An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'get out', with examples and exercises. Hello and welcome to my blog all about English phrasal verbs. Today we are looking at another phrasal verb with the exceedingly common verb 'to get', namely 'get out'. It is likely that you are already familiar with this phrasal verb as it is frequently used by native speakers and in this post we will look at the various different meanings it has in English, as well as the various expressions in which it plays a starring role. So without further ado, let's get started.... KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here THE BASICS As a result of its many different meanings and high frequency of use, the verb 'to get' is one of the verbs that causes English learners the most headaches. You only need to listen to a conversation between native speakers for a couple of minutes to realise just how common it is. Luckily, we can forget about most of the meanings for this post as the relevant one for the phrasal verb 'get out' is 'to reach or arrive at a particular place'. Our prepositional particle 'out' also has many meanings but in this post we will focus on just one, namely 'to move from inside something to outside of it', which leads us nicely to the first meaning of 'get out'..... Meaning 1: To leave an enclosed or inside space If you are ever in a situation where an English-speaking person approaches you and tells you to 'get out!', you can be sure that they want you to leave. This is because perhaps the most common meaning of the phrasal verb 'get out' is 'to leave an enclosed or inside space', such as a room, a building or a car (not a train or bus though as we are 'on' those). When used in this way, 'get out' is more of a literal meaning of the combination of 'get', in the sense of reaching or arriving at a place, and 'out', in the sense of no longer being inside. In other words, to leave somewhere enclosed and end up outside of it. Just to make things a bit more complicated, the use of 'get out' is not just limited to places that we are physically inside, but can also be used for any nouns with which we use the preposition 'in' without physically being inside them, such as way, road, trouble or debt. When used in this way, 'get out' tends either to be used in affirmative sentences with a modal verb, such as 'have to' or 'must' or with 'let's' when offering a suggestion. In negative sentences it is used to express when we are not able to leave somewhere or have difficulties leaving it and is often found in collocation with 'can't' or 'couldn't'. Examples of usage.... I don't think that this place is very safe, let's get out of here. INTENDED MEANING: This place feels dangerous, I think we should leave. You shouldn't be in here. You need to get out now! INTENDED MEANING: You are not permitted to be in here and you need to leave immediately! Helen has accidentally locked herself in her bathroom and can't get out. INTENDED MEANING: Helen is trapped in the bathroom and is unable to escape. The geese refused to get out of the road when the car came. INTENDED MEANING: The geese did not move from the road, causing an obstruction to the car. You need to follow these steps if you want to get out of debt. INTENDED MEANING: If you want to no longer be in debt, you need to do the following. Moreover, as you can see from the examples above, 'get out!' is very useful in its imperative form and is therefore used very commonly in certain situations. However, I do think that this imperative form is somewhat negative in nature and can often come across as rude or impolite. Nonetheless, sometimes it is necessary to use it, in order to avoid a problem or dangerous situation arising as no other expression works as well in these situations. Examples of usage.... Get out of my way! LITERAL MEANING: Move out of my path as you are blocking it. What are you doing in my house? Get out or I will call the police! INTENDED MEANING: Why are you in my house? Leave now or else the police will be called. Meaning 2: To remove something This second meaning is actually very similar to the first meaning and is just a change in perspective from ourselves to something else. In the previous meaning, we talked about leaving or exiting an interior space, however in this second meaning we are removing something else from an interior space i.e. an object or thing which we want to move so that it is no longer inside something. Whilst the focus of this is often the inside space and the need remove something from it, the focus can also be on the exterior place where we want the transported object to end up, see the examples below: Can you get the spider out of the bath please? In the example above the focus is on the inside space (the bath) as the speaker wants it to be free of the object (the spider). Can you get the ice cream out of the freezer please, I really want some. Here the focus is more on the exterior place as the the speaker wants the ice cream to be 'out', in order to eat it. In a grammatical sense, the main difference between this meaning and the previous one is that it is transitive and therefore needs a direct object, which goes between 'get' and 'out'. As with the first meaning, the same rule applies that we can use 'get something out' with any nouns with which we use 'in'. One exception here is when talking about a stain on clothes or a surface. Although we use the preposition 'on' with a stain, we 'get a stain out'. This is a just another example of the English language forgetting all about logic 🤪... Furthermore, we can also 'get someone out'. Here, the direct object is a person, in which case it is used to mean either of the following... to help someone who is trapped or stuck in something to escape. to enable someone to escape from somewhere such as prison or captivity. Examples of usage... The wine glasses are in that cupboard. Could you get them out for me? INTENDED MEANING: Can you take the wine glasses out of the cupboard as I need them. I've dropped my wedding ring down the sink and I can't get it out! INTENDED MEANING: My wedding ring has fallen into the sink and I am unable to remove it. This song is so catchy, I haven't been able to get it out of my head since I heard it this morning. INTENDED MEANING: This song is very catchy, it has been in my head all day and I can't stop thinking about it. Roger got Helen out of the bathroom by breaking down the locked door. INTENDED MEANING: Roger freed Helen from the bathroom by opening the door with force. EXTRA INFORMATION TO SOUND MORE LIKE A NATIVE It is also possible to use a reflexive pronoun ('myself, yourself, etc.) as the direct object when talking about physically removing ourselves from an interior space or, perhaps more commonly, from a situation that we are in. Examples of usage.... I don't know how long it is going to take for me to get myself out of debt. INTENDED MEANING: I don't know how long it will be until I can pay off all my debts and no longer owe any money. Lisa got herself out of a toxic relationship and is now much happier. INTENDED MEANING: Lisa made the decision to leave a relationship that was bad for her mental health and is now much happier as a result. Meaning 3: To become publicly known The next meaning of 'get out' that we will consider means 'to become known'. This is not in the sense of becoming famous, but rather when secret or previously private information becomes known to people. I think logically this makes sense as we are talking here about private or censored information, which has 'escaped' and is 'out' of its imaginary confinement, meaning that it is now free and available for everyone. It is very common for this usage of 'get out' to be used with the word 'word' instead of 'information'. Another way that you might come across this usage is in the construction 'it got out that...'. See the below examples. Examples of usage.... Somehow the secret about Helen's private party has got out and now everybody wants to come. INTENDED MEANING: News about Helen's secret party has become public knowledge and now everyone wants to be there. We need to keep this from the press. If word gets out about this, it will destroy our reputation. INTENDED MEANING: This must be kept secret. If it becomes publicly known, our reputation will be ruined. Despite my efforts to keep it quiet, it got out that it was my birthday. INTENDED MEANING: In spite of my efforts to keep it a secret, people still found out that it was my birthday. Meaning 4: To say something So, our fourth meaning of 'get out', means 'to say something'. This usage however is limited to when the words that we are trying to say are difficult for some reason. This could be because you are physically unable to say the words due to a medical condition or emotions or could be through stress or worry that you may offend someone or cause an argument. In spoken English, you are likely to hear this usage in the expressions 'get the words out' or the simpler version 'get it out'. Examples of usage.... I tried to tell you that I loved you last week but I just couldn't get the words out as I was so scared about your reaction. INTENDED MEANING : I wanted to tell you that I loved you last week but I couldn't say the words as I was so worried about how you would react. EXTRA INFORMATION TO SOUND MORE LIKE A NATIVE If we are ever in a situation where we want someone to give us information that is secret or withheld and the person is unwilling to give it, we can say that 'we are unable to get it out of them'. We only tend to use this expression when the information is not given freely by the person to begin with and so we need to encourage or pressure them to share it with us. Examples of usage.... The detectives questioned the suspect for six hours about who committed the crime but they were unable to get it out of him. INTENDED MEANING: The detectives spent six hours interrogating the suspect but they could not make him tell them who had committed the crime. My brother refused to tell me what my parents had got me for my birthday but I got it out of him in the end. INTENDED MEANING: At first my brother would not tell me what birthday presents my parents had bought me but I made him tell me eventually. Meaning 5: To go to places and enjoy yourself This next usage of 'get out' means to leave your house in order to go to places and have enjoyable experiences. It is quite similar to the phrasal verb 'go out', meaning to leave your house and / or socialise with people, however whilst we can use 'go out' to talk about specific times e.g. "I go out every Friday night", we cannot use 'get out' here. The reason being is that 'get out' in this meaning is used to talk in a general way, rather than about specific instances. To use it to talk about specific instances would be understood by a native speaker to be about escaping somewhere, as in the first meaning of this post. In terms of usage, this meaning of 'get out' mostly tends to be used in negative sentences and sometimes in questions. It has given rise to the common expression "I don't get out much", which is often used in a humorous way when someone is acting awkwardly or strangely in a social situation. Moreover, it is also quite common to add the additional words 'and about', giving us 'to get out and about', which gives the added implication that the person moves around from place to place. Examples of usage.... Ever since I've had a baby, I've not got out much. INTENDED MEANING: Since my baby was born, I have not been out socialising or enjoying myself. You need to stop playing computer games and get out and about a bit more! INTENDED MEANING: You should stop playing on your computer and go out, do things and see people. Meaning 6: To avoid a job, duty or task I've purposely left these last two meanings of 'get out' to the end as they both require the additional preposition 'of' to achieve their meaning. The first of the two means 'to avoid doing a job, duty or task that you are supposed to do'. This could be work, a social engagement, an event that you have been invited to or an action that you have to carry out. The idea here is that another person wants (or expects) you to do something, but you don't want to, so therefore you need to find an excuse for not doing it. In this meaning, 'get out of' is either followed by a noun or by the a verb in its gerund ('ing) form. Examples of usage.... I'm so sorry that I can't come to your party tomorrow. I have an important work meeting and I can't get out of it. INTENDED MEANING: Regrettably I can't attend your party tomorrow as I have a work meeting which I cannot miss. Is there any way you can get out of going to the the theatre tonight? INTENDED MEANING: Is it at all possible that you can make an excuse and not go to the theatre tonight? Meaning 7: To feel the benefit of something This final usage of 'get out' that we will consider also requires the additional preposition 'of' and means to feel the benefit of doing something, or in other words to obtain something good or positive as a result of performing an action. Another way that we could say this is 'to get something out of something'. More often than not, this refers to a good feeling that we get after performing the action. This pleasurable sensation is sometimes called a 'kick', which gives us the common expression 'to get a kick out of something', meaning to get a good feeling as a consequence of an action. Examples of usage.... I still do yoga every day because I get a lot out of it. INTENDED MEANING: I continue to practice yoga daily because it makes me feel really good. My mum volunteers with a charity for elderly people and she really gets a kick out of helping them. INTENDED MEANING: My mum does volunteer work for an old people's charity and the work makes her feel really good. BONUS INFORMATION Before we wrap up this blog post, there are a few very common expressions with 'get out' that I want to cover..... To get something out of the way - We use this expression when we have to do something unpleasant, boring or stressful in the future and we want it to be over, so that we can stop worrying about it. It could also be used in situations when we are looking forward to something and we want the time to pass quickly between now and then. Examples of this could be when you have a work meeting planned, which you are worried about and you want it to be over so that you can relax. Another would be that you are going on holiday next week, so you just want this week at work to pass quickly. To get out of hand - If a situation gets out of hand, it means that it has become difficult to control or it has become uncontrollable. A get-out clause - This is something that is often written into official agreements and contracts with the purpose of allowing someone to get out of doing something if a certain situation occurs. This is often used in business English but has also found its way into colloquial everyday English too. EXERCISE Re-write the following sentences using 'to get out'.... John was stuck in his car and could not escape. This battery is stuck in the TV controller and I can't remove it. Buckingham Palace tried to keep the news about the latest royal scandal quiet but it escaped nonetheless and quickly became public knowledge. Sometimes I really struggle to say the words. I've managed to avoid babysitting tonight, so I can come to the cinema with you. Lisa stopped going to the gym as she was no longer feeling the benefits. EXERCISE ANSWERS FROM 'BRING UP' (other variations may be possible) My parents BROUGHT me UP to always stand up for myself. I have something that I would like to BRING UP in tomorrow's meeting. When I searched for concert tickets on the internet it only BROUGHT UP tickets available in a different country. Can you please BRING me UP some water! It's hot up here on this roof. I was looking at my phone during the performance but suddenly one song BROUGHT me UP to a stop. Can you please tell BRING me UP to speed on the new project? That is the end of today's post. Thank you so much for taking the time to read it and I sincerely hope that it has helped you a little bit further on your English learning journey. If you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media, so together we can help as many English learners as possible to understand and master these tricky phrasal verbs. Also, please leave any comments, questions, suggestions or examples of 'get out' below. I really love reading them. See you next time! James

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'bring up', with examples and exercises. Hello and welcome to my blog all about English phrasal verbs. This post is all about the phrasal verb 'bring up', which has very varied and diverse meanings, especially compared to some of the recent phrasal verbs that I have covered such as 'look at' and 'take over'. In this post we will consider the different meanings that it has and also look at some common expressions that it is used in. So let's not beat around the bush* any longer and let's get started.... *'To beat around the bush' is an idiom in English meaning to talk about things that are not important and not get to the point. KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here THE BASICS To 'bring up' is a phrasal verb with very diverse meanings and consists of the verb 'to bring', meaning to take something to a place with you, and the prepositional particle 'up', meaning in the direction away from the ground or towards the sky ↑. I know from experience of teaching English that the verb 'to bring' can often be confused with the related verb 'to take'. The difference between these two verbs is mainly to do with the position of the speaker and the direction of movement. Both verbs can mean to carry something to a place. If the object is carried towards them, we use 'to bring' and if the object is carried away from where they are speaking, we use 'to take'. Can you bring me some water please? (Here the speaker is not moving and wants the water to come to them, where they are speaking.) I will take some sandwiches with me to work tomorrow. (Here, the speaker is going to move from where they are speaking to go to work and the sandwiches will go with them.) The above is just a brief overview of the differences between these two verbs and more detailed explanations are available elsewhere online. I just wanted to make you aware of the main differences here before we look at the phrasal verb meanings. So, without further hesitation, let's check them out.... MEANING 1: Literal 'Bring up' is used is commonly used in its literal sense by native speakers as it is merely the verb 'to bring' with the directional element of up ↑. So, this would typically be used when someone is upstairs in a house or building or in a higher physical position the person who they are talking to and they want someone to bring them something up to where they are. One thing to note here is that we normally insert the object pronoun such as me, him, her, them etc. between 'bring' and 'up'. I think this literal meaning is quite easy and straightforward to understand, so we'll move on to the next meanings but before we go, here are a couple of examples to illustrate usage.... Can you bring me up some water when you come to bed? As it is your birthday tomorrow, I will bring you up some breakfast in bed. MEANING 2: To raise a child The first non-literal meaning of 'bring up' that we will consider is similar to the common phrasal verb 'grow up', but while 'grow up' simply refers to the process of growing from a child to an adult, we use 'bring up' to talk about how our parents (or primary caregivers), look after, teach and shape us during the growing up process. This can be used to talk about where we lived during our childhood, as well as the beliefs and values that we were taught during this time. It is used by native speakers commonly in both an active and a passive sense alike. In the active sense, we are talking about the parents or caregivers who are the subjects of the verb and in the passive sense we to talk about ourselves or other people and what was taught and experienced during the growing up process. Examples of usage.... My parents brought me up to always say please and thank you and to treat everyone with respect. INTENDED MEANING: My parents taught me to always be respectful and have good manners when I was growing up. He was brought up in an orphanage and never knew his birth parents. INTENDED MEANING: He was cared for in an orphanage as a child and never met his real parents. Lisa managed to bring up four children all by herself after her husband tragically died. INTENDED MEANING: Lisa was able to single-handedly raise four children after the tragic death of her husband. EXTRA INFORMATION TO SOUND MORE LIKE A NATIVE The noun 'upbringing' is derived specifically from this usage of 'bring up' and is used to refer to how a person was treated, educated and shaped when they were growing up. Example of usage.... I had a very strict upbringing and so I have tried to be a little more relaxed with my own children. There are also a couple of other expressions that exist with this usage of 'bring up' that I want to make you aware of.... Were you brought up in a barn? This is a variation of the rhetorical question "Were you born in a barn?" and is aimed at someone who leaves a door open in a room, particularly if it is cold or draughty. Were you brought up or dragged up? This is another rhetorical question which can be aimed at someone who doesn't behave well, implying that their parents did not teach them how to behave properly when they were growing up. Both of the above are normally used in a humorous way and are not meant to cause offence, however it could be offensive if said in an unfriendly way, or if you do not have the right sort of relationship with the person. Meaning 3: To introduce into a conversation Our next meaning of 'bring up' is very different to the previous one that we've just looked at and means to introduce a topic or subject of discussion into a conversation. The idea behind this is that the person who brings the subject up, wants to do so for a particular reason, i.e. the subject did not enter into the discussion by chance, in which case the phrasal verb 'come up' (post coming soon) would be applicable. This can be heard often in business English, especially when talking about meetings and agendas for subjects that need to be discussed. It is also equally common to use it outside of the business world, when talking about general conversations or discussions. Examples of usage.... I've made a note of the issue and I will bring it up at the next management meeting. INTENDED MEANING: I have noted the problem and will raise it in the next management meeting. Why did you have to bring that up in front of my parents?! You know their views on the subject! INTENDED MEANING: Why did you mention that when my parents were there when you know how they feel about the matter. I didn't want to bring up the funeral yesterday as I could see that you were already upset. INTENDED MEANING: I could see that you were sad yesterday and so I didn't want to mention anything about the funeral. MEANING 4: To vomit Ok, so the next meaning is not the most pleasant of meanings, but it is worth covering nonetheless! Our next meaning of 'bring up' literally means to vomit or to be sick*. The focus here is not so much on the vomiting action itself, but rather on what is being expelled from the stomach and could be for example blood, poison or something that you have swallowed that you should not have done. It is also possible to use 'bring up' in this sense with coughing, for example with phlegm. We can also use the more specific phrasal verb 'to cough up' here as a synonym. Examples of usage.... The dog was very sick and was bringing up lots of blood but luckily it was not life-threatening and he has made a full recovery now. INTENDED MEANING: The dog was poorly and was vomiting blood but thankfully he has now returned to good health. My 3-year old son swallowed a small toy part but he brought it up again shortly afterwards before any harm was done. INTENDED MEANING: My young son swallowed a small part of a toy but then was sick and it came back out again. *As a side note, don't forget that 'to be sick' in English can mean to have an illness or disease and also to vomit. The context is key here to understand which one we mean. Meaning 5: To cause to appear on a screen Our next meaning of 'bring up' is one that has become MUCH more widespread over the last few decades as it is used particularly with IT and computers and means to cause something to appear on your screen. This is normally used when we click on something to open it, such as a document or web page, but is also used extremely commonly when talking about the results of a search on a search engine (naming no names, you know the ones I'm talking about!). Examples of usage.... If you right click with your mouse, it will bring up a menu. INTENDED MEANING: If you right click, a menu will appear on your screen. Can you bring up the results of the test on your screen for me? INTENDED MEANING: Can you open the test results on your screen so I can see them. When I looked up the question online it brought lots of irrelevant results up. INTENDED MEANING: When I searched for the answer to a question on a search engine, there were a lot of unrelated answers in the results. Meaning 6: To come to a sudden stop This sixth meaning of 'bring up' is a rarer one than some of the meanings that we have already covered and means to cause a vehicle to come to a sudden stop. This is especially used for cars, but could be used for all types of vehicles, including boats, where it is specifically used for dropping an anchor in order to stop it. Example of usage.... They decided to bring up the ship in the harbour for the night due to the bad weather. INTENDED MEANING: They made the decision to drop anchor and stay in the harbour overnight because of the inclement weather conditions. IDIOM ALERT I think that this is a good time to introduce an idiom with 'bring up' that is linked to this particular meaning. The idiom 'to bring someone up short' is a fairly common expression that is used to express when someone stops what they are doing because something has surprised or shocked them. Example of usage.... I was having a productive day yesterday until an email from my boss brought me up short. INTENDED MEANING: I was getting a lot of work done yesterday until I received an email from my boss which surprised me and put me off. Meaning 7: To update or improve This seventh and final meaning of 'bring up' that I wanted to include in the post is when it is used to describe the process of updating or improving something. When we use it to talk about updating, we can mean updating a machine, a product, a building or anything else which can be modernised and to express this, we normally use the expression 'to bring something up to date'. Moreover, we can also use it to mean updating a person, so that they have all of the most recent information about a given topic or situation. In this case, we often use the expression "to bring someone up to speed". 'Bring up' can also be used to mean improving something (often, incidentally, by modernising it) and is normally used when there are certain standards that something must meet. In this case, we are likely to use the expression 'to bring something up to standard'. Examples of usage.... The interior designers are planning to bring the interior of the castle up to date. INTENDED MEANING: The interior designers plan on modernising the interior of the castle. I had a meeting with Roger earlier and he brought me up to speed with everything that I missed whilst I was on holiday. INTENDED MEANING: Roger gave me all of the latest information about what happened when I was on holiday in our meeting. The teaching in the school was very poor so a team was sent there to bring it up to standard. INTENDED MEANING: The standard of teaching in the school was not good so a team were despatched there to improve it to the level it should be. Before I finish the post, I just want to give you a bonus expression featuring our phrasal verb of choice 'bring up'. The expression in question is 'to bring up the rear' and is quite appropriate to have at the end of this post as it means to be the last one of a group or category. This is most often used when talking about the last people in a queue, line or group of people who are going somewhere. EXERCISE Re-write the following sentences using 'to bring up'.... My parents raised me to always stand up for myself. I have something that I would like to talk about in tomorrow's meeting. When I searched for concert tickets on the internet it only showed me tickets available in a different country. Can you please get me some water! It's hot up here on this roof. I was looking at my phone during the performance but suddenly one song made me stop and pay attention. Can you please tell me what the latest is with the new project? EXERCISE ANSWERS FROM 'LOOK AT' (other variations may be possible) Look at this picture of me when I was younger! I love cloudless nights when I can look at the stars. The doctor wants to look at my injuries and make sure everything is ok. We are carefully looking at our next options. If only you would look at it from our perspective! The way I look at things now is very different to when I was a young man. That is the end of today's post. Thank you so much for taking the time to read it and I sincerely hope that it has helped you a little bit further on your English learning journey. If you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media, so together we can help as many English learners as possible to understand and master these tricky phrasal verbs. Also, please leave any comments, questions, suggestions or examples of 'bring up' below. I really love reading them. See you next time! James

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'look at', with examples and exercises. Hello and welcome to my blog all about English phrasal verbs. The focus of this post is the phrasal verb 'to look at', which is one that I find that I use a LOT on this blog and so I thought it would be a good idea to give it its own dedicated blog page. In this post we will explore the main meanings of 'look at' and also some typical situations in which it is used by native speakers. So without further ado, let's go..... KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here THE BASICS As is customary in each blog post, let's start by considering the basics.... In this case, we have the main verb 'to look' followed by the prepositional particle 'at'. The verb 'to look' is a very common verb which can be used either to talk about viewing something with your eyes or to talk about how something is perceived when somebody views it. In the first case, the prepositional particle 'at' is required to specify the person or object that we are viewing. 'At' is a preposition with many uses in English, but the meaning that is relevant here is "towards or in the direction of something". See the below examples.... The lady looked at the apple. The apple looked very fresh. One thing I notice with students is that they often confuse the verb 'to look' with other verbs of vision, such as 'to see' and 'to watch'. If you find it difficult to distinguish between these different verbs, I have put together the table below, which will give you some basic information regarding the differences.... Now that we have covered the basics, the first meaning that we will look at should be a piece of cake..... MEANING 1: Literal As you may have seen in the examples in the green table in the last section, we use the preposition 'at' after look, to specify the thing that we focus on with our eyes. This can be used either for when we direct our eyes and attention from one thing to another or it can be used just to talk about focusing on something with our eyes. It is possible to use 'look at' for both short and long periods of time. For short periods of time, potential synonyms could be verbs such as 'to peek' or 'to glance' and for longer periods of time the verbs 'to gaze' or 'to stare' could possibly be used. Regardless of the duration, a key element of 'look at' is that the person or object that we are viewing does not move and we do not need to follow it with our eyes; in that case we would then use the verbs 'to watch' or 'to observe'. Therefore, we do not say "I looked at a movie" or "I looked at the TV", but rather "I watched a movie" or "I watched TV". Literally speaking, if you say "I looked at the TV", it will probably be understood by a native speaker to mean that you are looking at the TV equipment and not watching the programme or movie. Examples of usage.... Look at these old school photographs! How young do we look?! Helen was looking at her phone and so did not see the hole in the road. What are you looking at? EXTRA TIPS TO SOUND MORE LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER You may have seen in the tables above that 'look at' can sometimes be used separably. It should be noted that the object always follows 'at' and cannot be placed between the two words, however there are certain adverbs that we can insert between 'look' and 'at' to modify them. Some of the most common examples of these are: directly, closely & carefully. Alternatively, it is also possible to place these adverbs at the end of the sentence and sometimes before 'look at', but I personally think that inserting the adverb between them sounds better and would help to elevate your sentence. If you look directly at the sun, you will damage your eyesight. Look carefully at the picture and tell me what you can see. MEANING 2: To examine something Our next meaning of 'look at' is very much linked to the literal meaning that we have just considered and for all intents and purposes means the same thing. The only difference in this meaning is that we use 'look at' to describe when we carefully and methodically examine something. This is usually with the intention of determining the cause of a problem, finding out the nature of something (what it is) or checking something, such as a document, in order to make sure that it is all correct and in order. As you can imagine, we normally reserve this usage of 'look at' for experts or professionals within a particular field, such as doctors, lawyers or teachers. Examples of usage.... Your ankle looks really sore, you should get a doctor to look at it. INTENDED MEANING: Your ankle looks painful, you ought to get a doctor to examine it. There is something wrong with my car and I've taken it to the garage, so that a mechanic can look at it. INTENDED MEANING: I have a problem with my car, so I have taken it to the garage so that a mechanic can diagnose it. I have asked my boss to look at the report I've written before I submit it to the shareholders. INTENDED MEANING: I've asked my manager to check my report before I submit it. EXTRA TIPS TO SOUND MORE LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER There are a couple of common variations of this usage of 'look at', which I want to make you aware of. In both cases 'look' is used as a noun and alternative verbs are used: To take a look at something To have a look at something Both of these variations mean the same thing and are also often used to mean 'to examine something' in the same way as described above. Examples of usage.... Leave this with me, I will take a look at it later today and give you my feedback. INTENDED MEANING: I will check this later and let you know what I think. Would you mind having a look at my resume? I'm not sure if I have included everything I need. INTENDED MEANING: Is it ok if you look through and check my CV as I'm not certain I have all the required information. You should note that it is also possible to use these in the literal form, especially when asking someone to direct their attention to something. Example of usage.... Come here and take a look at this!! You won't believe it! Have a look at this and tell me what you think! MEANING 3: To consider something The next meaning of 'look at' is to consider or think about something. This is a usage that I use a great deal on this blog, since the whole aim of the blog is to consider and explore phrasal verbs and their meanings and usage. Additionally, I think that it is a further progression of the two meanings that we have already covered in this post. When we use 'look at' in this way, we are talking about directing our thoughts or attention to a particular topic or issue, rather than our eyes. We often use it, like I do on this blog with different phrasal verb meanings, to take something in particular and think about it carefully in order to discuss or write about it. Alternatively, it can also be used to talk about when we consider specific problems or issues and how they can be resolved or when you have to make a decision and are considering different options. One particular way that 'look at' is used here is when we want to give an example in order to justify or support something that we are saying. We often give our initial opinion and follow this by saying "look at XYZ for example". Examples of usage.... In today's post, we are looking at 'to break down'... INTENDED MEANING: In this post, we are considering the phrasal verb 'break down' in detail. We are aware of the problem and we are looking at ways in which we can resolve it as quickly as possible. INTENDED MEANING: We know about the issue and trying to find a way to fix it as quickly as we can. I looked at Cambridge University as an option for my degree but the entry requirements were too high. INTENDED MEANING: I considered applying to Cambridge University to do my degree but I did not have good enough grades. John should definitely be the person who gets the manager's job. Look at how good he is at interacting with the other members of the team, for example! INTENDED MEANING: John should get the promotion to the role of manager and one reason for this is that he interacts very well with other employees. MEANING 4: To view from a different perspective The last usage of 'look at' on this post is one that does not differ too much from its other usages and is used to talk about viewing something from a different perspective to our own, or from a particular viewpoint. We often use this to "put ourselves in someone else's shoes", in other words, to see something from a different person's perspective in a given situation. Moreover, we can also use it to talk about our own perspective at a different time in our lives, in which case we would often use the 3rd conditional due to the hypothetical nature of the statement. Examples of usage.... Look at it from my perspective! INTENDED MEANING: Imagine how this situation looks and feels to me. If you looked at it from Helen's point of view, you might think differently! INTENDED MEANING: Try and imagine how Helen sees this, it may change your mind. If I had known this when I was younger, I would have definitely looked at things differently! INTENDED MEANING: If I'd known this before, my point of view would've been different. Before finishing this blog post, I want to make you aware of some additional uses of 'look at' that are commonly used by native speakers in everyday English. Not much to look at - If somebody uses the expression that someone or something is "not much to look at", they mean that the person or thing is boring, plain, ugly or lacking beauty. As you can imagine, this can be quite offensive, especially if used to talk about a person, however sometimes it is used to say that something is not aesthetically pleasing but has some other positive qualities. Example of usage... My house is not much to look at from the outside but the inside is breathtakingly beautiful! INTENDED MEANING: The outside of my house is unremarkable however the inside is stunning! Look at you! - This short expression is often used to convey surprise at how someone looks or is dressed, usually in a positive way. Example of usage.... Wow, look at you Lisa, all dressed up like that. You look beautiful! INTENDED MEANING: Wow, I am impressed (in a good way) by how you look. Would you look at that! - This short expression, which is more common in American English, is used to convey surprise about something negative that has happened. Example of usage.... Would you look at that! My car has two flat tyres, how has that happened? INTENDED MEANING: I am very surprised as my car has two flat tyres and I don't know how this has occurred. EXERCISE Re-write the following sentences using 'to look at'.... Check out this picture of me when I was younger! I love cloudless nights when I can view the stars. The doctor wants to check over my injuries and make sure everything is ok. We are carefully considering our next options. If only you would see it from our perspective! The way I view things now is very different to when I was a young man. EXERCISE ANSWERS FROM 'TAKE OVER' (other variations may be possible) My brother is going to take me over to my friend's birthday party tonight. His company was taken over by another bigger company last year. I can't stop crying at weddings, my emotions just take over. New Harbour has recently taken over from Old Harbour as the city's busiest port. Whenever my wife and I cook together, she always takes over and tells me what to do. The accident was caused when the car tried to overtake another on a dangerous bend. That is the end of today's post. Thank you so much for taking the time to read it and I sincerely hope that it has helped you a little bit further on your English learning journey. If you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media, so together we can help as many English learners as possible to understand and master these tricky phrasal verbs. Also, please leave any comments, questions, suggestions or examples of 'look at' below. I really love reading them. See you next time! James

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'take over', with examples and exercises. Hello and welcome to my blog all about English phrasal verbs. In this post we are looking at the phrasal verb 'to take over', which is commonly used in business English and in the workplace. There are several different meanings that we will look at in this post, however as you will see, the overall themes of this phrasal verb are replacement and control. So without further ado, let's get started.... KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here THE BASICS Our nominated phrasal verb this week consists of the extremely common verb 'to take' followed by the particle 'over'. The verb 'to take' is a widely used English verb which has various meanings, but the meanings that are significant for the idiomatic meanings of the phrasal verb 'take over' are... To voluntarily get or acquire possession of something. To carry something from one place to another. Like 'take', the prepositional particle 'over' also has a few different meanings in English, including to move across or above a surface (preposition / adverb) and to be finished (adjective). Both of these are relevant to the meanings of the phrasal verb, which we will look at now. MEANING 1: Literal The phrasal verb construction 'take over' is used regularly by English speakers in a literal sense to mean taking something or somebody from one place to another, which the speaker perceives as being across from where they are. The meaning of 'take' which applies here is the meaning 'to carry something or someone from one place to another' and the preposition 'over' then adds a directional element to mean across from where the speaker is. Typical examples of this literal usage could be.... To take a document across an office to another person. To give someone a lift in your car from one place to another. To take something and deliver it somewhere. The main idea here is that someone takes someone or something to another place, which is perceived by the speaker to be across or over from where they are. If the speaker perceives that the other place is below or above them (e.g. on a different floor in a building), it is more likely that they will use "take down" or "take up" instead. When used in this way, it is very common to use it separably with the direct object between 'take' and 'over'. Also, don't forget the preposition 'to' is required to state the end destination. Examples of usage.... John left his book here when he went back to Australia, so I said I would take it over with me the next time I go. Can you take this file over to the CEO's office and ask her to sign it for me. I am taking Lisa over to her mum's house today as her car isn't working. MEANING 2: To take control The first of the idiomatic meanings of 'take over' in this post is certainly the most commonly used among native speakers and means to take or to assume control of something from another person or entity. In the business world the phrasal verb 'take over' is commonly used to talk about when one company purchases or acquires another company and therefore takes control of it. It is also very common to use the noun 'takeover' here instead of the verb. You may have heard the term 'acquisition' before, which is a synonym of the noun 'takeover'. Examples of usage.... Company X has recently taken over company Y and as a result the share price has gone through the roof. INTENDED MEANING: Company X has recently purchased company Y and its share price has consequently risen dramatically. Company Z has recently been taken over and many of its employees have been made redundant. INTENDED MEANING: Company Z has recently been purchased by another company and many of its employees have lost their jobs. Despite the shareholder's attempts to stop it, the company takeover is still going ahead this month. INTENDED MEANING The company is being taken over later this month regardless of the attempts made by its shareholders to stop it. We also use 'take over' to talk about when one employee in a business assumes another person of authority's job role, in other words they assume a role of responsibility or control from another person. A similar phrasal verb that can be used here is "to take on", however "take over" indicates that the person's new role is one of authority and control e.g. a manager or a director. Don't forget that the preposition 'as' is required here to say what the new role is. A third variation of how 'take over' can be used in the world of business is specifically to do with shift work. In businesses and organisations which operate around the clock (24/7) and in which employees do shift work, we can use 'take over' to talk about when one person's shift ends and another employee starts their shift and replaces them. For this usage, the preposition 'from' is required to talk about the person who you are replacing. Roger is leaving the company next month and so Helen is taking over his role as head of Finance. INTENDED MEANING: Due to Roger's imminent departure from the company, Helen will now take his place as head of Finance. John starts his shift at 7pm, so he will be taking over from Tim who finishes then. INTENDED MEANING: When John starts work at 7pm, he will be replacing Tim who will be finishing his shift at that time. Away from the business world, 'take over' is also used in other contexts and situations to mean to take control of something. Examples could include when one country invades another country and takes control of it or when a person's emotions become too intense and they can no longer control themselves from breaking down or crying. Example of usage.... After the accident I was so scared but then my adrenaline took over and I did what I had to do to make sure that everyone was safe. INTENDED MEANING: Following the accident the adrenaline stopped me feeling scared and enabled me to do what was necessary to ensure everyone's safety. In addition to the usage above, we can also use 'take over' to mean that something or someone becomes dominant in a situation. Good examples of this would be when someone dominates a conversation or when a bossy person starts to give out orders and take control in a situation. This gives us a nice segue into the third meaning, which is very similar. Example of usage.... As soon as Helen joined the conversation, she completely took over and nobody else was able to say anything! INTENDED MEANING: From the moment that Helen entered into the conversation, she began to dominate it by talking too much. MEANING 3: To become the most important or dominant So, we have already considered how 'take over' is commonly used to mean 'to take control' and this second meaning is actually very similar to it. Here, 'take over' means to become the most important or dominant in a given category or group. This usage is often seen when talking about lists of the best, worst, biggest, smallest, richest etc and can therefore be seen across many different subject areas as diverse as sport, music and business. 'Take over' is used specifically to talk about when there is a change and someone or something new is in first position, effectively taking over first place in the list. Again, the prepositions 'as' and 'from' are required here in the same way as the first usage above. India will soon take over from Japan as the world's third largest economy. INTENDED MEANING: India will soon replace Japan as the third biggest economy in the world. I remember when Manchester United took over as the top football team in the country. INTENDED MEANING: I can remember when Manchester United started to become the best football team in the country. Melbourne has recently taken over Sydney as Australia's most populous city. INTENDED MEANING: In recent times Melbourne's population has increased to more than that of Sydney's and it is now the Australian city with the highest population. EXTRA TIPS TO SOUND MORE LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER An alternative synonym to this second meaning of 'take over' is the verb 'to overtake'. One of the main uses of this verb is to talk about when something takes over something else to become the first in its category, as discussed above. Unlike 'take over' though, when we use 'overtake' we need to have a direct object to state who or what was previously in front and has now been overtaken. The preposition 'as' is still required here but 'from' is not required as we have a direct object. Examples of usage.... India will soon overtake Japan as the world's third largest economy. Melbourne has recently overtaken Sydney as Australia's most populous city. The second main use of 'overtake' is used when driving and means to move past a car that is in front of you by driving around it, normally because it is going too slowly. Again, this carries the same meaning as the third meaning of 'take over' i.e. to move past something and be in front of it. Examples of usage.... The car in front was driving very slowly, so I decided to overtake it. The rules of overtaking in Formula 1 racing are being reviewed. EXERCISE Re-write the following sentences using 'to take over'.... My brother is going to drive me to my friend's birthday party tonight. His company was acquired by another bigger company last year. I can't stop crying at weddings, my emotions just get control over me. New Harbour has recently surpassed Old Harbour as the city's busiest port. Whenever my wife and I cook together, she always dominates and tells me what to do. The accident was caused when the car tried to go past another on a dangerous bend. EXERCISE ANSWERS FROM 'TURN DOWN' (other variations may be possible) That oven temperature is too hot, you need to turn it down! John turned down Roger's offer to buy his company. I really hope that my job application does not get turned down this time! The birth rate turned down during the 1970s. Turn the corner of your test page down so that it covers your answers. You need to turn down the second road on the right. That is the end of today's post. Thank you so much for taking the time to read it and I sincerely hope that it has helped you a little bit further on your English learning journey. If you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media, so together we can help as many English learners as possible to understand and master these tricky phrasal verbs. Also, please leave any comments, questions, suggestions or examples of 'take over' below. I really love reading them. See you next time! James

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'Turn Down', with examples and exercises. Hello and welcome to my blog all about English phrasal verbs. The phrasal verb 'turn down' is a commonly used phrasal verb that has several idiomatic meanings used in everyday English. In addition, there are also some specific situations in which we can use it. We will look at all of them in turn, so let's not put it off any longer and let's get started.... KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here THE BASICS Although I am sure that you are already familiar with the phrasal verb 'turn down', it is always a good idea to look at the individual words as a starting point, as these can often help us understand some of the idiomatic meanings of phrasal verbs. Firstly, we have the verb 'to turn'. This is a verb with a few different meanings, including to move in a circular path, to change direction or to change and become something else. I think that the overarching (main) idea of the verb 'to turn' though is a change of position or state. Secondly, we have the prepositional particle 'down', which can be used as an adverb and a preposition and broadly means be in, or to move towards, a lower position or place ⬇️ (from a higher one). So, now that we are familiar with the words, let's check out the different meanings that we have in English when we combine these two words to get the phrasal verb 'turn down'.... MEANING 1: To reduce the intensity of something Our first meaning of the phrasal verb 'turn down' is to reduce the intensity of the output of an item of equipment, such as a television, a heating system or a radio. When we turn something down, we ultimately want the amount of energy produced by the equipment to be lower, for example because a television is too loud, an oven is too hot or a light is too bright. As you may have already worked out, this meaning of 'turn down' originated from the action of adjusting switches or controls by turning them from a higher setting or number to a lower one. 'Turn down' is a separable phrasal verb and is used very commonly in separable form by native speakers, often with the pronoun 'it' when we have already mentioned the equipment. Note that there is no change in meaning between the separable and inseparable form. Examples of usage.... Your music is so loud! Can you turn it down please? INTENDED MEANING: Can you lower the volume of your music as it is too loud. It was like a sauna in here earlier, so I turned the heating down. INTENDED MEANING: It was very hot in the room so I reduced the heating level. Bring the liquid to the boil, then slightly turn down the heat before adding the pasta. INTENDED MEANING: Heat the water until it boils before reducing the heat a little and adding the pasta. MEANING 2: To refuse or reject something Another extremely common meaning of 'turn down' is one that you are likely to come across in everyday English and means to refuse, reject or not accept something. Broadly speaking, there are two different ways in which 'turn down' can be used here. The first is when you actively decide to refuse something such as an invitation or an offer. An example of this could be that you are offered a job, however it is in another city and you are not prepared to move house, so you decide to not accept the job, or in other words, you turn it down. Other situations in which this meaning is commonly used would be when you do not accept an invitation to a party, social event or an offer of a place at a university. The second way that 'turn down' is frequently used in English as a way of rejecting something is in the passive sense, i.e. when you apply for something and your application is rejected or turned down. Using the example of a job application again, imagine that you apply for the job of your dreams, however you receive a response from the company advising you that your job application has not been successful. In other words, your application has been turned down. Hopefully you will never be in the above situation, but if you are, it is worth remembering that 'turn down' is quite informal and companies are more likely to say that your "application has not been successful" in their communication to you (as in the above example). Other synonyms that companies may use as an alternative to "turned down", could be "rejected" or "denied". We are more likely to use "turn down" when telling our friends and family about it in a more informal setting. Remember that in the passive form, it is not possible to use 'turned down' separably. Examples of usage.... Unfortunately I have to turn down the kind invitation to your wedding as I will be on vacation on that date. INTENDED MEANING: I cannot come to your wedding as I will be on holiday, so I must decline your invitation. I turned down the offer of a job promotion as I didn't want the extra stress that it would bring. INTENDED MEANING: I did not accept the offer of a promotion because I did not want the extra stress that would come with it. Our application to build an extension on our house has been turned down by the planning office. INTENDED MEANING: The application to build the extension has been rejected. EXTRA TIPS TO SOUND MORE LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER When using "turn down" in the passive sense, as mentioned above, it is also very common to use the construction 'to get turned down' instead of the more standard 'to be turned down'. This is common usage among native speakers in spoken English, although I would say that this is perhaps even more informal than 'be turned down'. Examples of usage.... My army application got turned down because I am not fit enough! INTENDED MEANING: My application to join the army was rejected due to my lack of fitness. What will you do if the application gets turned down? INTENDED MEANING: What will you do if your application is rejected? MEANING 3: To decrease A much rarer meaning of 'turn down' is used specifically to mean a decline or a decrease in the rate of something. This is most frequently used to talk about the stock market, but can also be used to talk about birth and death rates, rates of diseases (e.g. Covid-19) or rates of unemployment. Generally speaking, it could be used with anything that can be plotted on a line graph (showing a decline). Pleas note that this usage of 'turn down' is not separable. Examples of usage.... Investors will lose money if the market turns down. INTENDED MEANING: If there is a general drop in the stock market, investors will lose money on their investments. EXTRA TIPS TO SOUND MORE LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER The reason that I wanted to include this rarer usage of 'turn down' on this post is because it also has a corresponding noun, 'downturn', which is used much more commonly in everyday English than its verb counterpart. Like the verb, 'downturn' is commonly used by native speakers to describe declines in activities and rates, especially across the business and economics world. Example of usage.... In the year 2020 there was a sharp downturn in the world's major economies as the Covid pandemic struck. MEANING 4: To fold or face downward This fourth usage of 'turn down' means to fold something, i.e. to bend something, such as paper or cloth, so that a part of it rests on top of the other. 'Turn down' can be used as a synonym of 'fold' specifically when we are folding the top part of piece of paper in a downward direction, so that it covers a part or all of the top surface. This could be done to hide what is on the paper or to act as a marker. A prime example of this is when people turn down the top corner of a page in a book that they are reading, so that they know which page they last read. This isn't such a common usage, but it is still worth being aware of it. Another way that 'turn down' is used is when you turn something over, such as a piece of paper or a playing card, so that the detail or the information on it is now facing downwards and is not visible to people. This is used a lot in card games. It is also common to use 'turned down' in an adjective form to describe cards that are facing downwards. Examples of usage.... I hate it when people turn down the page corners of their books! Why can't they use a bookmark?! INTENDED MEANING: I hate it when people fold down the corners of book pages. All of the cards must be turned down at the start of the game. INTENDED MEANING: All of the cards must be facing downwards when game begins. MEANING 5: To turn onto a different road An extra way that native speakers use the phrasal verb 'turn down' that you may hear in everyday conversation is when giving directions or talking about a journey. Often when referring to roads and streets, native speakers will use the prepositions 'up' and 'down' to talk about a movement along them (as far as I know, there is no difference between them, it is just something that we do 🤷‍♂️). When talking about turning from one road onto another and also sometimes then driving along it, it is very common to hear native speakers say things like "turn down that road" or "turn down the first road on the left for 100 metres". SAY IT LIKE A NATIVE: TYPICAL EXAMPLES OF HOW 'TURN DOWN' IS USED BY NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS If you can memorise some of the below and use them in a conversation, it will help your English to come across as more natural and like that of a native speaker. You'll need to use your imagination to complete some of them. Can you turn the volume down please? I can't hear myself think! Does anyone mind if I turn the heating down? Turn down the lights! I've turned down a job offer for.... Our application for [noun] has been turned down. I asked [person] out on a date and [pronoun] turned me down 😢 There has been a sharp downturn in..... Take a brief look at your card and then turn it down again. Turn down that road over there! EXERCISE Re-write the following sentences using 'to turn down'.... That oven temperature is too hot, you need to lower it! John refused Roger's offer to buy his company. I really hope that my job application does not get rejected this time! The birth rate decreased during the 1970s. Fold the corner of your test page over so that it covers your answers. You need to take the second road on the right. EXERCISE ANSWERS FROM 'GIVE UP' (other variations may be possible) I have been trying to give up smoking for a year. Helen had to give up reading the psychology book as it was too difficult for her. Don't ever give up on romance, you will find true love one day. I had to give up my car as I could not afford to keep it. The drug dealer went to the police station and gave himself up. Please can everyone give it up for John! HAVE YOU EVER HAD TURNDOWN SERVICE? Before ending this post, I just want to make you aware of one last usage of 'turn down' that you may come across, especially when staying in hotels. Turndown service is where hotel staff enter a guest's room whilst they are out and prepare it for them by making the bed and sometimes even leaving a mint or small chocolate on the guest's pillow. The end result is that the bed is nice and fresh for the guest when they come to sleep in it that evening. That is the end of today's post. Thank you so much for taking the time to read it and I sincerely hope that it has helped you a little bit further on your English learning journey. If you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media, so together we can help as many English learners as possible to understand and master these tricky phrasal verbs. Also, please leave any comments, questions, suggestions or examples of 'turn down' below. I really love reading them. See you next time! James

A detailed explanation of the English phrasal verb 'give up', with examples and exercises. Hello and welcome to my blog on English phrasal verbs. The subject of this week's post is 'to give up'. This common phrasal verb has various different meanings that we will look at in this post, but in all of the different meanings you will see that there is a general idea of stopping something or a situation by choice. So, without further ado, let's go.... KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here THE BASICS As per usual in each post, we'll start by looking at the individual words that make up the phrasal verb 'give up'. Firstly, we have the common verb 'to give', which means to offer or provide something to someone by choice. Implicit in the meaning of the verb 'to give' is that the person who gives no longer has something or is without something once the action is complete. This is an idea that will recur in the idiomatic meanings that we will look at in this post, so it is worth remembering this. Secondly, we have the prepositional particle 'up', meaning a movement in the direction away from the ground or towards the sky ↑. As you may have noted in the table above, there is no literal meaning when these words are combined, so let's dive straight into the figurative meanings.... MEANING 1: To stop doing something (idiomatic) The first usage of 'give up' that we will consider in this post is the one that most people associate with this phrasal verb and means to stop doing something that you regularly do in your life i.e. a habit. This is often a permanent stop, but can also refer to a temporary pause of a habit for a limited period of time. I think that this is most commonly used when someone stops smoking (they give up smoking), but it can also equally be used to describe stopping other long-term habits such as when a person becomes vegetarian (they give up eating meat) or decides to stop drinking alcohol (they give up drinking). You will note from the examples above that the verb following 'give up' is in the gerund form, so make sure you avoid using the infinitive 'to' here as this is incorrect. An alternative to the gerund would be to use the noun of the action that you are 'giving up' e.g. "I am giving up meat" or "I am giving up cigarettes". Another noun that you sometimes hear with this usage of 'give up' is job, work or career. If someone chooses to quit their job for whatever reason, we can use 'give up' to express this. Examples of usage.... I've been trying to give up smoking for 3 months to no avail! INTENDED MEANING: I have been trying to stop smoking for 3 months without any success! I gave up meat and dairy products and became vegan a while back but I really miss cheese. INTENDED MEANING: I have been a vegan for some time now and I miss eating cheese. The doctor told me I need to give up drinking alcohol. INTENDED MEANING: The doctor advised me that it is important for me to quit drinking alcohol. My mum had to give up her job in order to care for my elderly grandparents. INTENDED MEANING: My mum had to quit her job as she needed to spend her time looking after my grandparents. EXTRA TIP TO SOUND MORE LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER Staying on the subject of giving up a job or a career, we use the expression "don't give up your day job" when we want to say to someone that they are not very good at something in a humorous way. This is normally used to criticise someone in a friendly, joking manner and not normally said to cause offence. MEANING 2: To stop trying to do something (idiomatic) This second usage is actually more of a continuation of the previous usage that we have just looked at as it also talks about stopping something, but it is the more specific meaning of to stop trying to do something. Imagine that your car breaks down and instead of calling a mechanic to repair it, you decide that you will repair it yourself. After looking at the engine for an hour to try and understand what the problem is, you decide that you cannot do it and call the mechanic. In other words, you gave up trying to fix the problem. The above example is a typical example of how this usage of 'give up' is used in everyday English, especially because we often use it when we give up trying to do something because we do not think that we can do it. This can often be when we are trying something new or learning how to do something and we find it too difficult, so we give it up. Examples of usage.... I started learning Turkish last month but I gave up when I realised how difficult it was! INTENDED MEANING: I stopped trying to learn Turkish as I realised it was too hard for me. Despite encountering many problems, my Mum didn't give up trying to build her business and it is now doing really well. INTENDED MEANING: Although she had many problems, she did not stop trying to build her business and it is now thriving. EXTRA TIP TO SOUND MORE LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER If you in a situation in an English conversation in which you need to guess the answer to something, the correct way to say that you do not know or that you do not have any more guesses is to say "I give up". This will then signify to the other person that you want to stop trying to guess and they will then (normally) tell you the answer. MEANING 3: To abandon hope This third usage of 'give up' is similar to the first two usages that we have looked at as it also means to stop something. In this case, we are particularly talking about stopping or abandoning hope about something. The thing that distinguishes this from the previous two usages is that we need the extra preposition 'on' here, in order to convey our message, giving us the construction 'to give up on something'. We use this particular construction when we stop hoping that a particular situation is going to change or improve. Consequently, this can also mean that we stop any efforts that we have been making to improve the situation and this can often be inferred in the meaning, (depending on the context). Typical situations in which native speakers use 'give up on' are romantic relationships that are not working, people that they are trying to help without success, plans that are not succeeding and ideas and plans for the future that they decide not to follow up. Examples of usage.... I had given up on the money that my friend owed me, so I was pleasantly surprised when he paid it to me. INTENDED MEANING: I had stopped asking my friend to pay me back the money that he had borrowed from me, so I was very happy when he repaid it to me. Roger fell into some bad ways as a teenager but his mother never gave up on him. INTENDED MEANING: Roger was an unruly teenager but his mother didn't ever stop loving and supporting him and believing in him. I've given up on the idea of becoming a teacher as I don't think it is right career for me. INTENDED MEANING: I have stopped wanting to be a teacher as I do not think it will be suitable for me. MEANING 4: To let someone have something that is yours The next meaning of 'give up' that we will consider is a little bit different to the first three that we have looked at, although it does still fit with the general theme of losing or being without something. For this usage, we use 'give up' to express when we decide to renounce or forgo something that we own so that another person can have it. In other words, we decide that we do not want to (or cannot) own something anymore and therefore make it available for other people. This meaning is often (but not always) used when we give something up against our will i.e. when we do not want to part with it but we have to for some reason. For this reason, it can often convey a negative feeling. Another point to make here is that the focus of this usage is not that we are giving something to another person (in the sense of the verb 'to give'), but rather it is on the idea that we no longer have something because we have let somebody else have it. Another noun that is often used in this way is 'time'. People say that they give up their time when they agree to spend their time doing something for another person or that they do not want to do. It is very common for native speakers to use 'give up' separably in this context, however it should be noted that there is no change in meaning if used separably or inseparably; it is personal choice. Examples of usage.... Due to the economic crisis, John and Helen had to give up their home and move in with Helen's parents. INTENDED MEANING: John and Helen were forced to sell their home and go to live with Helen's parents as a result of the economic crisis. I might have to give my dogs up as I travel so much for my work. INTENDED MEANING: I may no longer be able to keep my dogs due to how much I will travelling for my job and will be away from home. Lisa gave up her free time over the weekend to help her brother paint his house. INTENDED MEANING: Lisa spent her free time helping paint her brother's house at the weekend. MEANING 5: To hand yourself in to the police Our fifth and final usage of 'give up' means to surrender to the police or authority figure for a crime that you have committed. This is used specifically for when a person decides to surrender to the police and willingly goes to the police station to say "it was me, I committed the crime". This could also be used when a person allows themselves to be arrested by the police. For this usage, the relevant reflexive pronoun (myself, himself etc.) needs to be used between 'give' and 'up' and the additional preposition 'to' is required before 'the police'. Examples of usage.... The bank robbers gave themselves up to the police after they realised that they could not evade capture for much longer. INTENDED MEANING: The bank robbers surrendered to police as they knew that the police would capture them soon afterwards. You need to go to the police and give yourself up! INTENDED MEANING: You should go to police and surrender for the crime. BONUS INFORMATION One extra usage of 'give up' that I want to make you aware of is "to give it up for someone", which is a spoken request to a group of people to show their appreciation for someone by clapping, cheering etc. Don't forget to use it with the word 'please' 😜. Another expression that I want to make you aware of is when native speakers say "I give up!" as a way to express that they are frustrated with an unchanging situation or have lost hope about something (as in usage 3). This can range from something that is mildly annoying to something very serious. IDIOM ALERT! Before we reach the end of this post, I want to make you aware of the English idiom 'to give up the ghost'. This is a fairly common expression in English to mean to stop working or to die and is normally used to talk about machines and equipment which stop functioning. If this is used for humans, it is usually used when you stop trying to do something because you realise that it will not be successful. Example of usage.... My laptop has given up the ghost and I am need to go and buy a new one! INTENDED MEANING: My laptop is broken and no longer functioning, so I need to get a replacement. I no longer had the desire or the money to continue my art project, so I simply gave up the ghost on it. INTENDED MEANING: I stopped wanting to work on my art project and also I couldn't afford it, so I stopped it. EXERCISE Re-write the following sentences using 'to give up' I have been trying to stop smoking for a year. Helen had to stop reading the psychology book as it was too difficult for her. Don't ever stop believing in romance, you will find true love one day. I had to sell my car as I could not afford to keep it. The drug dealer went to the police station and admitted his crimes. Please can everyone give John a big round of applause! EXERCISE ANSWERS FROM 'GO ON' (other variations may be possible) What time do you go on? What on earth has been going on here? I don't think I am going to go on studying science next year. As the years and decades went on, people began to forget the war. He didn't stop going on about the blog that he has started. The police think she committed the crime but they don't have much to go on. That is the end of today's post. Thank you so much for taking the time to read it and I sincerely hope that it has helped you a little bit further on your English learning journey. If you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media, so together we can help as many English learners as possible to understand and master these tricky phrasal verbs. Also, please leave any comments, questions, suggestions or examples of 'give up' below. I really love reading them. See you next time! James

Learn how to use the phrasal verb 'GO ON' correctly like a native speaker with a detailed explanation & examples. Hello and welcome to my blog all about English phrasal verbs. In this post we are looking at the phrasal verb 'go on'. 'Go on' is really common in English. We use it a lot in many different ways. During my research for the post I realised that 'go on' has many uses, so it is no surprise that it is one of the most common phrasal verbs in everyday use in the English language. This is a long post, so please stick with it and hopefully you will learn some new ways to use this versatile little construction.... KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here MEANING 1: Literal To begin with, as per usual, let's take a look at the words which make up the phrasal verb "go on" in order to understand its literal meaning. Firstly, we have the super common verb "to go", meaning to travel or move to another place. Then we have the preposition "on", which means to be physically in contact and supported by something. Logically, when we combine these two words, it gives us a number of potential meanings. One of which is moving to a destination or end point which is on something and another is going to a place whilst being on something e.g. a bus or train. Although I mentioned above that 'go on' used literally gives us the meaning of moving to an end point, which is on something, it should be noted that 'get on' is normally used here by native speakers to express this physical movement or period of transition from the start point to the end point which is on something. Consider the examples below: My car has broken down, so I have to go on the bus to work tomorrow. I have broken my leg, so I found it very difficult to get on the bus. In the first example 'go on' is used as the person is talking about travelling on the bus for the entire journey from their home to their work. In the second option 'get on' is needed as the person is referring to the physical movement from the street onto the bus. It should be noted however that 'go on' is normally used to talk about a change of state or to start an activity e.g. 'to go on a diet' or 'to go on holiday'. We also use it to talk about fairground rides such as a roller coaster or a big wheel. EXTRA TIPS TO SOUND MORE LIKE A NATIVE There are a couple of specific situations in which 'go on' is used literally by native speakers and the meaning of this is often derived from the context. The first means to go on to a stage to begin a performance, so it is used to talk about actors, musicians, comedians or anyone giving a performance on a stage. This is used specifically for when someone's performance begins and not for when someone just walks onto a stage for non-performance purposes. The second situation is when a sports player goes on to a field in order to start playing a game. This is more common when they join after the game has started in order to replace another team member, as a substitute. This is commonly used with team games such as football, rugby and American football. Examples of usage.... I go on in 5 minutes, so I don't have time to talk. INTENDED MEANING: My performance starts in 5 minutes, so I can't talk now. The substitute striker went on in the 88th minute and scored the winning goal. INTENDED MEANING: The replacement strike started playing the game right before the end and scored a goal, causing his team to win. MEANING 2: To continue The first idiomatic usage of 'go on' in today's post is one of the most common usages that we will look at and means 'to continue'. Sometimes this can be to talk about a state or specific action which continues in the same way as before without specifying what the state or action is. In these cases we often add the words 'in this way' or 'like this/that' after 'go on'. Examples of usage.... I haven't had a job for several months now. I can't go on like this for much longer! INTENDED MEANING: I cannot continue to survive without any income for very long. How much longer do you think we can go on like this? INTENDED MEANING: How much more time can this situation continue to exist. Alternatively is also very common to specify what the action is that will continue. This can often (but not always) be after a temporary pause in the action. Examples of usage.... I intend to go on learning Mandarin until I am completely fluent. INTENDED MEANING: I want to continue learning Mandarin until I am fluent. Are you just going to go on working there for the rest of your life? INTENDED MEANING: Will you continue to work there for your entire career? I've injured my knee and I need to rest but I intend to go on running when it is better. INTENDED MEANING: Due to a hurt knee I can't jog at the moment but I want to do it again in the future. When stating the action that is continuing, you need to use the 'ing' progressive form of the verb. EXTRA TIP TO SOUND LIKE A NATIVE 'Go on' is commonly used as an imperative to ask someone to continue what they are saying, especially if the person pauses what they are saying temporarily or if they are taking a long time to say it and the other person is impatient to hear the information. Moreover, 'go on!' is also used extremely commonly by native speakers as a way of encouraging someone to do something, particularly if the other person expresses doubts or is reluctant in some way. MEANING 3: To happen This next meaning of 'go on' means 'to happen' or 'to take place' and is really commonly used, so I am sure that you will have heard it many times in conversations. This usage of 'go on' is often used in the progressive or continuous form, however it is also possible to use it with simple and perfect aspect tenses. From my own personal perspective, I think we tend to use 'going on' a lot more when we are describing a present situation that is in progress, whereas we tend to use 'happen' more to talk about future plans or something that happened in the past. This isn't a set rule though and we frequently do use happen and 'go on' interchangeably in all of these situations. Examples of usage.... What's going on here? INTENDED MEANING: What is happening here? This place is a mess, what has been going on? INTENDED MEANING: What has been happening here to have caused such a mess. I'm not sure what is going on outside but it doesn't sound good. INTENDED MEANING: I don't know what is happening outside but it sounds bad. MEANING 4: To talk a lot For this fourth usage of 'go on', we are looking specifically at a usage which is very common in British English and means to to talk a lot, especially if the person is talking about one particular subject which happens to be quite boring. If we want to say that the person talks a lot in a dull or boring way in general as part of their character, we can just say that the person 'goes on', which expresses this feeling very neatly. If the person talks about a particular subject that is boring, then we need the additional preposition 'about + the subject'. If you want to add extra emphasis to how boring the person is, we can repeat the word 'on' ad infinitum, however an extra one or two times is normal. I, personally, tend to use this verb to describe a conversation where the person talks so much that all you want is for it to end. Examples of usage.... Gosh! Professor Smith goes on in his lectures, doesn't he! INTENDED MEANING: The professor has a tendency to talk a lot in a boring way during his lectures. My Dad was going on about politics again last night. INTENDED MEANING: The person's father was talking for a long time about politics in an uninteresting way. Helen was going on and on about her new boyfriend and i couldn't get a word in edgeways.* INTENDED MEANING: Helen was talking incessantly about her new boyfriend and the other person was not able to say anything. * To not be able to get a word in edgeways is an idiom to mean that you cannot say anything during a conversation as the other person is talking too much. EXTRA TIP TO SOUND LIKE A NATIVE 'To go on at someone' is a variation of this usage and is an informal way to mean to repeatedly criticise someone or to complain to someone many times about the way that they behave (in an effort to change their behaviour). It is also possible to repeat the word 'on' here for added emphasis. Again, this usage is mainly British. Examples of usage.... Lisa's keeps going on at her children to tidy up the house but she doesn't ever tidy it up herself. INTENDED MEANING: Lisa shouts at her children repeatedly to clean up the house but she never tidies it up herself. Our parents have been going on and on and on at us for months about when we are going to get married. INTENDED MEANING: The couple's parents are not happy that they are not married and have been asking the couple when they are going to get married for a long time. MEANING 5: To pass (time) Our fifth meaning of 'go on' is perhaps a variation of the second meaning that we looked at, i.e. to continue, however in this particular usage, we are concerned primarily with time, or more specifically, the passing of time. This form is often preceded in sentences with the word 'as' + the time reference. Examples of usage.... As the morning went on, the rain started letting up. INTENDED MEANING: The rain became less intense over time during the morning. There is no reason why the TV show continues to do so well as the years go on. INTENDED MEANING: Nobody knows why the TV show continues to be popular year after year. Apart from time, we are also able to use this form of 'go on' with other nouns that describe something that happens over a period of time. Examples of usage.... As the meeting went on, I became more and more tired. INTENDED MEANING: Over the duration of the meeting I gradually became more tired. Quite a lot of people left the conference as it went on. INTENDED MEANING: A lot of people left the conference over time. MEANING 6: To start working So, moving on to our sixth meaning now....well done if you have made it this far! This next meaning of 'go on' is used particularly with electrical appliances and devices and simply means that they turn on, start working or become operational. This is often (but not always) when they start working without human intervention e.g. automatically or from a timer. If we want to say that a person caused the device to start working, we tend to use 'turn on' more. Examples of usage.... In winter the lights go on at 5pm every evening. INTENDED MEANING: During winter the lights start working at 5pm each day (this could be automatically). The washing machine goes on every night as it is cheaper than during the daytime. INTENDED MEANING: The person uses the washing machine overnight to save money. A COUPLE OF EXTRA SPECIFIC USAGES Do you think you can do a few more? There are some other usages of 'go on' that I want to make you aware of. These are quite limited in their scope and so I don't think they need entire sections to themselves. The first meaning is to do with information and if you have enough of it to be able to make a decision or take action about something. If we have a lot of information in order to make a decision we would say "we have a lot to go on" and if we do not have much information, we might say "we don't have much to go on". The next meaning involves adding the extra preposition 'to', to give 'to go on to', which is used to talk about something that a person did after doing something else. This is often used to talk about people's careers or different achievements and accomplishments in their lives. It can also be used to talk about when people go to a second destination after they have been somewhere else first. The third and final additional meaning (and final meaning in this post) is used to talk about people's ages, especially when they act a lot older than they are in reality. For example, if someone talks about how old their child is, they might say "she's 10, going on 20", to mean that she acts a lot more like an adult than a normal 10-year old. This usage is always used in the 'ing' progressive form. Examples of usage.... The police didn't have much to go on but they arrested the suspected murderer nevertheless. INTENDED MEANING: The police had little evidence but arrested the suspected killer regardless. After finishing his Masters degree in English, John went on to teach at his local university. INTENDED MEANING: John obtained a Masters degree in English and then he became a teacher. We are going to Greece for a week and then going on to Italy for an extra few days to see friends. INTENDED MEANING: We will have a vacation in Greece and after that we will go to see some friends in Italy. My son is three years old going on thirty. INTENDED MEANING: My son is three but comes across as a lot older than he is. SPEAK LIKE A NATIVE: TYPICAL EXAMPLES OF HOW 'TO GO ON' IS USED BY NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS If you can memorise some of the below and use them in a conversation, it will help your English to come across as more natural and like that of a native speaker. You'll need to use your imagination to complete some of them. Are you going on the [fairground ride]? I went to [place] on the bus today. I am going to go on [verb + ing]... What the hell is going on here? [person] was going on and and on! You do go on sometimes ! I felt worse and worse as they day went on. The lights always go on at end of the night. Is that all we have got to go on? We are thinking about going on to [place] after here. EXERCISE: Re-write the following sentences using “to go on' What time does your performance start? What on earth has been happening here? I don't think I am going to continue studying science next year. As the years and decades passed people began to forget the war. He didn't stop talking about the blog that he has started. The police think she committed the crime but they don't have much evidence. EXERCISE ANSWERS FROM 'BREAK DOWN' (other variations may be possible) The lorry driver noticed steam coming from his lorry's engine shortly before it broke down. In order for Roger to finish his project on time, he needs to break down the project into different steps. The enzyme breaks down to nothing over a period of 24 hours. My relationship with my boss has been breaking down since we came back to the office after the pandemic. The only way that Lisa could reach the neighbours garden to rescue her cat was to use a sledgehammer to break down the fence. I broke down in the middle of the meeting in front of all my colleagues. That is the end of today's post. Thank you so much for taking the time to read it and I sincerely hope that it has helped you a little bit further on your English learning journey. If you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media, so together we can help as many English learners as possible to understand and master these tricky phrasal verbs. Also, please leave any comments, questions, suggestions or examples of 'go on' below. I really love reading them. See you next time!

Learn how to use the phrasal verb 'break down' correctly like a native speaker with a detailed explanation & examples. Hello and welcome to this instalment of Phrasal Verbs Explained; a blog which aims to help you understand English phrasal verbs in a clear and coherent way, so that you can use them to improve your language level and sound more like a native speaker. In today's post, we are looking at 'to break down', which is very common as both a phrasal verb and a noun. We will take a look at both of these in today's post, so without further ado, let's get started.... KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here Before we dive into the different idiomatic meanings of 'break down', it is always a good idea to look at the individual words which form it. Firstly, we have the verb "to break", which is a common verb that has a few different meanings, however the main idea of the verb 'to break' means to stop something working, functioning or existing as it did before. This can be something physical such as a cell phone or a leg, or it can be something abstract such as a promise or an agreement. We then have the prepositional particle 'down', which as an adverb means to be in a lower position or place ⬇️ and as a preposition means to move from a higher place to a lower place. So, now we have that part out of the way, let's look at the different idiomatic meanings that we have when we combine these words to form our phrasal verb 'break down'. MEANING 1: To stop working The first meaning of 'break down' that we will look at in this post is that which means to stop working or functioning. This is used specifically for machinery, equipment and vehicles. In my native speaker brain this is the first meaning that I think of when I think about the phrasal verb 'break down', probably because it is the most commonly used of all the meanings that we will look at. To be even more specific, this is most commonly used to talk about cars which have developed a fault and stopped working, although it can be used for any vehicle or machinery. Examples of usage.... Help! My car has broken down on the side of the freeway! INTENDED MEANING: My car has stopped working and is now on the side of a main road. The President's airplane broke down and had to be repaired, so was two hours later departing. INTENDED MEANING: The President's airplane stopped working and could not fly, so was repaired meaning that it left 2 hours later than scheduled. MEANING 2: To make into smaller parts Ok, for this second meaning imagine that you have a really big project that you are working on, which will involve a lot of time and effort. In order to work on this project in an efficient way, it is often a good strategy to break it down into smaller tasks, which you can then work on methodically, in order to complete the main project. The above example is a typical way that we use the second meaning of 'break down', which means to take something large or complex and make (or break) it into smaller parts, so that it can be dealt with or managed more easily and efficiently. Typical usage of this second meaning of 'break down' is with complex questions, big projects and procedures. In addition, it is also possible to physically break something down into smaller pieces, e.g a cardboard box or some flatpack furniture. Note that when using this meaning we require the additional preposition 'into' with the smaller parts that are the end result of the 'breaking down' process. Examples of usage.... In order to effectively answer this complex question, we need to break it down into smaller subsections. INTENDED MEANING: To answer this complicated question well we need to divide it into different parts. The process will be a lot smoother if you can break it down into small and manageable steps. INTENDED MEANING: If you can divide the process into steps, it will be easier to finish. I had to break the large box down into smaller pieces, so that it would fit inside bin. INTENDED MEANING: I had to take the box apart as it was too big to fit inside the bin as a whole. MEANING 3: To disintegrate to nothing Our third meaning of 'break down' is very similar to the second meaning that we have just looked at and also means that something gets smaller. The difference here however is that in this meaning the pieces continue to get smaller and smaller until they disappear or stop existing. This meaning is normally one that you will hear in scientific language as it is used for things like chemicals, proteins and elements. Another key difference between this third meaning and the second meaning is that there is no direct object here as nobody is making or causing the thing to break down - it happens naturally or at least without human intervention. Examples of usage.... Proteins breaks down into glucose in the body. Plastic breaks down in the oceans, however it is an extremely long process. MEANING 4: To fail For meaning number four of the phrasal verb 'break down', we are returning again to the core meaning of the verb 'to break', as well as the first meaning that we looked at. Like both of these, this fourth usage also means to stop functioning, but the difference here is that we are not talking about physical objects, but rather abstract ideas and concepts. It is extremely common to use 'break down' in this way with abstract nouns such as relationships, discussions, and negotiations when they fail, are not successful or do not work out as originally planned. Examples of usage.... Discussions between the two political parties broke down on the second day and abruptly ended. INTENDED MEANING: Due to irreconcilable differences between the two parties, the discussions became ineffective and were suddenly cancelled. Helen and John's marriage broke down when he found out that she had been carrying on with Lisa. INTENDED MEANING: The marriage began to fail once John learned of Helen's affair. MEANING 5: To remove an obstruction with force The next meaning that we are going to look at of the phrasal verb 'break down' is reserved especially for obstacles and barriers. If we have something that stands in our way and which we cannot get past, it is possible to use 'break down', to mean to demolish or reduce the barrier by using force, in order to remove it This is often used with physical nouns such as walls, barriers and doors, however it can also be used with abstract barriers such as barriers in society for people who are repressed in some way. Examples of usage.... The police broke down the door to Roger's apartment. INTENDED MEANING: The police used force to demolish the door to the flat in order to enter inside it. She is a trailblazer who has broken down many barriers for women in her industry over the last 40 years. INTENDED MEANING: The lady has been an innovator in her industry and has changed the possibilities and potential for women in her industry over the last four decades. MEANING 6: To start crying Our sixth and final meaning of 'break down' means to start crying or to become emotional. This is something that we tend to use more for adults, rather than children, as I think it is used more to describe when a person loses control of their emotions due to a stressful or unpleasant experience in their life and it conveys a level of seriousness that we don't always associate with children crying. We do not always use it for sad crying, however it can also equally be used for when we start crying because we are overcome with happy emotions. This form of 'break down' is intransitive and does not have a direct object, so if you hear in a conversation that a person has broken down with no immediate object afterwards, you can be certain that the person is crying or emotional. It is also common to hear the expression 'to break down in tears', however 'break down' on its own is fine to use. Examples of usage.... Is John ok? He just broke down in the middle of the office! INTENDED MEANING: Jon started crying in the middle of the office. John broke down in tears of joy when his son was born. INTENDED MEANING: John began to cry when his son was born as he was overcome with happiness. EXTRA TIPS TO SOUND MORE LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER You may remember that at the start of the post I mentioned that 'breakdown' is also commonly used as a noun in English. When using it as a noun, we treat it as one word and the pronunciation is slightly different to when we use it in its phrasal verb form. When used as a noun, native speakers put slightly more stress on 'break' and less on 'down' than they do for the phrasal verb form, in which both parts have a similar level of word stress. See the video below to hear the pronunciation: Used as a noun, breakdown is commonly used to talk about cars which have broken down, relationships or negotiations which have failed and you may also have heard of nervous breakdowns, which refer to when people become overwhelmed by stress in their lives. It should be noted that a nervous breakdown is not classed as an official medical term in English and may be referred to by health officials as a 'mental health crisis' instead. Examples of usage.... Do you have adequate breakdown insurance cover for your car? A breakdown in negotiations occurred as neither side was willing to change their mind and reach a compromise. John is sending me a breakdown of all of the supplier costs from the last month. SPEAK LIKE A NATIVE: TYPICAL EXAMPLES OF HOW 'BREAK DOWN' IS USED BY NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS If you can memorise some of the below and use them in a conversation, it will help your English to come across as more natural and like that of a native speaker. You'll need to use your imagination to complete some of them. My car has broken down! Let me break it down for you. We need to break the [noun] down into manageable steps. The police broke down the doors. [Person] has broken down many barriers in society. [Person] broke down in tears when.... [Person] broke down in tears in front of.... EXERCISE Re-write the following sentences using 'to break down'.... The lorry driver noticed steam coming from his lorry's engine shortly before it stopped working. In order for Roger to finish his project on time, he needs to divide the project into different steps. The enzyme disintegrates to nothing over a period of 24 hours. My relationship with my boss has been getting worse and worse since we came back to the office after the pandemic. The only way that Lisa could reach the neighbours garden to rescue her cat was to use a sledgehammer to demolish the fence. I started crying in the middle of the meeting in front of all my colleagues. (Answers are available here) ANSWERS FROM PUT OFF (other variations may be possible) Can we put the video call off until 3.30pm please. John and Helen's date was going well until John started swearing, which really put Helen off him. I used to go to the same barber every time I had my hair cut but the last time I went he didn't cut it very well and so I've been put off going back to him. We wanted to go and see Ed Sheeran in concert but after we saw the price of the tickets, we were put off. My wife always talks to me and puts me off when i am doing the crossword in the newspaper. Airline pilots need to fully concentrate during take-off and landing and cannot let themselves get put off by anything. That is the end of today's post. Thank you so much for taking the time to read it and I sincerely hope that it has helped you a little bit further on your English learning journey. If you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media, so together we can help as many English learners as possible to understand and master these tricky phrasal verbs. Also, please leave any comments, questions, suggestions or examples of 'break down' below. I really love reading them. See you next time!

A detailed explanation of how to use the phrasal verb 'put off' correctly like a native speaker. Hello and welcome to this instalment of Phrasal Verbs Explained; a blog which aims to help you understand English phrasal verbs in a clear and coherent way, so that you can use them to improve your language level and sound more like a native speaker. The post this week is all about the phrasal verb 'to put off' and in it we will look its three main meanings and how they are used in everyday English. So, let's not put it off any longer and let's go.... KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here You will notice in the above table that 'put off' does not have a literal meaning in English, so before we look at its different idiomatic meanings, I think it is a good idea as a starting point to consider the two words which make up this common phrasal verb. Let's start with the verb 'to put', which means to move something to a place or into a particular position. I am sure that you are extremely familiar with this verb as it is in common use in everyday English, but nonetheless I have given you a couple of examples below to refresh your memory. Examples of usage.... Lisa put her drink on the table. Can you put your dirty clothes in the washing bin please. Accompanying our verb 'put' for this phrasal verb is the prepositional particle 'off', which, like a lot of English prepositions, has many different uses. The use that we are concerned with here for this phrasal verb is when off conveys the idea of moving away from something. Now that we have briefly looked at the constituent words of 'put off', let's move on to see what the different idiomatic meanings are in English and how native speakers use them. MEANING 1: To postpone something (idiomatic) The first meaning that we are going to look at of 'put off' is the usage to mean to delay, postpone or push something that is planned back to a later time or date. As I mentioned above, this is normally used when something is planned and someone decides to delay or postpone it. This is commonly used with meetings, visits and appointments, so logically, this means that it is commonly used a lot in the business world. In terms of formality, it is less formal than 'postpone' or 'delay', but is still completely fine to use it in business English without sounding too informal. We also often use it when we are hesitating about doing something that we are don't want to do or are afraid to. For example, we may put off going to the gym or telling somebody something that they may react negatively to. I would say from my perspective as a native speaker that 'put off' tends to be used by native speakers when a decision has been made by someone to postpone something, rather than something being delayed due to something outside of a person's control. For example, we tend not to say that an airplane has been put off if it is late to depart, but rather that is has been delayed. To 'put off' is a separable phrasal verb and we frequently insert the direct object between 'put' and 'off' to express the thing that we want to move to a later time or date. It is also fine to add the direct object after 'put off', however it is less common to do so. Examples of usage.... John was very busy so he decided to put the appraisal meeting off until the next day. INTENDED MEANING: Due to his busy workload, John decided to delay his appraisal meeting. The customer visit has been put off until next month. INTENDED MEANING: The visit to the customer will now not take this month, but rather next month. We weren't ready to start the party at 7pm, so we put it off by an hour until 8pm. INTENDED MEANING: As we were not ready, we decided to delay that start of the party by one hour. I've been putting off telling you this as I was worried about your reaction. INTENDED MEANING: I've postponed telling you this on several occasions because I feared your negative reaction. PROVERB ALERT! A common proverb which exists in English is 'don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today'. You can probably understand its meaning, but just in case you are not sure, it means that we should not delay, postpone or put things off that we can do right now and there are certainly times when I wish I had taken this advice in the past. MEANING 2: To make someone dislike something (idiomatic) The second usage of 'put off' that we are looking at in today's post means to make someone dislike something, usually when they did like it to begin with. It is common to use this when we have a negative experience of something, which makes us not like it anymore. Examples of this could be if you eat some bad food, which then makes you sick and you no longer want to eat that food again or if you have a negative experience in a city or country which makes you no longer like it or want to visit there again. In both of these cases you started to dislike, or were put off, the food / country due to the negative experience and perhaps the reminder that they give you of it. When using 'put off' in this way, we often need to use a direct object, which is the person who starts to dislike or dislikes the item. For this we either need object pronouns (me, him, her etc.) or the name of the person. Examples of usage.... I can't drink beer anymore. I had a really bad experience with it, which put me off it for life. INTENDED MEANING: I don't want to drink beer anymore. I used to like drinking it but I had a negative experience with it, which made me stop wanting to drink it. The high prices of train fares have put many commuters off taking the train to work and they are now commuting by car instead. INTENDED MEANING: Due to the expensive price of train tickets, many people have stopped using the trains to go to work and have started to drive instead. In addition to using 'put off' to talk about disliking something that we once liked, we can also use it to talk about when we stop wanting to do something that we wanted to do beforehand. In this case we are generally talking about being put off the idea of doing something. Examples of usage.... Helen wanted to go to university in the USA but was put off the idea when she learned how much it would cost. INTENDED MEANING: Helen no longer wants to go and study in America because of the high costs. We thought about going to the new steak restaurant in town but we've been put off a bit by the bad reviews online. INTENDED MEANING: We were considering having a meal in the new restaurant but the negative reviews that we have read have made us reconsider. MEANING 3: To distract someone (idiomatic) The third and final meaning of 'put off' that we are looking at in today's post is when we use it to mean to distract someone or cause someone to stop concentrating on something. Imagine that you are trying to revise for an exam and you are concentrating very hard when suddenly a person in the next room starts playing some loud music. You become distracted by the music and you could then say that the music has put you off. This is a very common way to express that something has distracted you from doing something, especially in spoken English. Although this meaning can often be used interchangeably with 'distract', I would say that the meaning of 'put off' is slightly different as it doesn't just mean to cause you stop you concentrating on something, but can also mean to stop you being able to do something properly because something is diverting your attention and you can't focus. A great example of this happens to me whenever someone watches me type. I instantly start to make spelling mistakes, even though normally I am perfectly capable of typing the same words when nobody is watching me. This is because I know that they are watching, which puts me off. Note that we normally need to use this meaning separably, with the person who is distracted being inserted between put and off. Like with the previous meaning, this would either be the direct object pronoun (me, him, her etc.) or the name of the person. If we do use this version separably, it sounds wrong and unnatural, so try and avoid doing this. Examples of usage.... Can you please be quiet, you're putting me off my revision! INTENDED MEANING: The noise that you are making is preventing me from concentrating on my revision so please stop! The snooker player missed the winning shot and blamed the crowd, saying that their chattering put him off. INTENDED MEANING: The snooker player said that the reason he missed the winning shot was because the talking from the crowd distracted him. Whenever somebody watches me type, it always puts me off and I start making a lot of mistakes. INTENDED MEANING: When I know that someone is watching me type, it stops me from focusing entirely on the typing and I make errors. EXTRA TIPS TO SOUND MORE LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER When we want to follow 'put off' with a verb to talk about an action, the verb needs to be in the gerund (ing) form. This applies to all three of the meanings that we have looked at above. I was put off smoking when I saw the damage it does to people as they get older. We put off calling the angry customer for an hour in order to let him calm down. USE IT LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER! TYPICAL WAYS 'TO PUT OFF' IS USED IN ENGLISH Memorise and use the sentences below in conversations to help your English come across as more natural and fluent.... Can we put off the [noun] until..... The [noun] has been put off until.... We have put this off for too long, we need to do it now. That has really put me off my food. I wanted to do it but I got put off by.... I did like him at first but seeing the way he treated his family really put me off him. Don't let one bad experience put you off! Has that put you off or do you still want to go ahead? His talking really puts me off my work. Stop laughing at me when I am doing my speech, it's putting me off! I have had to turn my phone off as the constant notifications kept putting me off! EXERCISE Re-write the following sentences using 'to put off'.... Can we postpone the video call until 3.30pm please. John and Helen's date was going well until John started swearing, which really made Helen decide that he wasn't the man for her. I used to go to the same barber every time I had my hair cut but the last time I went he didn't cut it very well and so I've decided not to use him again. We wanted to go and see Ed Sheeran in concert but after we saw the price of the tickets, we changed our minds. My wife always talks to me and distracts me when i am doing the crossword in the newspaper. Airline pilots need to fully concentrate during take-off and landing and cannot let themselves get distracted by anything. For the answers click here ANSWERS FROM GET OFF PART 2 (other variations may be possible) Roger drank too much coffee yesterday and struggled to get off to sleep last night. My secretary will ensure to get the signed document off to you today. The burglar really gets off on the thrill of stealing money from rich people. I got a new guitar off my wife for my birthday this year! The cricket game got off to a terrible start as it started to rain five minutes after play commenced. We were supposed to be brainstorming marketing ideas for the new product but got off the subject and started talking about the company's debts instead. That is the end of today's post. Thank you so much for taking the time to read it and I sincerely hope that it has helped you a little bit further on your English learning journey. If you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media, so together we can help as many English learners as possible to understand and master these tricky phrasal verbs. Also, please leave any comments, questions, suggestions or examples of 'put off' below. I really love reading them. See you next time!

A detailed explanation of how to use the phrasal verb 'get off' correctly like a native speaker. This is the second of two parts....for the first part click here. Hello and welcome to this instalment of Phrasal Verbs Explained; a blog which aims to help you understand English phrasal verbs in a clear and coherent way, so that you can use them to improve your English and sound more like a native speaker. This week's post is the second part of my focus on the phrasal verb 'get off', which has so many meanings that it wasn't possible (or fair) to list them all on one blog post. So to recap, in part one, posted last week, we looked at the two literal forms of 'get off', plus the meanings of to leave, to finish work, to have time off from work and to receive a less severe punishment than expected. With all that in mind, let's now take a look at the other meanings of 'get off'.... KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here MEANING 7: To fall asleep (idiomatic) So we are going to start today's post with our seventh meaning of 'get off', which means to fall asleep, normally after finding it difficult to do so. It is often used by frustrated and tired English speakers when they did not have much sleep the night before because it took them a long time to 'get off to sleep'. It is not always used in a negative way however and could also be used to say that we fell asleep immediately or in the same way that we usually do. You may also be familiar with the expression 'to get to sleep', which is also commonly used by native speakers and means the same thing. There is no difference in the meaning here that I can tell; I just think that 'get off to sleep' sounds a little nicer. Example of usage.... I didn't get to sleep until about midnight last night! It is also possible to use a direct object here when talking about making another person go to sleep (through comfort and not boredom). As you can probably imagine from the context, this is normally used by adults referring to babies and small children. Examples of usage.... It took me so long to get off to sleep last night. I am absolutely shattered* today! INTENDED MEANING: I did not fall asleep for a long time last night, so today I am very tired. She was so tired that she got off to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. INTENDED MEANING: She fell asleep as soon as she got into bed as she was so tired. Lisa tried all night to get her daughter off to sleep but nothing worked. INTENDED MEANING: Lisa tried to make her baby go to sleep for the whole night without success. * Shattered is an informal adjective meaning very tired or exhausted. MEANING 8 : To send something (idiomatic) Ok, so now we are on to meaning eight of the phrasal verb 'get off'. As you can see, it is very versatile and has a large number of different uses, so I hope you are keeping up 🤪. This eighth meaning of 'get off' means to send something and this is normally in reference to an email, parcel or a letter in the post. This usage is a little informal, however it is still fine to use in a professional work environment, apart from perhaps official documentation and legal documents. Another similar phrasal verb that could be used as an interchangeable synonym here is 'send off', with no real change in meaning. For this usage, we usually also need to add the extra preposition 'to' and the name of the recipient. Examples of usage.... I have written the email and will get it off to my manager shortly. INTENDED MEANING: The email to my manager is ready to send and I will send it very soon. We have got a birthday card off to him in the post, so he should receive it in the next couple of days. INTENDED MEANING: His birthday card has been sent in the post and should be delivered in the next few days. MEANING 9: To enjoy something intensely (idiomatic) For our ninth usage, we need to add the additional preposition 'on', to give us 'to get off on something', which means to enjoy something intensely. This is an informal way of describing when people get an element of excitement or a buzz from doing something and can often be used for something sexual in nature. We also use it to talk about criminals' enjoyment of the crimes that they commit, bosses and senior employees in companies who enjoy the power that they have or also when someone enjoys a type of drug or natural high. The main idea behind this usage however, is that the enjoyment experienced by the person is intense. Examples of usage.... My friend gets off on true crime podcasts. He really loves them. INTENDED MEANING: My friend very much enjoys listening to true crime podcasts. Lisa's boss loves the power of his position; he really gets off on it. INTENDED MEANING: Lisa's boss intensely enjoys the feeling of power that he has. MEANING 10: To French kiss someone (idiomatic) Ok bear with me, we are nearly there now... For the tenth meaning on our whistle-stop tour* of the phrasal verb 'get off', we are looking at a usage which is particular to British English and means to French kiss someone i.e. to kiss someone using tongues in a romantic or sexual way. This would be the equivalent of 'make out' in American English. For this usage, the additional preposition 'with' is required in order to say who the amorous person was kissing. From my experience, this is mainly used by teenagers and young adults and is not something that you are likely to hear often, so let's move on to the final meaning of 'get off'. *A whistle-stop tour is a tour on which someone visits many different places in a short period MEANING 11: To be given something by someone (idiomatic) So, now we come to the last meaning of 'get off' that we are going to look at on this blog post....give yourselves a pat on the back for coming this far! Only one more to go! We use this final meaning of 'get off' to express when a person gives us something or when we receive something from another person. It is also possible to use it when we take something from someone, however this is only with their consent and would not normally be used to talk about stealing something from them. A direct object is required here to express the item that we are getting or receiving and this needs to go between 'get' and 'off'. This could be something that somebody gives us, like a birthday present or alternatively it could be something that we need to get from somebody else for a work purpose. This form is an alternative (and perhaps more informal) form of to get something from someone. Examples of usage.... I got some lovely birthday presents off my parents this year. INTENDED MEANING: My parents gave me some nice presents. John: Where did you get that cake? Lisa: I got it off Helen, she has brought some homemade cakes into the office today. INTENDED MEANING: Lisa had one of the cakes that Helen had made at home and brought into the office. Can you go and get the signed report off the CEO before you leave today, please. INTENDED MEANING: The person is being asked to ask the CEO to give him the signed report. SPEAK LIKE A NATIVE: TYPICAL EXAMPLES OF HOW 'TO GET OFF' IS USED BY NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS. Memorise and use the sentences below in conversations to help your English come across as more natural and fluent.... It took me so long to get off to sleep last night! No matter what I try, I just can't seem to get off to sleep. I will get this off to you straight away! Can you get this [letter / email] off to [person] as soon as possible. [person] really gets off on [noun]! Can you go and get the [noun] off [person]. I got a [noun] off [person] for my birthday. EXTRA INFORMATION TO SOUND LIKE A NATIVE Before finishing the post, I just want to make you aware of another couple of common expressions that native speakers often use with 'get off'.... To get off to a good / bad start = This expression is used all the time by native speakers to say if something has started well or badly. Other adjectives to mean good or bad are also perfectly acceptable to use here. Examples of usage.... The English football team got off to a good start in the World Cup but then crashed out in the semi finals. My day got off to a really bad start when my alarm did not go off and I overslept! To get off the subject = To start talking about discussing things during a conversation which are not relevant to the main subject being discussed. It is also possible to use the alternative "to get off topic", which means the same. Examples of usage.... We started talking about the current political situation but somehow we got off the subject and ended up talking about online videos. We seem to have gotten off topic, can we get back to the subject at hand please! Where do you get off? = This is an idiomatic expression that native speakers use when they want to express to someone that they feel that they are being rude, impolite or patronising towards them. In other words, what gives you the right to treat me like that? This idiom is often followed by the verb in the continuous form. Examples of usage.... Where do you get off talking to me like that?! Where does she get off trying to tell us what to do! She is not our manager! EXERCISE Re-write the following sentences using 'to get off': Roger drank too much coffee yesterday and struggled to fall asleep last night. My secretary will make sure that the signed document is sent to you today. The burglar really enjoys the thrill of stealing money from rich people. I received a new guitar from my wife for my birthday this year! The cricket game started terribly as it started to rain five minutes after play commenced. We were supposed to be brainstorming marketing ideas for the new product but ended up talking about the company's debts. The answers are available here EXERCISE ANSWERS FROM GET OFF PART 1 (other variations may be possible) We have to get off the train at London King's Cross station. The lid on the beer bottle is stuck fast, I can't get it off! I am not going to get off work until 6.30pm today and it looks like I am not going to be able to get tomorrow off either! It's 4.45pm, so I think I should get off now to avoid the rush hour traffic. When Lisa listens to classical music it gets her mind off the stress of her job. The fraudster got off with a sentence of 3 months in prison; a punishment that was much less severe than everybody had predicted. That is the end of today's post. Thank you so much for taking the time to read it and I sincerely hope that it has helped you a little bit further on your English learning journey. If you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media, so together we can help as many English learners as possible to understand and master these tricky phrasal verbs. Also, please leave any comments, questions, suggestions or examples of 'get off' below. I really love reading them. See you next time!