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An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'go ahead' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. The English phrasal verb 'go ahead' is a common phrasal verb that is used to talk about subjects like beginnings, movement and progress. Have you heard it before or is it completely new to you? If it's new for you, do not worry as in this post I will break it down and explain all the different ways that native speakers use it, so that you too can start using it confidently and naturally. Additionally, I will give you lots of example sentences in context, to ensure that you know the type of situations in which we use it. So, let's get started and learn what the phrasal verb 'go ahead' is all about.... QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'go ahead' mean? The phrasal verb 'go ahead' has three main meanings in English: To start doing something To happen (event) To start a journey before others Keep reading to learn more about each of these.... TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one) Go Ahead - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'go' and 'ahead' Go Ahead - Meaning 1: To start doing something Go Ahead - Meaning 2: To happen (event) Go Ahead - Meaning 3: To start a journey before others Go Ahead - Bonus: The noun and adjective 'go-ahead' 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 AHEAD: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 3 Past tense forms Went ahead / Gone ahead Separable? No The phrasal verb 'go ahead' is formed from the verb 'to go' and the prepositional particle 'ahead', so let's first just briefly consider these two words individually and their significance in phrasal verbs. Go - The verb 'to go' is one of the most common verbs in the English language and has many uses and meanings, with the most common of these being 'to move from one place to another'. Among all of its different meanings, the two that are the most relevant for the phrasal verb 'go ahead' are perhaps 'to proceed' and 'to happen'. I go to the gym five times a week. Kate is going to work tomorrow. We went on holiday to Italy. The light has changed to green; we are ok to go. How did the exam go? It hasn't gone well for Jim since he fired his personal assistance. A NOTE ABOUT 'TO GO' One other thing to note about the verb 'to go' is that it is highly irregular and has the most irregular past tense form of all English verbs: 'went'. The reason for this is that historically 'went' was the past form of another verb (to wend) which was a synonym of 'to go' and which still exists in English today, although it is quite limited. As English developed, speakers found it easier to say 'went' rather than the original past tense form of 'to go' (ēode) and so over time 'went' became its official past tense. For reference, the past tense of the verb 'to wend' in modern English is 'wended'. Ahead - The prepositional particle 'ahead' is one that is seen seldomly in phrasal verbs, especially compared to others like 'in' or 'up'. The general idea of the word 'ahead' is 'in front' and it is used as an adverb to to talk about things physically in front of you as well as temporally (in the future). Moreover, it can also be used to mean 'to make progress', particularly when compared to others, and also to have more points than someone in a competition or game. As 'ahead' is used less in phrasal verbs than other prepositions, the ideas that it brings to them are fewer and more consistent (so easier to understand). These ideas are linked to its meaning and include planning for the future (think ahead), being in front of others (pull ahead) and forward movement or continuation (press ahead). So, now that we have looked at the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'go ahead'.... MEANING 1: To start doing something Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To proceed, to start, to begin, to commence Separable? No The first meaning of the phrasal verb 'go ahead' is one that you may know already and means 'to start doing something'. For this first meaning, we are simply taking the idea that we get from the verb 'to go' of proceeding with or beginning something and combining it with 'ahead', which also carries a similar idea of movement and progress. We tend to use 'go ahead' in this way when talking about starting something that involves some planning beforehand, like a project or a large purchase. Other times, we use it if there is an element of hesitation or resistance before starting something. It is often followed by the words 'and' or 'with'. After discussing the idea for weeks, we went ahead and started our own business. Kelly went ahead and applied for the job despite not meeting every requirement. They went ahead and bought the house before someone else could make an offer. Bobby went ahead and ordered a new laptop even though it was expensive. We went ahead with the renovations as soon as we had saved enough money. The company went ahead with the recruitment process despite the uncertainty. Suzanne finally went ahead with her plan to study abroad. Another very important point regarding this first application of 'go ahead' is that it is also regularly used when someone gives another person the permission to do something. When a person in authority tells someone that they are able to start doing something or proceed with it, they often use the imperative form "go ahead!". "Can I start the presentation now?" "Yes, go ahead." If everyone is ready, go ahead and begin. "Would you mind if I opened the window?" "No, go ahead." "May I ask you a question?" "Of course. Go ahead." When you're ready, go ahead and press the green button. You have my approval, so go ahead with the application. We've finished discussing it, so go ahead with the changes. MEANING 2: To happen (event) Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To proceed, to start, to happen, to take place Separable? No The second of our meanings of the phrasal verb 'go ahead' is a logical progression from the first one and means 'to happen'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Event Meeting Festival Party Show The verb 'to happen' has quite a broad meaning, so let me first clarify here that we use this application of 'go ahead' to refer to events for people to attend that are planned or scheduled, ranging from meetings and lessons in professional English to festivals, concerts and parties. Normally, we use 'go ahead' when there has been some doubt surrounding the event beforehand and there was a possibility of it being cancelled or postponed, however in the end it happened as planned. Due to the nature of when we use this application, it is often used with words like 'despite', 'nevertheless' and 'nonetheless'. The football match went ahead despite the heavy rain. Our meeting with the client went ahead even though several people were absent. There were concerns about the weather. Nevertheless, the concert went ahead as planned. Their wedding will go ahead despite the transport strike. The annual conference will go ahead next month regardless. After a period of uncertainty, the race went ahead after officials inspected the course. The ceremony went ahead without any major problems. Although there were safety concerns, the festival went ahead. MEANING 3: To start a journey before others Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To press on ahead Separable? No The third and final application of the phrasal verb 'go ahead' is used to mean 'to start a journey before others'. We use this one to talk about situations in which there is a group of people who are all going to the same destination and some of them start the journey to the destination before the rest of the group. For example, if a group of people are going for a walk, the majority of the group might go ahead (start the walk) while the owner of the house locks the door and makes sure it is secure. He or she will then catch the others up once this is done. Alternatively, if a group of friends go camping together, some of the group may 'go ahead' in order to arrive at the campsite before the others so that they can set up the tent for when the others arrive. We were running late, so Sarah went ahead while the rest of us finished packing the car. You go ahead, and we'll catch up with you once we've paid the bill. Since he knew the route, Tom went ahead to reserve a campsite for everyone. The guide went ahead to check that the mountain path was safe. We told the children to go ahead while we locked the house. Anna went ahead on her bike because she was much faster than the rest of us. My parents went ahead to the hotel, and we followed a couple of hours later. The hikers split up for a while, and two of them went ahead to find a suitable place for lunch. I stated in the table above that this application is not separable. While this is true and you cannot insert a direct object between 'go' and 'ahead', we CAN insert the additional preposition 'on' between them, giving us the variation 'to go on ahead'. The variation 'go on ahead' means exactly the same as 'go ahead' and I would say that it is used just as frequently by native speakers. Go on ahead. I'll catch up with you in a few minutes. You two go on ahead, and we'll meet you at the entrance. It was getting dark, so the guide told the fastest walkers to go on ahead. Don't wait for me; go on ahead and I'll join you when I'm ready. My mum went on ahead to find us a table at the restaurant. The children went on ahead while their parents walked more slowly behind them. We went on ahead to the hotel so we could check in before the others arrived. He went on ahead to make sure the road was clear. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The noun & adjective 'go-ahead' Hopefully, you can now understand the meanings and uses of the phrasal verb 'go ahead' and so let's now end the post with the noun and adjective 'go-ahead', which are both derived from the phrasal verb. The noun 'go-ahead' is linked to the first application that we looked at in this post and means 'permission'. Typically, we talk about managers and people in authority "giving the go-ahead" for something and for others to "get the go-ahead" to do something when they receive the permission. We finally received the go-ahead to start construction. The project can't begin until we get the go-ahead from the council. The manager gave us the go-ahead to hire two new employees. As soon as we get the go-ahead, we'll place the order. We are waiting for the go-ahead to begin. Less commonly, we can also use 'go-ahead' as an adjective to describe a person, organisation or business that is ambitious, progressive and forward thinking. For example, an employee in a company who has a lot of ambition to progress and build his or her career could be described as 'go-ahead'. Likewise, if a business is open to change and to trying new things and is very progressive, it could also be described as 'go-ahead'. This adjectival usage is more common in British English than North American English. Despite this, it is quite a rare usage that I do not often hear in my day-to-day life. Joanne is a go-ahead manager who is always looking for ways to improve the business. We need go-ahead leaders who aren't afraid to challenge old ways of thinking. The university is one of the most go-ahead institutions in the country. The organisation has a go-ahead approach to environmental sustainability. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I hope that you have found it useful and that it has helped you to understand how to use the phrasal verb 'go ahead' more confidently and naturally. Feel free to leave any comments, feedback or your own sentences using 'go ahead' in the section below. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. Do you want to improve your phrasal verb skills? Now that you have read the article, I hope you've learned something new. However, reading is only the first step to mastering phrasal verbs: the key is practice and repetition. That's why I've created a series of PDF workbooks with clear explanations, natural example sentences, exercises, speaking questions and answer keys. This will help you understand and remember common English phrasal verbs and use them confidently in real-life situations. Browse the workbooks here and start improving your phrasal verb skills today.... Thanks so much for reading and see you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'tell off' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. This post is all about the common English phrasal verb 'tell off', which is one that is often reserved exclusively for naughty children (and adults). In the article, I will explain to you how to use it in a natural way, with lots of example sentences in context. In addition, we will also look at the noun that is derived from it so that by the end of the post, you will be an expert in the subject of 'telling off'. So, let's make a start and see the phrasal verb 'tell off' is all about... QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'tell off' mean? To shout at someone for doing something wrong Keep reading to learn how to use it..... TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one) Tell Off - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'tell' and 'off' Tell Off - Meaning 1: To shout at someone for doing something wrong Tell Off - Bonus: The noun 'telling-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 TELL OFF: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 1 Past tense forms Told off / Told off Separable? Yes So what do we know about the phrasal verb 'tell off' already? We know that it is formed from the verb 'to tell' and the particle 'off', so as a first step in our exploration of this phrasal verb, let's consider these two individual words.... Tell - 'To tell' is a common irregular verb in English, whose main meaning is 'to give someone information' and when used this way it functions as a synonym of the verb 'to say'. Despite having a very similar meaning, the difference between 'to say' and 'to tell' is a source of confusion for many English learners. There are several differences in usage between but perhaps the most important one to remember is that with the verb 'to tell', we usually need to specify the person who receives the information and we do not need the preposition 'to'..... Can you tell your father that his breakfast is ready. James told his partner about what happened last night. Don't tell me what happens; I don't want to know! My boss told me a lie. Kath told her friends to "go away". The prepositional particle 'off' appears a lot in phrasal verbs and can add a variety of different meanings to them, which can often recur across different phrasal verbs. These include the ideas of separation (break off), departure (set off), stopping (turn off), completion (finish off) and delay (put off), among others. Interestingly, the 'off' in 'tell off' is not easily recognisable as one of these, so let's continue and see if you can work out why it is used in this phrasal verb.... MEANING 1: To shout at someone for doing something wrong Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere but common in British English Potential synonyms To scold, to reprimand, to admonish Separable? Yes Unlike many other common phrasal verbs, the phrasal verb 'tell off' only has one main meaning (hooray I hear you shouting!) and that is 'to shout at someone for doing something wrong'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Child Son / Daughter Employee Pupil / Student As you have probably guessed, we use the phrasal verb 'tell off' to describe anytime when a person (or animal) breaks a rule, behaves badly or does something that they are not supposed to do and another person shouts angrily at them as a result. It is almost always used in situations where the angry person who shouts is in a position of authority over the other one e.g. a parent, teacher or boss. As a result, the phrasal verb 'tell off' is most commonly used in reference to naughty children. In fact, I can remember many times as a child when my parents told me off and I am sure you probably can remember your own experiences too! My boss always tells me off when I'm late. Natalie tells her children off when they argue. Teachers shouldn't tell students off in front of the whole class. The teacher told us off for talking during the lesson. Mum told me off because I forgot to lock the front door. If he does it again, I'm going to tell him off. We commonly use the phrasal verb 'tell off' in the passive voice with the verbs 'to be' and 'to get', with 'get told off' being more common than 'be told off'. This is usually in situations in which the speaker wants to stress the fact that they were in trouble for something and when the angry person is secondary or less relevant information. I always get told off for leaving my shoes by the front door. He gets told off whenever he forgets to do his homework. She's getting told off by her mum for staying out so late. I walked in just as the children were getting told off. She's going to get told off when her parents find out. Arthur always gets told off for stealing food from the kitchen. I could hear someone being told off in the next room. Do you remember when we were told off by your parents for hiding the keys? Children are often told off for interrupting adults. We were told off for talking during the film. You should note that while there are other normal verbs that are synonyms of 'tell off', like 'reprimand' and 'scold', 'tell off' is used more much more commonly in British English as well as Australian & NZ English than its one-word synonyms. In North American English however, 'tell off' isn't used quite as frequently and there is more of a balance between how often the verbs are used. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT! Can you remember a time when you get told off as a child? What did you do and was it justified? Let me know in the comments or send me a message if you're feeling shy! Photo: Pexels BONUS: THE NOUN 'TELLING-OFF' As with many common phrasal verbs, 'tell off' has its very own noun that has been derived from it: 'telling-off'. The noun 'tell-off' is the word to describe the action of when one person shouts angrily at another and is more typical in British English. Furthermore, there are also soe specific verbs that are commonly used with this noun.... get a telling-off receive a telling-off have a telling-off give a telling-off need a telling-off deserve a telling-off be in for a telling-off Strangely, native speakers often add the adjective 'good' before the noun (a good telling-off), not because the action itself is good in the normal sense, but rather to add emphasis or stress. I got a telling-off from my teacher for talking during the lesson. He received a telling-off after arriving late for the third time that week. You're going to get a telling-off if Mum finds out. The mistake earned him a severe telling-off from the headteacher. That young boy needs a good telling-off! Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I hope that you have found it useful and that it has helped you to understand how to use the phrasal verb 'tell off' more confidently and naturally. Feel free to leave any comments, feedback or your own sentences using 'tell off' in the section below. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. Do you want to improve your phrasal verb skills? Now that you have read the article, I hope you've learned something new. However, reading is only the first step to mastering phrasal verbs: the key is practice and repetition. That's why I've created a series of PDF workbooks with clear explanations, natural example sentences, exercises, speaking questions and answer keys. This will help you understand and remember common English phrasal verbs and use them confidently in real-life situations. Browse the workbooks here and start improving your phrasal verb skills today.... Thanks so much for reading and see you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'deal with' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. This post is all about the phrasal verb 'deal with', which is an intermediate level phrasal verb with a number of different meanings. There are some people who argue that 'deal with' is not a true phrasal verb, however it is commonly listed as one in English dictionaries and regardless of this, it is a very useful piece of vocabulary that will strengthen your English skills if you can use it correctly. In this post, I will therefore explain to you the different ways to use it and will give you lots of example sentences in context for each one. So. let's make a start and see what the phrasal verb 'deal with' is all about.... QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'deal with' mean? The phrasal verb 'deal with' has four main meanings in English.... To take action about something To interact with someone To do business To be the subject of something TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one) Deal With - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'deal' and 'with' Deal With - Meaning 1: To take action about something Deal With - Meaning 2: To interact with someone Deal With - Meaning 3: To do business Deal With - Meaning 4: To be the subject of something Photo: Pexels THE BASICS DEAL WITH: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 4 Past tense forms Dealt with / Dealt with Separable? No The phrasal verb 'deal with' is formed by combining the verb 'to deal' with the particle 'with', so let's first of all consider what these two component words mean on their own as this can often give us some valuable information about the meanings of the phrasal verb.... Deal - The verb 'to deal' is a common verb that is used a lot in the world of business as it primarily means 'to trade business' or 'to handle a situation'. It is an irregular verb that has 'dealt' as both of its past tense forms. Typically, it is usually followed by the word 'with' when stating an object e.g. business or situation and there are some people who argue that because of this, 'deal with' is not a true phrasal verb, however as mentioned earlier it is classed as a phrasal verb by most learner dictionaries. With - The prepositional particle 'with' is one that you will all know, however you may be surprised to see it in a phrasal verb as it is used in relatively few of them. When used in phrasal verbs 'with' generally adds ideas of involvement, connection and accompaniment. So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'deal with'.... MEANING 1: To take action about something Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To take action, to sort out Separable? No The first application of the phrasal verb 'deal with' that we will look at is the most common one and therefore the one that you are most likely to hear being used by native speakers, which is 'to take action about something'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Problem Issue Task Situation Most commonly, this application of 'deal with' is used to refer to a problem, issue or task that needs to be resolved. If you deal with it, then you take some action to do it or resolve it. For example, if you receive a complaint email at work, you may need to pass it to your boss who can deal with it and take the necessary action to make the situation better. In that situation you would then say that "your boss is dealing with it". Alternatively, if your kitchen tap starts leaking, you might deal with it by trying to fix it (or like me, you would call in a professional to deal with it for you). Of course, we don't only use 'deal with' in this way to talk about a problem and we can also simply use it to describe a task or job that needs to be done. We need to deal with this problem before it gets any worse. I'll deal with the paperwork after lunch. The council is struggling to deal with the growing amount of waste. Alice spent the morning dealing with a mountain of emails. We still have a few technical issues to deal with. The government must deal with the housing shortage. I'll deal with the bills this evening. Scientists are working to deal with the effects of climate change. The company has dealt with the software bug and it is running smoothly again now. The situation is being dealt with by the authorities and we will release more information when we can. In addition to dealing with issues and tasks that must be addressed, we also use it to talk about situations that cause us psychological or emotional stress or problems. Typically, this is used for things that are likely to cause people to lose control of their emotions or even go a little bit crazy and includes things like hearing bad news about an illness or a death, pressure at work and receiving criticism. Emma dealt with the bad news remarkably well. I don't know how my boss deals with so much pressure every day. John struggled to deal with the stress of his new job. Madeleine has learned to deal with criticism without taking it personally. Losing his father was difficult, but Alex eventually found a way to deal with his grief. The team dealt with the disappointment of defeat and came back stronger the following season. Staying with this idea, people often use the structure 'can't deal with' in spoken English to talk about something that they are mentally or emotionally not able or willing to withstand. It may be something that you hate so much that you cannot tolerate it or it may be something that distresses you to the point that you can't stay in control of your emotions, meaning that you actively avoid it. I can't deal with this heat anymore. Rebecca can't deal with crowds or loud noises, so she usually prefers to stay at home. Anne can't deal with people who are always late. I simply can't deal with all the negativity on social media. I've got a hangover and I can't deal with my parents shouting at me right now. MEANING 2: To interact with someone Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To interact Separable? No For our next application of the phrasal verb 'deal with', we are focussing specifically on people as this one means 'to interact with someone.' Nouns commonly used with this application.... Customer Client People At its most general level, this application of 'deal with' is used to talk about how a person interacts with people in general in their lives, rather than specific individuals. This is often in reference to how fairly a person treats the people in their lives. You should note however that it is rarely used in such a broad, generic way and instead is mainly used to talk about communicating with and handling people in a business, commercial or professional context. When used this way, it can be to refer to people in general or specific groups of people like customers, students or colleagues, especially if they are difficult to handle in some way. I would say that most of the time when this application of 'deal with' is used in reference to customers and clients, it is in a positive sense and it is typically found in collocation with adverbs like professionally, directly and calmly. Maria deals with customers every day. I usually deal with new clients during their first meeting. Who will deal with the suppliers while you're away? The headteacher usually deals with parents rather than students. The lawyer dealt directly with the witnesses. Wendy's very good at dealing with children. My job involves dealing with people from all over the world. The police dealt with the protesters calmly and professionally. Abigail is excellent at dealing with complaints. MEANING 3: To do business Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To trade, to do business with Separable? No We are going to stay in the world of professional and business English for our third application of the phrasal verb 'deal with' as this one means 'to do business with someone'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Company Business Trader Supplier Manufacturer Firstly, let me clarify what I mean by 'do business with someone', which is to buy goods or a service from a company / person and have a commercial relationship with them. Note that we do not say "make business with someone". I am sure that many of you will know what is meant by a business deal. If not, then this is when two or more people or companies reach an agreement or consensus to trade goods or services in exchange for money. If we then transfer this noun into a verb to describe this action, we arrive at the verb 'to deal' and then we simply need to add the prepositional particle 'with' in order to specify the other person or company involved in the transaction, giving us the a literal meaning of the two words combined. So, to sum up this application, if a person or company deals with another, they do business and have a commercial relationship with them. The focus on this one is purely on commercial relationships and not on interacting with people (unless the business is a sole trader). We deal with suppliers from all over Europe. The company deals directly with manufacturers. We only deal with trusted partners. Our business deals with clients in more than 30 countries. They no longer deal with that supplier because of quality issues. This bank deals with both personal and business customers. The firm deals mainly with small and medium-sized businesses. We have been dealing with most of our major suppliers for more than 10 years. MEANING 4: To be the subject of something Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To be concerned with Separable? No We are now onto our fourth and final meaning of the phrasal verb 'deal with', which is perhaps the one that is the least well known and means 'to be the subject of something'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Book Movie / Film Speech Essay Thesis / Paper Documentary As you will note from the list of commonly used nouns above, this application is used with things that people create in order to entertain, inform or educate other people. We use 'deal with' here to specify what the subject of something is. For example, a university history professor may give a speech that deals with the American civil war or a famous person's auto-biography would deal with the story of a person's life up until the point of publication. Most of the time, particularly in informal everyday conversations, native speakers would use 'be about' rather than 'deal with'. We tend to use 'deal with' in more formal or culturally elevated situations as it often implies that the medium (book, movie etc) examines the subject in a lot of depth or from an intellectual or educated perspective. The book deals with the history of the Roman Empire. This documentary deals with the effects of climate change. Her latest novel deals with the themes of love and forgiveness. The report deals with the causes of the recent economic slowdown. This chapter deals with English phrasal verbs. The article deals with the challenges of working from home. The film deals with life during the Second World War. His speech dealt with the importance of international cooperation. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I hope that you have found it useful and that it has helped you to understand how to use the phrasal verb 'deal with' more confidently and naturally. Feel free to leave any comments, feedback or your own sentences using 'deal with' in the section below. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. Do you want to improve your phrasal verb skills? Now that you have read the article, I hope you've learned something new. However, reading is only the first step to mastering phrasal verbs: the key is practice and repetition. That's why I've created a series of PDF workbooks with clear explanations, natural example sentences, exercises, speaking questions and answer keys. This will help you understand and remember common English phrasal verbs and use them confidently in real-life situations. Browse the workbooks here and start improving your phrasal verb skills today.... Thanks so much for reading and see you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'throw off' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. This article is all about the phrasal verb 'throw off' and its different meanings in English. It is a versatile phrasal verb and you may be surprised to know that there are at least five different ways to use it, which range from quickly removing your clothes to confusing someone. In the post, I will go through each of the applications of 'throw off' systematically and explain each one for you, with lots of example sentences in context to show you how it is used. So, let's make a start and see what the phrasal verb 'throw off' is all about.... QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'throw off' mean? The phrasal verb 'throw off' has five meanings in English.... Literal meaning To be rid of something that restricts you To evade someone who is following you To produce and release something To confuse Keep reading to learn how to use each of these.... TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one) Throw Off - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'throw' and 'off' Throw Off - Meaning 1:Literal meaning Throw Off - Meaning 2: To be rid of something that restricts you Throw Off - Meaning 3: To evade someone who is following you Throw Off - Meaning 4: To produce and release something Throw Off - Meaning 5: To confuse Photo: Pexels THE BASICS THROW OFF: KEY INFORMATION Usage Medium Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Threw off / Thrown off Separable? Yes Before we get too involved in the phrasal verb 'throw off', let's start the post by considering the meaning of the individual words 'throw' and 'off'. Throw - 'To throw' is a common verb that can often cause pronunciation problems for English learners due to the 't-h-r' letter combination that it starts with. The main meaning of the verb 'to throw' is 'to make something move through the air using your arms and hands' and most of the time when you hear it, it it is likely to have this meaning. In addition, it also has some lesser used meanings which include 'to host an event like a party', 'to move quickly or carelessly' and 'to confuse'. The player threw the ball to his teammate. The winner is the competitor who can throw the discus the furthest. Jenny threw an egg at the politician. I'm throwing a party for my birthday next week. John threw his bags in the back of the car and quickly got in. I was thrown when I called Ben's number and someone else answered the phone. Off - The particle 'off' is one that is commonly found in phrasal verbs and is the opposite of the particle 'on'. It can be used to add many different meanings to a phrasal verb and these include detachment (pull off), removal (take off), delay (put off), gradual disappearance (ease off) and ending (turn off), among others. So, now that we have looked at the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'throw off'.... MEANING 1: Literal Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To launch off Separable? Yes The first meaning of the phrasal verb 'throw off' that we will look at is the literal usage of the combination of the two words, which many of you will know already. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Person Rock / Stone Rope When used literally, 'throw off' simply means to take something that is on a surface and throw it so that it is no longer on it. For example, a sailor might throw a rope off a boat in order to secure it to a cleat in the harbour or children may throw stones off a cliff into the sea below. In addition to throwing something with your arms, it can also be used to describe when a force causes someone or something to be thrown from a surface. Example sentences.... They threw the old furniture off the roof. Someone threw a bottle off the bridge. Luke threw the ball off the balcony. The children were throwing stones off the cliff into the sea. Maria threw the broken chair off the back of the truck. Don't throw anything off the roof; someone could be walking below. The force of the crash threw the rider off his bike. She was thrown off her feet by the explosion. One other notable sub-application of this literal usage is with horse riding as it is fairly common to use 'throw off' when talking about when a horse causes its rider to fall from its back through its sudden or wild movements. Moreover, when the rider is the focus or subject it is common to use the passive 'be thrown off' or 'get thrown off' forms. Example sentences.... The horse suddenly threw its rider off. Suzanna nearly got thrown off her horse when it suddenly stopped. The horse reared up and threw him off. MEANING 2: To be rid of something that restricts you Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To Separable? Yes This second application of the phrasal verb 'throw off' is the first proper phrasal verb meaning in the true sense and means 'to be rid of something that restricts you'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Clothes (coat, shoes etc) Cold / Cough Illness Shackles To be rid of something = To be free of something unwanted or unpleasant so that you no longer have it in your current situation or life. There are several different ways that this application can be used, so I will explain each of these individually for you. Something vital in our lives that can occasionally restrict us and be unwanted is clothing. We often use this application of 'throw off' with clothes to refer to when someone quickly, hurriedly or carelessly removes one item of clothing or all of them. This is similar to the phrasal verb 'take off', however while 'take off' is neutral, 'throw off' implies quick or thoughtless removal e.g. imagine you are at the beach and you are desperate to go swimming in the sea and so you throw your clothes off and jump straight in (I never do that as the water is always too cold for me to rush!). Example sentences.... Joe threw off his coat and sat down on the sofa. Natasha threw off her jacket as soon as she got inside. I threw off my shoes and jumped into bed. Martin threw off his wet clothes and grabbed a towel. The woman threw off her dressing gown and got into the shower. Another common area of life with which we use 'throw off' in this way is illness, particularly infectious diseases like coughs and colds that are not usually serious. If you throw off an illness, your body successfully fights it and you stop suffering from it. It is probably most common to hear this one being used when a person has a long-lasting illness that they are unable to 'throw off'. Example sentences.... I can't seem to throw this cold off. Kate has finally thrown off the flu and is feeling much better. It took Jim several weeks to throw the infection off completely. I've been trying to throw off this cough for days. Pippa rested for a few days and managed to throw off the virus. Tom returned to work after throwing off a nasty cold. Lastly, we can also just use this application of 'throw off' to describe becoming free of something that restrict or limits you or your life in some way. This could be something on a large scale like a government or dictator, or it could be something that affects your daily life such as people's high expectations of you or social conventions. You may also hear this being used in a slightly figurative sense with the word 'shackles' (a tool used to control slaves in the past - see the picture above). When we do this, the word 'shackles' is used metaphorically to mean 'restrictions'. Example sentences.... The country fought to throw off foreign rule. The rebels wanted to throw off the control of the government. The people eventually threw off their oppressors and gained their freedom. Abbie wanted to throw off the expectations that had shaped her life. The younger generation began to throw off traditional social conventions. The movement encouraged women to throw off the restrictions imposed on them by society. The country struggled to throw off the shackles of colonialism. Margaret was determined to throw off the shackles of tradition and live life on her own terms. MEANING 3: To evade someone who is following you Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To elude, to escape Separable? Yes I could really have included this third application of the phrasal verb 'throw off' in the previous one as it is very similar in meaning and is 'to evade someone who is following you'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Pursuer Person / Group Police To evade = To avoid or escape someone, often in a clever way. Apart from an unpleasant encounter that I had once with a very drunk man in France who decided for no reason that he didn't like me, I can say that I have been lucky in my life to have never had anyone following or chasing me in a serious way (I'll save the full story for another day 😉). One thing I will tell you now about that experience is that I was able to escape from the man after he started chasing me and so therefore I can say that "I threw him off". We can use this for anytime that a person or animal is being followed or chased and the target manages to evade the pursuer, however most commonly this is due to something clever or unexpected that the target does. It's the sort of thing that you see in Hollywood action and thriller movies all the time. On a grammatical note, this is a separable usage and can be used both ways, however don't forget that pronouns must always go between 'throw' and 'off'. Example sentences.... We took a different route to throw off anyone who might be following us. The thief ran through a crowded market to throw off the police. James Bond turned down several side streets in an attempt to throw off his pursuers. The spy changed trains twice to throw off the people following her. The suspect managed to throw off the police and disappear into the crowd. They deliberately took a longer route to throw off anyone who was following them. Alan thought he'd thrown off his pursuers, but they soon caught up with him. The fox suddenly changed direction to throw off the dogs chasing it. MEANING 4: To produce and release something Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To give off, to give out, to emit, to produce Separable? Yes We are going to move away from the idea of being rid of something unwanted for our fourth application of the phrasal verb 'throw off', which is 'to produce and release something' . Nouns commonly used with this application: Light Sound Smell / Aroma / Scent / Stench / Odour Gas Smoke I need to state first of all that for this application, I am not referring to production in a business sense, but rather in the sense of producing and releasing something into the air that can be detected by the senses. This typically involves naturally occurring phenomena or machines to describe things like light, smells and sounds. For example, if you look into the sky on a clear night, you will see a huge number of stars all throwing off light into the universe. We also have our own star, the sun, which throws off enough heat and light to keep us alive. Some examples closer to home are that fires throw out smoke, flowers throw out scents and radiators throw out heat. The idea behind this is that the thing produced is created and then moves or spreads away from the source when we can then detect it. Example sentences.... The fire was throwing off a lot of heat. The candles threw off a soft, warm light. The engine throws off a considerable amount of heat when it's running. The burning wood threw off sparks into the night air. The chemical reaction threw off a small amount of gas. The factory chimneys were throwing off thick clouds of smoke. The old radiator throws off enough heat to warm the whole room. The flowers threw off a sweet scent that filled the garden. MEANING 5: To confuse Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To throw out Separable? Yes The fifth and final application of the phrasal verb 'throw off' that we will look at it is one that means 'to confuse'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Person Data Figures We can use this last application to talk about both people, data and numerical calculations. When we use it to talk about people, it is to refer to when someone is confused, slightly worried or unsettled because something happens that they were not expecting. As a result, the person is not able to think clearly or act or perform as well as they normally would for a short period of time until the feeling of being 'thrown off' subsides. This can often be just seconds. For example, an actor on stage in a theatre may be thrown off if something happens that was not supposed to and they may temporarily forget their lines. Alternatively, if the interviewer asks you a question in a job interview that were you not prepared for, it can throw you off you and block your concentration, affecting how you answer. Examples in context.... His unexpected question threw me off, and I didn't know how to respond. The sudden change of plan threw everyone off. Don't let one difficult question throw you off during the interview. My boss's strange reaction threw me off for a moment. The interruption completely threw Alex off, and he forgot what he was saying. I was doing well in the presentation until a question from the audience threw me off. The confusing instructions threw us off, so we ended up doing the task incorrectly. The early goal seemed to throw the team off, and they struggled for the rest of the match. When we apply the phrasal verb 'throw off' to data and numerical calculations, it is used to mean that something causes the data or the total of the calculation to be skewed or wrong. For instance, if you are trying to add lots of figures together and you accidentally add an extra 0 to one of the numbers that you are adding, it will throw the total off and it will be wrong. Alternatively, if you are taking measurements using a device that is faulty, the measurements may be inaccurate, therefore throwing off the data. Example sentences.... One unusually large value threw off the average. A small error in the original figures threw off all our calculations. The missing data could throw off the results. Including those figures would throw off the final total. One incorrect measurement threw off the entire calculation. The unusually warm winter has thrown off the annual figures. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I hope that you have found it useful and that it has helped you to understand how to use the phrasal verb 'throw off' more confidently and naturally. Feel free to leave any comments, feedback or your own sentences using 'throw off' in the section below. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. Do you want to improve your phrasal verb skills? Now that you have read the article, I hope you've learned something new. However, reading is only the first step to mastering phrasal verbs: the key is practice and repetition. That's why I've created a series of PDF workbooks with clear explanations, natural example sentences, exercises, speaking questions and answer keys. This will help you understand and remember common English phrasal verbs and use them confidently in real-life situations. Browse the workbooks here and start improving your phrasal verb skills today.... Thanks so much for reading and see you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'calm 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 like a native. I am sure that many of you reading this will be familiar with the English phrasal verb 'calm down' and perhaps think that you already know what it means. Regardless of whether or not this is true, I challenge you to read this article because in it, I will explain the different situations and contexts in which it can be used. You may be surprised at what you learn! In addition, I will give you lots of example sentences in context to illustrate each of its two meanings. So, let's make a start and learn what the phrasal verb 'calm down' is all about.... QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'calm down' mean The phrasal verb 'calm down' has two main meanings in English.... To become less angry or excited To become quieter or less busy Keep reading to learn more about how to use these in a natural way.... TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one) Calm Down - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'calm' & 'down' Calm Down - Meaning 1: To become less angry or excited Calm Down - Meaning 2: To become less busy or less severe Photo: Pexels THE BASICS CALM DOWN: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 2 Past tense forms Calmed down / Calmed down Separable? Yes The phrasal verb 'calm down' is created by combining the verb 'to calm' with the prepositional particle 'down'. With this in mind, let's first take a minute to consider what these two words mean individually and what their significance is for the phrasal verb 'calm down'.... Calm - The verb 'to calm' is one that is used quite commonly in English (but surprisingly it is not as common the phrasal verb 'calm down'). It is derived directly from the adjective 'calm', which means 'free from anger or stress' when talking about a person and 'quiet' or 'peaceful' when talking about a place - both of these will feature later in the phrasal verb explanations. When we use the verb 'to calm' it is to talk about the process of becoming calm or causing something to become calm. It is a regular verb 😃 Sally tried to calm her children after the loud noise frightened them. My Dad's voice calmed me immediately. The teacher managed to calm the class before the lesson started. The crowd eventually calmed. You should note that while the sentences above are all perfectly fine to use, in most scenarios it would be more common and natural to use 'calm down' instead. Down - If you're capable of reading this article, then you will need no introduction to what the word 'down' means but just as a reminder, it is primarily used to describe 'a movement from a high place to a lower place' or 'a decrease'. When used in phrasal verbs, both of these literal ideas can be carried across (go down, fall down). In addition, 'down' can add the ideas of becoming quieter (settle down), stopping (shut down), defeat (bring down) and division (break down) among others to phrasal verbs. So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'calm down'.... MEANING 1: To become less angry or excited Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To Separable? Yes The first application of 'calm down' that we look at in this post is when it is used to refer to people and this can be either to yourself or to other people. Are you the sort of person who gets angry easily or does it take something really bad for you to lose your temper? Either way, we are all human and anger is an emotion that we all feel from time to time. For this application of 'calm down' we are specifically talking about the process that we all experience of becoming calm again after feeling angry, stressed, panicked or upset. Furthermore, it can also be used to talk about when children, animals or even adults who are very excited and full of energy start to feel normal. The central idea with this application is that when you are experiencing these strong emotions, there is a lot of energy swirling around in your brain and so when you calm down, these energy levels go down and you feel calm again. Example sentences.... My boss eventually calmed down and apologised for shouting. Sophie needs a few minutes to calm down. The children calmed down once their parents arrived. I was furious at first, but I soon calmed down. Everyone calmed down once they realised there was no danger. My cats go crazy after dinner but they calm down again after half an hour or so. Note that 'calm down' is frequently used with the 'self' reflexive pronouns to describe when a person becomes calm again over a period of time. Example sentences.... I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down. Victoria went outside for a few minutes to calm herself down. Joseph couldn't calm himself down after the argument. You need to calm yourself down before you speak to him. My sister tried to calm herself down by focusing on her breathing. I had to calm myself down before going into the meeting. It is also likely that you will have heard or will hear in the future 'calm down' being used as an imperative to tell someone to stop being so angry or stressed about something. Just calm down for a minute and listen to me. Please calm down. We’re trying to help you. Calm down! Everything’s going to be fine. Try to calm down and think about this logically. Everybody calm down! We need to work out what’s happened. Calm down, both of you! Shouting isn’t going to solve anything. Lastly, you may have noticed that apart from the reflexive ('self) sentences above, none of the others were used separably. However, it is possible to use this phrasal verb application in a separable and transitive way by placing the name of the person or animal or the corresponding pronoun between 'calm' and 'down'. Remember that pronouns always go between the noun and particle like a pronoun sandwich. Example sentences.... I tried to calm him down, but he was still furious. She managed to calm the children down before bedtime. Can you calm her down? She’s really upset. His mother eventually calmed him down. The teacher tried to calm the students down after the argument. It took us nearly an hour to calm Ben down. MEANING 2: To become less busy or less severe Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To quieten down, to settle down Separable? Yes For the second of the two applications of 'calm down', we are going to stay with the same idea as the first one but this time we are thinking about non-living things and situations and therefore things that we have little or no control over. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Situation Work Rain / Snow / Wind / Storm In this second application, the main ideas are that something becomes less busy or it loses energy, with the end result in both cases being that something is calmer. Let's think about it from a work perspective; if you've even been at work and it is really busy for instance in your office job you have too many emails to answer and deadlines to meet or in a restaurant all of the tables are fully booked, you would use 'calm down' when it stops being as busy as you no longer feel such a high level of stress as a result. Example sentences.... The office usually calms down after about four o’clock. It’s been a hectic morning, but things are finally starting to calm down. The restaurant normally calms down after the lunchtime rush. Once the dinner rush was over, the restaurant calmed down considerably. The shop should calm down once the Christmas rush is over. Things tend to calm down in the office during August. Furthermore, 'calm down' can be used in this way to talk about tense or dramatic situations that become less so. For example, if there is a conflict of some sort, we can use 'calm down' when the levels of aggression become lower and the situation loses intensity. Example sentences.... The situation eventually calmed down after several hours of tense negotiations. The conflict calmed down once both sides agreed to stop fighting. Things calmed down after the police arrived and separated the two groups. Likewise, we can also use it with the weather. For example, as you will know it normally rains a lot in the UK and so when the rain becomes less intense or severe, we can say that it 'calms down'. Likewise, we can use it for wind, storm or snow. Example sentences.... The wind should calm down later this evening. The storm finally calmed down during the night. We waited for the weather to calm down before setting off. One last thing to note is that it is also possible to use this second application of the phrasal verb 'calm down' with illness and symptoms of them. Again, the idea is the same; when the symptoms of an illness ease or become less severe, we can say that it calms down. Example sentences.... My stomach finally calmed down after a few hours. The pain started to calm down after I took some painkillers. Her cough eventually calmed down, and she managed to get some sleep. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I hope that you have found it useful and that it has helped you to understand how to use the phrasal verb 'calm down' more confidently and naturally. Feel free to leave any comments, feedback or your own sentences using 'calm down' in the section below. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. Do you want to improve your phrasal verb skills? Now that you have read the article, I hope you've learned something new. However, reading is only the first step to mastering phrasal verbs: the key is practice and repetition. That's why I've created a series of PDF workbooks with clear explanations, natural example sentences, exercises, speaking questions and answer keys. This will help you understand and remember common English phrasal verbs and use them confidently in real-life situations. Browse the workbooks here and start improving your phrasal verb skills today.... Thanks so much for reading and see you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'pull 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 like a native. This week's post on Phrasal Verbs Explained is all about the wonderful phrasal verb 'pull in'. This often-neglected phrasal verb is one that can be used to talk about a range of different topics which include fishing, driving and earning money. In the post, I will explain all five of its meanings for you and for each one I will also give you lots of example sentences to show you how and when to use them and by the end of the post your knowledge of all things to do with with 'pull in' will be expert level. So, let's make a start and find out exactly what the phrasal verb 'pull in' is all about.... QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'pull in' mean? The phrasal verb 'pull in' has five main meanings in English.... To move something towards you To stop a vehicle To arrest someone To attract people To earn money Keep reading to learn how to use each one! TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one) Pull In - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'pull' and 'in' Pull In - Meaning 1: To move something towards you Pull In - Meaning 2: To stop a vehicle Pull In - Meaning 3: To arrest someone Pull In - Meaning 4: To attract people Pull In - Meaning 5: To earn money Please don't forget to like or comment if you enjoyed the post! Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you. James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS PULL IN: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Pulled in / Pulled in Separable? Yes To start, I have a simple question for you: how well do you know the words 'pull' and 'in' by themselves? Let's take a moment to briefly consider what they mean and their significance in phrasal verbs.... Pull - The verb 'to pull' is a common regular verb in English whose primary meaning is to cause someone or something to come towards, or to follow behind you. This is often by using your arms and hands or by using something powerful. Alternatively, it can also just be when caused by a force such as attraction. 'To pull' is featured in a lot of different phrasal verbs, many of which are to do with driving and vehicles as you will see later in this post. You need to pull the string to turn the light on The horses pulled the cart along the road. I was pulled towards the light by an invisible force. In - The prepositional particle 'in' is one that we regularly see in phrasal verbs and can be used to add a variety of different meanings and ideas to them. Many of these ideas are derived directly from the core meanings that we get with the word 'in' and these include a movement inside (go in), joining something (chip in) and filling a hole or space (fill in). In addition, 'in' can also add other ideas to phrasal verbs like restriction (hem in), remaining at home (stay in) and focus (zoom in on). So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'pull in'.... MEANING 1: To move something towards you Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To reel in, to draw in Separable? Yes The first of the meanings of the phrasal verb 'pull in' that we will look at is the most obvious one and is simply just the literal meaning of the two words combined: 'to move something towards you'.... Nouns commonly used with this application.... Rope Cable Catch Net Stomach Date Meeting We can essentially divide this first application into two parts; physical objects and time. If we first consider physical objects, we are concerned here with the idea of physically pulling something so that is moves closer us. In addition, this can also be someone or something that is pulled by a force from the exterior of something to the interior. When I think of this literal usage, the first thing that comes to mind is boats, particularly fishing boats. If a fisherman (or woman) catches a fish on the line, they will then need to use the rod to pull the fish towards (and into) the boat and for this we can use 'pull in'. Another common phrasal verb for this specific action is 'reel in'. It can work the other way around too. I remember once when I was younger and I was too scared to jump into a swimming pool. A friend of mine who was already in the pool grabbed my hand and pulled me in. I forgave him as I ended up having a great time! Aside from these watery examples, we can use 'pull in' with most nouns that we use 'in' with, particularly if they refer to a physical place e.g.a building or a room. Example sentences.... The fishermen pulled in their nets and checked what they had caught. Claire pulled in the fishing line slowly. We pulled the cable in through the open window. I pulled the blanket in so that it wasn't hanging over the edge of the bed. Joe grabbed Kelly's arm and pulled her in through the doorway. Natasha opened the door, took his hand and pulled him in. It is also possible to use this first application with certain body parts, namely arms, legs and stomachs. For example, if your arm or your leg is extended and is blocking somewhere, you may pull it in towards the rest of your body to clear the way. Also, if you think that you look fat or overweight, you may pull in your stomach to make you look a bit thinner, especially when someone is taking a photo of you (I used to do this when I was younger as I was a bit overweight). Example sentences.... Alex pulled his legs in to make room for the lady to get past. Henrietta pulled in her stomach as she posed for the photograph. The gymnast pulled his arms and legs in to achieve maximum speed. The other thing that we can use this first application of 'pull in' with is time. Sadly, we are not able to control or change time itself, however we can use 'pull in' to refer to when we bring the date of something forward so that it is closer to now. For example, if a work project becomes more urgent, your boss may pull in the deadline date by a month e.g. from August to July. Likewise, if you need to update dates on a system and you amend them to a date that is closer to the present time, you can say that you are pulling the dates in. Example sentences.... We've pulled in the deadline by two weeks. They've pulled in the launch date from October to September. The delivery date has been pulled in by a week. MEANING 2: To stop a vehicle Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - To stop a vehicle Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere, common in British English Potential synonyms To arrive, to come in, to draw in, to park up Separable? No Let's move on now to the second of our five meanings of the phrasal verb 'pull in' and this one is used to talk about vehicles stopping. Like the previous application, this one can also be divided into two sections: trains and other road vehicles. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Train Car Driver Bus Firstly, let's focus on trains. We use 'pull in' to describe when trains arrive at a station, slow down and stop at a platform. If you have read my post about 'draw in' (link here), you may remember that we can also use this phrasal verb to describe the same thing, however you should know that 'pull in' is the more common of the two in everyday speech. On a grammatical note, this usage is intransitive and there is no direct object and therefore it is not a separable usage. Note that if you want to specify the destination or end point where the train stops, 'in' becomes 'into'. Example sentences.... The train pulled in five minutes late. Our train pulled in just after nine o'clock. The train was just pulling in as we reached the platform. We watched the train pull in to the station. As the train pulled in, everyone picked up their bags. The train pulled into the station right on time. Let's now turn our attention to cars and other road vehicles. When we use the phrasal verb 'pull in' with these, the meaning changes slightly as it means to move to the side of a road and stop. In addition, it can also be used to describe when a car is driven into a parking space and parked there. Note that this usage with cars is primarily British English. Can you pull in just after the traffic lights? The driver pulled in at the side of the road to check the map. I pulled in to let the ambulance pass. The taxi pulled in outside the hotel and we got out. Lesley pulled in behind a parked car and switched off the engine. The gates were open, so I pulled in and parked next to the house. MEANING 3: To arrest someone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potental synonyms To arrest, to take in Separable? Yes Our next application of the phrasal verb 'pull in' is one for all of the naughty people out there as it is a fairly informal way of saying 'to arrest someone'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Person Criminal Suspect Police To clarify, if the police pull a person in, it means that they arrest them and take them to the police station to be questioned about a crime that they are suspected of committing. It doesn't mean that the suspect did commit the crime, just that the police believe that they did and want to speak to them more. As you may have noticed already, this is a separable usage and is comparable to the phrasal verb 'take in', however I would say that 'take in' is more common and more formal. Note that when the focus of the sentence is on the criminal, it is common to use the passive voice (get taken in / be taken in) with this application. Hopefully this application of 'pull in' will never be one that affects you personally, however it may be one that you come across in movies, TV series and books. Example sentences.... The police pulled him in for questioning. They pulled in two suspects in connection with the robbery. The police pulled the suspect in after receiving a tip-off. Detectives pulled him in for questioning but released him later that day. They've pulled in several people in connection with the attack. The police pulled the suspect in as soon as they had enough evidence. He was pulled in by the police after witnesses identified him. I got pulled in by the police to answer some questions. If you pull someone in for this, you'd better have enough evidence to support it. MEANING 4: To attract people Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To attract, to draw in Separable? Yes For the first three applications of 'pull in', we've looked at various ways that we can use it to talk about physical force to move something to a desired place. However, for this fourth usage it's more of an idea of an invisible, non-physical force as it means 'to attract people'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... People Crowds Spectators Visitors Tourists Customers Let me first of all clarify that when I use the verb 'to attract' here, it is not in the sense of sexual attraction (although it could be in some cases). Instead, we are talking about attracting people to go to or to visit somewhere, usually in large numbers. Typically, we use this application with public events like concerts and sporting meets. For example, recently I was lucky enough to go and watch the European Athletics Championships, which was so much fun. There were a lot of people there, however it was the first night of the games and there were quite a lot of empty seats. As the week went on, I noticed on TV that there were more and more people attending and by the final weekend the event had pulled in a huge crowd and there were barely any empty seats. In addition to public events, something else that is often used with this application is shopping and sales. For example, Black Friday often pulls in a huge number of shoppers looking for bargains and good deals to malls and stores. The key idea with this application is that something attracts large amounts of people like a magnet. It is a separable phrasal verb but we don't tend to use it separably very often. Examples sentences.... The new exhibition is pulling in huge crowds. The festival pulled in thousands of visitors last year. The restaurant's new menu has pulled in more customers. The sale pulled in hundreds of shoppers over the weekend. The band pulled in a large crowd despite the bad weather. The event pulled in people from all over the country. The new attraction is pulling in more tourists than expected. Their social media campaign helped pull in younger customers. What can we do to pull more visitors in? MEANING 5: To earn money Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To earn Separable? Yes Show me the money! This last application of 'pull in' is all about the thing that makes us get up and go to work every day: money. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Money Profits Pounds / Dollars / Euros etc. Salary Income Revenue We can use the phrasal verb 'pull in' to talk about money when a person or a business earns, obtains or gains a notable or large amount of it. It is usually followed by the specific amount of money e.g. $100,000. Grammatically, it is technically a separable phrasal verb, however we almost never use it this way. It is similar to the phrasal verb 'bring in' but the with 'pull in' there is more of an emphasis on the large or surprising amount that is earned. Example sentences.... Carrie pulls in over £80,000 a year. His business pulls in a lot of money. The company pulled in record profits last year. The film pulled in millions at the box office. James pulls in a decent salary from his teaching work. The restaurant pulls in thousands of pounds every weekend. Their online shop pulled in more than $100,000 in sales last year. The event pulled in nearly £50,000 in ticket sales. We expect to pull in double that amount next year. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I hope that you have found it useful and that it has helped you to understand how to use the phrasal verb 'pull in' more confidently and naturally. Feel free to leave any comments, feedback or your own sentences using 'pull in' in the section below. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. Do you want to improve your phrasal verb skills? Now that you have read the article, I hope you've learned something new. However, reading is only the first step to mastering phrasal verbs: the key is practice and repetition. That's why I've created a series of PDF workbooks with clear explanations, natural example sentences, exercises, speaking questions and answer keys. This will help you understand and remember common English phrasal verbs and use them confidently in real-life situations. Browse the workbooks here and start improving your phrasal verb skills today.... Thanks so much for reading and see you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'take away' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. This post is all about the common phrasal verb 'take away' and in it I will explain five different ways that you can use it in English. For example, did you know that we can use it to talk about subjects as diverse as mathematics and buying food and eating it elsewhere?! In the post, I will explain each of the different ways that we use it in everyday modern English and also provide you with lots of examples for each one to ensure that by the end of the post you have a good understanding of when and how to use it. So, let's make a start and see what the phrasal verb 'take away' is all about. Grab a drink and get comfortable as it is a long post.... QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'take away' mean? The phrasal verb 'take away' has five main meanings in English: To remove something To buy food and eat it elsewhere To subtract To devalue or detract To learn something Keep reading to learn more about how to use each one in a natural way.... TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one) Take Away - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'take' and 'away' Take Away - Meaning 1: To remove something Take Away - Meaning 2: To buy food and eat it elsewhere 🇬🇧 Take Away - Meaning 3: To subtract Take Away - Meaning 4: To devalue or detract Take Away - Meaning 5: To learn something Take Away - Bonus: The noun 'takeaway' part 1 Take Away - Bonus: The noun 'takeaway' part 2 Take Away - Bonus: The idiom 'take it away!' Please don't forget to like or comment if you enjoyed the post! Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you. James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS TAKE AWAY: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Took away / Taken away Separable? Yes As you can see in the table above, when we combine the two words 'take' and 'away' to form the phrasal verb 'take away', we get a a surprising number of meanings, but what do these two little words mean on their own and what does each one bring to the phrasal verbs that it appears in? Take - The verb 'to take' is one the most commonly used and versatile verbs in the English language. It has lots of different meanings which include 'to transport something with you', 'to remove something', 'to steal' and 'to acquire something'. It has many more meanings that that but those are some of the most common and are the most relevant for the phrasal verb 'take away'. As with many common verbs in English, 'to take' is irregular. I am taking my cat to work with me tomorrow. Who has taken my keys? They were on the table a minute ago? Sorry, I think I took your keys by mistake. Away - The prepositional particle 'away' is one that we do not see all too often in phrasal verb constructions. Its core meaning is 'a separation or movement from a particular place, person or thing' and this idea is often applied literally in phrasal verbs (walk away, fly away). In more idiomatic phrasal verbs meanings it can add different meanings like removal or discarding (throw away), continuous activity (chat away) and gradual disappearance (wear away). So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to learn what meanings the phrasal verb 'take away' has.... MEANING 1: To remove Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To remove, to get rid of, to confiscate, to revoke Separable? Yes We will begin the post with the literal meaning of the combination of these two words, which is 'to remove something'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Plates Toys Cellphone / Mobile Pain Doubt Worry Let's first just think about this in the simplest terms. I think that you can probably work this one out yourselves but when we combine the idea of 'taking' something and combine it with the idea of 'away', we arrive at the meaning of removing something from the place that it was, so that it is no longer there. I have a good example of this from yesterday. My cats, Arthur and Henry, were in the garden acting in a strange way and when I went outside to find out why, I noticed that they were chasing a small bird that had fallen out of a tree. In order to save the bird, I needed to take both of the cats away (remove them) from where thery were in the garden, so that the bird could escape back to its home in the trees. Luckily, no cats, birds or humans were hurt and everyone lived happily ever after. The core idea of 'take away' is clear in the example above: I took the cats away from the specified place so that they were no longer there. Other examples of this could include when someone leaves some old unwanted furniture outside their house so that someone takes it away and when a server in a restaurant comes and takes your empty plates away from the table when you have finished your meal. Example sentences.... Please take those empty boxes away. Alan took the dirty plates away after dinner. Can you take this chair away? We don’t need it anymore. The workers took away all the rubbish this morning. Jennifer took the old furniture away when she moved out. Someone has taken away the ladder that was outside. All of the examples that we have looked at until now have included taking something from a place, but now let's add the human element to it. If we want to talk about when a person no longer has something because it has been taken from them, we can just 'take away' with the preposition 'from' with the following structure: take something away from someone. This is typically used when someone has something in their possession and another person takes it from them, meaning that they no longer have it. As this tends to be when the person did not choose to no longer have the item, it is often said with an element of anger, frustration or bitterness. It is common to hear this used with children and teenagers, for example you make take a child's toy away if they have been naughty, or a teacher may take a student's phone away if they are playing with it in class. Example sentences.... The teacher took the phone away from Tom during the lesson. Leo's parents took his games console away from him for a week as a punishment. The police took the knife away from the man. Rosalind took the matches away from the child before he could light them. The nurse took the empty medicine bottle away from the patient. I had to take the remote control away from my son because he kept changing the channel. In addition to solid, tangible objects, we also use this application of the phrasal verb 'take away' with abstract or non-physical things. When used this way, 'take away' carries the idea of doing something to eliminate something or get rid of it. This includes things like freedom, atmosphere and doubts, as well as things that people can feel like pain, tiredness and emotions. Example sentences.... The medicine took the pain away almost immediately. Nothing could take away Emma's fear of flying. A good night’s sleep should take away some of the tiredness. The apology didn’t take away the embarrassment of what had happened. The new evidence took away any doubt about who was responsible. My colleague's explanation took away some of my concerns about the project. By adding too much water, it has taken away a lot of the flavour from the dish. They took away my freedom when they put me in prison but they didn't take away my desire for revenge. Lastly, we can also talk about taking people away and we can do this for both very positive and very negative reasons. Sometimes, if a person dies, particularly if it is suddenly or at a young age, you may hear their surviving partner or family using take away' as a euphemism to express that the person has died. Again, this goes back to the idea that something is taken from you against your will and you no longer have it in your life. Example sentences.... My wife was taken away from us far too soon. We were devastated when our son was taken away from us at such a young age. She was taken away from her family after a short illness. On a more positive note, Did you now that a common meaning of 'away' when it is used as an adverb is 'on holiday / vacation' since it implies that you are not at home. Therefore, in British English if you 'take someone away', it can mean that you take them on holiday (vacation) with you. The implicit meaning here is that the person taking the other away organises the holiday and invites the other person. Example sentences.... I’m taking my wife away for the weekend. He took his girlfriend away for her birthday. We’re taking the kids away during the school holidays. Davina wants to take her parents away for a few days. Are you taking her away for your anniversary? They took the whole family away for Christmas. Let's move on to the next application now and I promise they are all much shorter from now on 😀 MEANING 2: To buy food and eat it elsewhere Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? British English, Australian English, Ireland, NZ, South Africa Potential synonyms To take out, to carry out Separable? Yes The second of our meanings of the phrasal verb 'take away' is one that is common in British English and means 'to buy food and eat it elsewhere'. If you have ever been to the UK, you will no doubt have noticed that in most towns and cities there are a lot of Indian and Chinese restaurants that offer a service where you can order the food in the restaurant and take it with you to eat somewhere else once it is ready (typically your home). When we do this, we say that we are taking the food away, as we are literally removing it from the restaurant before we eat it. In addition, this is very common in certain fast food restaurants (I'm sure you know which ones I am talking about) and when you are ordering food in one of these, you will always be asked if you are eating in (staying in the restaurant to eat) or taking away. This application is a separable one, however, it is fairly common to use the following structure: food / drink + to take away. One important point to note here is that although I have stated British English above, 'take away' is not commonly used in Scotland as they tend to use 'carry out' (link here) instead. In North American English, the standard term for this style of dining is 'take out' (link here) or sometimes also 'food to go'. Example sentences.... We ordered some pizzas to take away. Can I get this coffee to take away, please? I didn’t have time to eat there, so I took the food away with me. You can eat here or take your food away. We decided to take the burgers away and eat them in the park. I’ll have a chicken curry to take away, please. They bought some sandwiches to take away and ate them on the train. Is that to eat in or take away? I’d like two portions of fish and chips to take away, please. BONUS: The noun 'takeaway' part 1 When talking about this action of buying food in a restaurant and taking it away to eat, we often use the noun 'takeaway' to describe the meal itself. For example, if you and your partner are both too tired to cook one evening, one of you may suggest "getting a takeaway" instead. You should note that this is also used when the food is ordered online or over the phone and it is delivered to the person's house. We had a takeaway last night because neither of us felt like cooking. Shall we get a takeaway tonight? We ordered a Chinese takeaway and watched a film. MEANING 3: To subtract Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To subtract, to minus, to take off, to deduct Separable? Yes The third of the five meanings of the phrasal verb 'take away' is one that will be useful for all of you mathematicians out there and means 'to subtract'. To subtract: to remove one number or amount from another to see what is left afterwards. You may recall that I have stated in other blog posts that I am not naturally good at maths*. I used to enjoy it at school but it didn't come naturally to me like reading and languages. Now, whenever I hear the phrasal verb 'take away' being used to talk about maths, it takes me straight back to my classroom struggles at school as this was how we used to refer to subtraction. If you are doing a calculation and you need to remove one number from a larger number in order to find out what the difference is, we can use the phrasal verb 'take away' to express this. To give you an example, you would say "five take away three equals 2" (5 - 3 = 2). Again, this application links back to the core idea of removal that we have already looked at in the post. It is very common when talking about school maths at basic levels, however if you were talking to a serious mathematician or scientist, they would be more likely to use a more formal verb like 'to subtract' or 'to deduct'. Example sentences.... If you take away five from twelve, you get seven. Ten take away three is seven. What do you get if you take away six from twenty? Take away four from nine and you’re left with five. If we take away 20 from 100, we get 80. Fifty take away fifteen equals thirty-five. *math in American English MEANING 4: To devalue or detract Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To detract, to devalue Separable? Yes We are going to stay with the same core idea of 'removal' for our fourth meaning of the phrasal verb 'take away' as this one means 'to detract from' or 'to devalue'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Work Achievement Success Performance Significance Appeal To detract = to make something seem less valuable or important To devalue = to reduce the perceived value of something This application is a bit similar to the previous one with calculations, but rather than removing one number from another, we are instead talking about reducing the value, effectiveness, quality or enjoyment of something, so that it is not perceived by people to be as good or as valuable as it was before. Generally, we use this application with abstract nouns such as success, performance or experience. If something happens that can result in a person not enjoying something as much or it reduces how effective of important something is, we can say that "it takes away from it'. For example, if you watch a movie and it is a brilliant movie but one actor's performance is very bad, you could say that "the actor's performance took away from the movie", meaning that it reduced how much you enjoyed it. Likewise, if you enjoy the ambiance of a house but don't like the cheap furniture, you could say that "the cheap furniture takes away from the ambiance of the house". The best way to explain this one is if you think of a meal at a restaurant that you enjoyed very much, however you had to wait a long time for the food to come. As a result, you gave the experience 8/10, however if the food had come more quickly, you would have given the experience 10/10 but the long wait took away from this. Example sentences.... The poor ending took away from an otherwise excellent film. The noisy crowd took away from our enjoyment of the concert. The constant interruptions took away from the effectiveness of the presentation. A spell of bad weather took away from what would otherwise have been a perfect weekend. This controversy has taken away from the success of the event. Excessive special effects actually take away from the story. For the optimists among you, you should also note we often use this in the negative sense, to express that something bad or negative does not devalue or detract from the overall achievement, result or experience of something. Example sentences.... His lack of experience doesn’t take away from his ability to do the job well. The disappointing result doesn’t take away from what the team achieved this season. A couple of negative reviews shouldn’t take anything away from your achievement. MEANING 5: To learn something Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To learn Separable? Yes We are now at the fifth and final meaning of the phrasal verb 'take away', which means 'to learn something'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Information Message Lesson Idea Point I have purposely left this particular usage of 'take away' until last as the idea of it is not just learning something, but rather leaving someone with a lasting memory of something at the end of it (which I hope you will have after this article). For instance, if you go on a course to learn something new, the information that you retain and remember once the course has finished is what you take away from it. It may not always be something that is taught to you in an educational or pedagogical way; it could just as easily be a lesson that you learned through a life experience. The key idea is that the information or message that you remember after the experience or lesson is over is what you take away from it. Example sentences.... The main thing I took away from the course was the importance of good communication. What did you take away from the meeting? I took away a lot of useful information from the workshop. There are several important lessons we can take away from this experience. One thing I’ve taken away from working abroad is the importance of being flexible. I hope everyone takes something useful away from this phrasal verb post. BONUS: The noun 'takeaway' part 2 A second way that we can use the noun 'takeaway' is in reference to this particular application of the phrasal verb as it is used to mean the information or message that is learned by a person at the end of something. A common collocation that you may come across with this is 'key takeaway', which refers to what the teacher or course instructor is most keen for the students to learn. My main takeaway from the meeting was that we need to communicate better. The biggest takeaway from the course was the importance of planning ahead. What was your key takeaway from the presentation? Photo: Pexels BONUS: The idiom 'take it away' I must apologise as I was lying to you a minute ago when I said that the previous application was the last one as there is a common idiom that we use with 'take away' that deserves its own little explanation here: 'take it away'. The expression 'take it away' is used as a form of command to tell someone that they can start a performance or start speaking in a presentation. The history of this expression goes back to the early 20th century and came from the idea that a performance would take the audience away on a kind of musical trip. It soon crossed over onto radio and has evolved over the years now to include presentations and speeches. Example sentences.... And now, please welcome our band. Take it away, guys! “Are you ready to play?” “Absolutely.” “Great — take it away!” Now we’ll hear from our correspondent in Paris. Take it away, James. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I hope that you have found it useful and that it has helped you to understand how to use the phrasal verb 'take away' more confidently and naturally. Feel free to leave any comments, feedback or your own sentences using 'take away' in the section below. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. Do you want to improve your phrasal verb skills? Now that you have read the article, I hope you've learned something new. However, reading is only the first step to mastering phrasal verbs: the key is practice and repetition. That's why I've created a series of PDF workbooks with clear explanations, natural example sentences, exercises, speaking questions and answer keys. This will help you understand and remember common English phrasal verbs and use them confidently in real-life situations. Browse the workbooks here and start improving your phrasal verb skills today.... Thanks so much for reading and see you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'set 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 like a native. In this instalment of Phrasal Verbs Explained, I will be explaining the phrasal verb 'set down'. This often overlooked phrasal verb is quite a formal one and has two main ideas at its core. In the post, I will explain five different ways that you can use it, ranging from putting something on a surface to establishing rules, and for each of these I will give you lots of example sentences to show you how to use it in a natural way. So, let's make a start and see what the phrasal verb 'set down' is all about.... QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'set down' mean? The phrasal verb 'set down' has 5 main meanings in English: To put something on a surface To record something in words To establish rules To allow a passenger to alight To land an airplane Keep reading to learn more about how to use each of these.... TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one) Set Down - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'set' and 'down' Set Down - Meaning 1: To put something on a surface Set Down - Meaning 2: To record something in words Set Down - Meaning 3: To establish rules Set Down - Meaning 4: To allow a passenger to alight Set Down - Meaning 5: To land an airplane Please don't forget to like or comment if you enjoyed the post! Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you. James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS SET DOWN: KEY INFORMATION Usage Medium Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Set down / Set down Separable? Yes 'Set' and 'down' are two extremely common words in the English language, each one with many meanings and when we put them together to form the phrasal verb 'set down' we get a completely new collection of meanings. Before we look at the various ways to use the phrasal verb, let's first just take a moment to consider the two words individually.... Set - Did you know that 'set' is the word in the English language with the highest number of meanings and applications? That's right, more than 'get', 'take' and 'put'! 'Set' is a very diverse word and can be used as a verb, adjective and noun with many different meanings in each of these word classes. For the purposes of this article, let's just focus on its use as a verb, in which case some of its most common meanings include 'to put in a place', 'to establish' and 'to prepare'. It is an irregular verb and both of its past tense forms are also, confusingly, 'set'. James set his things on the desk. I didn't set the rules, so don't shout at me. The sprinter is aiming to set a new world record in his race this week. We have set the table ready for dinner. Down - Unsurprisingly, the particle 'down' can often be used in phrasal verbs in a literal way to talk about a downwards movement or a decrease (go down, fall down). In addition to this however, it can add a range of different meanings to the phrasal verbs that it appears in and these include stopping an activity (shut down), recording something (note down), control or restriction (hold down) and a negative change in emotions (let down). So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'set down'.... MEANING 1: To put something on a surface Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To put down, to put, to place, to set Separable? Yes As per usual, we will start by looking at the literal phrasal verb meaning, or the closest one to it, which in this case it is 'to put something on a surface'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Bag Book Box Furniture You may note as we go through this post that there is often a lot of overlap between the verbs 'to set' and 'to put' and this first application is a prime example of this. If you set something down, you place or put it on a surface so that you are no longer holding or carrying it. The surface tends to be the ground, the floor, a table or a kitchen top. Remember that we use 'ground' when it is outside and 'floor' when it is inside a building. 'Set down' is not as common as 'put down' to express this idea and it can often imply a more careful deliberate action than 'put down', which is very general. In addition, 'set down' sounds a bit more formal or old fashioned to my ears. It is a separable phrasal verb usage and we tend to use it slightly more commonly in the separated way. Examples of usage.... Jean set down her cup on the table and answered the phone. Nik set the box down carefully beside the door. Set that tray down on the counter, please. Violet set her handbag down on the chair next to her. The waiter set down the plates and went back to the kitchen. I set my coffee down on the desk while I looked for the documents. Poppy set the shopping bags down on the floor for a moment. My Dad slowly set the glass down on the table. Set it down over there and give me a hand with this. SET DOWN TO MEAN SIT DOWN? One thing that I discovered whilst researching this article is that in some regional US dialects 'set down' can also be used to mean 'sit down'. It is not standard US English though, which is probably why I've never heard of it but it makes complete sense as to why they would use it that way because when you sit, you are literally setting yourself down. MEANING 2: To record something in words Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To write down, to set out, to record Separable? Yes The second of the meanings of the phrasal verb 'set down' that we will look at is 'to record something in words'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Experience Thoughts Ideas Theory Findings / Results You may remember from the Basics section where I wrote that one of the ideas inherent in the particle 'down' is to record something. This is perfectly exemplified in the common phrasal verbs 'write down' and 'note down' that you are likely to know already and which both mean to record something in writing. Another less common synonym for this is 'set down', which means the same thing. If you set something down, you essentially just write or type it, so that it is transferred from what someone says or thinks to something that is recorded for others to read. Again, this is definitely a lot more formal than 'write down' or 'note down' and may not be one that you are likely to hear in everyday conversations with friends or family etc. As with the previous application of 'set down', this one is also separable and is commonly used both ways. Examples of usage.... Valerie set down everything she could remember about the incident. My ex-boyfriend set his thoughts down in a letter. The witness set down the events exactly as she remembered them. I decided to set my ideas down before the meeting. Linda carefully set down everything that had happened that morning. The author sets down his memories of childhood in the first chapter. He set his experiences of travelling through Europe down in a journal as he went. Before you forget, set down the main points you want to discuss. The researcher set down her observations at the end of each day. MEANING 3: To establish rules Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To set out, to establish, to lay down Separable? Yes We are going to stay with the same idea of writing and recording information for our third meaning of the phrasal verb 'set down' as this one means 'to establish rules'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Rules Principles Guidelines Regulations Rules and regulations are essential tools that exist in society to ensure that people are safe and that we have order in our daily lives. As societies and technology evolve, new and updated laws have to be passed by governments and to do this somebody needs to write these and record them. When these new rules and regulations are established, we can say that they are "set down". We can therefore treat this third application as an extension of the previous one as it again just writing something down in order to record it. However, this time we are talking about an official record of something that will be registered in a formal or legal document. This application of 'set down' is not only used for national laws that are set by governments and it is just as common to hear it being used to talk about officially establishing rules in companies, organisations and committees, as well as requirements, conditions and procedures that are stipulated in contracts and formal documents. Again, this is a separable phrasal verb but you should note that there is a tendency to not use this in separable way, especially if the direct object is long and consists of many words. Examples of usage.... The agreement sets down the responsibilities of both parties. The law sets down strict rules for the handling of personal data. Our employee code of conduct sets down acceptable standards of behaviour. These regulations set down the minimum safety standards that employers must follow. The government has set new guidelines down for the industry. The constitution sets down the basic principles of the political system. The policy clearly sets down what staff members should do in an emergency. The rules were set down many years ago and are now being reviewed. We have to follow the procedures set down by the company. MEANING 4: To allow a passenger to alight Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? British English Potential synonyms To let off, to let out, to drop off Separable? Yes The fourth meaning of 'set down' is a primarily British English usage that means 'to stop a vehicle and allow a passenger to alight'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Bus Train Taxi Passenger Driver To alight - to get out of or off a vehicle, so that you are on the ground. To clarify, 'set down' can be used in British English to describe when a vehicle carrying passengers stops so that people can get off or out (remember 'on' for larger public transport like planes, trains and buses and 'in' for cars). For this application we need to rewind back to the first application of putting something on a surface as the core idea of that is that you once you do this, you are no longer carrying the object. The idea is essentially the same with this application as the vehicle is carrying the passengers and when they have been set down, they are no longer on or in it. As with the previous meanings of 'set down', this one is more formal than alternatives like 'drop off' and 'let off' and is also not as frequently heard in everyday speech. It is a separable usage and remember the golden rule that pronouns (me, him, us etc) must always go between the verb and particle. Examples of usage.... The taxi set us down outside the hotel. Could you set me down at the next corner, please? The driver set the passengers down outside the station. The coach sets down passengers at several stops along the route. We were set down just outside the city centre. The bus stopped to set down a few passengers. Drivers are not allowed to set passengers down here. Paul asked the driver to set him down near the theatre. The minibus will set you down directly outside the terminal. MEANING 5: To land an airplane Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To land, to put down Separable? Yes We've now come to final meaning of 'set down' and it is another one that is consistent with the others that we have looked at in the post and is 'to land an airplane'. I'm sure that you can probably work this one out but this meaning is once again linked to the idea of placing something on a surface. The difference this time however is that a plane can weigh up to 700,000kg and you need a lot of skill and training to be able to place it safely on an airport runway. I don't hear this particular application being used very often as you are more likely to hear 'to land' or even 'to put down' being used as an alternative instead. Interestingly, this usage is ergative, which means that it can be used both transitively and intransitively (with or without a direct object). See the examples below.... Examples of usage.... Intransitive (without a direct object): The small plane set down safely in a field. The helicopter set down on the roof of the hospital. Our aircraft set down just before midnight. Transitive (with a direct object): The pilot set the plane down safely despite the strong winds. Amelia managed to set the helicopter down in a small clearing. The crew set the aircraft down on a remote airstrip. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I hope that you have found it useful and that it has helped you to understand how to use the phrasal verb 'set down' more confidently and naturally. Feel free to leave any comments, feedback or your own sentences using 'set down' in the section below. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. Do you want to improve your phrasal verb skills? Now that you have read the article, I hope you've learned something new. However, reading is only the first step to mastering phrasal verbs: the key is practice and repetition. That's why I've created a series of PDF workbooks with clear explanations, natural example sentences, exercises, speaking questions and answer keys. This will help you understand and remember common English phrasal verbs and use them confidently in real-life situations. Browse the workbooks here and start improving your phrasal verb skills today.... Thanks so much for reading and see you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'square up' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. Have you ever heard the English phrasal verb 'square up' before and wondered what it means? Would it surprise you to learn that it has at least four different meanings in English and that it can be used to describe things as varied as tidiness, fighting and payments? In this blog post, I will explain each of these different meanings for you, as well as the general idea that links them all together. Also, I will provide you with lots of example sentences for each one so that you can start using 'square up' confidently and accurately like a native speaker. So, let's make a start and see what the phrasal verb 'square up' is all about.... QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'square up' mean? The phrasal verb 'square up' has four main meanings in English.... To arrange or place something in a straight line To prepare to fight someone To face a difficult situation To pay someone the money that you owe them Continue reading to learn more about each one.... TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one Square Up - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'square' and 'up' Square Up - Meaning 1: To arrange or place something in a straight line Square Up - Meaning 2: To prepare to fight someone Square Up - Meaning 3: To face a difficult situation Square Up - Meaning 4: To pay someone money that you owe them Please don't forget to like or comment if you enjoyed the post! I would really appreciate your feedback! Thank you. James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS SQUARE UP: KEY INFORMATION Usage Medium Number of meanings 4 Past tense forms Squared up / Squared up Separable? Sometimes The phrasal verb 'square up' is made up of the two words 'square' and 'up', so to begin let's first consider what these two little words mean on their own. Square - I imagine that when you see the word 'square', the first thing that comes to your mind is the noun 'square' as in the shape with four equal sides. It may surprise you to know that the verb 'to square' also exists and that it has several meanings, although none of them are particularly common. When used as a verb, 'to square' can mean 'to position something at right angles', 'to pay a bill or money that is owed', 'to be consistent with something else' and 'to multiply a number by itself'. This is not the last time that will see some of these meanings as they will appear later in the post when we cover the meanings of the phrasal verb 'square up'. The carpenter squared the edge of the wooden beam. The girl's statement does not square with her boyfriend's. I'll square the bill with you next week. What do you get if you square the number 5? 25 Up - The particle 'up' wins the (non-existent) award for being the commonest particle in phrasal verb application. As a result, it can add many different ideas or meanings to the verb that it is attached to and these include a literal upwards meaning (go up) or an increase (rise up), as well as ideas like a movement towards something (come up), division (break up), preparation (set up), completion (eat up) and closure (lock up). So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'square up'.... MEANING 1 To arrange or place something in a straight line Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To level up, to arrange, to organise Separable? Yes The first meaning of the phrasal verb 'square up' is more or less a literal meaning of the combination of the two words and means 'to arrange or place something in a straight line'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Table Chair Furniture Tiles This first application is a great one for all of those among you who like things to be neat, tidy and well-ordered. It is typically used to talk about objects with straight edges that we can move and position. When you square something up, you simply move it so that it is in a straight line or at the correct angle, often aligned with other similar objects (like the containers in the picture above). We get this meaning from the base idea of the verb 'to square', meaning to position something in a straight line or at a right angle to something. The addition of the particle 'up' here is to convey the idea of a finished or completed action. For example, if you square up some chairs and table, they will all end up in the correct position and in alignment with one other and most importantly, will look tidy and organised. This usage is a separable usage and can be used both ways. Remember that the pronouns 'it' or 'them' must always go between 'square' and 'up'. Example sentences.... Square up the table with the wall before you move the other furniture. Can you square up those boxes so they’re all in a straight line? He squared up the picture frame before stepping back to look at it. We need to square up the shelves before we screw them into place. Square the cabinet up with the edge of the worktop. The tiles aren’t quite straight, so we’ll need to square them up. He carefully squared up the boards before fixing them together. Could you square those chairs up with the tables? I squared everything up so that the edges were perfectly aligned. MEANING 2: To prepare to fight someone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To face off, to confront, to stand up to Separable? No Things are going to get interesting for this next application of the phrasal verb 'square up' as it means 'to prepare to fight someone'. Whether you are cat owners or not, you will undoubtedly be familiar with the sight of two enemy cats standing close to one another and making loud aggressive noises in an effort to scare the other one away. If these noisy endeavours are not successful, the next thing that usually happens is that they start fighting. When cats engage in this pre-fighting behaviour, we can say that they are "squaring up". Of course, this phrasal verb usage is not just limited to cats and can be used to talk about other animals and especially humans. When we talk about people or animals squaring up, we are essentially describing the positions that they adopt when they face another person and prepare to fight. If you think back to the previous application, it is probable that this usage comes from getting your body into an aligned position with your opponent to make you as prepared as possible to fight. Example sentences.... The two men squared up outside the pub. They squared up, but fortunately someone stepped in before a fight started. Kevin took off his jacket and squared up, ready for a fight. For a moment, it looked as though the cats were going to square up. The boys were squaring up in the playground when a teacher intervened. The two boxers squared up in the centre of the ring. You should note that when using this application that if you want to specify the other person who you or the subject are planning to fight, we use the particle 'to', giving us the structure 'to square up to someone'. One important distinction to make here is that when we use 'square up' without 'to' it implies that both people are prepared to fight. For instance if you are referring to boxers at the start of a fight, you would say that they are squaring up as they are both preparing themselves for combat. However, when you use 'square up to', the implication is often that one person (or animal) confronts another in an aggressive way, often when the other person does not want to fight. Lastly, on a grammatical note this second application is not separable. Example sentences.... Kevin squared up to the man who had pushed him. The two players squared up to each other after the tackle. The school bully squared up to me and told me to get out of his way. The brave teenager squared up to a much bigger man outside the station. Why are you squaring up to me? I’m not looking for a fight. Darren was thrown out of the pub after squaring up to another customer. MEANING 3: To face a difficult situation Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To face up to, to cope with, to deal with Separable? No The third of the four usages of the phrasal verb 'square up' is a rarer one that means 'to face a difficult situation'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Difficulty Issue Problem Responsibility Challenge In the last section, I explained how 'square up' can often be used to talk about preparing for a physical fight and you could definitely say that a fight counts as a difficult situation. However, while the last section was quite fight-specific, in this one we can use it to talk in a broader way about any type of situation that is challenging or difficult. Like with the previous application, we also need the additional particle 'to' here to specify the difficult thing. The idea this time is that if you 'square up to something', you face this difficult thing with the intention of handling or dealing with it. Again, it is all about being as prepared and ready as possible for something. Example sentences.... We need to square up to the problems facing the business. Sooner or later, he’ll have to square up to the consequences of his decision. The government must square up to the challenges posed by an ageing population. Cathy finally squared up to the fact that the project was failing. The company has been slow to square up to its financial difficulties. It’s time we squared up to the reality of the situation. My Dad refused to square up to his responsibilities and kept blaming other people. They eventually squared up to the difficult decisions that had to be made. We can’t keep ignoring the issue; we need to square up to it. MEANING 4: To pay money that you owe Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To pay (off), to pay up, to settle up, to balance Separable? No We are going to end the post with the fourth and final application of the phrasal verb 'square up', which is to pay someone the money that you owe them. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Bill Debt Meal Restaurant I often think about how much society has changed over the past few decades with the spread of the internet and the digital world and how it has had such a big effect on almost every area of our lives. One area where this is evident is paying money as in many countries, most payments are now done digitally or even with your phone instead of with traditional cash. Regardless of how you pay however, the use of the phrasal verb 'square up' to describe making a payment has not changed and can be used for any of these: new or old. This informal application of the phrasal verb 'square up' is generally used for money that you owe another person or business, especially when you are settling a bill or a debt. Normally, I would not use it for instant transactions like paying for goods in a shop or in an online purchase. Instead, I would use it in instances where there is a record or account of what I have bought, when there is a period of time between ordering or receiving the thing and paying for it. This may be just a short gap of an hour or so like paying your bill in a restaurant or a longer gap like paying a company invoice 30 days after it was issued. There are two extra particles that we can use with this usage depending on what we are saying. If we are talking about paying a person what we owe them, we say "square up with someone" and if we are talking about what we are paying for, we use "square up for something". This usage is not separable. Example sentences.... We squared up with the landlord before we moved out. I’ll square up with you when I get paid on Friday. Have you squared up with the restaurant yet? Let’s square up before we leave. Mike still needs to square up for the drinks he ordered last night. We can square up at the end of the week. Sarah squared up with the hotel before checking out. Don’t worry about paying me now; we can square up for it later. Everyone squared up before heading home. I need to square up with Tom for my share of the taxi fare. Once we’d squared up, we left the pub. The underlying idea behind this usage is that an account becomes aligned again once money has been paid that was owed for a period of time. While we are on this subject, there is also another way that 'square up' can be used to talk about them and this is when there are discrepancies on accounts and numbers do not correspond. When this happens, it is possible to say that the "accounts do not square up". Example sentences.... The accounts don’t square up, so there must be a mistake somewhere. The figures still didn’t square up, even after we checked all the invoices. Everything finally squared up once we found the missing payment. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I hope that you have found it useful and that it has helped you to understand how to use the phrasal verb 'square up' more confidently and naturally. Feel free to leave any comments, feedback or your own sentences using 'square up' in the section below. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. Do you want to improve your phrasal verb skills? Now that you have read the article, I hope you've learned something new. However, reading is only the first step to mastering phrasal verbs: the key is practice and repetition. That's why I've created a series of PDF workbooks with clear explanations, natural example sentences, exercises, speaking questions and answer keys. This will help you understand and remember common English phrasal verbs and use them confidently in real-life situations. Browse the workbooks here and start improving your phrasal verb skills today.... Thanks so much for reading and see you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'pay off' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. This is a post all about the phrasal verb 'pay off' - what it means in English and how to use it. This commonly used phrasal verb has at least three different meanings that can be used to talk about things as diverse as debts, results and bribery. In the post, I will explain how each application is used and give you lots of examples so that, by the end of it, you will be an expert in all things to do with 'pay off'. So, let's get started and find out what it means.... QUICK ANSWER: What does the phrasal verb 'pay off' mean? The phrasal verb 'pay off' has three main meaning in English.... To finish paying for something To have good results To pay someone to be quiet or to leave Keep reading to learn how to use each meaning..... TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one) Pay Off - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'pay' and 'off' Pay Off - Meaning 1: To finish paying for something Pay Off - Meaning 2: To have good results Pay Off - Meaning 3: To pay someone to be quiet or to leave Pay Off - Bonus: The noun 'pay-off' Please don't forget to like or comment if you enjoyed the post! Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you. James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS PAY OFF: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 3 Past tense forms Paid off / Paid off Separable? Yes When you read the words 'pay' and 'off', what do you understand by them? Do you know what the verb 'to pay' means and what significance 'off' has in phrasal verb constructions? Let's first take a minute to look at these two words individually and find out.... Pay - The verb 'to pay' is surely one that you are very familiar with and will probably understand as meaning 'to give money in exchange for goods or a service'. While this is absolutely correct, did you also know that 'to pay' can also be used for non-monetary giving? For example, we can pay attention or pay heed, or we can can pay our respects to someone when they die and in all of these it carries an idea of giving something. In addition, it can also be used to talk about something having either good or bad consequences. 'To pay' is a slightly irregular verb and takes 'paid' as its post simple and past participle forms. Let me take you out for dinner; I will pay! We can't afford to pay our bills this month. The company paid for me to do a training course in marketing. Please pay careful attention to what I am about to tell you. You will pay for what you have done! I will not forget this. Crime doesn't pay. Off - The prepositional particle 'off' is one that frequently occurs in phrasal verbs and can add many different meanings to the verb that it is paired with. Some of its more relevant meanings for the phrasal verb 'pay off' are finishing something (finish off, polish off), cancellation (call off), separation (cut off) and a successful outcome (come off). Let's now move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'pay off'.... MEANING 1: To finish paying for something Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To clear, to pay up, to settle, Separable? Yes As I mentioned earlier in the Basics section, the verb 'to pay' is primarily used for exchanging money for a product or service and this first application of the phrasal verb 'pay off' is linked to this as it means 'to finish paying for something'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Debt Mortgage Credit card Loan To give you some clarification on this first meaning of 'pay off', you should know that we tend to use it when talking about something that is repaid in instalments over a period of time. This is typically a credit agreement like a credit card or mortgage, or it could be a debt that you owe to a company or individual and which you cannot afford to pay all in one single payment. Once the final payment has been made and the remaining amount to pay is zero, we can say that the amount or the debt "has been paid off". This can be a really great feeling, especially if you have been making payments over a long period, as you feel a huge sense of financial freedom 😁 On a grammatical note, this usage is a separable one and the loan, debt or amount to be paid can either go between 'pay' and 'off' or after them. Example sentences.... It took us nearly twenty years to pay off our mortgage. Abigail borrowed £2,000 from her parents but paid it off within six months. I'm trying to pay my credit card debt off before Christmas. Mike finally paid off his student loan last year. We still owe quite a lot on the car, but we should pay it off by next summer. They used their savings to pay their debts off. How long did it take you to pay off that loan? Once Lucy has paid the mortgage off, she'll have much more money to spend each month. I've been paying off my debts little by little for the past two years. MEANING 2: To have good results Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To be worth it, to bear fruit Separable? No Let's now move on to the second meaning of the phrasal verb 'pay off', which is a really nice and positive one that means 'to have good results'. This second application is a very frequently used one that is heard particularly often in reference to work, both in the employment sense and the sense of putting effort into something. If you work hard at something and you get good results as a consequence, you can say that "your hard work has paid off". For example, if you spend many hours, days, weeks and months setting up and launching a new business, which then makes you rich, your efforts have paid off. Likewise, if you spend a lot of time studying English phrasal verbs and then you impress a native speaker with your advanced knowledge and vocabulary, you can say that your hard work has paid off. I definitely recommend doing the second one, by the way 😜 Unlike the first application, this one is not a separable usage. Example sentences.... All the hard work finally paid off when my sister passed her exams. Keep practising; your efforts will pay off eventually. Kevin's decision to learn German really paid off when he was offered a job in Berlin. We spent months preparing for the launch, but it paid off in the end. Tracey's been training every day and all that hard work is starting to pay off. Their investment in new technology has already paid off. Studying a little every day can pay off in the long run. The team's patience paid off when they scored in the final minute. I wasn't sure whether the changes would work, but they really paid off. MEANING 3: To pay someone to be quiet or leave Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To bribe Separable? Yes We are returning to the idea of paying money for our third and final meaning of the phrasal verb 'pay off' as this one means 'to pay someone to be quiet or to leave'. For this final application, we can divide it into two main sub-meanings: the formal one and the informal one. We will start with the formal one which is one that you typically find in business English. In a company or organisation when an employee is no longer required or needs to be made redundant in order for it to save money, the company may pay the no-longer needed person the rest of what they have earned and discharge them from the organisation. In such cases, we can say that the company paid the employee off. It may seem to you that this meaning is the same as 'to make someone redundant' but you should note that there is a slight difference between them. When we use 'to make someone redundant', the focus is on the idea that the person's job or position has disappeared and is no longer required but with 'pay someone off', the focus is more on the idea that the company pays the person and terminates their contract. Example sentences.... The company paid off twenty workers when the factory closed. Several employees were paid off after the company decided to cut production. They paid Tim off after his position was made redundant. The firm is planning to pay off some of its workers at the end of the month. When the shipyard downsized, hundreds of workers were paid off. Marina was paid off after fifteen years with the company and received a redundancy payment. Now, let's turn our attention to 'pay off' in the informal sense, which is one that tends to be used for slightly naughtier or illegal reasons. If, for any reason, someone wants another person to be quiet about something and not say anything about it, they may offer them some money in exchange for their silence. When they commit this sort of bribery, guess what phrasal verb we can use to describe it....correct it's 'pay off'. This is not only used when you want another person to stay quiet about something; it can be used to describe any time that a person is bribed with money to persuade them to not do something, such as cause problems, reveal information or continue bothering someone. For instance, an office worker who discovered the CEO of the company having a romantic affair with their secretary may be offered some money by the CEO to keep quiet about what they saw. If the office worker accepted, you could say that the CEO paid them off. Likewise, someone who is being threatened or blackmailed may pay the person off to leave them alone....this usage is classic TV series or movie material! On a grammatical note, this usage is separable and it normally requires a person or subject that often goes between 'pay' and 'off'. Example sentences.... The CEO tried to pay the office worker off so that she wouldn't tell anyone what she had seen. The businessman paid off a witness to keep him quiet. They offered to pay him off if he agreed to leave them alone. Jeremy thought he could pay them off and make the problem disappear. The company was accused of paying off people who knew about the scandal. They tried to pay the journalist off before she published the story. You can't just pay me off and expect me to forget what happened. Someone had clearly paid him off to keep his mouth shut. They eventually paid the man off to stop him causing trouble. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The noun 'pay-off' Did you know that the noun 'pay-off' also exists and has at least two distinct meanings.... A reward - A 'pay-off' can mean a reward for something or the positive benefit that someone receives after an investment, hard work or a big effort. It is often preceded by an adjective and is derived directly from the second phrasal verb meaning that we looked at earlier. Example sentences.... Winning the competition was a wonderful pay-off for all her hard work. The financial pay-off could be huge if the project succeeds. After years of training, Martin finally got the pay-off he had been hoping for. A job termination or bribe - This one links back to the usage of 'pay off' meaning to pay someone to leave a company or as a bribe to stop someone doing or saying something. Example sentences.... The witness was offered a large pay-off to keep quiet. The chief executive received a £2 million pay-off when he left the company. They suspected that someone had given the official a pay-off. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I hope that you have found it useful and that it has helped you to understand how to use the phrasal verb 'pay off' more confidently and naturally. Feel free to leave any comments, feedback or your own sentences using 'pay off' in the section below. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. Do you want to improve your phrasal verb skills? Now that you have read the article, I hope you've learned something new. However, reading is only the first step to mastering phrasal verbs: the key is practice and repetition. That's why I've created a series of PDF workbooks with clear explanations, natural example sentences, exercises, speaking questions and answer keys. This will help you understand and remember common English phrasal verbs and use them confidently in real-life situations. Browse the workbooks here and start improving your phrasal verb skills today.... Thanks so much for reading and see you next time! James 😊 THE END