An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'knock 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. 'Knock off' is a largely informal phrasal verb in English. It has a variety of different meanings, including some that are very good and some that are very bad. In this post, I will explain all of the different meanings to you and provide lots of examples of each to help you learn and use these in your daily English. I've also included a section at the end with some common idioms featuring 'knock off' to really help you to sound like a native speaker. So, without further ado, let's make a start. Please like and share the post if you find the article useful (I won't know otherwise)! Also, feel free to leave a comment at the end with your own sentence featuring 'knock off' 😊 TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Knock Off - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'knock' and 'off' Knock Off - Meaning 1: To remove something from a surface with force Knock Off - Meaning 2: To finish work Knock Off - Meaning 3: To reduce a price by a specific amount Knock Off - Meaning 4: To produce something quickly Knock Off - Bonus: The noun 'knock-off' Knock Off - Meaning 5: To steal 🇬🇧 Knock Off - Meaning 6: To murder someone Knock Off - Bonus: Common idioms with 'knock 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 KNOCK OFF: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 6 Past tense forms Knocked off / Knocked off Separable? Yes Let's begin our exploration of the phrasal verb 'knock off' by a quick analysis of what the individual words 'knock' and 'off' mean on their own. The verb 'to knock' is a fairly common verb in English, whose main meaning is 'to hit something with force, often repeatedly'. This can be intentionally, usually in order to create a noise e.g. knocking a door, or it can be accidentally e.g. if you knock something or someone whilst you are walking because you do not see them... . We knocked on the door but there was no answer, so we presumed that nobody was at home. I was in a rush when I was leaving my house earlier and accidentally knocked the parcel shelf. I hope nothing fell off! Moreover, 'to knock' is often used in conjunction with prepositional particles such as 'into', 'out' and 'off' to give more information about the 'knocking action', such as the consequence or direction...more on this shortly! Next up, we have the prepositional particle 'off', which, has a large number of different applications and uses in English and functions as an adverb, preposition, adjective and even as a verb (albeit a rare one). Perhaps one of the most pertinent meanings of 'off' for the purposes of the phrasal verb 'knock off' is to denote physical separation or detachment from something, especially a surface. Aside from this, a key meaning of 'off' as an adjective is to describe a device or machine that is not on, connected or activated. So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move onto the meanings of the phrasal verb 'knock off'... MEANING 1: To remove something from a surface with force Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Lower intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To push off, to dislodge, to displace Separable? Yes For our first meaning of the phrasal verb 'knock off', let's keep it nice and simple and start things off with the literal meaning of the two words 'knock' and 'off', which gives us the meaning of 'to remove something from a surface with force'. Firstly, as you can probably imagine, this application is concerned with items, things or people which are placed or sit on a surface such as a table, shelf or horse. If something then hits the object with enough energy to make it fall from the surface so that it is no longer on it, we can say that is has been 'knocked off' by the force. This can be either in an intentional or accidental way. The cat jumped onto the table and knocked the glass bottle off, which then smashed on the floor. As the thief was riding away, the villagers tried to knock him off his horse by throwing rocks at him. I am so sorry. I accidentally knocked the picture off the shelf when I was cleaning and I've broken the frame. In addition to things that are sitting or are situated on a surface, we can also use this application of 'knock off' for when a part of something is detached or disconnected from the rest of it by force. The car's wing mirror was knocked off when the driver drove too close to the wall. A tourist has been charged with criminal damage after he knocked the leg off of the statue of a horse in the town square. Lastly, there are a couple of other less obvious uses that we can apply this meaning to. The first is with reference to our feet, as if something knocks you off your feet, it hits you with a lot of force, so that you fall to the ground (you are no longer on your feet). This can also be used to describe when you fall ill with something and you have to spend some time in bed or resting and lastly, in a non-literal way, to describe when you are affected very deeply by something in an emotional way or romantic way. The explosion was so powerful that it knocked me off my feet and I was half a kilometre away from it. The last time I caught Covid it knocked me off my feet for several days. The shock of my parents dying knocked me off my feet. I was shell shocked! The other time that you may hear this application of 'knock off' in use is with reference to lists and charts, particularly music charts. If something is in the number one position on the chart and then another song or item replaces it as the number one, we can say it 'knocks it off'.... After spending 8 weeks at number one on the UK singles chart, Michael Jackson's latest single has been knocked off the top spot by his sister Janet. Lastly, this usage is separable and can be used both separably and inseparably without changing the meaning. MEANING 2: To finish work Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To finish, to get off, to clock off Potential antonyms To start work, to clock in Separable? No For many of us, this second meaning of 'knock off' represents one of the best parts of our days or even weeks (if it is a Friday) as it means 'to finish work'. Normally, we use this for when we finish work at the end of the day at the usual time, however it can sometimes be used just to talk about a specific time when you finish too, for example if you are finishing earlier or later then usual for some reason. On a grammatical note, this usage of 'knock off' is not separable and does not take a direct object. It is often followed by the noun 'work' but this is not always necessary as the meaning is usually evident from the context. What time do you usually knock off work? I am knocking off a bit early today as I have a dentists appointment. We start work at 9am and don't knock off until 6pm at the earliest. This usage and meaning has quite a dark and sinister etymology as it dates back several centuries to the time when the Atlantic slave trade was still in existence. It is thought that when the galley slaves were forced to row the boats across the ocean, there was a man who would beat (or knock) a drum to create a rhythm for the rowers to follow. Once the beat stopped, the slaves could then stop rowing and rest, essentially stopping work. MEANING 3: To reduce a price by a specific amount Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To reduce, to deduct, to subtract, to take off, to take away, to dock Separable? Yes For the third meaning of 'knock off', we have another really positive meaning that everyone would appreciate and that is 'to reduce a price by a specific amount'. This usage is definitely one for those amongst you who like to haggle or barter for the best price when buying something as if someone knocks an amount off a price, they reduce it and therefore give you a discount on the sale. What you should remember for this meaning is that the amount or percentage that is reduced or 'knocked off' is normally required to be stated here and this functions as a direct object from a grammatical perspective. If the specific amount of reduction is not known, for example if you just want a lower price in general, non-specific words like 'a bit' or 'something' are often used instead. There was a crack in the packaging on my new tool kit, so the shop owner agreed to knock 25% off the price for me. The price is $10 for one but if you buy a pack of three, I will knock 10% off the price and you can have them all for $27. £2000?! That's a bit expensive! Are you able to knock a bit off that? In addition to prices, it is also possible to use this same application with time, especially when talking about the times of races etc. For example, if a runner breaks a world record by a second, you could equally say that he or she knocked a second off the world record. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone recently knocked almost half a second off her own world record in the 400m hurdles event at the Olympic Games. MEANING 4: To produce something quickly Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potentials synonyms To dash off, to bang out Separable? Yes The next meaning of 'knock off' is 'to produce something quickly' and can refer to anything that you make, produce or create. Primarily, though, it tends to be used with writing and creating written documents and work. Normally, 'knock off' is used in this sense when a person creates something very hastily, with very little effort or in a short space of time. Oftentimes, we specify the amount of time that the 'knocking off' action took. I wanted to go to the beach but I had to finish my report first, so I quickly knocked it off in a hour and went and met my friends. The orchestra were able to knock the recording of the entire concerto off in a couple of hours. How quickly do you think you could knock off a review of last night's concert? In addition to producing something quickly, there is also a second usage of this application of 'knock off' that also exists. This one is a bit more negative however, as it means specifically 'to make a cheap copy or imitation of a product'. This is usually in an illegal way and tends to be done mostly by imitating high-end and luxury brand items that are made using much cheaper materials and therefore sold at a much cheaper price. The gang has been knocking off fake Gucci bags for many years and many naive people have been fooled by them. I don't think this watch is a real Cartier watch. I think it has been knocked off and it is a cheap imitation. BONUS: The noun 'knock-off' The usage of 'knock off' to describe fake or cheap imitation goods and products has given rise to the noun 'knock-off' (knockoff'), which is a name given to the fake products themselves. Do you think these shoes are genuine or a knock-off? John sells knock-off watches and jewellery on the beach to tourists. MEANING 5: To steal Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Mainly British English Potential synonyms To rob, to steal, to pilfer, to pinch, to knock over (US English) Separable? Yes At the end of the last section, I explained how 'knock off' can be used in a negative and dishonest sense to mean 'to sell cheap imitations of expensive and luxury products' and this fifth meaning sticks with the negative and criminal theme as it means 'to steal something'. Simply put, if you knock something off, you steal or rob it, i.e. take it from a shop, store, or less commonly, another person. This is not such a common usage however, and other synonyms such as 'to rob' and 'to steal' are in much more frequent use in everyday English. Roger has knocked off a lot of tools and equipment from his local hardware store and he is going to sell it all online. The thief managed to knock off $1000 worth of goods from the shopping mall in less than an hour. You may also hear this application of 'knock off' being used in reference to shops and stores and banks, rather than specific items, especially in American English. This is because this application is also used for talking about stealing from a particular place, with the focus being placed on the establishment from where the goods were taken, rather than the individual stolen items. The teenagers spent the morning knocking off different shops in the city centre. The thieves' plan to knock off the bank was foiled by the police. MEANING 6: To murder someone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To murder, to kill, to do for, to do in, to do away with Separable? Yes We started this article with some really nice and positive meanings, so firstly I'd like to apologise because we are ending it on a more unpleasant note. This is because this final meaning is 'to murder someone' and has the structure 'to knock someone off'. Although 'knock off' is used here as a general synonym of 'to murder', it tends to be used specifically when the murder has been ordered by someone as the victim poses a threat to him or her in some way. As such, this is perhaps one that I hope you will never have to use in your own lives but it may be something that you come across if you enjoy watching English-language TV series and movies, particularly dramas about gangs, the mafia and politics etc. I was really shocked when the main character of the series was knocked off at the end of the first season. The man was murdered. His wife knocked him off when she found out that he was having an affair. Do you think the victim was knocked off by another member or it was an accident? Photo: Pexels BONUS: Some common idioms with 'knock off' Before I conclude this post, there are a couple of idioms and one extra usage that I want to make you aware of.... Knock it off! - This short command is often used by native speakers when they are annoyed or irritated by something that someone is doing and it functions as a request or an order for them to stop. Knock it off! You are really getting on my nerves! To knock someone's block off - This is a very aggressive idiomatic expression that is often used as threat to someone. In this sense, the word 'block' means a head and therefore this expression is used to mean when you hit someone's head, or physically attack them. If you don't be quiet, I'm gonna knock your block off! To knock someone's socks off - Lastly, this next idiom is much more positive and is used when someone is amazed or very impressed by something. If something knocks your socks off, you are astonished or shocked by in in a good way. You wait until you watch this performance. It will knock your socks off! Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'knock off'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'hold 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. 'Hold up' is a phrasal verb that is in common use in everyday English. You may already be familiar with it and its uses, however do you know all of them? For example, did you know that the phrase 'to hold someone up' can have both a positive and a negative meaning, depending on the context? Don't worry if you didn't as in this post I will explain all of the different meanings of this useful phrasal verb for you and give you lots of examples of it in context to help you learn and use it! So, without further ado, let's make a start. Please like and share the post if you find the article useful (I won't know otherwise)! Also, feel free to leave a comment at the end with your own sentence featuring 'hold up' 😊 TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Hold Up - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'hold' and 'up' Hold Up - Meaning 1: To hold something in an elevated position Hold Up - Meaning 2: To prevent something from falling Hold Up - Meaning 3: To delay someone or something Hold Up - Meaning 4: To withstand difficulty or scrutiny Hold Up - Meaning 5: To make an example of something Hold Up - Meaning 6: To commit a robbery Hold Up - Bonus: The imperative 'hold on!' I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS HOLD UP: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 6 Past tense forms Held up / Held up Separable? Yes Before we get started with the different meanings of 'hold up', let's first consider the words 'hold' and 'up' and what they mean individually. The verb 'to hold' is a common and versatile verb in English that has a variety of different meanings. Perhaps the most obvious of these meanings and one which is highly relevant to this post is 'to have something in your arms or hands and keep it there for a period of time'. My son always holds my hand when we go for a walk. She held her newborn baby in her arms. My friend was waiting for me at the airport and was holding a card with my name on it. Other key meanings of the verb 'to hold' are 'to contain', 'to retain' and 'to organise' amongst others. Aside from 'hold up', the verb 'to hold' features in a number of different phrasal verbs including 'hold off', 'hold out', 'hold back' and of course 'hold up'. Next, we have the particle 'up', which needs no introduction from me as it is one that you will all be very familiar with already. As you will know, the particle 'up' is usually used to mean being in or moving towards a higher position, relative to something else, or in a more abstract way, to talk about an increase of some sort. This meaning is also often transferred to the phrasal verbs in which 'up' appears. Additionally, it can also add ideas like improvement, completion, termination and arrival to phrasal verb meanings. So, now that we have looked at the basics, let's dive into the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'hold up'.... MEANING 1: To hold something in an elevated position Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To hold high, to raise, to lift Separable? Yes I always think it is a good idea to start these phrasal verb meanings with the easiest one and that is exactly what I will do in this post. For the first meaning of 'hold up', we have the combination of the literal meaning of the words 'hold' and 'up', which is simply 'to hold something in an elevated position for a period of time'. This period of time can either be short or long, depending on the reason for the 'holding up' action. Typical situations in which this is used.... Showing something to a group of people or class of students Attracting someone's attention Holding a sign or banner for other people to see Checking something in the light You should also be aware that this application of 'hold up' can also sometimes encompass the action of moving your hand up into the higher position, similar to 'put up'. Moreover, when you hold something up, it is typically in an elevated position above your head, however it can also be used to mean above your waist or just in a higher position relative to where it was beforehand. If you want to check that the bank note is genuine and not fake, hold it up to the light to check if there are hidden features. John held his phone up as high as he could reach to take a video of the concert. The demonstrators held up different banners during the protests. In addition to objects, it is also possible to use this application when talking about holding your hand or hands up in the air, much like children in a classroom when they know the answer to a question. Furthermore, we also use the idiomatic expression 'to hold your hands up' when we admit that we have made a mistake. Photo: Pexels I held my hand up for ages in class as I knew the answer to the question but the teacher didn't ask me. We held our hands up in the air and waved them from side to side during the song. I hold my hands up and admit that it was my fault that the computer systems crashed yesterday. MEANING 2: To prevent something from falling Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To support, to hold, to bear, to carry, to prop up, to buttress Separable? Yes Last year, I was having some work done on my house, which involved the removal of part of the external wall. The work took a long time to complete and so for a period of time, a whole part of my house was being supported and prevented from falling by a single metal pole, which was quite a scary thought! The reason that I am telling you this is because the second meaning of 'hold up' is 'to stop something from falling' and so you could say as an alternative that last year an entire side of my house was being held up by a piece of metal. Nouns that this is often used with... Buildings or parts of buildings e.g. roofs Sick, elderly or drunk people To clarify, if one thing holds another thing up, it means that it stops the other thing from falling to the ground. In other words, it supports it and holds it in its place, which is an elevated or erect position. As with my example above with my own house, this is often used with buildings or parts of buildings. The only thing holding up the whole side of this house is a metal rod. The ceiling is currently being help up by scaffolding. Moreover, something else that is prone to falling is people and we can also use 'hold up' to talk about when we support another person and stop them from falling over on the ground. This may be with one of your friends who has drunk a few too many glasses of wine and can't walk properly or it may be an elderly person who can no longer walk very well and needs assistance. The reason for their incapacity to walk is irrelevant, the key idea is that they are prevented from falling over. Come on, you can make it. I'l hold you up and make sure that you don't fall. When the footballer broke his leg in the middle of the game, it took two of his teammates to hold him up and walk him off the pitch. MEANING 3: To delay someone or something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To delay, to detain, to impede, to obstruct, to hinder, to set back Separable? Yes The third meaning of 'hold up' is one that is in common usage in the busy modern world that we all live in and means 'to delay someone or something'. Typical situations to use this application in: When the start of something is delayed When a person is late for something Usually, these delays (or hold-ups) are caused by something obstructing or blocking someone's progress or movement, which then prevents them from being where they are supposed to be at the agreed or correct time. As they are therefore not late by choice and something has caused them to be late, you will find that this, grammatically, this application is used a lot in the passive form or with the causative verb 'get'. Where are you? You were supposed to be here 10 minutes ago. What is holding you up? I'm so sorry I am late, Roger. I got held up in the office by a long customer call and I couldn't get out of it. Simon and Hayley will be about half an hour late as they've been held up in traffic. Lucy got held up on her way to her job interview and ended up missing her slot. We also have the noun form 'holdup (or alternatively 'hold-up') which is used to specify the delay. Why are you so late? What is the hold-up? I'll be there as fast as I can. There is some sort of holdup on the road ahead of me and I am in a traffic jam. MEANING 4: To withstand difficulty or scrutiny Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To stand up, to be valid, to hold water Separable? No The fourth meaning of 'hold up' is one that is a close synonym of one of the meanings of the phrasal verb 'stand up' (link here ) and means 'to withstand difficulty or scrutiny'. Use this when talking about.... Businesses in difficult economic circumstances Claims of information and alibis Repairs Old TV shows and movies For this usage, one of the key words that we need to bear in mind is the verb 'remain'. If we first start with the idea of withstanding difficulty or adversity, we are thinking mainly about businesses and organisations. When a business or a company survives a period of economic instability or difficulty and remains strong or does not go into liquidation, we can say that it 'held up' during the hard times. We are very pleased to confirm that despite one of the biggest recessions in recent times, the business held up and reported a big profit for the last financial year. Another way that this application may be used is with physical objects in our everyday lives that are faced with stresses and strains through their use. If these remain in good condition or functional and to not break, it is also possible to say that they 'held up'. I don't think that my running shoes are going to hold up for much longer. The plumber has made some temporary repairs to the pipes but will need to come back again next week to complete the job. Let's hope that the pipes hold up until then! As I previously mentioned, we can also use 'hold up' to talk about something withstanding scrutiny or examination. This is perhaps used most in the world of crime and justice where 'hold up' can be applied to information about suspected criminals' alibis and statements. If information 'holds up', it means that it remains true following examination or scrutiny. The team of detectives have been working on the suspect's statements all week and can now confirm that the information does not hold up. He will therefore be retained in custody for further questioning. You should change that plea as it will not hold up in a court of law. Lastly, one additional sub-usage that I have been hearing more and more recently is to do with with old TV shows and movies. If they are deemed by modern viewers (many of whom weren't even born when they were first released) to still be good or acceptable in today's world, then it is likely that you will hear that the show or film in question "still holds up today".... The first Ghostbusters movie is excellent and definitely still holds up today. On the whole, I enjoyed the series but there were definitely some references and outdated language that don't hold up well today. MEANING 5: To make an example of something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To exemplify, to typify, to symbolise Separable? Yes As an English teacher, I am very keen on giving lots of examples of words, phrases and expressions in lessons as I believe that it is a vital part of the language learning process and helps students to understand how a particular word is used and in which contexts etc. This fifth meaning of 'hold up' is a bit similar to this as it is means 'to make an example of something', although the meaning is not exactly the same. When I use examples in my lessons, I use them to show the student how to use a word, most of the time without any qualitative analysis involved (whether something is good or bad etc). With 'hold up' however, the idea is that a particular example is given to people (almost like it is being held up so that they can all see it) and then it is used to either be praised as something good or criticised as something bad. In other words, it is used to show people how to do something well or how to do it terribly! The fast food chain is often held up by people as the bad guy of the fast food world, despite its many efforts to change its image over the last few years. Laura's website is often held up as a great example of how to design a fresh and engaging site. MEANING 6: To commit a robbery Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To rob, to steal, to stick up, to ambush Separable? Yes Our sixth and final meaning of the phrasal verb 'hold up' is more of a dark and negative one than the others that we have looked at so far as it is all to do with crime and it specifically means 'to commit a robbery'. This does not concern all robbery and theft though, but specifically robberies involving shops, stores, banks and other public places where money is held and can be stolen. This 'holding up' crime is normally carried out by a thief or group of thieves who use guns or other weapons as a way of threatening the employees of the establishment to give them the money. It should be noted that 'hold up' doesn't necessarily mean the money was successfully stolen, the general idea behind this meaning is that the thieves just use threats and violence to stop the activities of the business in an attempt to obtain money or goods. All in all, it is probably a very scary experience for everyone involved! The manager of the store was held up at gunpoint by a gang of criminals who demanded the code to the safe. Brian was planning on holding up his local post office but in the end he decided not to as he got scared. Underneath the counter in the bank is a secret panic button that employees can press if the bank is every held up. Photo: Pexels BONUS: The imperative 'hold up!' One other way that 'hold up' can be used, especially in American English, is as a command or request for someone to wait. Furthermore, It can also be used to ask someone to stop what they are saying, as you want to double check and confirm that you correctly understood what they said. Are you guys going for lunch? Hold up, I will join you. Let me just send this email quickly. Hold up, let me just get this straight in my head. Did you say that he wouldn't come with us tonight? Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'hold up'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'get through' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. This article is all about the wonderful English phrasal verb 'get through', which I am sure many of you will be familiar with already. In this post, I will explain the different meanings that 'get through' has and give you lots of examples of usage for each one to help you memorise and use them in your everyday English. So, without further ado, let's get started. Don't forget to leave a comment at the end with your own 'get through' sentence 😊 TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Get Through - The Basics: Key information and the words 'get' and 'through' Get Through - Meaning 1: To physically pass through something Get Through - Meaning 2: To pass a difficult experience or period Get Through - Meaning 3: To do a difficult or challenging task Get Through - Meaning 4: To pass to the next stage of a competition Get Through - Meaning 5: To use all of something 🇬🇧 Get Through - Meaning 6: To have a law accepted Get Through - Meaning 7: To manage to speak to someone on the telephone Get Through - Meaning 8: To make someone understand something I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS GET THROUGH: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 8 Past tense forms Got through / Got through - gotten through Separable? Sometimes Before we look at the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'get through', let's first examine the meanings of the words 'get' and 'through' on their own. To begin, we have the verb that gives most English learners nightmares: 'to get'. As I've mentioned before in previous posts, English native speakers love using this verb as it has such a lot of different uses and meanings and we seem to be able to fit it in almost everywhere. Some of the main meanings of the verb 'to get' include 'to receive', 'to become' and 'to understand', but I would say that for the purposes of the phrasal verb 'get through', the meaning that is most important is 'to arrive somewhere'. What time did you get home last night? She got to work on time despite the terrible traffic. How did you get here? I thought your car had broken down and was off the road? The prepositional particle 'through' is one that does not feature in as many phrasal verbs as some of the others but the ones that it does feature in are all great ones to know. As a preposition and adverb, 'through' means a movement or passage from one side of something to the other, via the middle of it and is used with a wide variety of different nouns, from doors and windows to cities and forests. In addition to physical movement, 'through' can also be used to describe temporal movement, i.e. a period of time from the beginning to the end of something and we will return to this idea later in this post. You may also be familiar with the alternative spelling 'thru', which is an accepted non-standard form of 'through' and that should only be used informally and not in formal documents or writing. Now, that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the meanings of the phrasal verb 'get through'.... MEANING 1: To physically pass through something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To go through, to pass through Separable? No The first meaning of 'get through' that we will look at is one that should be reasonably logical to you as it is more or less the combination of the literal meaning of the words 'get' (in the sense of arriving) and 'through', i.e. to physically pass from one one side of something to the other. This could be used typically with nouns like door, window, hole, gap or anything that someone or something could pass from side of to the other, through its centre. One of the potential synonyms of this particular meaning is 'go through' but you should note that we use 'get through' when there is some sort of difficulty in passing through something, if there is a question about it or in a negative statement when the action is not possible at all. 'Go through', on the other hand, tends to be used when the movement is unimpeded (not obstructed) and without difficulty or problem. I realised that I had to lose weight when I could not get through the gap in the fence. The door was locked, how did you manage to get through it? The burglar managed to get through a small downstairs window that the house owners had left open. In addition to this, we can also use this application of 'get through' when talking about being able to reach a destination when there was some sort of blockage or obstruction that was preventing us from getting there. We finally got through the blizzard and made it home just before midnight. John got through customs after proving to the customs officers that he was a Canadian citizen. You can't get through that way, you need to turn back. MEANING 2: To pass a difficult experience or period Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To go through, to pass, to endure, to suffer, to bear Separable? No As we go through the different meanings of 'get through', you'll notice that there is a running theme of 'passing' that links many of them and this second usage is no exception as it means 'to pass a difficult or experience or period in your life'. Typical situations that this application is used in: Grief when a loved one dies Divorce Illness Court cases Exams A difficult or challenging period at work As you can guess from the list of typical situations above, this application of 'get through' is used to describe when we live through something unpleasant or hard, from the beginning to the end, with the focus on arriving on the other side when the negative experience is in the past and we can hopefully smile and forget about it. We will get through this as a family. When I lost my job things were difficult financially for a while but I got through it and now I have a much better job. Losing a loved one is very hard but with time and support, you will get through the dark period of grief. Typically, this is usage is not separable, however if there is a person or thing that helps us to get through a difficult period, we do then separate 'get' and 'through' and insert the person experiencing the hard times between them as a direct object pronoun. I am so tired today. The only thing that will get me through work is coffee! Jane's children got her through the period of mourning after her husband died. MEANING 3: To do a difficult or challenging task Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To do, to endure, to sit through Separable? No In the previous section, I explained how 'get through' can be used to talk about passing a difficult period or experience in your life and this third usage is related to this as it means 'to do a difficult or challenging task'. Typical situations that this application is used in: When you have lots of work to do within a specific time period When you have to do something boring or uninteresting Perhaps the main way that this application of 'get through' is used is with reference to work, or more specifically work that you have to do. If you have a busy job, which involves many different tasks and deadlines, then it is likely that at some point you will need to say that you "have a lot to get through" when you have a lot of work or a list of jobs to do within a specific time period. Let's get this meeting started. We have a lot of points to get through and not much time. I'm going to try and get through as much of this work as possible before the end of the day. Furthermore, 'get through' can also be used to describe having to do something boring, unpleasant or difficult in general. This tends to be used a lot when there is something good or positive to look forward to after the dull or undesirable task has been done. I just have to get through this week at work and then I am going on holiday for a fortnight! You just need to get through the first two boring chapters of this book and then it gets really good. Roger is not looking forward to this meeting but knows that he just has to get through it and then he can go to the pub. Dinner at my wife's parents' house is always so monotonous. I don't know how I get through it every Sunday. MEANING 4: To pass to the next stage of a competition Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To go through, to proceed Potential antonyms To be / get knocked out Separable? No For the fourth meaning of 'get through', we are returning to the theme of passing and this time we are particularly focussed on competitions as this meaning is 'to pass to the next stage of a competition'. Typical situations that this application is used in: Sports tournaments Contests and competitions with rounds and finals Competitions are all around us in the modern world, whether that be the football World Cup, the Olympics or a televised singing competition, and they remain a very popular form of entertainment for many people all over the world. Many of these contests are structured in such a way that there are rounds at the beginning, which then progress to quarter finals, semi finals and finals, with only the best competitors or teams progressing all the way to the end. In these types of competitions, the phrasal verb 'go through' is commonly used to express when a player or participant has been successful and passes, or gets through, to the next round or final. Simon didn't get through to the semi finals in the darts competition. He's really upset about it. Do you think that the England team will get through to the final in the World Cup? The young runner managed to get through the first round of the 800 metres but was eliminated in the next stage. MEANING 5: To use all of something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? British English Potential synonyms To run out, to use up, to go through Separable? No For our next meaning of 'get through', we are looking at one that is primarily used in British English, although I believe that it would be understood all over the anglophone world and it is means 'to use all of something', or alternatively, 'to use a lot of something'. Typical nouns that this application is used with: Supplies Food Money Electricity and gas Alcohol This application tends to be used with things that we consume often, which we often run out of and then need to replenish, such as supplies, food or money. 'Get through' is typically used with these to express when we use all of an item, or a large or surprising amount of it. My friend and I got through three bottles of wine last night! That's obviously why I have such a bad headache today. Helen's teenage children get through a loaf of bread and two pints of milk every day. London is a very expensive city and you can easily get through all of your holiday money if you're not careful whilst you visit. How much electricity do you get through every week? We don't get through that much but our bill is always very high! MEANING 6: To have a law accepted Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To push through, to be implemented, to enact Separable? Yes The sixth meaning of 'get through' is 'to have a law accepted' and is slightly different to the other meanings that we have looked at so far as this one is only ever used in a separable way. Consequently, it takes a direct object which is the 'rule' or 'law' in question that is accepted or passed. To clarify this meaning, if you get a law through, it means that you propose a law or piece of legislation and then do the necessary work to ensure that it is accepted and ratified by parliament or the relevant committee, council, commission or board. As you can imagine, this is mainly used in the world of politics and government at local, national and international levels, so you may not ever need to use it but it is useful to know just in case! The politician worked tirelessly to get her law protecting single women through. Despite all of their efforts, the government failed to get their new climate change legislation through as it was blocked by the opposition every time they tried. MEANING 7: To manage to speak to someone on the phone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To connect Separable? No For our seventh meaning of 'get through', we are turning our attention to telephone calls as this one is 'to manage to speak to someone on the phone'. Typical situations that this application is used in: When phone lines are busy or engaged When a phone call is unexpectedly answered Despite it being easier than ever before to contact people by telephone in today's world, there are still times when we try to contact someone and we are unable to reach them. This could possibly be because the phone line is busy or the other person does not answer for whatever reason. In both of these instances, we can say that we didn't or couldn't get through when we tried to call them, as the call was not answered. I've been calling Lisa all day and haven't been able to get through. I hope she is okay! We had to call this number to book the tickets but we couldn't get through as the line was engaged. Moreover, we don't just use 'get through' when we aren't able to speak to the desired person, but also when we do manage to speak to them. Often, as per usual with the verb 'get', there is usually an element of difficulty or surprise attached to this for example if other people have tried and failed to contact the person or if you have to wait a long time for the person to answer. John was on the phone to the electrics company for thirty minutes before he finally got through to a representative. I can't believe you had a problem getting through to the doctors surgery today. I didn't, I got through straight away when I called at 9am. MEANING 8: To make someone understand something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To make someone understand Separable? Yes Last but not least, we have our eighth meaning of 'get through', which again is only used in a separable way. In addition, we require the extra preposition 'to', giving us the construction: 'to get something through to someone', which means 'to make someone understand something'. Typical situations that this application is used in: When someone refuses to believe something that is true When someone does not understand something When you want to convey a message to someone but they do not understand The reason that I covered the telephone meaning in the last section was because it is a bit similar to this one, however instead of getting through to someone on the phone, you are instead getting through to their brain or mind. This usage is normally reserved for when someone refuses to believe something or just does not understand something and so it is therefore used most frequently when the speaker is annoyed or frustrated about this. What we ultimately want with this usage is for the other person to fully comprehend and understand something, often when it is something that will help them or be beneficial to them in some way. I've tried telling my girlfriend that I will never cheat on her again but I can't seem to get it through to her and she still doesn't trust me. The teacher has told the students many times about the dangers of smoking but she can't get it through to them. I wish I could get it through to you that I don't care about you anymore. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'get through'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'have on' 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 'have on' is perhaps not one that you are very familiar with, however it is one that you certainly should be as it has some useful applications for everyday speech. In this post, I will explain the different meanings of 'have on', from wearing clothes and jewellery to tricking someone, with lots of examples in context to help you learn, memorise and use them. So, without further ado, let's make a start. Don't forget to leave a comment at the end! TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Have On - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'have' and 'on'? Have On - The Basics: What about the word 'got'? Have On - Meaning 1: To wear something 🇬🇧 Have On - Bonus: The idiom 'to not have a stitch on' Have On - Meaning 2: To have plans Have On - Meaning 3: To be in operation Have On - Meaning 4: To fool someone 🇬🇧 Have On - Meaning 5: To have incriminating information about someone Have On - Bonus: Some useful idioms featuring 'have on' 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 HAVE ON: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Had on / Had on Separable? Yes As a first step in our exploration of the phrasal verb 'have on', let's consider the individual words 'have' and 'on' and what they mean on their own. Firstly we have the verb 'to have', which requires absolutely no introduction as it is one of the two most commonly used verbs in English (along with to be) and functions as both an auxiliary and a main verb. When used as a main verb, 'to have' has a couple of uses but I think that the main ones are the ideas of possession and indicating a specific relationship between two things or people.... I have a nice house in London. John has a big family. Next, we have the prepositional particle 'on', which again will be very familiar to all of you as it is extremely common and features in many different contexts due to its huge variety of meanings and uses. Perhaps the main meaning of 'on' when used as both a preposition and an adverb is 'to be in physical contact and supported by something' but it can be used in a large amount of other ways. In phrasal verb constructions, 'on' can be used to add the ideas of continuation, contact, connection, support, attention and progression, amongst other things. WHAT ABOUT THE WORD 'GOT'? There is one more word that I want to include here in this section as it is one that is often used in connection with the verb 'to have' when used as a main verb and it is therefore used a lot in phrasal verb constructions with the verb 'to have' too: 'got'. The construction 'have got' (or 'has got' with he, she and it) is one that is used frequently in spoken English and in fact just means the same as 'have' or 'has'. In other words, the meaning of the word 'got' here is redundant and is not connected with the verb 'to get'. We use 'has / have got' typically when talking about possession, characteristics, illnesses and relationships and its usage also gets carried across into phrasal verbs with 'to have', including 'have on'. As such, for each meaning of 'have on' that we cover in this post, I have included a section in the information table to state whether or not 'got' can be used with it. So, now that we have covered the basics, let's make a start on the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'have on'.... MEANING 1: To wear something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To wear, to be dressed in, to sport Is it used with 'got'? Yes Separable? Yes - Always As I mentioned in the previous section, one of the principal meanings of the particle 'on' is to denote when something is in contact or is supported by something, and for this reason, we can use 'on' to talk about clothes as when we wear them, they are 'on' our bodies. This then brings us to our first meaning of 'have on', which is 'to wear something'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Clothes Glasses Shoes Watch Jewellery Hat Of course, first and foremost this relates to pieces of clothing as well as clothing in general and you can therefore use it as a synonym of the verb 'to wear'. Note that unlike with the verb 'to wear' however, we cannot use this application of 'have on' in a progressive ('ing) tense. As stated in the table above, this usage of 'have on' is separable and we normally use it this way, with the direct object (the item of clothing) going between the words 'have' and 'on'. I have got my best clothes on today. You don't have a coat on, you must be freezing! Come on, Lucy. You need to hurry up. It's almost time for school and you don't even have your school uniform on yet! The sun has got his hat on, hip hip hooray. The sun has got his hat on and he's coming out today (song lyrics). In addition to clothes and garments, 'have on' can be used with anything that you wear on your body, such as glasses, a watch, jewellery and also perfumes. Kevin has got his sunglasses on today to hide his black eye. I don't have my glasses on, so I can't read the menu. Mmmm you smell lovely. What perfume have you got on today? Lastly, as you could probably guess, if you don't have anything on, it means that you are naked and this is indeed a common way of expressing this. It can be used to describe complete nudity or just with specific body parts, most commonly feet, to say that that part of the body is exposed and not covered. I couldn't answer the door today as I'd just got out of the shower and I didn't have anything on. Sarah had nothing on her feet and she tried to walk across the hot sand. She regretted it instantly! BONUS: The idiom 'to not have a stitch on' Whilst we are on the subject of nudity, it is also possible to express being naked with an idiomatic expression featuring the phrasal verb 'have on': 'to not have a stitch on'. I went swimming in the sea yesterday and I didn't have a stitch on. It was very liberating! John walked into his friend's bedroom whilst he was changing his clothes and he didn't have a stitch on. MEANING 2: To have plans CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? British English Potential synonyms To have plans, to be busy Is it used with 'got'? Yes Separable? Yes - Always The second meaning of 'have on' is a British usage that will definitely be useful to you if you have a busy life because it means 'to have something arranged or planned'. Typical situations that this application is used in: When you have a busy schedule When you are busy at a specific time If you want to give an excuse for not doing something To clarify this meaning further, if you have something on, it means that you have an engagement planned, organised or scheduled for a specific time. Consequently, we use it a lot when we want to give a reason for not being able to do something or go somewhere and occasionally some people (not me 😉) use it as an excuse to not do something. Moreover, we often use it when we don't want to give the exact details of our pre-arranged plans or the precise information is not necessary. Again, this usage of 'have on' tends to be separated by native speakers. What have you got on this afternoon? Thanks so much for inviting me to the cinema with you. Unfortunately, I've already got something on tonight, so I won't be able to join you. My wife can't come to the school parents evening next week as she has something on, so I will be coming by myself. Aside from specific arrangements on specific dates, we can use this application of 'have on' to talk about when we have a very busy schedule in general. This can be either a work or a personal schedule and either way it tends to be used when we have lots of things organised that we must attend or go to. Due to the vague, non-specific usage of this application, it is often used with words such as 'lots', 'a lot' and 'much'. Do you have much on this weekend? I've got lots on today, so I am going to go into the office early. I haven't got much on today, so I should get around to finishing the presentation. MEANING 3: To be in operation Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Is it used with 'got'? Yes Potential synonyms To be on, to be in operation, to be functioning Separable? Yes - Always The third meaning of 'have on' that we will cover in this post means 'to be in operation or to be functioning' and is used primarily to talk about devices and machines such as televisions, radios and heating. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Television Radio Washing machine Heating Air conditioning (AC) Music To understand this usage, we need first of all to go back to one of the many meanings of the particle 'on', which is 'to be functioning or in operation' and is used in particular to describe machines and devices. In other words, when a machine is 'on', it is functioning as it was intended and doing its job. When we use the phrasal verb 'have on', we are not talking about turning or switching the device on, but rather we are talking about the state of it being on or in operation. It is often used when someone turns something on and leaves it for a specific period of time or whilst they are doing something. In addition to machines and devices, we can also use it with music. When I am working from home, I always have the radio on in the background as it helps me concentrate. John likes to have music on when he is running. I watched a bit of the concert on TV last night. I had it on whilst I was doing some work and so I saw bits of it. We always have the heating on constantly from November to March as it gets too cold in our house. Lucy tries to not have the air conditioning on all the time as it is expensive. MEANING 4: To fool someone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? British English Is it used with 'got'? No Potential synonyms To trick, to fool, to tease, to play a prank on, to wind up, to deceive Separable? Yes - always Our fourth meaning of 'have on' is for all of the practical jokers amongst you as it means to fool, trick or play a joke on someone. This particular usage is rather informal in nature and tends to be used mainly in British English. Typical situations that this application is used in: Practical jokes Typically, if you have someone on, you make them believe that something is true when it is not. This is however not in a sinister way (like to deceive, mislead or swindle) but rather in a good natured, humorous way. It is normally only ever done amongst friends or family and is not intended to cause harm to anyone. On a grammatical note, this application of 'have on' is different to the others that we have covered in the post so far. Firstly, it is normally used with a progressive ('ing) tense and secondly, it is never used with 'got'. Furthermore, it is separable and must always have the same "have someone on" structure ('have on someone' doesn't work here). I've won the lottery?! Are you having me on? We were having Roger on in the pub last night and we told him that the we had got parts in a new Hollywood movie. He completely believed it! Don't worry, Helen. It's not true, you're not really going to have to move to Scotland. We were just having you on. MEANING 5: To have incriminating information about someone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Is it used with 'got'? Yes Separable? Yes - always We now come to our fifth and final meaning of 'have on', which is to 'to have incriminating information about someone'. For this usage, the structure 'to have something on someone' is needed. If you have something on someone, it means that you know some information about something bad that they have done or something that they do not want revealed to other people for some reason. It tends to be used when the information that you know can or could be used against the person, either as blackmail or to prevent them from doing something bad to you. Alternatively, the person may not be aware that you have the secret knowledge but you know that you can use it against them if you need to in the future. Another way that this can also be used is with the police and prosecutions services because if the police have something on a criminal, it means that they have evidence that he or she has committed a crime and it is then highly likely that they can prosecute and punish them. We've got something on John, so if he does try to get revenge on you, he will regret it. You have absolutely nothing on me, Joe. There is no way that you can get me in trouble with the police. The police didn't have anything on the suspected thief, so they had to release her. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Some useful idioms featuring 'have on' Before I finish the post, I want to share a couple of useful idioms featuring the phrasal verb 'have on' with you.... To have nothing on someone / something = If you say that one thing has nothing on another thing, it means that it is nowhere near as good as the other. For example, in a restaurant I might say "this casserole is good but doesn't have anything on my mother's casserole", meaning that my mother's casserole is much better than the one at the restaurant. In addition to things, this can also be used with people. Adam's new girlfriend may be beautiful but she has absolutely nothing on you, Laura. This new computer game has nothing on the previous one in the series. It was much better! To have a lot on your plate - This idiom does not mean that you are greedy and eat too much but rather that you are experiencing a stressful, worrying or busy period in your life. Luke doesn't seem himself at the moment because he has a lot on his plate with his wife being ill. Sandra has got a lot on her plate at the moment, so go easy on her. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'have on'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'call 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. Many of you will be familiar with the English phrasal verb 'call off', but do you know all of he different ways that it is used? In this article, I will explain the different meanings that it has and provide you with lots of examples of it being used in context to help you to learn and use them in English. So, without further ado, let's make a start. Don't forget to leave a comment at the end! 😊 TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Call Off - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'call' and 'off' Call Off - Meaning 1: To cancel something Call Off - Bonus: What is the difference between 'call off' and 'cancel'? Call Off - Meaning 2: To take a day off work 🇺🇸 Call Off - Meaning 3:To stop an attack Call Off - Meaning 4: To request shipment of a bulk order 👔 I love writing this blog & helping learners but I receive very little feedback as to how useful it is or if people enjoy & learn from it. Therefore, if you find the post useful, please like & share it or leave a comment at the end. I'd be very grateful. Thank you! James 😊 Photo: Pexels THE BASICS CALL OFF: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 4 Past tense forms Called off / Called off Separable? Yes To begin our exploration of the phrasal verb 'call off', let's first examine the individual words 'call' and 'off' and what they mean individually. The verb 'to call' is a common English verb, which has several key meanings that are all ultimately to do with using your voice. The first of these is to give someone a name or to say what you consider someone or something to be. My parents were going to call me Lionel but they changed their minds and called me David instead. I live in the UK, so I do not call a temperature of 10° cold. He called me intelligent and of course he is correct! The other main meaning of the verb 'to call' is to use your voice in order to get someone's attention, usually to give them a message. This usage has developed over time to include using a telephone and more recently cellphones and computers to communicate with other people over long distances. Somebody called me when I was walking down the street but when I turned around there was nobody there. I will call you tonight to see how you are. Next, we have the prepositional particle 'off', which you will undoubtedly be very familiar with already. 'Off' functions in English as the natural opposite of 'on' and can be used to talk about things that are not functioning or cancelled, amongst many other things. When used in phrasal verb constructions, 'off' can be used to add different ideas, which include completion, separation and departure. So, now that we have covered the basics, let's take a look at the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'call off'.... MEANING 1: To cancel something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To cancel Separable? Yes The first meaning of 'call off' that we will examine in this post is the one that many of you will already be familiar with as it is the most common of its uses and means 'to cancel something'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Deal Event Search Concert Wedding Match / Game Talks Party This usage is a relatively modern one as it was first recorded in English in the late 19th century and so is still a youngster in the vocabulary world. One of the many meanings of 'off' is to describe when a planned event, agreement or deal is no longer going to happen (as opposed to 'on' when an organised event is happening as planned). When you combine this idea with the idea of someone calling, or rather announcing, that an event is not going ahead, it brings us to the idea of cancellation. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'CALL OFF' AND 'CANCEL'? When we use this application of 'call off', we are essentially saying that a person decides that something planned or scheduled will not happen and this is therefore a synonym of the verb 'to cancel'. The party has been called off on Saturday as John has Covid. We are going to have to call the meeting with the supplier off as none of us will be free on that day. In many cases, 'call off' and 'cancel' are interchangeable and could be used in the same sentences without any change in meaning or nuance. Nouns that can typically be used with either of these include planned or organised public events, meetings, business deals, sports fixtures, matches, weddings and parties. Roger and Helen's wedding has been called off and nobody knows why! The planned concert was called off when several members of the band came down with food poisoning. Due to the adverse weather conditions, we regret to inform you that today's football match has been called off. Despite this huge overlap and interchangeability, I think that the scope of the verb 'to cancel' is a bit wider than 'call off' and there are some instances where we tend to use cancel but not 'call off' as it would sound a bit strange. This would typically be for appointments, such as with a hairdresser or a doctor and commercial orders of goods and services from a company, so avoid using 'call off' with these, especially with the orders as this could be mistaken for another meaning that we will look at later in the post! Lastly, this application of 'call off' can also be used to mean 'to stop something', or 'to order something to stop'. This is normally for something that is in progress and typically would be heard with nouns such as investigation, enquiry, search and work*. When used in this way, I would use 'call off' rather than 'cancel' as it sounds more natural to my ears. Call off the search, we have found the body! The chief inspector of the police ordered the investigation to be called off when new evidence was presented. The subcontractor called off the work as he had a dispute with his customer. *Work in this sense refers to specific work that a professional does rather than a person's job. Note that we use the definite article (the) for work being done and no article when referring to a person's general job that they do every day. MEANING 2: To take a day off work Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? North American English Potential synonyms To call in sick Separable? No The next meaning of 'call off' is one that most of us have had to do at one time or another when we have to take a day off work and that is to call your employer to advise them that you are not going to be there that day. This may be because you are sick, because a member of your family or a pet is sick, someone close to you has died or perhaps you just want a day off; the reason for the absence is not important, the main idea is the communication to your work to advise them that you won't be there that day. I may be wrong here but this usage does seem to me to be much more American than British as I personally would use the alternative 'to call in sick' in this instance. However, with that being said, I am very familiar with the usage and the meaning is completely clear to me as a native British English speaker. Call off work today and come with us to the beach! If you need to call off work for any reason, please contact your line manager as early as possible on the day in question. David has a meeting with HR next week as he has called off work three times already this month and hasn't really given any valid reasons. MEANING 3: To stop an attack Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To desist, to summon away Separable? Yes This third usage of 'call off' is an advanced usage that continues the ideas of stopping or cancelling something that we looked at earlier in the post and it specifically means 'to stop an attack'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Attack Troops Dog To clarify, this does not mean to stop an attack by putting up a good defence and repelling your attacker in classic Bruce Lee style, but rather when someone senior on the attacker's side demands that an attack is stopped. This would typically be a person of high rank in the armed forces, a senior statesman or head of state. Interestingly, this usage is actually far older than the previous ones that we have looked at and dates back to at least the early 17th century when the nature of warfare was, in many ways, very different to how it is today. Call off the troops, this conflict it pointless! The King saw that his army was losing and decided to call of the attack. Sadly, in the modern world we still have too much pointless war, however from the perspective of everyday language, it is perhaps more likely that you will come across this usage in reference to aggressive people or dogs. If a dog is aggressive and attacks another dog, a human or other animal, the owner will likely be asked or demanded to call off the dog and make it stop the attack. The same can be said with humans, if you are being threatened by another person or they are attacking you, we can use call off to ask someone who exerts some influence over them to ask them to stop the attack. Simon pleaded with the gangster boss for him to call his men off and to stop threatening him for the money. The dog was biting my leg and when I asked its to call his dog off, he ignored me! MEANING 4: To request shipment of a bulk order Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Business English Potential synonyms To ship, to part ship Separable? Yes The fourth and final meaning of 'call off' that I will explain to you in this post is a rare one that is used specifically in the commercial world and means to request the shipment of a bulk order. This usage is one that you may come across if you ever work for a company that sells to or purchases from a company in an English-speaking country. To clarify this, a bulk order is an order of a large quantity of products in one single transaction. Often, companies place these orders at a cheaper price and do not take delivery of all of the goods at one time. Instead, they request or 'call off' specific quantities that they require at different times until the order has been fulfilled. For example, the company Phrasal Verbs Ltd needs some new stock of English dictionaries and places a bulk order for 1000 x copies with their supplier at a discounted rate. The small warehouse at Phrasal Verbs Ltd only has enough space for 250 dictionaries, so it is not possible for them to take delivery of all 1000 x units at that time. Instead, they call the order off at a later date when they need more dictionaries and keep calling it off until they have received all 1000 copies. We will place the order with you and call the other units off and when we need them. The customer has asked to call off the rest of their order but they need to pay their overdue invoice first. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'call off'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'look out' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. How familiar are you with the phrasal verb 'look out'? I am sure that many of you have heard it before, perhaps as a warning or in its noun form, however do you know the different ways that it can be used in English? In this post, I will explain the various meanings and applications that it has in everyday English, with lots of examples to help you understand, learn and use them. So, without further ado, let's make a start! Don't forget to leave a comment at the end 😀 TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Look Out - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'look' and 'out' Look Out - Meaning 1: To view somewhere from an internal space Look Out - Meaning 2: To try to notice something Look Out - Bonus: To be on the lookout / keep a lookout Look Out - Meaning 3: To alert someone to danger Look Out - Meaning 4: To search for and find something 🇬🇧 Look Out - Meaning 5: To act selfishly Look Out - Meaning 6: To give a view to something Look Out - Bonus: Lookout as a noun 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 LOOK OUT: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 6 Past tense forms Looked out / Looked out Separable? Sometimes As per usual, let's start our exploration of our nominated phrasal verb 'look out' by considering the words 'look' and 'out' and what they mean on their own. Firstly, we have the verb 'to look', which is a common verb whose main meaning is to direct your eyes in a certain direction or towards a specific thing in order to see it. Look at my new shoes. Aren't they amazing?! She looked at me and smiled. Additionally, 'to look' can also be used without a direct object (intransitively), specifically to refer to how something or someone appears. You don't look very well. Do you feel ill? Lisa's new haircut looks lovely. It really suits her. It is often combined with prepositional particles to form phrasal verb constructions, which have meanings that can range from simply adding directional information about where the person is looking, to less obvious, idiomatic meanings (this is English, after all). One such prepositional particle is 'out', which you will all of course be very familiar with as it is such a common word in the English language. When used an an adverb and preposition, 'out' typically refers to a state of being in, or moving towards, an external space and therefore functions as the natural opposite of the particle 'in'. When used in phrasal verbs, 'out' can often add ideas of revelation, distribution, removal or appearance, among others. So, now that we have looked at the basics, let's move on to the main event, i.e. meanings of the phrasal verb 'look out' 🙂 MEANING 1: To view somewhere from an internal space Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To view out, to peer out Potential antonyms To look in Separable? No The first meaning of the phrasal verb 'look out' that we will cover is a nice and easy one as it is just the literal meaning of the combination of the two words i.e. to look from an internal space out to an external place. For this first usage, the most obvious and commonly used example would be looking out through a window from the inside of a building to the outside. The first thing I did this morning when I woke up was look out of the window to see if it had snowed overnight. Sometimes, I get so bored in business meetings that I find myself looking out at the people on the street, rather than listening to what is being said. Of course, we can use this application when talking about looking out of any internal space from which people can view the outside and this would typically include things like cars, planes and other types of transport in which people are inside. John looked out from the plane and saw a mass of white cloud below it. The dog looked out of the car window in fascination. You may have noted from the examples in this section that one of the additional prepositions 'of' or 'from' is normally used before the noun with this application. Out of the two of these, I would say that 'of' is definitely more commonly used than 'from'. These are also omitted in informal spoken English, especially British English. The dog looked out the car window in fascination. MEANING 2: To try to notice something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To beware, to watch out, keep an eye out for, to keep your eyes peeled, to be alert Separable? No For the second meaning of 'look out', we require the additional preposition 'for' as the construction 'to look out for' means to try and notice something. When we use this, it doesn't mean that we want people to stop what they are doing and search for something in the present moment, but rather that we want them to remain alert and vigilant for something in case they see it or come across it. The usage can be applied in many different areas of life but here are some typical scenarios when you are likely to hear it... When you lose something - If you lose something, you might tell people what you have lost and ask them to let you know if they see it, or ideally give it back to you if they do find it. I've lost my favourite pen. Please could you look out for it and if you do see it, please return it to me. Criminals / danger - If we are ever in a place where there are criminals or where we may potentially face danger, we could be warned to look out for it. Look out for pickpockets on the underground trains. Disease symptoms - If you think that you may have a disease or if a disease is prevalent, you may be told to look out for certain symptoms. For example, during the Covid-19 pandemic, people were advised to look out for such symptoms as a loss of taste and smell and a persistent cough. Look out for a rash that does not disappear under pressure. Desired item - If you want to buy something rare, scarce or in limited supply from a shop or store, you may say that you will look out for it or a nice person may look out for it for you. I'll look out for some of that Manuka honey for you and buy it if I see it. Aside from these uses, this application of 'look out' can be used for any situations in which you need to remain alert or vigilant for something. BONUS: To be on the lookout / to keep a lookout In addition to the phrasal verb, 'lookout' also exists as a noun (more on this later in the post). There are a couple of common expressions that can be used with this noun which mean the same thing as the application of 'look out' in this section: "to be on the lookout for" and "to keep a lookout for something". I am on the lookout for a new sofa for my living room, so if you know anywhere that sells them at a good price, let me know. My cat hasn't been home for two days, so please keep a lookout for him in your gardens and kindly tell me if you see him. MEANING 3: To alert someone to danger Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Lower intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To be careful, to watch out, to beware Separable? No In the last section, I explained how 'look out' can be used to mean to remain vigilant or alert in a potentially dangerous or hazardous place and this third usage is simply an extension of that as it means to alert someone to danger. Unlike most other phrasal verb meanings, this particular usage only really tends to exist as an imperative, i.e. to give someone a command or a warning and therefore it is often shouted or said in a loud voice. The reason being is that it is something that we say spontaneously when we see that someone is in immediate danger of being injured or killed. Look out! There is a car coming! Look out you idiot! You almost got yourself killed! The man saw that the tiles were about to be blown off the roof by the strong winds and he quickly shouted "look out" to the people standing underneath it to alert them to the danger. MEANING 4: To search for and find something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? British Potential synonyms To find out, to get out, to find, to dig out Separable? Yes The fourth meaning of 'look out' is a primarily British usage that means to search for and find something, normally with the intention of showing it to someone. This application is really a cross between the two phrasal verbs 'look for' and 'get out' as it combines elements of both of them; looking for the item and then getting it out of the place that it is stored, which is normally somewhere in your home amongst your possessions. On a grammatical note, unlike the previous meanings of 'look out' that we have looked at so far in this post, this usage takes a direct object (the item that you are searching for to get out) and this usage is therefore separable, with the direct object going either between 'look' and 'out' or after them. I will look the photos of your parents out for when you come to see me the next time. John looked out his driving license from his desk and presented it to the policeman. I have got a spare phone charger if you need one. I'll go and look it out now in the bedroom. MEANING 5: To act selfishly Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To be selfish, to care for Separable? No For the fifth meaning of 'look out', we need to enlist the additional particle 'for' again. This time however, instead of looking out for something, we are instead looking out for someone, which can either be ourselves or another person. If we look out for ourselves (note the usage here with the reflexive -self pronoun), then it means that we are prioritising our own interests and ignoring others peoples needs and requirements. This is of course something that we all need to do in life from time to time, however if people look out for themselves too much, it can be perceived as selfishness and therefore 'to look out for yourself' can often be used to mean to be selfish, self-serving or egotistical. You need to stop doing everything for your children and look out for yourself for a change. Alan has already gone and didn't offer to give anyone a lift. He's just looking out for himself again, as per usual. Marie accused Helen of only ever looking out for herself and not caring about what anybody else wanted. It is also common to use the word 'own + noun' instead of the reflexive '-self' pronoun here, and examples of these nouns could be family, career, job and perhaps most commonly and generically, interests. Roger was just looking out for his own family and didn't really give any consideration to anyone else. Debbie will always look after her own interests first. Some people say she is selfish but I think she is sensible. Interestingly, if we change the reflexive pronoun or 'own' noun from ourselves to another person, then the meaning completely changes to the opposite. If you look out for someone, it means that you care a lot about them and you always try to make sure that they are safe and do not come to harm. This is not quite the same meaning as 'looking after someone' as you are not caring for their needs all the time, but rather you are more watching from a distance, much like an aunt or uncle would, and you will always be there to help if they have a problem. I've been looking out for you ever since you were a little boy. Will you look out for Calum this week whilst we are away on holiday? He's fine to look after himself, but I just want to be be sure there is someone around in case he has any problems. MEANING 6: To give a view to something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere but more American Potential synonyms To face, to overlook, to afford Separable? No The final meaning of 'look out' that we will cover is one that means 'to give a view to something' and is used specifically for buildings. Nouns commonly used with this application.... View Sea Ocean Mountain Valley Field Church I know that this may sound strange as the verb 'to look' is one that is normally only ever used for something with eyes, however this is not always the case. If a building looks out to something, such as the sea, then it means it affords (gives) a view of the sea when you are inside it. As such, you are likely to see this in property listings and holiday brochures as it is a great way to sell somewhere because we all love a beautiful view! For this usage, we require the additional preposition 'to' to specify the thing that can be seen from the building. The house looks out to the rainforest on three sides. This 18th Century country cottage looks out to views of rolling hills and green fields. When I was growing up, my house looked out to mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. I was so lucky! Photo: Pexels BONUS: The noun 'lookout' I mentioned earlier in the post that the noun 'lookout' can be used in certain expressions and before I finish the post, I just want to make you aware of a couple of other meanings that it has as a noun... Lookout as a place - In British and Australian English, the noun 'lookout' is used to mean a place where you can go to see beautiful views. This is normally somewhere elevated, such as up a mountain or hill, from which you can see for a long distance, often in different or all directions. Lookout as a person - The noun lookout can also be used to describe a person who has been designated to watch for any danger or trouble and who can then alert the rest of the community. It is not really something that we use or need in our everyday lives now, however it can still be heard when talking about history, in literature and in tv shows and movies. We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'look out'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'go 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. 'Go down' is an English phrasal verb with a wide variety of different meanings and applications. In this post, I will explain to you the main meanings that it has, including when prices go down, when a computer goes down and when something goes down in history. In addition to this, I will also give you some other expressions and idioms that it features and, as always, a lot of examples in context to help your understanding. So, without further ado, let's make a start! Don't forget to leave a comment at the end! 😊 TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Go Down - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'go' and 'down' Go Down - Meaning 1: To move to a lower place or level Go Down - Bonus: To go down the street Go Down - Meaning 2: To be reduced Go Down - Bonus: To go downhill Go Down - Meaning 3: To stop functioning temporarily Go Down - Meaning 4: To be remembered in a certain way Go Down - Meaning 5: To be defeated Go Down - Meaning 6: To get a positive or negative reaction from someone Go Down - Meaning 7: To happen Go Down - Meaning 8: To go to prison 🇬🇧 Go Down - Bonus: Additional uses of 'go down' 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 DOWN: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 8 Past tense forms Went down / Gone down Separable? No Before looking at the meanings of any phrasal verb, I always think that it is worthwhile considering the individual words on their own as this can often help give some much needed logic to some of the more abstract phrasal verb meanings. Let's begin then with our base verb 'to go', which is among the most frequently used English verbs and functions both as a main verb and an auxiliary verb when forming the future tense 'going to'. At its core, this verb is all about movement from one place to another, specifically when it is away from where the speaker is. This is something that certainly influences the phrasal verb meanings that we will look at shortly. I am going to the cinema this evening. She went to shop to buy some milk. Next, we have the versatile prepositional particle 'down', which can be used as a preposition, adverb, adjective, verb and noun in English. It's primary meaning is to talk about movement towards a lower place or the state of being in a lower place than something else and this idea is often carried across to 'down' phrasal verbs. In addition to this principal meaning, 'down' can also convey the ideas of reduction, interruption and settling to phrasal verbs, among other ideas. So, now that we have covered the basics, let's take a look at the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'go down'.... MEANING 1: To move to a lower place or level Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To sink, to drop, to fall, to descend Potential antonyms To go up, to rise, to ascend Let's start things off nice and easy with the literal meaning of the combination of the words 'go' and 'down', which is simply to move to a lower place or level. This first meaning can be used for any movement from a higher place to a lower place and therefore has an enormous number and variety of applications in everyday English. It is used purely to talk about the action of physically moving in a downwards direction when the method of movement e.g. walking, climbing, falling is not important. Remember here that this is used when the movement is in the direction away from where the speaker is. For direction towards where the speaker is, we use 'to come'. I am just going down to reception on the ground floor to meet the visitors. She went down the stairs and into the cellar to fetch some wood. John has gone down to the village in the valley to buy some supplies. In addition to the general idea of moving in a downwards direction, 'go down' is regularly heard with the following common nouns... Sun - In the evening, when the sun is setting and moving towards the horizon before eventually disappearing, we say that it is going down. My fiancé asked me to marry him on the beach as the sun was going down. It was so romantic! We had to wait for the sun to go down before we could set off our fireworks. Airplane - If an airplane, helicopter or other flying machine goes down, it means that it accidentally crash lands on the ground. The helicopter went down at around 11am this morning and investigators have been trying to identify what happened ever since. A small airplane has gone down between Longville and Smithston but luckily nobody on board was harmed. Ship - Similar to an airplane, if we say that a ship, boat or other mode of water transport has gone down, it means that is has sunk. The Titanic went down shortly after hitting an iceberg. The captain refused to leave his beloved boat and he went down with his ship. One other key usage of this first application that I want to to make you aware of is that 'go down' is also used as a synonym for the verb 'to swallow'. Quite literally, when we swallow something, it goes down from our mouths to our stomachs, so for once we have a rare logical usage for a phrasal verb! Mmmmm that casserole went down really well. It was delicious! I can never get tablets to go down and almost choke every time that I take one. BONUS: To go down the street You should also be aware that 'go down' can often be used by native speakers to refer to a general movement from one place to another, without any particular slope, descent or downwards movement involved. This is mainly heard with the words 'road' or 'street' to talk about movement along it but it can also be used for movement from one place to another that is further south. Using 'go down' in this way will definitely help your English to sound native! Roger was walking down the street when he saw his wife holding hands with another man. To get to the library, just go down this road for about half a kilometre and turn right by the church. Are you going down to London to see your cousins this weekend? MEANING 2: To be reduced CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To decrease, to reduce, to lower, to degrade Potential antonyms To increase Following on from our first meaning of 'go down', the second should be quite logical for you as it means 'to be reduced'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Price Rate Level Percentage Quality Condition Swelling Perhaps most commonly, this usage refers to numbers, prices and percentages and specifically when they become lower compared to what they were at an earlier time. 'Go down' tends to be used for these when there is no human intervention in the decrease or reduction in level and it happens naturally or organically. The crime rate in New York has gone down by 10% over the last decade. Following a government announcement, the wholesale price of gas has gone down, meaning that these reduced costs can be transferred to customers in the form of lower energy bills. The number of people on the hospital waiting list is expected to go down over the next month. Another noun that this second application of 'go down' is used with is 'quality'. When the condition or the quality of something is seen to be reduced or to be worse than it was previously, we can say that it has gone down. This can theoretically be used for anything that we can form a qualitative opinion on, i.e. how good or bad we think that something is. and typically you will hear native speakers using it to describe things like cities, places, restaurants and businesses. I think that the standard of pop music has gone down over the past twenty years or so. The quality of the food in the restaurant went down a lot when the new owners took over, so we stopped going there. BONUS: To go downhill In addition to saying that something has 'gone down' when the quality of it is not as good as before, there is also an idiomatic expression that is often used by native speakers to mean the same thing, particularly in British English and that is 'to go downhill'. The city centre went downhill during the 1980s but it has received a lot of investment in recent years and it is now much better again. The customer service at that company has gone downhill. It's not as good as it used to be. One final noun that I want to include in this section is actually more to do with health than numbers or levels and is used specifically for swelling. Imagine that you fall over and hurt your ankle and over the next 24 hours it swells and grows in size. When it eventually starts to heal and become smaller again, we say that the swelling is going down. The swelling should go down after a week or so but if it doesn't please come back and see me. I was bitten by a mosquito on my eyelid. It swelled up to an enormous size and didn't go down again for days. MEANING 3: To stop functioning temporarily Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To crash The third meaning of 'go down' is one that affects many of us more often than we would like and that is to stop functioning temporarily. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Computer Internet Phone (line) Network System This usage is primarily used with equipment and services, particularly in the sphere of computers and IT where services are available for us to use all of the time. The idea behind this usage comes from the idea that when a service is running and in operation, we say that it is 'up' (or sometimes 'up and running). As 'up' is the natural opposite of 'down', if the computer or service stops working, then we can say that is goes down. Lisa's computer went down whilst she was in the middle of writing an important report for work. The internet went down at work yesterday, so we were all sent home as we had nothing to do. Due to a powerful storm, the phone network has gone down and it is impossible to make phone calls. MEANING 4: To be remembered in a certain way Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To be remembered as Potential antonyms To be forgotten The fourth meaning of 'go down' is one to describe anything that is monumental, noteworthy or incredible as it means to be remembered or recorded in a certain way. Normally, this is because it is something that is unprecedented or is noteworthy for a particular reason, whether that be good or bad. For this application to make sense, one of two additional words needs to be used: 'as' or 'in'. We use 'to go down as' when we want to say that something is remarkable and unforgettable and this is often followed by a superlative. Queen's performance at Live Aid went down as one of the greatest live shows of all time. This race that we have seen this evening will go down as one of the most thrilling we have ever seen at the Olympics. To give you a bit of background on this usage, another, rarer meaning of 'go down' is to be written or recorded on paper or books and this brings us to the other alternative 'go down in' as this is usually followed by 'history' or 'the history books', meaning that the notable event in question will be recorded in books for people to read about in years to come. The year 2020 will go down in history as the year that the world came to a standstill due to the pandemic. Obama went down in the history books as being the first black president of the United States. MEANING 5: To be defeated Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To win, to conquer Potential antonyms To lose The fifth meaning of 'go down' is to be defeated or to lose something and is used primarily in the world of sport and competitions. Although 'go down' is used as a direct synonym of the verb 'to lose', I would say that it is used much more rarely in this respect and can often sound a bit dramatic. I would be less inclined to use it when just talking about an ordinary football match or tennis game etc, and perhaps more when there is an element of shock or importance attached to the defeat. When using this application to talk about a defeat, the preposition 'to' is usually required to specify the winning team. Liverpool went down 2-1 to Bayern Munich in the game last night. Novak Djokovic went down in the Wimbledon final to Roger Federer. Sometimes, this application of 'go down' is used as a threat to someone to say that you will defeat them in a game, match or fight before it happens. You're going down in the match tonight! This usage has also given rise to the commonly used expression: 'to not go down without a fight', which means regardless of whether or not you win or lose a competition, game or battle, you will give your best efforts to win and will not make it easy for your opponent. This is often used by the underdog i.e. the person or team expected to lose the competition. O a darker note, in addition to sport and games, this can also be used in war and with people who have a terminal illness. I know that my cancer is incurable but I refuse to go down without a fight. Karen was unfairly fired by her company and has vowed to take them to court as she is not going down without a fight. MEANING 6: To get a positive or negative reaction from someone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To be received, to elicit a reaction The sixth meaning of 'go down' that we will look at in this post is an informal usage which means 'to get a positive or negative reaction from someone'. To clarify this usage, let's consider an example. Imagine that the love of your life asks you to marry them and naturally you say yes. You then have to tell your parents and hopefully, provided that they like your partner, they will be happy about it, in which case we can say that it went down well with them. Alternatively, if they are not happy about the engagement and they reacted negatively to the news, we cay say that it did not go down well with them. Here are some more examples of this.... I handed in my resignation to my boss today and it not go down well at all. He was really annoyed that I have decided to leave the company. Did you tell John that you wanted to break up with him? How did the news go down? We told our young son that we are moving to California and it went down really well with him. He is very excited about starting school there and making new friends. Not only do we use this for people's reactions to news or announcements, we can also use 'go down' with performances, meals or anything that people can like, dislike, or in other words, have a positive or negative reaction towards. The meal I cooked for my husband's family went down very well. Everyone had a second helping! The singer's recent performance did not go down well with fans who said that his voice is not as good as it used to be. Lastly, we often use the nouns 'treat' or 'storm' to describe when people react very positively to something or enjoy it a lot. I made a cake and took it into my office this week. It went down a storm with my colleagues and they are asking me when I am going to make another! I showed your video to my parents. It really went down a treat with them and they enjoyed it a very much. MEANING 7: To happen Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere but more American Potential synonyms To happen, to go on The seventh meaning of 'go down' is another informal one that is mainly used in American English and means 'to happen'. This application tends to be used in a very general sense, such as to ask what has happened in the past or what is happening at the present moment in a very similar way to the phrasal verb 'go on' in the expression "what's going on?". As I said, this is very much a slang usage, so I would not recommend using this in any kind of formal or professional situation. Do you know what is going down at the park? There are police cars and ambulances parked everywhere by the gates! I'm intrigued to find out what goes down at this nightclub that you go to every week. Why do you like it so much? Simon refuses to talk about what went down in the bar last night. MEANING 8: To go to prison CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? British English Potential synonyms To be imprisoned, to be sent down, to go to jail, to get banged up We are now at the last of the main meanings of the phrasal verb 'go down' that we will look at in this post and this one is another informal one that means to be sent to prison. This is a British English usage and refers specifically to when a criminal is convicted of a crime and must spend time in jail as a punishment. This usage is typically followed by the period of time that the criminal will have to spend there. Maureen's husband has been convicted of armed robbery and has gone down for six months. The serial killer went down for life for his disgusting crimes. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Additional uses of 'go down' As a result of how common the words 'go' and 'down' are in the English language, there are a great number of other more specific uses of 'go down' that exist in everyday language. I didn't want to make this post too long, so I've condensed these down into one section for you... Lights - If we say that the lights go down, it means that they becomes dimmer or less bright and this is typically used to describe when this happens at the beginning of a show or performance in a theatre, cinema or concert. Curtains - Staying with the theatrical theme, if we say that the curtains go down, we are specifically referring to when the curtain in a theatre is lowered at the end of a performance. Knees - To go down on your knees means to lower your body so that you are in a kneeling position, i.e. the bottom half of your legs are flat against the floor whilst the rest of your body is upright, as can often be seen with people praying in a church. All fours - If someone goes down on all fours, it means that they lower their body so that both their hands and knees are on the ground, for example you may need to go down on all fours to clean the floor, to crawl or to get underneath something low. Pub - If you are in the UK and somebody asks you if you are going down the pub, don't worry as this is nothing to worry about; it is simply an informal way to ask if you are going to the pub for a drink. Temperature - If the temperature goes down, it gets cooler or colder. Drain - If water or liquid goes down a drain, it simply means that it drains away, normally into a pipe or sewage system. You should note however that 'to go down the drain' is a common idiom in English that means to be wasted. It is usually used with such nouns as time, money, effort and work. To go down on someone - Lastly, the expression 'to go down on someone' is a slightly euphemistic way of saying performing oral sex on someone. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'go down'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'cut out' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. 'Cut out' is a useful English phrasal verb with a number of different meanings and uses. Do not fear though as despite these different meanings, many of them share a common theme. In this post, I will explain all of these different meanings for you, from removing something from its surroundings to excluding someone from something and dieting. Furthermore, I will give you lots of examples in context to help you understand and use them. So, without further ado, let's get started! Don't forget to leave a comment at the end 😊 TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Cut Out - The Basics: Key information & the individual words 'cut' and 'out' Cut Out - Meaning 1: To remove something by cutting Cut out - Bonus: The noun 'cutout' Cut Out - Meaning 2: To delete something Cut Out - Meaning 3: To exclude someone from something Cut Out - Meaning 4: To stop eating or doing something Cut Out - Bonus: The imperative 'cut it out!' Cut Out - Meaning 5: To temporarily stop functioning Cut Out - Bonus: Some common idioms with 'cut out' 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 CUT OUT: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Cut out / Cut out Separable? Sometimes Before we get started with the meanings of the phrasal verb 'cut out', let's first consider what the words 'cut' and 'out' mean on their own. Firstly, we have our base verb 'to cut'. This common English verb is principally used to talk about using a sharp implement such as scissors or a knife, either to break the surface of something or to make something shorter by removing a part of it. Typically it is used with nouns such as hair, grass, bread and cake. It is one of those annoying irregular verbs that keeps the same form for both past tense forms, so it can be confusing for English learners. I cut myself when I was chopping onions earlier. The grass is so long, so I'm going to cut it later today. She cut the sandwiches in half and gave them to her children Other less frequently used meanings of 'to cut' are to stop something and to reduce something, among others. Next, we have the particle 'out', which functions as the natural opposite of the word 'in' and carries the primary meaning of being in, or moving towards, an external place. In phrasal verb constructions 'out' can often add this idea of a movement towards an outside place, often in the form of removal or elimination. Furthermore, it can also convey the ideas of distribution, emergence, and revelation to them. Now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the meanings that are created when we put them together to form the phrasal verb 'cut out'.... MEANING 1: To remove something by cutting Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To extract, to remove, to detach Separable? Yes For our first meaning of 'cut out', let's take a trip back to primary (elementary) school as this one is an activity that many of us engaged in at that young age and that is namely, to remove something from what it is attached to by cutting it. In the example of the primary school, this action is typically by using a pair of scissors to remove a section or area from the surrounding paper to form a shape of some sort. Moving away from this example, this application of 'cut out' can be applied in many different areas of life where you need to remove something from what it is connected to by cutting it with a sharp implement or tool. Examples of these could be a medical removal of a lump or cyst that needs to be cut out of your body or a person who is a trapped in a car following an accident and who needs to be cut out by the fire brigade. As you have probably realised, this first meaning is really just the literal combination of the two words 'cut' and 'out' together as it simply refers to cutting something and removing it from what it is in, or attached to. We all drew pictures of stars, cut them out and stuck them on the wall. The children made masks in class and made sure to cut out the eyes so that they could see whilst they were wearing them. John had a wart on his hand which the doctor cut out for him. The passengers all had to be cut out of the car wreckage, but thankfully none of them were injured. BONUS: The noun 'cutout' You should also be aware that 'cutout' (alternative 'cut-out') also exists as a noun and refers to the finished shape or form of something once it has been cut out from the surface it was originally attached to. Although this can be something small like a simple shape, it is most commonly used in reference to something large, typically the shape of a person that is able to stand up vertically without support. What do you want us to do with the cut-outs? I have a life-size cardboard cut-out of David Beckham in my bedroom. MEANING 2: To delete something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To delete, to remove, to edit out, to cut Potential antonyms To keep in, to include Separable? Yes The second meaning of 'cut out' means to delete or remove something and is used specifically when talking about written texts, documents and books, as well as movies and tv shows. To be clear, with this application we are not talking about deleting or removing the entire piece of work, but rather certain details, a section of it or, in the case of TV or movies, a scene or part of one. Like with the first usage of 'cut out', we are again looking at the idea of the removal of something. In the case of the written texts and documents then the idea is simply to remove the words, sentences, paragraphs or sections so that they are no longer in the text.... If I were you, I would cut that section out as it could be confusing for the reader. In the end, I decided to cut out the information about my first jobs from my resume. Jenny read through her essay again and cut out a couple of unnecessary references. In the case of TV and films, the idea is very much the same. The verb 'to cut' is often used in this field as a synonym of the verb 'to edit' and therefore if you edit a TV show or film and decide that some parts of it should no longer be in it or are not necessary, you can remove them, or cut them out. The movie director decided to cut the sex scene out of the movie as it was not integral to the storyline. Please can you cut that part out of the final edit! Due to changing views amongst people, certain scenes from old movies have had to be cut out in order to avoid offending people. MEANING 3: To exclude someone from something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To cut off, to exclude, to ostracise Separable? Yes The next meaning of 'cut out' is another one that features the core idea of removal or separation and this time is about people, because 'to cut someone out' means to exclude someone from something. This sometimes takes the form of exclusion from some sort of activity when you do not allow someone to take part in it, such as a card game, but I wouldn't use it so much here personally. Instead, I would perhaps use a phrasal verb like leave out or exclude here. Where I would use it however, would be when talking about relationships between people with whom you have blood ties, i.e. family members. If you cut a member of your family out of your life, then it means that you no longer have any contact with them and refuse to let them have any involvement in your life whatsoever. My parents cut me out of their lives when I decided to marry someone who they didn't approve of. I cut my brother out of my life many years and we have had no contact since. I'm scared that my family will cut me out if they find out what I've done. Lastly, if a relative has cut you out of their life, then it stands to reason that they will probably exclude you from their last will and testament too. If you're not sure what one of these is, it is a legal document that expresses your wishes about who receives your money, property and possessions after you die. When this happens, we use this application of 'cut out' to express it... My mum has threatened to cut me out of her will. Linda was shocked to learn that she had been cut out of her late father's will. MEANING 4: To stop eating or doing something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To omit Separable? Yes Next, we have our fourth meaning of 'cut out', which again involves the core meaning of removal that has been present throughout the meanings so far. This time, 'cut out' means to stop eating, drinking or doing something that we would normally eat or do on a regular basis. This is often in an attempt to resolve a problem or make some kind of positive life change. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Alcohol Cigarettes Bread Dairy Firstly, let's take the example of food and drink and imagine that you want to lose some weight. One way of doing this would be to consider the things that you normally eat and drink, i.e. the things that are in your diet. After examining this, you may decide that if you stop eating certain foods, such as chocolate or cake, you will lose weight. As a consequence, you decide to cut these fattening foodstuffs out of your diet. I need to diet before my wedding, so I've decided to cut out bread, cheese and alcohol until the big day. Cutting out high sugar food and drink can be very beneficial to your health. Of course, this application is not just limited to food and drink as 'cut out' can also be applied to regular activities or habits such as smoking, sporting activities or even napping. I guess that the general idea is that you avoid doing or eating something for a positive reason, often to do with your physical or mental health. I've had to cut out jogging recently as I have developed pain in my knees. My doctor has advised me to cut out napping in the afternoon as it will help me to sleep better at night. BONUS: The imperative 'cut it out!' You should also be aware that 'cut out', or 'cut it out', is frequently used in the imperative form by native speakers, especially in American English, to tell someone to stop doing what they are doing.This doesn't tend to be used for regular activities that a person does but rather something that someone does in a particular moment which irritates or annoys the other person. Whoever is whistling, can you please cut it out. It is driving me insane. John, cut it out! You are getting on my nerves! MEANING 5: To temporarily stop functioning CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To stop Separable? No For our fifth and final usage of 'cut out', we are going to move away from the central idea of removal as this next meaning is to temporarily stop functioning. This usage is primarily used with machines, especially motors and engines, and is used specifically to describe when a motor is running and then suddenly stops, meaning that it needs to be restarted again. Oftentimes, this stopping happens due to a mechanical problem and therefore may reoccur multiple times, in which case we would then say that it "keeps on cutting out"...two phrasal verbs for the price of one! 😉 Aside from motors and engines, this application of 'cut out' can theoretically be used with any machines that are electrically or mechanically operated and which can stop suddenly stop working when we are using them. The engine on my car kept on cutting out so I had to ring the mechanic for some advice on what to do. There is something wrong with our television. It works fine for half an hour or so then it just cuts out and needs to be turned on again. My lawnmower cut out halfway through mowing the lawn and it won't turn back on again, so now my lawn looks really weird. One other time that 'cut out' is used in this sense is not with machines, but rather when talking about phone calls. If you are on the phone to someone and the phone line keeps getting interrupted or failing so that you only hear some of the words that the other person is saying, you can say that it is cutting out. I'm struggling to hear what you're saying as the line keeps cutting out. Say that again, you just cut out. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Commonly used idioms with 'cut out' Before I end this post, there are a couple of common idioms that feature the phrasal verb 'cut out' that you should definitely have you in your active vocabulary. If you can memorise these and use them in your everyday English, it will definitely help you to sound more like a native speaker... To not be cut out for something - We use this particular idiom when we are talking about careers and jobs that we cannot or should not do.This is because they are not natural to us, we do not not joy them or we do not possess the requisite skills. I tried teaching in a school but I wasn't cut out for it. I hated the naughty children and the stress that came with the job. I'm much more suited to an office job. The student left medical school in the first year as he realised that he just wasn't cut out to be a doctor. To have your work cut out (for you) - This idiom is used when you have something very difficult or challenging to do. This could be when you have a lot of work to do in a short space of time or when the job that you have to do will require a lot of skill and patience. The new government really has its work cut out for it to clean up the mess that the previous government left behind. Ok, we have to prepare a 3-course meal for 50 guests by midday. We really have our work cut out for us! We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'cut out'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'draw 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 post is all about the English phrasal verb 'draw in'. This moderately common phrasal verb is one that is used to talk about a variety of different things such as breathing, attracting someone's attention and darkness. In this post I will outline and explain the different meanings that 'draw in' has and provide you with lots of examples in context to help you learn and memorise them. So, without further ado, let's get started. Don't forget to leave a comment at the end! TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Draw In - The Basics: Key information & the individual words 'draw' and 'in' Draw In - Meaning 1: To attract someone Draw In - Meaning 2: To inhale Draw In - Meaning 3: To arrive at a station Draw In - Meaning 4: To get shorter (days) 🇬🇧 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 DRAW IN: KEY INFORMATION Usage Medium Number of meanings 4 Past tense forms Drew in / Drawn in Separable? Sometimes To enable us to fully understand the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'draw in', let's begin by considering the words 'draw' and 'in' and what they mean on their own. Firstly, we have the verb 'to draw', which is an interesting verb with several distinct, yet linked, meanings in English. If we go back and look at its history, the verb 'to draw' is in fact a variation of the verb 'to drag', meaning to pull something with force or difficulty. From this, we get the main ideas of 'to draw' in modern English, which include pulling something behind you, pulling curtains open, attracting a crowd of people and 'breathing (literally pulling air). In addition, we also have the idea of drawing a picture, as this involves pulling a pen or pencil across paper. The horse drew the carriages along the road. Photo: Pexels Taylor Swift's concert in London is expected to draw a huge crowd. It's getting dark, so I'm going to draw the curtains. It was difficult to draw breath up the mountain. These meanings are not exhaustive as there are indeed many ways that 'draw' can be used in English but the vast majority can all be logically traced back to the idea of pulling or dragging something. Next, we have the prepositional particle 'in', which you will certainly be very familiar with. 'In' can function as a preposition, adverb, adjective and even as a rare noun. As you will probably be able to guess, the meaning of 'in' is primarily to talk about being inside something, included in something or moving towards the interior of something. When used in phrasal verbs, 'in' often conveys this inwards direction or movement to the base verb, but it can also be used to add the ideas of inclusion, involvement, transformation and arrival. Now that we have covered the basics, let's head to the main reason that you are here reading this page, i.e. the meanings of the phrasal verb 'draw in'.... MEANING 1: To attract and involve somebody in something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To attract, to involve, to implicate, to captivate Potential antonyms To repel Separable? Yes The first meaning is of 'draw in' that we will look at in this post is 'to attract and involve someone in something'. I was originally going to split this first usage into two parts, however there is so much overlap between them that I thought it would be better to do it all in one. So, firstly, to 'draw someone in' can mean to attract someone's attention, usually as their interest has been sparked. This concept is commonly expressed in the passive form, i.e. someone is drawn in by something. This particular piece of art drew me in as I was walking around the gallery. I was fascinated by it and wanted to know more about it. I wasn't sure about the book but after reading a couple of pages, it had completely drawn me in and I was hooked. I was struggling to listen to what my wife was saying as I had been drawn in by the conversation on the table next to us. When considering the meanings of the words 'draw' and 'in' that I explained in the previous section, this meaning should be quite logical to you as when we are attracted by something, our attention is pulled towards it. Sometimes, when people are drawn in by something interesting or captivating, it is not uncommon for them to to take it one step further and move towards the object or spectacle that has caught their attention, a bit like they are being pulled by a magnet and this application of 'draw in' also applies here. This could be something small or simple such as going into a shop because you are intrigued about what is shown in its window display or something large, such as a music concert or festival which attracts thousands of people who are interested in the artists and want to watch the show. The music festival is expected to draw in a crowd of over 100,000 people this weekend. The smell of the fresh bread drew baking me into the bakery. If the destination to which we are drawn is one that is a physical interior space, then we would use 'draw into' rather than draw in'. My friends and I were drawn into the bar by the happy hour promotion in the window. My mum always gets drawn into clothes shops by the pretty clothes in the window. Lastly, not only can we be drawn into physical spaces, but it is also possible to be drawn into situations and predicaments. In other words, something causes you to become involved in something. This is especially true if the situation is a negative one and we do not wish to be a part of it, such as an argument between friends or a work conflict or dilemma. Again, we tend to use the variation form 'draw into' here when talking about being in a situation. They've asked me for my opinion on the subject and I said nothing as I refuse to be drawn into it. When I was a naive teenager, I was drawn into a religious cult. How have I got drawn into this argument? It has nothing to do with me! I was drawn into the debate on Facebook after reading the comments. They made me so angry that I felt that I had to give my opinion. MEANING 2: To inhale Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To breathe in, to inspire, to suck in Potential antonyms To breathe out, to exhale, to expire, to blow out Separable Yes As you may recall from the Basics section, one of the meanings of our base verb 'to draw' is to breathe, so this next meaning is a nice and easy one that simply means 'to inhale' or 'breathe in'. Quite literally, this is purely the idea of pulling air into your lungs. This particular application of 'breathe in' normally requires a direct object, which is typically either a breath or air. It is also separable, with the direct object (breath or air) going either between or after the phrasal verb, with no discernible change in meaning. Before starting my speech, I drew in a deep breath and focused on the words that I had to say. The patient struggled to draw in air through her nose. Engaging your abdomen to draw in breath will give you more air. Be careful not to confuse the noun 'breath' with the verb 'to breathe' here and remember that they have very different pronunciation and the final 'e' makes all the difference... MEANING 3: To arrive at a station Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To arrive, to pull in Potential antonyms To leave, to depart, to pull off, to pull away Separable No Our third meaning of 'draw in' is one for all the trainspotters amongst you as it is primarily used for trains and means 'to arrive at a station'. We use this application specifically to talk about the moment when a train is slowing down as it approaches a railway station and is about to stop or is stopping. Again, for this meaning we can trace it back to the idea of drawing to mean pulling, as the train is pulling the carriages behind it, with 'in' adding the idea of arriving at the destination to where the train is travelling. For this usage, we use the additional preposition 'to' to indicate the place where the train stops i.e. the station, the platform or the city. I saw my wife waiting for me on the platform as my train was drawing in. The train drew in and all of the passengers got off, but I couldn't see you anywhere! When my train drew into London Waterloo Station, I looked around at all of the crowds on the platform. MEANING 4: To get shorter (days) Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? British English Potential synonyms To get shorter Potential antonyms To get longer, to draw out Separable? No For those of us who live far from the equator, it is a fact of life that every year the days get a lot shorter the closer you get to 21st December and a lot longer the closer you get to 21st June. With the UK being situated far from the equator in the northern hemisphere, we tend to experience quite stark differences in the length of days compared to some of our more southerly neighbours. Therefore it is perhaps no surprise that we have come up with a pair of phrasal verbs to describe this very phenomenon, namely 'to draw in and 'to draw out'. To clarify, we use 'draw out' for when the hours of light in a day get gradually longer, between December and June, and 'draw in' for the other half of the year when the daytimes become shorter and the hours of darkness get longer. Typically, we use 'draw in' the most in the early autumn (fall), i.e. September or early October in the northern hemisphere, when it becomes more apparent that the sun is setting sooner and winter is on the way. Something that is slightly confusing with this usage is that, in addition to saying that the days are 'drawing in' to express that they are getting shorter, we can also say that the nights or evenings are also drawing in and this means exactly the same thing. Basically, whenever we use 'draw in' in this sense, we are talking about the days getting shorter, regardless of the noun that we use...English is very strange sometimes! 🤷🏻‍♂️ It's the summer solstice next week, which means that the days will start drawing in again. You can tell that autumn is on the way. The nights have really started drawing in in the last couple of weeks. The evenings are drawing in now and I don't have much time to go for a run in the daylight after work anymore. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'draw in'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'throw out' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native. In this article, we will be looking at the English phrasal verb 'throw out' and all of the different ways that it is used by native speakers. I imagine that you may already be familiar with at least some of its uses, however did you know that it has at least 7 different meanings? Don't worry if you didn't as some of these are quite rare or specific and I will explain each of them in this post, so that you can see which ones may be useful for you in your future English conversations 😀 So, without further ado, let's make a start.... TABLE OF CONTENTS   (Click to jump to each one) Throw Out - The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'throw' and 'out' Throw Out - Meaning 1: Literal Throw Out - Meaning 2: To get rid of something Throw Out - Bonus: The idiom 'don't throw the baby out with the bathwater' Throw Out - Meaning 3: To evict someone Throw Out - Meaning 4: To reject an idea or proposal Throw Out - Meaning 5: To say or produce something without much thought Throw Out - Meaning 6: To produce energy Throw Out - Meaning 7: To make something be wrong Throw Out - Meaning 8: To eliminate a player by throwing 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 THROW OUT: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 7 Past tense forms Threw out / Thrown out Separable? Yes By way of an introduction to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'throw out', let's start with a short examination of the individual words 'throw' and 'out' and their standalone meanings. 'To throw' is a common irregular verb in English, which we use primarily to talk about the action of sending objects flying through the air using our arms and hands, like a ball or a javelin. It is also possible to use it with some less obvious nouns like 'party' and 'tantrum'. Aside from this, 'to throw' has some rarer meanings too, such as 'to intentionally lose a game' and 'to confuse someone'. Sometimes, the verb 'to throw' can often be used in contexts when actions are done quickly or carelessly and this nuance is often carried across into phrasal verbs, such as 'throw together'. James threw the ball for his dog. Somebody has thrown a rock through the window The protestors threw bottles and stones at the police. It's my 40th birthday next month, so I am throwing a big party to celebrate. When my 4-year-old daughter does not get what she wants, she throws a tantrum. It threw me when I saw my husband at home as he was supposed to be at work. The particle 'out' is one that regularly appears in phrasal verbs and is often used to convey the idea of moving from an inside space to an exterior one or moving away from a specific point. Moreover, when 'out' features in phrasal verbs, it can add such ideas as exhaustion ( run out ), elimination (rule out) and trying ( check out ), among others. So, now that we have covered the basics, let's take a look at the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'throw out'.... MEANING 1: Literal Photo: ChatGPT CEFR Language Level A1 - Beginner Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To chuck out, to toss out, to hurl out, to expel Separable? Yes Let's start things off in a nice and easy way with the literal meaning of 'throw out', which (as you can probably guess), is the physical action of throwing an object from a internal physical space so that it is no longer inside it. Typically, when using this literal application we require the noun either for the internal space from which the object is thrown or for the opening through which the object leaves the space. Most typically, you will come across this being used with 'window' and 'door'. You should note that the additional preposition 'of' can be used here to specify this noun, however native speakers often drop this. Both of these variations are considered correct and the decision to use 'of' or not here is purely stylistic. Occasionally, you may hear someone threatening to throw something out of the window if it is not working properly. This is often a computer as we all know how frustrating it can be when they do not work properly! Kirsty threw her old shoes out of her closet to make room for her new ones. Daniel threw the ball out of the garage and into the yard. The angry coach threw out the broken water bottle from the team bus. In a fit of rage, the teacher threw the student's cellphone out of the classroom window. I swear if this computer doesn't start working properly soon, I am going to throw it out of the window MEANING 2: To get rid of something Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To discard, to get rid of, to throw away Separable? Yes I think many of you will be familiar with this second application of 'throw out' as it is probably the most commonly used of all of its meanings and that is 'to get rid of something'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Clothes: shirts, shoes, socks, trousers, pants etc. Household equipment: kettle, toaster, television, iron etc. Household objects: Ornaments, cushions, toys, books etc. First of all, to clarify when I say 'get rid of something', I mean to throw it in the garbage or discard it somewhere so that you no longer have possession of it. This is because you no longer want or need the item. Another very common synonym phrasal verb for this particular application that you may know is 'throw away', with both of these being used equally often. As you will see in the idiom that we will look at shortly, this application is separable, with the unwanted item being the direct object. This can either go between 'throw' and 'out' or after them, without any change in the meaning. We decided to throw out all the old magazines that had been piling up in the bedroom. Don’t throw that sweater out; it might come back into fashion some day. Sandra threw her broken toaster out and bought a new one. The landlord threw out the old, worn carpets during the renovation. I’m going to throw out these old clothes unless any of you want to keep them? Jimmy threw his old running shoes out after the soles wore through. I threw a load of toys out last week that the children no longer play with. My manager told me to throw out a pile of outdated paperwork from the office. Photo: Pexels BONUS: Don't throw the baby out with the bath water The curious sounding idiomatic expression 'don't throw the baby out with the bath water' is a very old saying that means to avoid accidentally getting rid of valuable items when you throw unwanted items out. There is a myth surrounding this expression that it originated from times before plumbing when an entire family used to share bathwater, with the youngest of the house (the baby) going last when the water was dirtiest, meaning that the baby could no longer be seen. Sadly, this is not its true origin as it appears to have entered English from an old German proverb. It's a fascinating story nevertheless! I know our current marketing strategy isn't working, but we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater; let's identify the parts that are working well and only change what isn't. MEANING 3: To evict someone Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To evict, to turf out, to kick out, to eject Separable? Yes The third meaning of 'throw out' is another common one that is perhaps more common in British English and means 'to evict or to remove someone from somewhere'. First and foremost, you are most likely to encounter this application of 'throw out' in reference to when a person is evicted from the place in which they live. In other words, they are forced to leave their home and are forbidden from living there again. Note that with this application, it is common to use it in both an active and a passive way, for example, a landlord may throw out the tenant living in his property if they do not pay rent or a teenager may be thrown out of their parents' home if they misbehave excessively. Besides evicting people from their homes, we can use 'throw out' in this way, to talk about being removed from public places, organisations and educational institutions. Usually, when used in these situations, there is an element of force behind the action. The landlord threw out his tenants after months of unpaid rent. Emma threatened to throw her roommate out if she continued to leave the apartment in a mess. The doorman threw the drunk customer out for causing a disturbance. Security threw out the protestors who refused to leave the building. The tennis club threw out one of its members who repeatedly broke the rules. The party leader threw a politician out of the political party over his controversial remarks. The university decided to throw out the student for academic dishonesty. Spencer was thrown out of school for repeatedly skipping classes and fighting. Here are some example sentences in the passive voice.... At the age of 16, Amy was thrown out of her parental home after she became pregnant. The tenants were thrown out after failing to pay rent for three months. Lisa was thrown out of the café for being verbally abusive to the staff. The student was thrown out of school for cheating in his final exams. Oh no, if my landlord finds out about this, I will be thrown out! MEANING 4: To reject an idea or proposal Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To dismiss, to reject, to acquit, to drop Separable? Yes The next usage of 'throw out' that we will cover in this post is one that you are likely to hear in more formal situations and environments and means 'to reject an idea or proposal'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Idea Proposal Suggestion Argument Case Claim Lawsuit As the picture above would suggest, this application of 'throw out' is used a lot in courts of law (i.e. some of the most formal places one can be in). Typically, this is when someone presents a case to court that they want to be heard and the judge dismisses it because there is not evidence or information to support it. In these instances, we can say that the case was "thrown out" by the judge. Moving away from the courtroom, it is also possible to hear this application of 'throw out' being used in business when an idea, application, proposal or suggestion is rejected as not being satisfactory or worth pursuing. This is normally by people in authority with the power to make such decisions. The judge threw the case out due to insufficient proof. The court threw out the appeal following a review of the evidence. The committee have decided to throw out the amendment after a brief discussion. Jack the referee threw out the player's protest, citing the rules of the game. The organisers will throw out any entries that don't follow the contest rules. The committee threw out his proposal because it lacked supporting evidence. The motion was thrown out during the meeting. After some consideration in the meeting, the idea was thrown out as impractical. MEANING 5: To say or produce something without much thought Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To say, to utter, to blurt out, to state Separable? Yes As I mentioned in the Basics section, sometimes when the verb 'to throw' is used in conjunction with a preposition or particle, it can be used to mean that something is done in a quick or unplanned way and in this fifth application of 'throw out', we have exactly the same idea as it means 'to say or produce something without much thought'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Sentences Words Ideas Suggestions Questions If you have ever been in a brainstorming session at work where your boss asks you for ideas on a specific subject, it is likely that you threw some ideas out during this activity. That is because you probably had very little time to prepare and were just asked to come up with ideas in that moment without thinking about it too much. This is in fact a classic example of when this application of 'throw out' can be used because you are not only saying these things quickly, but also in large quantities. In essence, we can use this application when we say things in a way that seems unplanned. Alternatively, if you are an expert in something, it may also be possible use 'throw out' when talking about citing facts and figures etc as you know the subject so well, you can just give the information automatically without spending time thinking about it. Joanne threw out a few ideas during the meeting. The speaker threw a question out to his audience to break the ice. The coach threw out some last-minute instructions to the team. The team leaders threw several suggestions out for the new project name. The comedian threw out some one-liners that got the audience roaring with laughter. He threw out the question to see how people would react. I’ll throw a few options out and see what everyone thinks. The scientist threw out some alarming statistics to support his argument. MEANING 6: To produce energy Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To emit, to give out, to put out, to give off Separable? Yes In the previous section, we covered how 'throw out' can be used to mean to produce words and information from our brains and for this next meaning we are going to stay with the theme of production, however this time the meaning is 'to produce energy'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Smoke Light Heat Warmth As you can see from the list of commonly used nouns above, we use this one for nouns for things that can be generated by fire or sources of energy that radiate them so that they are detectable with our senses. This may be a fire that throws out a lot of heat or smoke, a lamp that throws out a lot of light or a log burner that throws out warmth. The main idea here is that the energy is expelled from the source into the air so that we notice it. Typically, we would use it when the amount of energy is remarkable in some way, i.e. very high or very low. For those of you who are familiar with the phrasal verb 'give out', 'throw out' is actually a synonym of this here, however it is not used as commonly as 'give out'. The fire threw out a steady warmth all evening, making the room nice and cosy. The old lantern threw out a faint, flickering light but it was enough to see with. The sun throws out intense rays that heat the desert sand on a daily basis. Our campfire threw out sparks as the logs cracked and split. My electric heater threw more heat out than I expected. I hope that Kate's will be able to throw a strong beam out to enable us to see the tunnel ahead. This fire isn't throwing much heat out; do you have any more logs? A bright glow was thrown out by the volcano’s molten lava. MEANING 7: To make something be wrong Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To throw off Separable? Yes The seventh and penultimate meaning that of 'throw out' that we will cover in this post is one that will be relevant for those among you who have to do calculations as it means 'to make something be wrong'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Calculation Figures / Numbers Plans Results Readings I was quite a good student at school and I did quite well in most subjects but one that often posed difficulties for me was maths. I still sometimes struggle with it today and this is often made clear when I have to do calculations and I make mistakes. Generally, the reason that my sums are wrong is that something has thrown the calculation out or in other words, something has made the total incorrect. This might be me because I added an extra zero to a figure or I transposed two figures; both of which lead to an incorrect total. In addition to sums and calculations, we can use 'throw out' in this way to describe when we get incorrect results or readings for things, which is typically caused by an error somewhere along the process. One other time that I hear this application in use is with regards to plans. If you have plans to do something and then something else occurs that means you have to change or adapt the plans, we can say that it "throws out our plans". A small error in the formula can throw out the entire calculation. The incorrect data has thrown out the whole report and we have to run it again. One wrong measurement will throw out the whole experiment, so please be extremely careful. Using the wrong units could throw out the results. The faulty sensor was throwing out all the temperature readings. The sudden schedule change threw out all our travel plans and we had to rebook our flights. MEANING 8: To eliminate a player by throwing Photo: Wix Media CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere - sports English Potential synonyms To get out, to bowl out Separable? Yes Our eighth and final meaning of 'throw out' is a much rarer one that is used specifically in bat and ball sports such as cricket and baseball and means to eliminate another player from the game by throwing. To clarify this, in certain games it is possible to throw a ball either to land in a certain place or to another member of your team, which can then result in the player who hit the ball being eliminated from the game. They can no longer play in the game and are therefore out. In baseball, this is usually when a fielding player throws the ball to another team member who is standing on one of the bases and who can then touch the ball onto the base, meaning that the batsman is then out of the game. In cricket, it refers to when the ball is thrown by a fielder and hits the stumps, ending the game for the batsman who is in play at that time. The catcher threw out the runner trying to steal second base. The outfielder threw the runner out at home to save the game. The bowler tried to throw the batter out at first with a perfect throw. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'throw out'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'throw out'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END