflection of the many situations in which we can use it. Let's begin by thinking about what the literal combination of these two words means, which is 'to move along something towards where the speaker is'. The most obvious example of this is with a road, when a vehicle or a person moves along it in the direction of the speaker. From the speaker's perspective, they see the vehicle or person appear in the distance and then move towards them before arriving where they are (the vehicle or person may then stop or continue past the speaker further along the road but that is irrelevant). As I waited by the river, a canal boat came along slowly. Julian came along the beach toward us, waving. I saw a figure coming along the street in the fog. So far, we have considered this application from a literal perspective, however we also use it a lot in a metaphorical way to talk about when things appear or arrive in our life. Just like with buses and things travelling along a road towards us, this is reserved for things that we have no or little control over or when they come along. Good examples of these would be nouns like 'job', 'opportunity' and 'chance' as these are things that seem to present themselves to us at random moments during the course of lives. Alternatively, we can also use this for when things begin to exist, especially when they have a consequence on a specific situation. I was waiting for the right job opportunity to come along. A chance like this doesn’t come along every day. A new singer came along who changed the music industry. Eventually, a solution to the problem came along. Jill was single for years until the perfect guy came along. Just when I had given up hope, something better came along. New technology has come along that makes this process faster. A great investment opportunity came along, and I took it. A couple of other nouns that I hear quite a lot with this application are 'baby' and 'children' as people often use it to talk about when people have a child or become parents, therefore marking a new stage in their lives. This is particularly so if the child is unplanned. Everything changed when the baby came along. My partner and I used to travel a lot, but that stopped as soon as the twins came along. They were a happy couple and then little Owen came along. I had just started my new job when our first child came along. My life was very quiet until my grandchildren came along. MEANING 3: To hurry up Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? British English Potential synonyms To hurry, to hurry up, to come on, to pick up, to make haste, to rush Separable? No The third application of 'come along' that we will consider in this post is a British English one that means 'to hurry up'. Unlike the other applications of 'come along', this one is mainly used in the imperative form, i.e. to giv e someone an order or command. If you tell someone to "come along", you are just asking them to do something more quickly, often in an annoyed or irritated way. Although this application is still in use today, I hear it being used less and less and it sounds a little old fashioned and formal to my ears. I can imagine that it is still used by members of the British royal family, however the majority of commoners like myself are far more likely to use 'hurry up' or 'come on' in these often stressful situations when you need to be quick. Come along, we’re going to be late! Come along now, the bus is about to leave. Do come along; we haven’t got all day! Come along, children, it’s time to go home. Come along, or we’ll miss the beginning of the movie. Alternatively, 'come along' can be used in this way to encourage or implore someone to try harder and make more of an effort. Again, this is not something that is particularly widespread in modern everyday British English but it is possible that you may hear it. Come along now, you can do better than that! Your handwriting is improving, but come along, try to keep the letters neater. MEANING 4: To make progress Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To progress, to advance, to improve, to develop, to proceed Separable? No Next, we have our fourth and final meaning of 'come along', which means 'to make progress' or alternatively 'to develop'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Project Building / Extension Plan Languages e.g. English, Spanish We use this last application to talk about anything that we are working on or trying to improve over a period of time. This may be something physical, such as building work or a painting, or it may be something intellectual, such as learning a language. Either way, the key element of this is that we want to make progress in it over a certain period. Another key point to note is that we only use this application for things that we do not consider finished and work is still being done to achieve the outcome that we want. For example, when we are learning a language we are not at a fluent level (the result that we are trying to achieve), we can use this 'come along' to say that we are making progress and out language level is improving. Moreover, if an author is writing a book, he or she wants to finish it and makes continuous progress towards this goal, during which time we can also use 'come along'. Lastly, it is common practice among English native speakers to ask "How is XXXX coming along?" when enquiring about the progress of something. Typical responses to this often include adverbs such as 'well', 'nicely' and 'really' or sometimes do not need an adverb at all; just 'it is coming along' on its own can be used to say that you are making progress. The project is really coming along — we should be finished by next week. Your painting is coming along nicely! How's your English learning going? It's coming along thanks! The garden is coming along well now that spring has arrived. She's coming along in her recovery better than expected. My cooking skills have really come along over the past year. The new product is coming along, but we still have a few bugs to fix. Training was slow at first, but things are starting to come along. The book is coming along — I’ve written five chapters so far. How’s your plan for the event coming along? Very well thank you. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The noun 'come-along' Like many English phrasal verbs, 'come along' has a noun that derives from it. A 'come-along' is a device used for pulling or lifting objects (known as a winch) when there is limited space or access to be able to do so. Admittedly, I'm not a technical person at all and have never heard of one of these instruments before, however it is possible that you may come across or use one of these in your daily life, so I wanted to include it in case. 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 along'. 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 along'. 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 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. This post is all about the phrasal verb 'come in', which at first may seem like quite a straightforward and easy little phrasal verb but did you know that there are in fact 7 different ways to use it! In the post, I will explain all of these different ways to you and provide you with lots of example sentences to enable you to use it like a native. So, without further ado, let's make a start.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Come In - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'come' and 'in' Come In - Meaning 1: To enter somewhere Come In - Meaning 2: To arrive Come In - Bonus: Keep the money coming in! Come In - Meaning 3: To become popular Come In - Meaning 4: To take effect Come In - Meaning 5: To become involved in something Come In - Bonus: This is where you come in! Come in - Meaning 6: To move towards the land (sea) Come In - Meaning 7: To finish a race in a certain position Come In - Bonus: Idioms featuring 'come in' 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 COME IN: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 7 Past tense forms Came in / Come in Separable? No The phrasal verb 'come in' is formed of the base verb 'to come' and the prepositional particle 'in' and so before we go any further, let's first briefly look at these individual words and their meanings. 'To come' is an extremely common irregular verb in English that is employed in many different ways, with it's main idea being one of movement towards the speaker (in the opposite sense of the verb 'to go'). Additionally, it can sometimes be used to mean 'to arrive' and 'to happen', among other applications. John came home this morning. Are you coming on the trip with us? A lot of people came to my party. My parents came late to the show. Dreams can come true. Christmas has come early for this family. The prepositional particle 'in' is one that you will all know as it is an integral and widespread word in English to refer to being inside or moving towards the interior of something. This meaning is clear in many phrasal verbs containing 'in', however it can also express different concepts in phrasal verbs like participation (join in) and integration (set in). So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'come in'.... MEANING 1: To enter somewhere Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A1 - Beginner Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To enter, to go in Our first application of 'come in' is one that I am sure that many of you will have heard before as it is the literal meaning of these two words combined, i.e. 'to enter somewhere'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Room House / Apartment Building Office For this usage, we are only concerned with entering an internal space, and therefore this is typically always used in reference to buildings, rooms and places we can physically be inside. As the verb 'to come' is used to refer to a movement towards the speaker, this should only be used by a person who is already inside a room or building. An exception to this would be when a person who is outside is talking to the person who is inside about entering it. Please come in and make yourself at home. We're open; please come in! As soon as I came in, I could smell the delicious food cooking. Peter came in from the rain, soaking wet. Come in, we’ve been expecting you! It's freezing out here. Can I come in? Arthur the cat came in through the open window. MEANING 2: To arrive Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To arrive, to land, to get in, to reach The second application of 'come in' means 'to arrive' somewhere and it includes several different and specific applications, which can all be heard commonly in everyday English. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Train / Airplane / Bus Ferry / Ship / Boat News / Information Stock Money You may often hear native speakers using 'come in' when referring to public transport such as trains and buses and that is because this is commonly used as a way of saying 'to arrive at a particular place' when referring to them.... My train comes in at 3.30 at Edinburgh station; can you pick me up? What time does your flight come in? Jason spent all night at the bus station waiting for the first bus going to London to come in. Furthermore, when talking about airplanes, it is common to use the expression 'coming in to land' to talk about the final moments of the flight before the plane arrives at its destination. The pilot lowered the wheels as the plane was coming in to land. As we were coming in to land over London, I could see Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Alternatively, you may also hear it being used to refer to when someone arrives at home or to another room, building or workplace. Again, this links back to the first application of 'entering' that we have already covered. Did you hear Sarah come in last night? What time is Luke coming in to the office today? Photo: Pexels Another very common usage of this application is with reference to news and information as when it is received, news agencies and publications will often say that it "comes in". Some breaking news has just come in about the British royal family. We will keep you updated as and when more information on the situation comes in. Some news came in over the weekend about the death of the celebrity. If you have ever had the misfortune of going into a store to buy something that you urgently need and the store assistant informs you that the item that you want is out of stock, they may have also told you when they expect the item to 'come in'. This is because 'come in' is also used to refer to stock in stores, warehouses and businesses and when it is expected to arrive and become available for sale or consumption. We sold out of the dark chocolate eggs this morning. The next stock is due to come in tomorrow. Unfortunately, this product is out of stock at present and we expect it to come in early next week. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Keep the money coming in! One other way that we can use this application of the phrasal verb 'come in' is with money and specifically when we receive it into our bank account. This could be in reference to one singular financial transaction, however usually it is to talk about earning money on a regular basis as a salary from a job. I have to go to work every day and keep the money coming in. As long as the money comes in every month, I am happy! Has the money for the sale of the car come in yet? MEANING 3: To become popular Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To become fashionable Meaning number three in our exploration of the phrasal verb 'come in' is to become popular or fashionable. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Fashion Trend Haircut / Hairstyle Decor Colours Did you know that when the word 'in' functions as an adjective, it can mean fashionable, trendy or popular? For example, you might say that a certain colour is 'in' one year or a popular activity may be described as an "in thing to do". This is likely derived from a shortening of the phrase 'in fashion' where we simply drop the word 'fashion' as it not required in the context. It sounds strange but it is definitely something useful to have in your English vocabulary reserves to impress your friends and colleagues! When we combine this adjectival usage of 'in' with the verb 'come', we arrive at the idea of something becoming popular or fashionable and as such, this is commonly used with trends in fashion, home decor, social media and products for sale on the market. One final point to make here is that as trends and fashions are always temporary and things stop being popular after a period of time, we can use the phrasal verb opposite 'go out' to describe this (link here ). Flared jeans are coming in again this season. Bright colours have come in recently, especially for summer fashion. That hairstyle came in a few years ago and is still trendy today. Minimalist home decor has really come in over the past decade. Eco-friendly products are coming in as more people focus on sustainability. Vinyl records have come in again despite digital music's popularity. Social media challenges come in and go out so quickly. Old-school video games are coming in as people seek nostalgia. MEANING 4: To take effect Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To become effective The fourth meaning of our phrasal verb of interest 'come in' is one that you are likely to hear in the business world or when talking about politics as it means 'to take effect'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Law / Legislation Rules Measures Changes Reforms Ban When I was younger I used to smoke cigarettes, which I enjoyed very much and I remember being very frustrated about a new law that was introduced in the UK at the time that prohibited smoking inside public buildings like pubs and restaurants. I recall angrily talking about this new ban with my friends, saying that we didn't want it to "come in", meaning that we did not want it to take effect and stop us from smoking anywhere that we wanted. For the record, I gave up smoking many years ago and I really dislike it now, so I am extremely grateful that this ban did come in 😊 As you have hopefully understood from the example, we use this application of 'come in' to describe the moment or date when something like a law, policy or change is applied and becomes valid or effective. The new traffic calming rules will come in next month. The policy came in on January 1st and all employees must follow it. A curfew came in following the recent protests in the city. Stricter regulations on plastic use will come in next year. The law came in after a long debate in parliament. New safety measures have just come in at the airport. The tax reforms will come in at the start of the fiscal year. Changes to the school curriculum will come in from this September. A ban on smoking in public places came in a few years ago. MEANING 5: To become involved in something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To join in, to get involved, to be required, to be implemented The fifth application of 'come in' that we will cover in the post means 'to become involved or active in something'. Nouns used with this application.... Singer Musician Project Situation Story Plan Much like the second application that we covered earlier, this fifth application of the phrasal verb 'come in' has several distinct uses that I will explain to you. Principally, let me clarify that this application is used to talk about joining or becoming involved with something that has already started and is in progress. We typically use it when something or someone is introduced into something to make a change of some sort. This change may be to try and and resolve a problem or make something function better. Alternatively, it may be to perform a useful role or function in something that is already going well. Typically, you will hear it in reference to things like work projects, plans that are in progress and ongoing disputes that need to be resolved. The manager came in to help resolve the dispute between the employees. I wasn’t part of the project at first, but I came in later to assist with marketing. Lisa came in at the last minute and saved the entire presentation. Jeremy came in as a consultant to improve the company’s efficiency. The new coach came in halfway through the season and turned things around. Investors come in when a startup shows real potential for growth. We can also use the alternative expression 'to come in on something' here, which means the same thing and is used particularly when talking about business ventures and money making schemes. I'd like to come in on that deal with you if I may? We are asking investors if they want to come in on the project before the deadline next week. Additionally, it is common to hear the expression "this is where XXXXX come(s) in" with this application, which is used to specify a point when something becomes required or necessary. We need more volunteers; this is where you come in! This is where our legal team comes in; they’ll handle all the contracts. This is the point where technology comes in to make the process faster and easier. Photo: Pexels BONUS: This is where you come in! Moreover, there are also some specific situations in which you will often hear this application in use that I want to give you and these are discussions, debates and musical performances. In discussions and debates, particularly the more official ones that are broadcasted on TV or radio, a person 'comes in' to say something and give their opinion or advice at some point after the discussion has begun. They are often invited to 'come in' by the presenter or chair of the debate. Adam, would you like to come in here and offer a counter argument to the one just given. At this point, I would like to invite Cathy Green to come in and give her thoughts on what has been discussed so far. When talking about musical performances, we can use 'come in' to refer to both singers and musicians who start playing or singing at a specific point within a song and not from the very start. We can use it both when they come in for the first time and also following a pause if they have stopped for a bit during the performance. Sophie, you come in after the first verse, so wait for my signal. The drummer comes in after four beats. I missed my cue and came in too late on the chorus. Make sure you come in on the right note during the harmony. The lead singer gave me a nod to let me know when to come in. The choir comes in right after the instrumental break. MEANING 6: To move towards the land (sea) Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To flow, to rise The sixth meaning of 'come in' is all to do with something that I love, which is the ocean and is used means 'to move towards the land'. Specifically, this usage is all about the tides of the sea, which are the rise and fall of sea levels that are caused by the effect of the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun on our little planet. As you may know, these tidal movements are in cycles of approximately 12.5 hours, during which the sea will visibly move away from the coast, revealing more of the beach, and then back towards it, covering it up again. When the tide is in the part of the cycle where it is moving back towards the land, we say that it is 'coming in'. Conversely, when it is moving away from the shore, we say that it is going out (link here ). Note that we almost always use the nouns 'tide' or 'sea' with this application. Be careful; the tide is coming in fast. We should set up our picnic further back before the tide comes in. The fishermen waited for the tide to come in before setting sail. As the tide came in, the beach slowly disappeared under the water. The children ran back as the waves got bigger with the sea coming in. You can see the boats rocking as the tide comes in. Low tide will last for a few more hours before the tide starts coming in again. MEANING 7: To finish a race in a certain position Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To finish, to end up For our final application of the phrasal verb 'come in', we are, rather appropriately, talking about one that means 'to finish a race or a contest in a certain position'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Race Competition Contest Quiz Tournament When we normally use this application, it is followed by an ordinal number, i.e. first, second third etc. to specify the position or place that a competitor finished. Additionally, you may instead hear "in first / second / third place" as an alternative. If you are unlucky enough to be the final person to finish, you would say that you "came in last". Emily came in first place in the marathon. He trained hard but only came in third in the competition. Our team came in second in the relay race. Despite his injury, Steve managed to come in fourth. I was hoping to win, but I came in fifth instead. The underdog surprised everyone by coming in first. Lucy came in last, but she was proud of finishing the race. They came in third in the general knowledge quiz. For any of those among you who enjoy gambling from time to time, it is also possible to hear people talking about their bet "coming in" when they win. This is typically a sporting bet, such as on horse racing or football (soccer). All of my bets came in today! I thought his bet would come in but I lost it at the last minute. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Idioms featuring 'come in' Before finishing the post, let's take a quick look at some common expressions and idioms that feature the phrasal verb 'come in'.... To come in for = We often use the expression 'to come in for' to say that something will be the object or recipient of something. Most commonly, this is negative feedback and criticism, however it can also be used with positive feedback and praise. The government has come in for a lot of criticism over its new policy. The movie came in for praise from critics worldwide. The vegan advocate came in for some harsh comments after her controversial speech. The company came in for blame when their product failed. To come in handy / useful = These two idiomatic expressions are very common and mean to become useful at a specific time. This extra phone charger will come in handy if I ever lose my other one. The money will certainly come in useful when we are on holiday - thank you! I will keep this as you never know when it might come in handy! To come in thick and fast - We use this particular idiomatic expression to describe when things happen or we receive things quickly and in large numbers. The complaints came in thick and fast after the politician's controversial speech. Job applications have been coming in thick and fast all morning. 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 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 'come 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 'get up to' 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. Some of you may remember that a few weeks ago, I published a post all about the super common phrasal verb 'get up' (link here ). Originally, I wanted to include the different meanings of its variation 'get up to' in the same post, but whilst I was writing it, I decided that they should have their own page and here it is 😊 In this post, I will explain three different ways to use 'get up to' and provide you with lots of example sentences in context to help you to use it naturally in your English conversations. So, without further ado, let's make a start.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Get Up To - The Basics: Key information & the individual words 'get', 'up' and 'to' Get Up To - Meaning 1: To physically reach a high point or position Get Up To - Meaning 2: To reach a certain point Get Up To - Meaning 3: To do something 🇬🇧 Get Up To - Bonus: Common expressions with 'get up to' Get Up To - Bonus: One final non phrasal verb meaning 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 UP TO: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 3 Past tense forms Got up to / Got up to - Gotten up to Separable? Rarely As a starting point in my posts, I always like to consider the different meanings of the words that make up the phrasal verb that I am explaining; in this case it is the three extremely common words 'get', 'up' and 'to'. To keep things short, I will just focus on the combination 'up to' rather than the individual words 'up' and 'to', which I am certain you will all be very familiar with already. The verb 'to get' is our base verb in this construction and is one that most English learners find particularly difficult and frustrating since native speakers seem to use it in an infinite number of ways. While it is true that 'to get' has numerous meanings and is frequently used in informal English as a synonym for other verbs, the primary meaning to focus on for this post is 'to reach or arrive at a point or place'. Another key feature of the verb 'to get' that you should be aware of as we go through the different meanings is its use in describing states or situations that a person finds themselves in. I got home late last night. What time did you get here? Sarah got to work early yesterday to work on her emails. How do I get to the city centre? We need to get prepared for the show. I got lost walking through the city. Next, we have the combination of the prepositional particles 'up to', which has several different meanings in English, depending on the context. Perhaps the most common of its meanings is 'as far as' when referring distance or 'until' in reference to time. It can also be used to say that something depends on someone, that something is someone's decision and, more relevant for this post, that someone is engaged in an activity, especially when it is something that they should not be doing. You have up to one hour to solve this problem. It is up to you to speak to the management. What do you want to do? It is completely up to you as I can't make that decision. What are you up to? The kittens were up to no good in the laundry room. So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'get up to'.... MEANING 1: To physically reach a high point or position Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To climb onto, to climb up to, to reach, to arrive at Separable? No The first application of 'get up to' that we will cover in this post is the most literal of its three meanings and is 'to physically reach a high point or position'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Top Summit Peak Roof Floor Loft / Attic This literal application is used in reference to when we physically move ourselves or climb from a low place to a high place, which is usually (but not always) the top of something. This usage is derived from the meaning 'to arrive at' that we have with the verb 'to get', in combination with the particle 'up' to mean a relatively higher place or away from the ground, giving us the idea of arriving high up. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE WITH 'GO UP TO'? When using the verb 'to get' to describe a movement to a place, the focus tends to be on the final destination and the point in time when you arrive there, whilst with 'go up' the focus tends to be more on the upward movement. However, we only tend to use 'go up' when the upward movement is easy and without problems. When we face problems or difficulties with the upward movement or if it is not possible, we use 'get up' instead. It is also therefore more common to use 'get up' rather than 'go up' in negative statement and questions. I managed to get up to the top of the mountain just before sunset. How did you get up to the roof without a ladder? The cat somehow got up to the highest branch of the tree. The hikers were not able to get up to the peak due to the steep terrain. Despite using a rope, John struggled to get up to the second-floor balcony. Lucy and Peter climbed for hours to get up to the summit. I would love to know how that squirrel got up to the attic! The workers used a crane to get up to the top of the building. MEANING 2: To reach a certain point Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To reach, to make it to Separable? No The second application of 'get up to' is pretty similar to the first one but this time it simply means 'to reach a certain point'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Chapter Episode Bit / Part Point Unlike the first application, this one is not about physical upward movement but is used more for activities that we do over a period of time, which involve an element of progress from a starting point to an end point. We typically use it when we have started an activity but not finished it and we want to tell someone the latest or furthest point that we have reached. Common examples of this include reading a book, playing a video game and watching a movie or TV series; all of which take time to do and have defined start and end points. If you are reading a book and you have only read 5 chapters so far, you might say that you " have got up to chapter 5 ". Alternatively, if you are watching a TV series with a lot of seasons and episodes but you have only watched the first season, you might say that you " have got up to the end of the first season ". Rachel got up to chapter five in the book before she had to stop. I only got up to episode three of the series before I lost interest. Jamie got up to the first big boss in the video game but could not get past that point. I've only got up to the bit where the main character's brother dies, so don't give me any spoilers!! What bit of the book have you got up to? IT'S SO HOT TODAY!! In addition to the things that I have already mentioned, we can also use 'get up to' to describe numerical values and percentages that go up and down and in doing so, reach a certain level, price or quantity. Typically, this can include high temperatures, values of stocks & shares and prices but can also include things that we measure in numbers such as speed, website traffic and heart rates. We often use this application when a number or value has increased above a specified point, when there is something noteworthy or surprising about the increase or when there is a specified limit that we want the number to reach. Quite often, similar to the previous usage, our focus is on hitting the high point, rather than on the increase itself, for which we would tend to use 'go up' again. The temperature in London got up to 35°C yesterday. The company's profits got up to a record high this quarter. Laura's heart rate got up to 180 bpm during the intense workout. The price of gas got up to $5 per gallon last summer but luckily it dropped again soon after. The marathon runner’s pace got up to 20 km/h in the final stretch. The noise level in the stadium got up to 120 decibels. His bank balance got up to $10,000 after months of saving. The number of daily visitors to the website got up to 100,000 last week. His weight got up to 90 kilograms before he started dieting. The company's stock got up to $150 per share before dropping again. MEANING 3: To do something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Common Where is it used? British English Potential synonyms To do, to be up to Separable? No The third and final meaning of 'get up to' is an informal British English usage and means 'to do something, often that is slightly bad or a bit naughty'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Mischief Tricks Antics Trouble Firstly, you should note that this is a really commonly used application in informal, everyday British English, so if you can master this and use it with any British friends or colleagues, it will sound great and very natural👌 To help you understand this application, I should first explain that it comes from the expression 'to be up to something', which means 'to do something, typically that is secretive or mischievous or that you should not be doing'. It is not always used for negative behaviour however, and in informal English, you will regularly hear questions such as " what are you up to ?" as an alternative to " what are you doing ?". What are you two up to in there? (this could be when you suspect that the people are doing something that they should not be doing?) I'm sure Jane is up to something, she is not acting normally and she can't look me in the eye. What are you up to this weekend? We use 'get up to' in very much the same way as we use 'be up to' and, in fact, it is just an alternative form of this. Again, we can use it both when we think that someone is misbehaving, being sneaky or doing something unusual and just as a simple and informal alternative to the verb 'to do'. You should note that it is commonly used in questions about what people did in the recent past, e.g. " what did you get up to at the weekend? ". The kids have been very quiet since lunch; I wonder what they’re getting up to. My puppy always gets up to some kind of mischief when left alone. I don’t know how they got up to so much trouble in just one afternoon. My friends and I used to get up to all sorts of adventures when we were younger. You won’t believe what Brian got up to while on vacation! My grandparents love hearing about what I’ve been getting up to at university. The cat got up to no good while we were out; just look at the mess! I don’t want to know what they got up to at the party last night! What did you get up to over the weekend? I didn't get up to much last week as I felt a bit tired. An expression that you may hear is 'to get up to no good', which is again the idea of doing something naughty or that you are not supposed to do. What are those children doing in there? I bet they are up to no good! My cats often get up to no good during the day when we are at work. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Common idioms and expressions with 'get up to' There are several commonly used idioms and expressions that we can use with the phrasal verb 'to get up to'..... To get up to speed - As I explained earlier in the post, we can use 'to get up to speed' to mean to reach a certain speed describing movement, however there is also a more idiomatic meaning to make you aware of. It can also mean to obtain all of the most recent information about a subject or situation, particularly when you need to do something about it or make a decision. A less common alternative to this is ' to get up to date '. It took me a few days to get up to speed with the new software, but now I feel confident using it. Before the meeting, make sure you read the report so you can get up to speed on the latest developments. To get up to scratch - If we want to improve something so that it reaches an acceptable standard, we can say 'to get (it) up to scratch'. This is often used in reference to skills that we have or need to practice in order to improve. His work wasn’t acceptable to begin with, but after some training, he managed to get it up to scratch. I need to practice my French more if I want to get up to scratch before I go to Paris. Photo: Pexels BONUS: One final non-phrasal verb meaning Before finishing the post, I want to make you aware of another time that you may come across 'get up to' in English From time to time, you are likely to see sentences such as " Get up to 5% off your next purchase ." and " The criminal is likely to get up to 10 years in prison ." in English. In this sense, we have the idea that a person will receive something up to a maximum limit or point. This is not strictly a phrasal verb usage as 'get up to' is not considered one lexical unit here with 'get' and 'up to' being separate, but I wanted to make you aware of it nonetheless. 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 up to'. 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 up to'. 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 'keep down' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them. In this post, I will be explaining the phrasal verb 'keep down' and four different ways that you can use it in your everyday English. I will provide you with lots of example sentences for each usage, from remaining in a low position to managing not to vomit when you are ill. So, without ado, let's make a start and hopefully you can learn something new about this useful phrasal verb! TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Keep Down - The Basics: Key information & the individual words 'keep' and 'down' Keep Down - Meaning 1: To remain in a low position Keep Down - Meaning 2: To keep a number or level low Keep Down - Bonus: Shhhh! Keep it Down! Keep Down - Meaning 3: To repress someone Keep Down - Meaning 4: To not vomit 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 KEEP DOWN: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 4 Past tense forms Kept down / Kept down Separable? Yes As a starting point in our exploration of the phrasal verb 'keep down', let's first consider the individual words 'keep' and 'down'. The base verb in our construction, 'to keep', is a common irregular verb with several main meanings in English. Perhaps the one that you will know best is 'to retain something in your possession' and from this we also get the idea of the second meaning, which is 'to hold something in a specific place'. Another key usage of the verb 'to keep' is 'to continue', in which case it is followed by a gerund to specify the continued activity. I told my brother that he could keep the book I had leant him. Joanne kept the letter from her father. Please keep the change! I keep a photograph of my parents next to my bed. Please keep this in mind for the future. I keep forgetting my colleague's name. Why do you keep asking me the same question? The prepositional particle 'down' is one that you will all know as a word that generally denotes a downward movement or decrease of sorts and these meanings can often be reflected in phrasal verb constructions ( go down , slow down). In addition to this, when 'down' is included in phrasal verbs, it can also add the ideas of suppression (hold down), recording (write down) and finality (close down), among others. So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the main meanings of the phrasal verb 'keep down'.... MEANING 1: To remain in a low position Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To lie low, to stay down Separable? No Let's begin the meanings of 'keep down' with the one that is closest to a literal meaning of the two words combined, which is 'to remain in a low position'. The meaning of this application is simply derived from combining the idea of remaining or staying that we get from the verb 'to keep' with the idea of being in a downward or low position. Situations in which this application is used.... Playing games that involve hiding Military action We only use this application to talk about being physically in a low position with our bodies. For this reason, it tends only to be used in reference to when we want to stay down because we are hiding somewhere and do not want other people to see us. As such, this is commonly heard in reference to soldiers and the military when fighting wars and, on a lighter note, when we are playing a game that involves hiding from other people. As we are talking about just our own bodies here, there is no direct object with this application and therefore it is not separable unless you use it with a reflexive 'self pronoun, which is not particularly common to do. The verb 'to keep' is often used to form imperatives (to tell people what to do) and you may often hear this first application in use to tell people to stay in a low position that they have adopted. Keep down or they'll see us hiding behind the bushes! The soldiers were told to keep down to avoid enemy fire. If you keep down, you’ll have a better chance of staying out of sight. The shopkeeper had to keep down behind the counter while the armed robbers were in the store. We should keep down until the coast is clear. MEANING 2: To keep a number or level low Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To hold, to limit, to curb, to restrict, to check, to rein in Separable? Yes In the previous section, we looked at the idea of remaining in a low position to avoid being seen or detected and in this second application, we are again talking about something remaining low, however this time it is numbers, quantities and levels instead of our physical bodies. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Numbers / Quantities Level Noise Costs / Prices Inflation You will note from the list above that this application is primarily used with nouns for things that we can control and therefore make increase or decrease. To clarify, if we keep something down, then we control it and do not allow it to rise or increase as we want the level to stay low. To give you some examples of this, governments around the world are constantly trying to keep economic inflation down and if you are getting married, you may want to keep the number of guests down and not invite a large number of people in order to save some money. Grammatically speaking, this usage does take a direct object, which is the thing that we want to prevent from increasing or going up and it is therefore separable. I think in this case, we tend to use it separably slightly more than inseparably but both are fine to use and the meaning is the same either way. We need to keep costs down if we want to stay within budget. Regular exercise and a healthy diet help to keep cholesterol levels down. The government is trying to keep down inflation through new economic policies. Drinking plenty of water can help keep your body temperature down in hot weather. The company introduced new policies to keep employee turnover down. The family installed insulation to keep down heating costs during the winter. The doctor advised Sarah to avoid salty foods to keep her blood pressure down. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Shhhhh! Keep it down! One other common way to use this application is with noise levels, particularly when you want people to be quiet. In this case, it would be normal to ask them to "keep the noise down". A variation of this is "keep it down" and as mentioned previously, this is often used in an imperative form, especially as the person requesting the quietness often tends to be angry or annoyed....I think we have all had moments like that. He spoke quietly to keep the noise down and not disturb the others. I am just going for a nap, so could please keep the noise down in here. Shhhh! Keep it down! I am trying to revise for my exam. Can you keep it down please?! You sound like a herd of elephants! MEANING 3: To repress someone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To repress, to suppress, to restrain, to control, to subject Separable? Yes For our third application of 'keep down', we are turning our attention to something unpleasant that happens all over the world as it means 'to repress someone'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Person / People Group Firstly, if you are not familiar with the verb 'to repress', it means to not allow something to be expressed and would typically be used with words, emotions and feelings. When used in reference to people, it means to control them and restrict their freedom, so that they have less than others and are not able to progress or improve their lives. This can either be just one or two people or a whole group within society. With this definition in mind, I think that it is fair to say that within all human social structures across the globe, people are repressed or 'kept down' in some way. In other words, many people are controlled and therefore not always allowed to express themselves freely or live how they wish. Of course, this does not apply to everyone but I think elements of this are present everywhere to a greater or lesser degree. For this usage, we are thinking of society in terms of a hierarchy, with the most powerful people at the top and the less powerful 'kept down' at the bottom, without being given the opportunity to rise up the hierarchy to the top. As such, you will often hear this application in use to refer to governments, leaders and political regimes. The dictator used fear and violence to keep political opposition down. Unfair laws were designed to keep down certain groups in society. The strict school rules were meant to keep down any form of rebellion among students. The oppressive regime worked hard to keep down the voices of dissent. Corrupt leaders often try to keep down the poor to maintain their power. The ruling class imposed heavy taxes to keep down the lower classes. John refused to let anyone keep him down and fought for his rights. The media was censored to keep any criticism of the government down. The government introduced harsh measures to keep down the workers demanding fair wages. In addition to people and groups of people, we can also use this application of 'keep down' to talk about repressing emotions and reactions that come from our emotions. Typically, this is when we feel the emotion inside us but we refuse to express it publicly and keep it inside. Ellie struggled to keep down her anger during the argument. Ben took a deep breath to keep his frustration down and stay calm. Luke tried to keep his excitement down, but his smile gave him away. Despite the bad news, Sally managed to keep down her disappointment and stay composed. MEANING 4: To not vomit Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To not vomit Separable? Yes Now we move on to our fourth and final meaning of 'keep down', which is 'to not vomit' and as you can guess, it is all about being in ill health. Nouns commonly used with this expression.... Food Drink Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner Liquid When someone is ill, specifically with a stomach bug or perhaps because he or she has drunk too much alcohol, vomiting is one of the main symptoms. Annoyingly, when we have a bad stomach, it tends to last for a while and does not usually go away immediately, meaning that we will vomit several or sometimes many times. During these periods, we are not able to hold any food or drink that we consume in our stomachs and when this happens, we can say that "we cannot keep food or drink down". The idea here is that when we eat something, we swallow it and it moves down to our stomach and normally stays there. When we then combine this idea of 'holding' that we get from the verb 'to keep', this idea of being able to hold something in our stomachs is derived. Again, this final usage is separable and takes a direct object, which is the food or drink that we are trying to keep down in our stomach. Sam was so sick that she could barely keep down a sip of water. After the surgery, Terry struggled to keep down any solid food. Jeremy felt awful after the boat ride but managed to keep his lunch down and didn't vomit. The medication helped her keep down her meals without feeling queasy. 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 'keep down'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'keep down'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END