An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'carry on' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context
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Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them.
This post focuses on the phrasal verb 'carry on', which has a surprising number of meanings in English. In this post, I will explain each one and give you lots of example sentences to enable you to master them and impress your English-speaking friends with your amazing phrasal verb skills! So, without further ado, let's get started....
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CARRY ON: KEY INFORMATION For an explanation of the terms in the table, click here
Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 5 |
Separable | Sometimes |
Past forms | Carried on / Carried on |
Photo: Pexels
THE BASICS
Before we carry on with the meanings of 'carry on' (do you see what I did there 😉), let's first take a moment to consider what the individual words 'carry' and 'on' mean on their own.
Firstly, we have the base verb 'to carry', which means to hold or support something or someone and transport it (or them) from one place to another. It is a regular verb that is also very frequently found in phrasal verb constructions such as carry on, carry out and carry off.
I can't walk anymore, can you carry me?
John carried his baby son home from the hospital.
Sarah couldn't wave to her friend as she was carrying bags of shopping
Who wants to help me to carry this sofa into the other room?
Secondly, we have the prepositional particle 'on', which is a word that you will all be familiar with as it is extremely widespread in English, with a huge number of different meanings and applications. When used in phrasal verbs, 'on' can convey various meanings, such as continuation (keep on), support (count on) and beginning (set on), among others.
So, now that we have looked at the basics, let's carry on with the post and look at the different meanings of 'carry on'....
MEANING 1: Literal
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CEFR Language Level | A2 - Elementary |
Usage | Rare |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To bring on, to take on |
Separable? | Yes |
We are going to start with a rarer meaning of 'carry on' as it is just the literal meaning of the two words combined i.e. 'to move or transport something with you whilst getting or moving on to something'.
From my perspective as a native speaker, I would say that the use of this literal version in English is mainly limited to when we take or carry items with us on to public transport. If you have ever flown on an airplane, you may recognise the term 'carry-on luggage', to describe the bags or luggage that you are permitted to take with you to your seat or into the cabin.
You should note that this only applies to public transport that we travel on. As English learners, you will know that English prepositions are rarely logical 😵💫, and public transport is a good example of this. In many other languages, the preposition 'in' is (logically) used to talk about most forms of public transport, however English is different and we tend to use 'on' for many of these (despite being physically inside!).
To help you with this, I have included the table below, which shows which preposition we use for common types of transport:
ON | IN |
Bus | Car |
Train | Train carriage |
Airplane | Airplane cabin |
Boat / Ship | |
Tram | |
Subway | |
As a general rule, if you can stand up and walk around on a mode of transport, we use 'on'. If we are not able to stand up and walk around, we say 'in'.
You may have also heard the common variation 'to carry onto' being used here. This does mean the same thing, however it simply adds additional emphasis to the movement from the start and end points.
From June 2024 all aeroplane passengers will be able to carry two-litre bottles of liquids on planes in their hand luggage.
John's leg was broken, so his friends had to carry him onto the airplane. (the use of onto emphasises that his friends carried him from the ground up the steps and onto the plane).
MEANING 2 : To Continue
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CEFR Language Level | B1 - Intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To continue, to keep, to keep on, to persevere, to maintain, to keep going |
Separable? | Sometimes |
Some of you may be familiar with the expression featured in the photo above "keep calm and carry on" as it is one that often appears on t-shirts, mugs and internet memes. To clarify, in case you are not sure, it means 'to keep calm and continue' as this second meaning of 'carry on' is exactly that.
This second application is very common in spoken language and so if you have heard 'carry on' being used before by a native speaker, it is probable that it is this one.
Grammatically, when used this way, 'carry on' is normally followed by a dynamic (action) verb, which needs to be in the 'ing' progressive form. Alternatively, it can also be followed by the preposition 'with' + a noun or a pronoun such as 'it' or 'this'.
The President carried on answering the diplomat's questions until the end of the meeting.
The team have to carry on playing even if it rains or snows.
Despite the power cut, we carried on working as we wanted to get the job finished.
The horror movie was so scary that I couldn't carry on watching it and had to leave the room.
Do you want to carry on with the work tomorrow as it is getting late now?
Ok everyone, we will have to carry on with this tomorrow as we are out of time.
From my perspective as a native speaker, I would say that 'carry on' is less formal than continue and I would therefore recommend avoiding it in formal writing and official documents.
In spoken English however, 'carry on' is perfectly acceptable to use in a business or work environment and is very common in both British and American English.
John, can you please carry on working on the project this week because we need to present it to the board of directors next week.
Lisa will be leaving the company at the end of the month but she has promised to carry on updating the website until her last day.
IS THE IDIOMATIC VERSION SEPARABLE?
'Carry on' is a separable phrasal verb, however English speakers tend not to separate it very often. If the object of the verb is a pronoun, then the pronoun always goes between 'carry' and 'on'. In this case a verb in the continuous 'ing' form is not required.
I have temporarily stopped doing yoga but I intend to carry it on after my holiday
The most common pronoun with 'carry on' tends to be 'it', but others may be possible depending on the context. Apart from this, there is no difference in meaning if you use it separably or not; this is just at the speaker's discretion.
I want to carry on learning English until I can speak like a native speaker.
Do you want me to carry on writing this report?
We will carry this conversation on later this evening.
She first started taking acting lessons when she moved to Los Angeles but she hated it and had no intention of carrying it on.
WHAT IF WE WANT TO USE IT AS AN IMPERATIVE?
If you want to tell someone to continue what they are doing in the form of a command, "carry on!" is the more natural way to do this. Native speakers will often say this rather than "continue!", which sounds a bit colder and more formal.
Alternatively, 'keep going!' is another natural sounding synonym to 'carry on' that you could use to sound like a native.
MEANING 3 : To Misbehave
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CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Rare |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To act up, to play up, to misbehave, to conduct |
Separable? | No |
For those learners who want to go the extra mile* to learn as much English as humanly possible, there are another three, rarer meanings of carry on that I want to make you aware of in this post.
The first of these means to behave (or to misbehave) in a way that other people disapprove of. This application is very informal is often used to describe people who are a bit too emotional, who talk too much or who get too drunk. Regardless of the particular activity, the idea behind it is that the speaker who is talking about the action is a bit irritated or annoyed by the person's behaviour. Sometimes, the behaviour isn't even specified; the use of 'carrying on' is just used to imply that the speaker disliked the person's behaviour and the listener is free to fill in the gaps!
From a grammatical perspective, this usage is always used in the progressive form.
She drank too much wine and started carrying on in front of my family. I was so embarrassed!
Stop carrying on like a spoilt child and act your age!
The neighbours were carrying on loudly all night, and no one could get any sleep.
The children were carrying on so much at the restaurant that other diners began to leave.
* To go the extra mile is an idiom meaning to make an extra effort in order to do or achieve a goal
MEANING 4 : To behave like nothing has happened
Photo: Pexels
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Rare |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To behave |
Separable? | No |
In the last section, we looked at how 'carry on' can mean to misbehave or act in a way that people may disapprove of, however in some contexts it can also serve as a synonym for the verb 'to behave'. Specifically, we often use it to describe when a significant change occurs in someone's life but they ignore it and continue to behave in the same way as they did before, often not acknowledging the change or life event.
Typical examples of when native speakers would use this would be after receiving a diagnosis of a serious illness, after the death of a close relative or friend or after something stressful or unpleasant happens in general that would ordinarily be very stressful for the majority of people.
Conversely, it is also possible to use it for good news, such as winning the lottery, although this is much rarer.
When used this way carry on is normally followed by conjunctions 'like', 'as if' or 'as though'.
Every time my husband and I have an argument, he carries on the next day as if nothing has ever happened, even if we haven't resolved the problem.
Helen has recently been given some very bad news, however she carries on as if nothing ever changed.
Simon and Doug carried on as if they hadn't just received terrible news.
Jamie carried on as though he hadn't been insulted moments before.
Susan carried on like nothing had changed at work, even after the big announcement about her promotion to CEO has been announced.
MEANING 5: To have an illicit sexual relationship
Photo: Pexels
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Rare |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To have an affair, to see one another, to be unfaithful |
Separable? | No |
The fifth and final meaning of 'carry on' that I want to make you aware of is to have a sexual relationship with someone, normally when it is forbidden or secretive.
This is especially true if one or both of the people involved are already in a relationship with someone else or are married.
Again, like with some of the other applications of 'carry on', this one is normally used to use in progressive or continuous (ing) tenses.
Roger has been carrying on with Helen for several years now and they don't realise that everyone in the village knows about it, including Roger's wife and Helen's husband!
We found out last week that Alan has been carrying on with his secretary for years.
The gossip spread quickly when people discovered Linda had been carrying on with a married man.
SPEAK LIKE A NATIVE: TYPICAL EXAMPLES OF HOW 'TO CARRY ON' IS USED BY NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS
If you can memorise some of the sentences below and use them in a conversation, it will help your English to come across as more natural and like that of a native speaker:
If you carry on behaving like that, you will be in trouble (parent to child).
I wish I'd carried on....
We didn't like the look of the restaurant so we carried on down the road to the next one.
If I'd carried on learning [language] and not stopped, I would be fluent by now.
At one point it was so hard and I thought I couldn't carry on but somehow I found the strength.
We want to carry on the the traditions of our parents and grandparents.
To get there, carry on down this road for [distance] and then turn left / right....
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QUESTIONS FOR WRITING & SPEAKING PRACTICE:
If you have a conversation with a shy person, what is the best way to carry it on when the other person stops speaking?
Do you regret not carrying on learning something when you were younger e.g. a language or a musical instrument?
Is there something that you started learning or doing when you were younger and had no intention of carrying on with it but which you are still learning or doing today?
CULTURE REFERENCE POINT : CARRY ON MOVIES
The Carry On movies were a series of 31 British comedy movies that were made between 1958 and 1992. Each movie had a different theme e.g. Carry on Doctor and Carry on Camping, with a separate storyline to the others, but many of the same actors starred in the films. Much of the comedy in the films was tongue-in-cheek* and involved sexual innuendo, word play and mocking traditional British institutions and customs. Some of the humour in the films is now a little outdated but despite this, they continue to be loved and laughed at by many people to this day.
To learn more about these, visit this link: https://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/group/carry_on/
* Tongue-in-cheek means to come across as serious whilst making a joke
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