An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'let up' from a native speaker, with lots of example sentences in context Photo: Pexels 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. If you want to receive new blog posts directly email every week, please sign up on the form at the end of the post. The phrasal verb 'let up' is a lesser known phrasal verb but is nevertheless a great one to have in your vocabulary as it can be used in many different situations. In the post we'll look at its three different meanings and how they are used by native speakers along with some additional tips for you. Read on to find out more.... Please  like  and share the post if you find the article useful (I won't know otherwise)! Also, feel free to leave a comment at the end with your own sentence featuring 'let up' 😊 LET UP: KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table, click here   Usage Medium Number of meanings 3 Past tense forms Let up / Let up Separable? Sometimes MEANINGS   (Click to jump to each one) Literal meaning To become less intense or stop To stop doing something BASICS Photo: Pexels To begin, let's take a look at the individual components of 'let up' and what they mean individually as this can often help with the phrasal verb meanings. Our main verb is the irregular verb 'to let', which you will probably know as it is a very common English verb with various meanings, however perhaps the main meaning, and the meaning that is relevant for the phrasal verb 'let up', is to permit or to allow something. We then have the prepositional particle up, meaning to move from a lower point to a higher point or away from the ground ⬆️ ⬆️ ⬆️. So, now we have that in mind, the first of the meanings of 'let up' should be nice and easy for you... MEANING 1: Literal Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms Let in, allow up Separable? Yes Photo: Pexels Imagine that you want to go for dinner in an exclusive restaurant, which is on the second floor of a building. You arrive at the door of the building (downstairs) and ask if there is availability for a table to have a meal. The staff then check the bookings and how busy they are in order to make a decision about whether or not to let you up to the restaurant. The above example is exactly how we use 'let up' in a literal sense in English, i.e. to allow someone to come or go up to a place (normally a room). When used literally, 'let up' is separable and the direct object, normally a person, goes between the two words. Please note that it does not go afterwards. As you can imagine, this usage is limited to very specific situations and often an alternative such as 'let in' can be used. 'Let up' is a little bit more specific than 'let in' though, as it includes extra spatial information, so if you can ever use it, it will help your English to sound a little more like a native speaker. We tried to get into the club upstairs but they were only letting people up who they knew. The police officers refused to let him up the stairs. Photo: Pexels EXTRA INFORMATION For those of you who are interested in combat sports such as martial arts or karate, it is possible to 'let someone up' if your opponent is on the floor and you are in a dominant position and you allow them to stand up again. MEANING 2: To become less intense or to stop Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level ​B2 - Upper Intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To stop, to die down, to peter out, to subside, to decrease, to diminish, to slow down, to ease, to ease off Separable? Rain, bad weather, yet So, now we come to the second and most common meaning of the phrasal verb 'to let up', which means to become less intense, to slow down or to stop completely. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Rain / Snow / Wind / Storm Pain Heat / Cold Emails / Calls When native speakers use 'let up' in this way, we are talking about something which we have no control over to make stop or less intense. This is normally (but not always) something negative, most commonly perhaps bad weather such as rain, a storm or snow, which can cause problems or prevent us from doing things. Aside from weather, other nouns that are commonly used with 'let up' are pressure, attacks, work, emails, Covid etc. From a grammatical perspective, 'let up' used in this way has no direct object (intransitive) and so cannot be separated. Moreover, it often appears at the end of a sentence. It has been snowing for 24 hours and there is no sign of it letting up. The pressure I am under at work never seems to let up. The football match will start as soon as the rain lets up. Louise kept running until the pain in her legs let up a little. I don’t think the heat will let up anytime soon; it's been scorching all week. The wind didn't let up until late in the evening. If the traffic doesn't let up, we'll be late for the meeting. John's persistent questioning never let up, making it hard to concentrate. The noise from the construction site didn't let up all day. EXTRA INFORMATION Photo: Pexels As you may be aware, English native speakers really love creating nouns from verbs and verbs from nouns (a practice called nouning and verbing) and the English language is full of these linguistic creations. 'Let up' is no exception to this and can also be used as a noun. The meaning is exactly the same, however we need to add the word "in" when we want to talk about the thing that we want to stop or reduce in intensity. There has been no let-up in the rain today! As soon as there is a let-up in the storm, we will go to the shop. MEANING 3: To stop doing something Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Intermediate Usage Average Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms ​To stop, to reduce, to slow down, to ease Separable? No The third and final usage of 'let up' that we will consider in this post is linked to the second meaning that we have just looked at and primarily means to stop or reduce doing something you are doing. This is specifically when the action that you are doing has been intense or done with determination. The difference with this second meaning is that in this case the person can choose to stop or reduce the intensity of the action. Photo: Pexels Think of a high profile police investigation where the police actively seek to solve a crime over a long period of time but due to a lack of evidence and results, they decide to reduce their efforts. In such a situation we might say " that after a long period of time the police have let up on the investigation ". We could also say the opposite of this i.e. " that the police have not let up on their investigation ". If we let up on someone rather than something, it means that we treat them in a more lenient or less severe way than we were treating them before. It could also be used to say that you are being nicer to someone than you were in the past. As you can see from the above police example, the additional preposition 'on' is required here before the indirect object noun. The company has let up on its standards since the new management took over. The teacher never let up on the students and made sure that they always worked hard. Bayern Munich didn't let up on their opponents for the whole game. The coach didn't let up on the team, even after they won the championship. Photo: Pexels USE IT LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER! TYPICAL WAYS 'TO LET UP' IS USED IN ENGLISH Memorise and use the sentences below in conversations to help your English come across as more natural and fluent.... As soon as the [noun] lets up, we will..... [Person] just won't let up! There has been no let-up in the [noun]. I think you should let up on [person]. I will never let up until I [verb]. With a bit of luck the [weather] will let up later today. Photo: Pexels QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER PRACTICE Has there ever been a time when you have had to cancel plans because the bad weather would not let up? Were your parents lenient with you when you were growing up ? If not, do you wish they had let up on you a bit more? Why? Have you ever said that you will never let up on a project or future plan? Did you ever let up on it or did you see it through? Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'get into'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'let up'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'get into' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them. This article is all about the English phrasal verb 'get into'. In it, I will look at 8 different ways to use this surprising little phrasal verb and give you lots of commonly used nouns and example sentences to help you master them and add them to your active English vocabulary. This is quite a long post as there are a lot of different meanings to cover, so, let's make a start! Please  like  and share the post if you find the article useful (I won't know otherwise)! Also, feel free to leave a comment at the end with your own sentence featuring 'get into' 😊 GET INTO: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 8 Past tense form Got / Gotten into - Got / Gotten into Separable? Sometimes MEANINGS   (Click to jump to each one) To enter To be chosen for something To become interested in something To start a career in a specific field To become involved in something To reach a state or condition BONUS - What has got into you? To put a piece of clothing on To arrive BONUS - Idioms with 'Get Into' Photo: Pexels THE BASICS If you visit my site often, you will know that I like to start each of my phrasal verbs posts with a quick analysis of the words that make up the phrasal verb of choice, in this case they are 'get' and 'into'. We'll start by looking at the verb 'to get', which I know can be problematic for many English learners due to its many meanings and uses. Let's not worry too much about all of the meanings of it here, but rather concentrate on those that are relevant for 'get into', which are 'to arrive' and 'to become'. In addition to its many different meanings, 'to get' can also function as an auxiliary verb, in the place of 'to be', to form passive sentences. One other point to note is that 'get' has two different past participles: 'got' and 'gotten' and the usage of these depends on where you are in the anglophone world. In British and Australian English, 'got' is the more common past tense form, whilst North American English speakers prefer using 'gotten'. Everybody gets old if they are lucky. It's getting very warm in here. He didn't get famous by luck; he worked hard and believed in himself. What time did you get home last night? We got to the airport late and missed the flight. Suzanne got picked to play for the soccer team. Next, we have the prepositional particle 'into', which is a combination of the prepositions 'in' and 'to'. As a result, 'into' is mainly used to describe movement from the outside of something to the inside. When used in phrasal verbs, 'into' can express ideas such as entry (go into), transformation (turn into), collision (bump into) and focus ( look into ). So, now that we have looked at the basics, let's take a look at the various meanings of the phrasal verb 'get into'.... MEANING 1: To enter Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To enter, to go in, to go into Separable? No Let's enter into the world of the different meanings of 'get into' with our first one, which, coincidentally, means 'to enter'....do you see what I did there?! 😉 Nouns commonly used with this application.... House Building Room Car Account As you will see from the list of nouns above, we can use 'get into' to talk about entering or physically going inside a place. You should note however that it only tends to be used by speakers in the following scenarios.... When there is some difficulty entering In the negative sense when we entry into somewhere is not possible for some reason When asking a question about how someone entered a space. On the contrary, if there is no difficulty entering a place, we tend to use 'go into' or another alternative. It took John 30 minutes to get into his apartment this evening as there was a problem with the lock on his front door. Mark tried to get into his car by breaking the window. How did the burglars get into your house? Somehow the cat got into the washing machine. This disease is caused when bacteria get into a person's bloodstream. Note that it is possible to use 'get into' for a car but not for other larger types of transport, such as a train or a plane as we use (illogically) 'on' for these and therefore the correct phrasal verb for these would be 'get onto'. It is also commonplace to use this application to describe non-physical spaces for which we use 'in'. These typically tend to be things like online accounts that need passwords etc. Has anyone been able to get into their email inbox this morning? A virus got into the computer system, causing the company lots of trouble. MEANING 2: To be chosen for something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To be selected, to be chosen, to get in Separable? No We all experience moments of good luck in our lives, although it appears that some people have more of it than others. This second meaning of 'get into' is one that could be useful for them as it means 'to be chosen for something' and is usually used for things that we hope to be chosen for. Nouns commonly used with this application: Team School / College / University Office Parliament Power As I mentioned above, this usage of 'get into' is definitely a positive one because the underlying idea of it is a successful application. Typically, there is often an element of prestige or pride when it is used in this context. For example, if you get into a university, it means that you achieved the required grades in your exams and your application to study there was accepted. Likewise, if you get into a sports team, it means that the team manager has seen you play and has given you a place as he thinks you are good enough (note that it is also possible to get onto a team). One point to note here is that in American English, 'college' and 'university' are the same thing, however in British English they are different things, with a college being a place that you can study between school and university or to learn a profession, such as hairdressing or plumbing. My son has got into Oxford University to study English. I am overjoyed! What will you do if you don't get into the university that you want to go to? Mark and Lucy's daughter did not get into the school closest to their house. I got into the team after some of the other players got injured and they needed some replacements. In addition, you can also hear this application of 'get into' in the world of politics as if someone gets into parliament or office, it means that they have been elected or chosen to do the job by their political party or by the public. The prime minster first got into office 5 years ago and has not done much since then! The opposition party is determined to get into power in the upcoming election. If Mrs Smith gets into the Senate, she plans to focus on healthcare reform. MEANING 3: To become interested in something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To develop an interest, to get hooked, to start liking Separable? Rarely The third meaning of 'get into' is a pretty common one that you are likely to often hear being used by native speakers and it means 'to become interested in something'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Movie / TV show Book Music Hobby To give you an example of how this one is frequently used, think about when you read a book or watch a movie and initially you find it difficult to enjoy or connect with it. Then, something really exciting happens in the story and suddenly you are no longer paying attention to what is happening around you and you are totally absorbed in the story (this happened to me whilst reading my book on the train this morning). When this happens, you can say that got into the book or the movie. It took me a while to get into the Harry Potter books but once I did, I was obsessed. I couldn't get into that movie, so I turned it off. Jason tried to get into his book but he couldn't concentrate on it as everyone around him was being so loud. We do not only use this application of 'get into' with entertainment however, as we can use it for anything that we are interested in. This can be for something that holds our attention for a few hours to lifelong passions, hobbies and interests that we enjoy doing or learning about. Regardless of what it is, 'get into' is used to describe the moment or time when you became interested in it. Kerry first got into history during 8th grade when she had a brilliant teacher. When did you get into rowing? Steve got into chess when he was living in Russia and now he is the best player I know. Brian got into Bob Marley's music when he was a teenager. A lot of people were into Britney Spears when I was at school but I never really got into her. MEANING 4: To start a career in a specific field Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To become, to enter into Separable? No Following on from the previous section, if you are interested in something, then it is logical that you may do a job that involves elements of the thing that you are interested in. As such, the fourth meaning of 'get into' that we will cover in this post is 'to start a career in a specific field, profession or industry'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Profession Field Teaching / Computing / IT / Law / Journalism / Politics Business / Industry At one point in the past, I seriously considered becoming a schoolteacher and started the process of researching different courses etc. Whilst I was doing this, I attended several public events for prospective teachers called "Get Into Teaching" and although I didn't end up becoming a schoolteacher (I am an ESL teacher for adults instead), I still receive emails from them occasionally. The reason that I am telling you this is because the teaching profession is one that is commonly used with this application of 'get into'. Aside from teaching, other professions that you may hear 'get into' being used in reference to are those that often require an element of training of study as specific skills are required, such as journalism, IT, law and politics. Additionally, it can also be heard in reference to specific industries or fields of work such as show business or the music industry. Roger got into teaching because he loves working with children. Shelley tried to get into journalism after graduating from university. Many people struggle to get into the tech industry without prior experience. Adam got into law after being inspired by his father, who was a judge. It’s not easy to get into acting, but Laura is determined to make it. People who are just starting in this industry don't know what they are getting into. MEANING 5: To become involved in something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To start, to get involved in, to be implicated in Separable? No Moving on to our fifth meaning of 'get into' now, which is in line with the theme of some of the others that we have already covered in the post as it means 'to become involved in something'. Alternatively, it can also be used to mean 'to start something'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Relationship Fight Argument / Debate Conversation For this usage, we are focussing more on emotional-based things that are only made possible through interactions with other people. For example, you might get into a fascinating conversation with a stranger at a party, but then they may say something that you disagree with and so you then get into an argument with them. Furthermore, you might get into a relationship with someone only to realise that you are incompatible because you get into fights all the time. It's important to note that I'm specifically talking about romantic relationships here; it would be unusual to hear anyone saying that they got into a friendship with someone as typically we would say 'make friends' or 'befriend' here instead. Tim got into a fight with his brother over something trivial. Hannah got into a really interesting conversation with her manager at the Christmas party. It’s easy to get into a toxic relationship if you don’t set boundaries Sarah and John got into a heated argument over politics at the dinner table. A couple of the schoolchildren got into a scuffle during their break, but the teacher quickly intervened. It’s important to think carefully before getting into a romantic relationship with a work colleague. MEANING 6: To reach a state or condition Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To develop Separable? No For our sixth meaning of 'get into', let's turn our attention away from the idea of being involved in something and focus instead on the idea of reaching a state or condition. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Trouble Difficulties Mess Panic State Habit To clarify, this application is used for when we find ourselves in a new situation, state or condition and as you can see from the list above, these are typically negative in nature. For example, if you get into trouble, then you either find yourself in a problematic situation or in a situation where you have done something wrong and are going to be punished for it. A useful idiom for this particular situation that is useful to know here is 'to get into hot water'. Moreover, if a room gets into a mess, then it becomes untidy and if you get into a panic, then your body enters fight or flight mode and you start panicking. In all of the examples above, a new negative situation is reached, where previously there was no problem, negativity or untidiness. Kate got into difficulties when she was swimming in the sea as the current was so strong. Jamie got into trouble with the police a few years ago but didn't go to prison. Robert got into a state at the funeral and could not stop crying. Peter got into hot water with the tax office. How did this situation get into such a mess?! One other noun that is frequently heard with this application of 'get into' is 'habit' and we use this as a synonym of 'develop' in this sense. It is possible for this to be used with both good and bad habits. During the summer holidays, I got into the habit of sleeping late. Don't get into the habit of skipping breakfast; it is the most important meal of the day. Try and get into the habit of running at least three times a week and drinking more water. WHAT HAS GOT INTO YOU? Photo: Pexels While we are on this subject, I want to make you aware of a very common use of this application, which is the expression 'get into someone', which is usually heard in question form as 'what has got into you / him / her etc...?' We use this particular phrase when someone is not acting as they normally do or a bit strangely. Typically, it is when he or she is misbehaving or displaying some other kind of negative behaviour and we do not know the reason for it. You can probably guess from the picture above, but we can also use it for cats, dogs and other pets too which start behaving in a strange or abnormal way. What has got into you today? You have been in a terrible mood ever since breakfast! My dog has been barking and growling all morning. I don't know what has gotten into him! MEANING 7: To put on an item of clothing Photo: Wix CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To put on, to wear, to squeeze into Separable? No It's time for a complete change of meaning now for our seventh usage of 'get into' as this one is all about fashion and simply means 'to put on an item of clothing'. Nouns commonly used with this application.... Trousers / Pants Jeans Dress Clothes Pyjamas Size Pair Firstly, we can use 'get into' here to mean to put on an item of clothing in a general sense. I can't wait to get home and get into my comfortable clothes. Give me 5 minutes to get into something presentable! Following a long day at work, Mike quickly got into his pyjamas and relaxed on the couch. After the hike, they all got into clean clothes before heading out for dinner. However, you should note that more often than not, 'get into' is used in reference to clothing when there is some difficulty putting on an item, typically because it is too small. It may be used in reference to a specific item, such as a pair of jeans or a wedding dress or to talk about a specific size of clothing that a person either manages or fails to put on. Sarah got into her workout gear before heading to the gym. Luke struggled to get into his new pair of jeans because they were a bit tight. Amanda got into her wedding dress with the help of her bridesmaids. I can’t believe how long it takes Miranda to get into her costume for the play! Louise was so happy when she managed to get into a size 8 dress for the first time since having her baby. There is no way that I will get into a medium-sized suit! MEANING 8: To arrive Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To arrive, to reach Separable? No We have now arrived at our final meaning of 'get into' and amazingly I have managed to come up with more brilliant word play again as this meaning is...you guessed it... 'to arrive'! Nouns commonly used with this application.... Towns / Cities (London, Birmingham, New York, Dublin etc.) Station Work Office Normally, this usage is not used as a synonym for 'to arrive' in all situations but specifically when talking about towns and cities, usually when arriving there on public transport. It can also be used for transport buildings such as stations and airports. My train gets into Montreal at 5pm today. I think my plane will get into Los Angeles around 6.30am. What time do you get into Glasgow tomorrow? Lisa and Jean Michel got into Paris just as the sun was setting. By the time the train got into the station, all of the shops had closed. My uncle's plane gets into Heathrow Airport this afternoon. Aside from the nouns mentioned above, we can also use this application of 'get into' to talk about work and places of work like offices. I usually get into the office around 8:30 AM. Margaret always gets into work early to avoid the morning rush. Kevin didn't get into work until after 11 this morning. On a grammatical note, a noun or a proper noun is usually always required after 'into' in this application otherwise the sentence sounds unfinished. If you already know what the city or place of arrival is and do not want to repeat it, you can just use 'get in' (link here ) instead as a noun is not required here and it means the same thing. Photo: Pexels IDIOM ALERT! To end the post, I want to just make you aware of a couple of useful idioms featuring the phrasal verb 'get into' that are worth memorising and using. To get into the swing of things - This expression is used in situations when you do something new and after a period of uncertainty, you start to understand and get used to the new situation, often with an element of enjoyment too. An alternative to this is 'to get into the swing of it'. I didn't enjoy my new job at first but once I got into the swing of things, I began to enjoy it. To get into your stride - This British idiom is very similar to the previous one and almost means the same thing. If you get into your stride, you start to become confident with something new that you are doing as it is becomes familiar to you. The cyclists were very cautious in the first part of the race but once they get into their stride, their was no stopping them To get into the festive / Christmas spirit - Our last idiom is one that is really only every used in December (and maybe early January for some) and means to feel the positive feelings that are associated with Christmas and to participate in Christmas-based activities. It took me a while to get into the Christmas spirit this year as work was so stressful. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'get into'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'get into'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'clear up' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them. In this post, I am turning my attention to the phrasal verb 'clear up'. I will explain four different meanings that it has, from tidying a room to improved weather, and I will give you lots of example sentences to enable you to learn how it is used by native speakers and in which contexts. So, without further ado, let's get started! Please  like  and share the post if you find the article useful (I won't know otherwise)! Also, feel free to leave a comment at the end with your own sentence featuring 'clear up' 😊 CLEAR UP: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 4 Past tense forms Cleared up / Cleared up Separable? Yes MEANINGS   (Click to jump to each one) To provide an explanation for something To tidy somewhere To become cured To improve (weather) Photo: Pexels THE BASICS Before we delve into the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'clear up', let's first take a moment to consider the individual words 'clear' and 'up' and what they mean on their own. Firstly, we have the verb 'to clear', which is a regular verb, whose main meaning is to remove obstacles, obstructions and unwanted things from a space or area. In addition, it can also be used as a verb to mean to authorise something, to pass over something without touching or hitting it and to prove that a suspect of a crime is not guilty, with some other less common meanings. The forester is clearing a path through the trees. I had to clear my drive this morning as it was covered with snow. My boss has cleared my request for holiday next week. The dog could clear the garden fence with ease. The suspected murdered was cleared of all charges and released. Next, we have the prepositional particle 'up', which can be used in phrasal verb constructions to give a number of different nuances and meanings. Unsurprisingly, one of it's primary uses is to denote a movement in an upwards direction or an increase, however it can also add the ideas of improvement (cheer up), collection (gather up) and separation ( break up ). So, now that we have covered the basics, let's start looking at the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'clear up'.... MEANING 1: To provide an explanation for something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To explain, to clarify, to solve, to resolve, to straighten out, to sort out Separable? Yes Our first meaning of the phrasal verb 'clear up' is one that you may have come across before, especially if you use English for your job and is 'to provide an explanation for something'. Nouns commonly used with this application: Confusion Doubts Mystery Uncertainty Misunderstanding Issue / Problem In order to comprehend this first application, we need to think about what 'clear' can mean as an adjective, which is in this case is 'easy to understand'. If we then convert this adjectival meaning to a verb, we get the idea of making something clear or ensuring that something becomes easy for people to understand. Looking at the list of nouns above, you will note that many of them are used for things where information is missing or required and the action of giving this information is known as 'clearing something up'. This is oftentimes in the form of an explanation. Furthermore, sometimes when there is confusion about a situation, especially in a work environment, it can lead to problems and we can also use this application of 'clear up' to mean to solve a problem and make it go away. The English teacher stayed after class to clear up any doubts the students had about the phrasal verbs that they had covered in the class. Please can you clear up this billing issue? I think you have charged me twice for the same item. Debbie worked quickly to clear up her customer's misunderstanding about the refund policy. I’ll call the client to clear up any confusion about the project deadlines. The mystery of my missing cat has finally been cleared up - he was locked in our garden shed! MEANING 2: To tidy somewhere Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Mainly British English Potential synonyms To tidy, to tidy up, to clean up Separable? Yes Like a lot of people, I really enjoy hosting parties and social gatherings at my house where I can catch up with my friends and family, forget about work and relax a bit. The one thing that I dislike about it however is the next day when the place is a complete mess and everywhere needs cleaning and tidying. The reason that I am mentioning this is because our second meaning of 'clear up' is to tidy somewhere. Nouns commonly used with this application: Mess House / Apartment Room Firstly, you should note that this usage is primarily a British one and may sound a little strange to American English speakers, who may be more accustomed to 'clean up' as an alternative. However you should note that 'clean up' may also involve an aspect of cleaning , which 'clear up' does not tend to do. In a nutshell, this application of 'clear up' is used to describe the action of moving items from a place and either putting them in their designated places or throwing them away into the trash, in order to make the space or room look neat and today. Typically, this usage is heard in relation to a messy room or a place with lots of litter and rubbish, particularly following a social event or party. In addition to 'clearing up' the place or space that is a mess, it is also common to use 'clear up' to refer to the out of place items that are causing the mess, such as litter, toys or broken glass. John, can you help me clear up the kitchen after dinner? Helen spent the morning clearing up her desk so she could focus on her work. The kids were told to clear up their toys before bedtime. It took Simon and I hours to clear up the mess after the party. Steve offered to clear up the garden after the storm left branches and debris everywhere. After finishing the project, Mike and Abigail stayed late to clear up the conference room. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'CLEAR' AND 'CLEAR UP'? Lastly, before concluding this section, it is worth mentioning that when used in this context, 'clear' and 'clear up' have slightly different meanings. Whilst the expression 'to clear up a room' conveys the idea of clearing up the mess in a room in order to make it look tidy, the expression 'to clear a room' conveys the idea of removing all of the items in it, in order to make it empty. A small difference but it can make a big difference in certain situations, so it is definitely worth knowing it! MEANING 3: To become cured Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where it it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To heal, to go away Separable? Sometimes In the previous section, we explored the concept of getting rid of unwanted items from a room or space to improve its appearance. For this third meaning, we are also looking at the idea of eliminating something but in this case, it is illnesses as this meaning is 'to become cured of a disease'. Nouns commonly used with this application: Illness / Disease Cold Cough Infection Rash / Spots / Hives Symptoms Despite even our best efforts to stay well, we all get sick from time to time and whilst it is often an unpleasant experience, the symptoms do eventually go away and we start to feel better again, or in other words the illness clears up. Although we can use 'clear up' to talk about any infection or disease being cured, it is most commonly used in reference to skin conditions such as rashes, hives and spots. I think that this is particularly so as when the rash finally disappears, the skin once again looks is clear. From a grammatical perspective, we can use this application of 'clear up' in both a transitive way (with a direct object) and an intransitive way (without a direct object). We use it transitively particularly when we want to specify a drug or treatment that will cure the issue or help to make it go away.... The doctor prescribed an ointment that should clear up the rash in a few days. This treatment is designed to clear up acne within a couple of weeks. The cream helped to clear the redness from her sunburn up. I'd had a persistent cough for weeks and then I took this herbal remedy and it cleared it up in a day! On the other hand, we use it intransitively when we want to say that a condition improves independently without any drugs, when we do not want to specify the drug or medication that cleared the condition up or when it has already been mentioned and so does not need to be repeated. Remember, that when used this way, we cannot separate 'clean' and 'up'. My cold finally started to clear up after a week of rest and medication. If your symptoms don’t clear up by tomorrow, you should see a doctor. Laura's hay fever usually clears up once the pollen season ends. Kevin's psoriasis was finally starting to clear up when a stressful incident at work made it flare up again. MEANING 4: To improve (weather) Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To improve, to brighten up, to let up Separable? No We've now reached our fourth and final meaning of 'clear up', which is a nice and positive one to end the post with as it means 'to improve' and is used specifically when talking about the weather. Nouns that this application is commonly used with: Weather Rain Fog Storm Snow As you can tell from the list above, this particular usage is used in reference to types of weather that people consider bad. In other words, types of weather that disrupt our plans and prevent us from doing things that we want to do, especially when they are outside. Moreover, typical weather scenarios in which this is used are when the sun comes out and the day becomes brighter, when it stops raining, when fog or mist lifts and visibility resumes and when a period of windy or stormy weather comes to an end.  As you might guess, this is one that we say a lot in the UK, often just as a wish! The weather is supposed to clear up this afternoon, so we should be able to go for a walk then. It's been raining heavily all morning, but it looks like it’s starting to clear up now. If the weather doesn’t clear up soon, we’ll have to cancel the village show. Pete and his fishermen friends waited for the storm to clear up before heading out on the boat. It was cloudy when we arrived, but the weather began to clear up just in time for the picnic. The sun finally came out after the rain cleared up, making for a beautiful evening. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'clear up'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'make up' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context. Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them. This article is all about the phrasal verb 'make up', which is definitely one that you will have come across before as it is super common. It may be that you are already familiar with one or more of its different meanings, however in this post we will look at all of them, including inventing stories, making a decision and applying cosmetics. So, without further do, let's get started. Please like and share the post if you find the article useful (I won't know otherwise)! Also, feel free to leave a comment at the end with your own sentence featuring 'make up' 😊 MAKE UP: KEY INFORMATION For an explanation of the terms in the tables, click here   Usage Common Number of meanings 7 Past tense forms Made up / Made up Separable? Sometimes MEANINGS   (Click to jump to each one) To make peace after an argument To invent a story or information To constitute a whole To compensate for something To prepare something from ingredients or parts To apply cosmetics To make up your mind THE BASICS Photo: Pexels The phrasal verb 'make up' is formed of the verb 'to make' and the prepositional particle 'up' and before we explore its different meanings, let's first take a look at these individual words to understand their meanings. The verb 'to make' is a very common verb and is often confused by English learners with the verb 'to do' as the two are quite similar and can often be translated into other languages as the same word. While both verbs have numerous applications in English, 'to make' primarily conveys the concept of creation and production, whereas 'to do' typically involves performing an action. This concept of 'to make' will be useful to keep in mind when we look at the different uses of 'make up' shortly. We are going to make a cake today. John made a lot of noise when he got home last night and woke his wife. Have the children made a mess in the living room? Next we have the prepositional particle 'up', which is typically used to denote a movement in the direction away from the ground or towards the sky ↑ or an increase of some sort. When used in phrasal verb constructions, 'up' can many different ideas or meanings, including completion, improvement, preparation and appearance among other things. When we combine these words, there is no literal meaning whatsoever, so let's now just move straight on to the different figurative meanings of 'make up'..... MEANING 1: To make peace after an argument Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Separable No Potential synonyms To reconcile, to make peace, to patch things up Let's start off the meanings of 'make up' with some positive vibes. For this first application, we are going to need the additional preposition 'with' and the reason for this is that the construction 'to make up with someone' means to reconcile or become friends with them again following an argument or disagreement. 'Make up' is not just limited to friendships though, and is equally used to talk about romantic couples who have disagreements and / or break up and then make peace again afterwards. You should note that the use of this meaning is, however, limited to personal relationships where people's emotions are at play and is not really used to describe business or professional relationships. All John and Helen seem to do is break up and then make up the next day. I wish you and your brother would make up! She's deeply offended and refuses to make up with me. One expression that we often use in a tongue-in-cheek* way to talk about when people reconcile following a dispute or argument is "to kiss and make up". This is used regardless of whether or not the people in question are friends or in a romantic relationship. Oh my goodness, would you two just kiss and make up and end this ridiculous argument! MEANING 2: To invent a story or information Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Separable? Yes ​Potential synonyms To create Used commonly with Story, excuse, character, information For our second usage of 'make up', we are entering into the realm of fantasy and fairy tales as the meaning is 'to invent or create something that does not exist by using the powers of our imagination'. These imaginary creations can range from stories, characters and people to excuses, lies and false information. The key idea is that it is created in our imagination and is not real. Unsurprisingly, this meaning is used very commonly with children who tend to enjoy making up stories, characters and scenarios as part of their play activities. However, as you will know, adults are also very good at creating fictional information, excuses and lies and this usage of 'make up' can therefore be used with both innocent and immoral intent. Aside from the verb form, the past particle 'made-up' is also frequently used as an adjective (note the hyphen) to describe something fictional that someone has invented and as such, you will often hear such terms as "made-up story" and "made-up word", among many others. When I was a child, I used to make up imaginary friends because I was lonely. I didn't go to the party - I was too tired so I made up an excuse and said thatI was ill. Although the novel features made-up characters, the story is based on real life events. Photo: Pexels EXTRA INFORMATION TO SOUND MORE LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER There are a couple of well-known expressions of this usage of 'make up' that I really like and want to make you aware of... You couldn't make it up - We use this expression when talking about things that happen in reality that are so strange or bizarre that a person would not be able to create them using their imagination. To make it up as you go along - This second expression is used for situations in which we do not know what we are doing and we just do things by instinct, without preparation or planning. We decide how to do it in the present moment (and hope for the best). MEANING 3: To constitute a whole Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Common Separable? No Potential synonyms To constitute For our third meaning of 'make up', we need to make a 180 degree turn away from the poetic world of fantasy to the much more prosaic and serious world of data, statistics and facts. This meaning of 'make up' is 'to form or to constitute a whole and is used to talk about the different elements or things which combine together to form something bigger or complete. This meaning of 'make up' is commonly used in statistical information, especially when talking about percentages and fractions. It is estimated that the 100 most common words in any language make up about 50% of the words regularly used in it. Greyscale colours currently make up three quarters of cars produced worldwide. Furthermore, 'make up' is also used when we have already given percentages or proportions and we want to talk about the part that completes the remainder of the group. We can use 'make up' here, often with the 'the rest' or 'the remaining X%'. The three of us have all paid a quarter of the bill each, so if you could also pay a quarter and make up the rest, it would be great. In the English exam the weighting of the speaking section is 40%, the listening section is 30% and the reading and writing sections together make up the remaining 30%. Lastly, it is very common to use the passive form 'made up' with the additional preposition 'of' to express the different things which something consists of. Air is made up of nitrogen, oxygen, argon and small amounts of many other gases. All matter is made up of very small particles known as atoms. MEANING 4: To compensate for something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Separable? No Potential synonyms To compensate Our next usage of 'make up' is one that is very common in the workplace. If you work for a company in the anglophone world and you need to take some time off e.g. for a doctor's appointment, your boss may authorise the time off but might also say that you need to make the time up. The reason for this is because the next usage of 'make up' means to compensate for something that is lost, lacking or missing. The example above with working hours is a very commonly used one in the English speaking world. Another typical way that this usage of 'make up' can be heard in English is when we have a target or required amount of something e.g. money and we do not have enough of it to reach the target amount. We can use 'make up' here to talk about the amount that is required in order to reach our target amount, i.e. the difference between how much we have and how much we need to have. A common expression featuring this usage of 'make up' that you may hear is 'to make up for lost time', which we use to describe when we do something more quickly, intensely or regularly, in order to compensate for not having done it in the past. For obvious reasons this is often used by middle-aged and older people, perhaps during or after a midlife crisis! Yes, you can have the time off this week to go to the funeral but can you please make the time up next week. Now that my injury has healed I'm training more than ever as I'm making up for lost time! Photo: Pexels EXTRA INFORMATION TO SOUND MORE LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER If you are ever in a situation where an English speaker disappoints you in some way, it is likely that they will say sorry (especially British people as we apologise for everything) and that they will make it up to you. In the case of disappointing someone, as mentioned above, the idea here links back to the first meaning of making peace following an argument, but the focus here is that we are saying we will do something to remove the negative feelings caused by the disappointment (essentially apologising), with the end objective being reconciliation and peace. Note that the extra particle 'to' is required here to designate the person who we have disappointed and want to make happy again. Examples of usage.... I'm so sorry that I forgot your birthday. Let me make it up to you by taking you out for a meal. I can't be there this weekend but I will make it up to you, I promise! MEANING 5: To prepare something from ingredients or parts Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Separable? No Potential synonyms To prepare Nouns used commonly with Dish, meal, medication, bed The fifth usage of 'make up' means to prepare, build or create something by combining different ingredients or parts. As you can probably imagine from the word 'ingredients', food is frequently used with this meaning of 'make up' and it is very common to use this with any dish or item that can be made by mixing and combining different ingredients together. Another example of where this meaning of 'make up' is in common usage is with material and fabric where we create garments or curtains. Moreover, we can also say that we 'make up a bed for someone' when we create a new, often temporary, bed for them using blankets etc. This is different to making a bed, where we arrange the blanket and pillows on an existing bed. Let me give you some tips on how to make up an amazing and tasty casserole. You can sleep here tonight, I will make up a bed for you in the spare room. MEANING 6: To apply cosmetics Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper intermediate Usage Medium Separable Yes Potential synonyms To do up, to put on one's face, to do your makeup For our sixth meaning of 'make up', we are diving into the world of cosmetics. I'm sure that most of you reading will be familiar with the noun makeup, meaning cosmetic products that are used to add colour to the face and change or improve one's appearance. It may therefore come as no surprise to you that the noun makeup is derived directly from our sixth phrasal verb meaning, which is to apply cosmetics to the face and body. For this usage, reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself etc.) are required when talking about a person who is applying their own makeup. This is of course not the case for people who get their makeup applied by somebody else e.g. actors and celebrities. Although this usage is still used in everyday English, I would say that the construction 'to do your makeup' is perhaps more common than this phrasal verb form, but it is good to be aware of it nevertheless. Lisa made herself up and put on her best evening gown. MEANING 7: To make up your mind Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common ​Separable Yes Potential synonyms To decide, to make a decision, to choose This final meaning of 'make up' that I want to bring to your attention means to make a decision and is used in the construction "to make up your mind". This is actually more of an idiomatic expression than an entirely different meaning, but it is so common that I wanted to include it as a separate meaning of its own. The structure of this expression is flexible and 'mind' can be placed both in the middle of and after the phrasal verb 'make up', without changing the meaning. John took ages to make up his mind about what food to order at the restaurant. I've made my mind up about where I want to go to university. Photo: Pexels One extra thing to make you aware of before the end of this post is the expression "to be made up about something". This is a common idiomatic expression in British English to mean to be delighted or extremely happy about something, normally good news. That's amazing news! I'm made up for you. Roger is made up about his new work contract! Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking and reading. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'make up'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'hold back' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them. In this post, I will be explaining the phrasal verb 'hold back', which you may be familiar with already as it is a fairly common and widespread one. Do you know all of the ways that it can be used in English though? Don't worry if not because I will explain each of them in detail for you as we go and provide lots of example sentences to help you master how to use them like a native speaker. So, without further ado, let's make a start.... Please  like  and share the post if you find the article useful (I won't know otherwise)! Also, feel free to leave a comment at the end with your own sentence featuring 'hold back' 😊 HOLD BACK: KEY INFORMATION Usage Medium Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Held back / Held back Separable? Yes MEANINGS   (Click to jump to each one) To stop something from advancing To stop yourself from acting or speaking To withhold something To prevent someone from progressing To make a school student repeat a year THE BASICS To begin the post, let's first examine the individual words 'hold' and 'back' to see what they mean on their own. Our base verb in this post is the verb 'to hold', which has a large number of different uses in English. Its main meanings include 'to have something in your hands or arms for a period of time', 'to contain', 'to keep something in a place and prevent it from moving' and 'to organise something official, like an election or a meeting'. Becky left the hospital holding her new baby. Louise and Alex held hands along the beach. This water tank holds 1000 litres of water. The police are holding the suspects in a cell temporarily until their investigation is finished. The government is holding a vote next week to decide who will become the new parliament speaker. Next, we have the prepositional particle 'back', which is one that is fairly common in phrasal verbs but not as prevalent as other particles like 'in', 'up' and 'out'. The general meanings of the word 'back' are all related to 're' words, such as reversal, response, return and restrain. These ideas are also reflected in phrasal verbs that feature 'back', for example 'set back', 'take back', 'go back' and ' get back '. Also, when used as an adverb, the word 'back' can be used to express being at the rear of something (behind everyone or everything else) and therefore away from the front. So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'hold back'.... MEANING 1: To stop something from advancing Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To restrain, to stop, to halt, to constrain, to block Separable? Yes Let's start our exploration of the phrasal verb 'hold back' with a somewhat literal meaning, which is 'to stop something from advancing'. Nouns commonly used with this application: A person / People Crowd Water Flow Fire As you can see from the list above, this first usage of 'hold back' is applied to nouns for things that physically move forwards on the ground, which of course include people and animals, as well as for things like fire and water, which do so by their very nature. When we hold these back, we stop their progress by blocking them in some way and therefore prevent them from advancing any further. This application combines the literal meaning of 'to hold', as in keeping something stationary, with the notion of 'back', suggesting a rear position with the potential to move forward. Together, they imply that the person, animal or object is prevented from progressing further along its course. The police formed a line to hold back the crowd during the protest. Sandbags were placed along the riverbank to hold back the rising floodwaters. The soldiers worked together to hold back the enemy forces John stretched out his arms to hold back his younger brother from running into the street. In informal spoken English, "hold back" is used when someone is angry and about to become violent, and another person physically restrains them, preventing them from attacking the other person. Thinking about the grammar here, you should note that we need the additional preposition 'from' + the verb in gerund form with this application (as you can see in the sentence before this). Simon was so angry with his boss that his colleagues had to hold him back from hitting him. Karen had to hold back her dog when it lunged at the cat. Moreover, this application is also used by native speakers in hypothetical scenarios with the second conditional to describe situations in which someone would need to be restrained from aggression towards another person because they are so angry or annoyed. If anyone hurt my children, it would take an entire army to hold me back from attacking them. You wouldn't be able to hold me back if I found out that my boyfriend was seeing his ex-girlfriend. Here is a music video of a well known song featuring this first application of 'hold back', however I am note sure if this is meant in a literal sense. What do you think? MEANING 2: To stop yourself from acting or speaking Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To restrain yourself, to repress, to stifle, to suppress Separable? Yes Now we move on to the second meaning of 'hold back', which is another variation on the theme of stopping that we covered in the previous section. For this application, rather than preventing the forward movement of something, we are instead stopping ourselves from acting in a certain way or from saying something. For this usage, we again need the additional preposition 'from' + the verb in gerund ('ing) form to specify the action that we want to prevent. As we are often talking about ourselves here, it is also very common to use reflexive (-self) pronouns. Firstly, let's consider when we use 'hold back' to mean 'stopping yourself from acting in a certain way', which can be used to describe any time that you hesitate to do something or do not do something completely. This would typically be because you are not sure whether or not it is the right thing to do or perhaps because you do not want to make a situation that is already bad even worse. Roger felt nervous during the interview and held back from sharing his most creative ideas. I was about to send the email to the customer but I held back from sending it to reconsider my tone. Mike and Jim planned to invest more money but held back due to the uncertainty of the economy. Adrian couldn't hold back from buying the antique ornaments, despite his wife having told him he could not spend any more money. Another way that this application of 'hold back' is used a lot is in reference to emotions, particularly when we want to stop ourselves from showing a certain emotion or when we cannot stop ourselves from doing so. Typically, these "held back" emotions include crying, laughing, losing your temper (becoming angry) and shouting. Perhaps the most common word that is used with 'hold back' in reference to emotions is the noun 'tears'. 'To hold back the tears' is another way to say to stop yourself from crying. Whilst watching her colleagues argue, Sarah almost burst out laughing at the wrong moment but managed to hold back just in time. Despite the bad news, Sally managed to hold back from crying. Jacob clenched his fists tightly, struggling to hold back his anger. She bit her lip, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to flow. Steve turned away to hold back the wave of sadness that suddenly overwhelmed him. Jane had to hold back her excitement when she heard the good news to keep the surprise for later. Finally, the other action that we use with 'hold back' is speaking and this can often be for a number of reasons. Perhaps, we do not want to make a situation worse or cause an argument, or maybe we are too shy to express our opinion about something. Either way, the central idea here is that we have something to say or that we want to say, but ultimately do not. Moreover, if someone doesn't hold back, it means that they say exactly what they are thinking, often without caring about what other people think. This is especially common to hear in reference to when people are angry or are in a fierce argument. Lucy wanted to speak her mind but decided to hold back, fearing she might offend someone. Bobby saw the opportunity to criticise his boss but wisely chose to hold back. Maria held back from speaking during the work meeting as she was terrified of speaking English in front of native speakers. Jo lost her temper with her mother in law and didn't hold back; she told her exactly what she thought of her for the first time. MEANING 3: To withhold something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To withhold, to keep back, to retain Separable? Yes We finished the previous section with the idea of holding back from speaking and this brings us nicely to our third meaning of 'hold back', which is 'to withhold something', most commonly information. To clarify, this application means to keep information secret and not make it known to other people. More often than not, we use this particular application when we give people some information about a subject but not all of it and we keep some of the information back. This application is frequently used in social groups where people keep secrets, in businesses when management and directors want to restrict employee access to specific information and for children when certain things are not appropriate for them to know. The witness admitted to holding back key facts from the police out of fear for their safety. The company was criticised for holding back information about the product recall. I suspect that they're holding back the full story until they get more evidence. The report was incomplete because the author deliberately held back some of the findings. Robert was accused of holding back crucial evidence from the investigation. In addition to withholding information, we can also use this application of 'hold back' to refer to things that we use or need, such as money or energy. When we hold some of it back, we keep part of it in reserve in order to use it later. Alan decided to hold back some of his savings in case of an emergency. The football coach instructed his team to hold back their energy for the final quarter of the game. Anne didn't eat all of her cookies at once and held back a few to enjoy after dinner. MEANING 4: To prevent someone from progressing Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To hinder, to impede, to thwart Separable? Yes For the next usage of 'hold back', I want to go back again to the first meaning in this post, which is to stop something from advancing. This is because the next application is the same idea, however rather than talking about something physically moving forwards, we are instead talking about the idea of stopping something or someone from progressing or developing. Vocabulary commonly used with this application.... Someone / somebody Person / people Project Process Plan This usage of 'hold back' is not used very much with tangible, physical objects but rather with abstract nouns. For example, if we talk about holding a person back, we are usually referring to their career or their personal development, or stopping them from doing something that they want to do in their life. Moreover, when we talk about holding something back, we are likely talking about a project, plan or process that is not developing as quickly as it should. Financial constraints are holding back the completion of the new building. The outdated software is holding back the company's ability to compete in the market. Penny decided not to have children as she thought that they would hold her back in her career. Alison's perfectionism often holds her back from finishing projects on time. MEANING 5: To make a school student repeat a year Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? American English Potential synonyms To repeat Separable? Yes We have now come to our fifth and final meaning of 'hold back', which is an American English usage and means 'to to make a school student repeat a year'. This one is typically used when a schoolchild does not pass his or her exams at the end of the school year or does not progress sufficiently during the year and therefore needs to repeat the year. Grammatically speaking, you are likely to hear this in a passive sense, with the idea of a student "being held back" due to poor grades, performance or attendance. In British English, although we would understand the use of 'hold back' within the context of the conversation, we would normally use the verb 'to repeat' instead. The teacher suggested holding Tony back a year because he was struggling to keep up with the curriculum. After failing several exams, the school decided to hold Mary-Sue back in fourth grade. Despite his efforts, Chuck was held back in high school due to poor academic performance. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'turn out'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'hold back'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'get off' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels 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. This post is all about the phrasal verb 'to get off' . It is my first post to focus on a phrasal verb with the verb 'to get' , which is a verb with a large number of meanings and usages. My original plan was to try and fit all of the different meanings of ' get off' into one post, but there are just too many and therefore I thought it would be better to give you the information in two separate parts. So, without further ado, let's take a look at the phrasal verb 'to get off' .... Please  like  and share the post if you find the article useful (I won't know otherwise)! Also, feel free to leave a comment at the end with your own sentence featuring 'get off' 😊 GET OFF: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 11 Literal meaning Yes Idiomatic meaning Yes Separable Yes Past forms Got / gotten off / Got / gotten off British or American Both For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here MEANING 1: Literal Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Common ​Separable No ​Potential synonyms ​To alight, to disembark, to get down As learners of English, I am sure that you will be aware that the verb 'to get' is used extensively by native speakers and it probably seems that it can be used to express almost anything in English, especially in spoken language. It is true that we love the verb 'to get' and we use it all the time because it is so versatile and has such a large number of meanings. This also means that there are also many phrasal derived from the verb ' get' , which often have several meanings or more. The meaning of ' get' that is relevant for this first section means to arrive at or reach a particular place. I want to get home before 7pm this evening. My flight got to Paris on time. When we combine this meaning of ' get ' with the prepositional particle ' off ', the literal meaning that it gives us is to reach, or arrive at, a particular place that is no longer on something. To put this another way, this means to no longer be physically on something that holds or supports us. As I imagine you will already know, this form is very commonly used to talk about leaving or exiting public transport, (hopefully) when you reach your destination. When we got off the airplane in London, we were shocked at how cold it was. Get ready, we have to get off the train at the next station. Please be reminded that you can only use ' get off ' for public transport that you can be on . See the list on the ' carry on ' post for more information on this. Apart from forms of transport, the phrasal verb ' get off ' is used very commonly with any nouns that we use 'on' with. This would either be things that support or hold us e.g. a sofa or a stage, or surfaces with which something has physical contact e.g. a blanket. My Dad has hurt his back and he finds it difficult to get off the sofa. I felt sick when I got off the roller coaster! My cat was sitting on my pink towel and refused to get off ! MEANING 2: Literal (with a direct object) Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Common ​Separable Yes Potential synonyms To remove, to take off The second meaning that we are looking at of ' get off ' is not a different meaning to the first one, but rather the same meaning with the addition of a direct object . In other words, in this meaning we are talking about removing something (direct object) that is on an object or surface. We do not want the thing to be on the object or surface and the end result is that it no longer is. This can either be physically removing it or making it move somehow (asking, shouting, threatening etc). As there is a direct object in this case, this form of ' get off ' is separable and the direct object needs to go between get and off . I have been trying to get the cat off my pink towel for 10 minutes and he is refusing to move! Get your dirty hands off the clean sheets! Since the use of 'on' is so widespread in English, ' get off ' can be used in many different situations and with many different potential nouns in this way. Common examples of this usage would be telling cats or children to get off an item of furniture, getting the top off a bottle or someone getting the snow off their car in the morning so that they can drive it. Get everything off the table please, it is time for dinner! I've broken my arm, can someone please help me get my coat off ? The theatre security guards got the imposter off the stage very quickly! It is also very common to use "get off!" in an imperative form, when asking or telling a person to take their hands off you or to stop physically touching something. EXTRA TIPS TO SOUND LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER In many cases this literal meaning of ' get off' is very similar to the phrasal verb 'to take off', however there is a difference in how they are used which you should be aware of. We tend to use ' take off ' in positive statements or when there is no difficulty or problem removing the item. In contrast, we use ' get off ' with questions and negative statements or when there is a perceived difficulty or problem removing the item. Consider the following examples.... I normally take my shoes off before I enter my house, but today my laces were so tight that I could not get them off! Helen spent 10 minutes trying to get the petrol cap on her car off, which was strange as she can normally take it off in a few seconds. IDIOM ALERT So, before we continue on to look at the idiomatic meanings, I want to make you aware of some commonly used expressions and idioms with ' get off ' and parts of the body.... To get something off your chest = To say something to someone that you have wanted to say for a long time. This is usually something that you have been reluctant to say in the past as it may be controversial or cause an argument. I need to talk to you and get a few things off my chest To get your mind off something = In English if something is on our mind, it means it is worrying us and we can't stop thinking about it. It is normally a good idea to do something entertaining or interesting to stop us thinking about it. This is what we call getting your mind off something. I had a long walk by the river earlier which really helped me to get my mind off things. To get off someone's back = To leave someone alone if you have been criticising or pressuring them to do something. This is often used by the person to tell the person criticising or pressuring them to stop. An alternative to this is to get off someone's case. I just wish my parents would get off my back and stop telling me to get a job. My boss is driving me mad, I wish he would get off my case! MEANING 3: To leave Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Intermediate ​Usage Moderate Separable No Potential synonyms Set off, Leave, Go, Get going The first idiomatic meaning of 'to get off ' that we are going to look at is the usage meaning to leave a place to start a journey. This is something that native speakers will often use in informal spoken English, often when they are talking about leaving somewhere to go home. It is sometimes used in a continuous form with 'had better be' to indicate that it is time to leave a place or that the person has stayed somewhere later than they had planned. Examples of usage.... I think I will get off now as I want to avoid rush hour. INTENDED MEANING: I think I will leave now so that I don't get stuck in traffic during rush hour. Look at the time! I didn't realise it was so late, we had better be getting off ! INTENDED MEANING: It is later than I realised so we should leave. MEANING 4: To finish work Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Intermediate ​Usage ​Moderate Separable ​No Potential synonyms Leave, finish, clock off Our next meaning of ' get off ' is to leave work, normally at the end of the day at your agreed finishing time. You could also use it to say that you are finishing at an earlier time than usual, however we do not use it to say that we are leaving a job or stopping working for a company. It is common to use the word 'work' here, but it is not absolutely necessary as people understand from the context that we are talking about work. I get off work at 4 o'clock today, so I could meet you after that. What time do you get off today? MEANING 5: To have time off from work Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Internmediate Usage Moderate Separable Yes Potential synonyms To take time off Staying on the theme of work, we can also use ' get off ' when talking about taking annual leave or holiday from our job. This is often when we are not yet sure if we can take the time off and we need to check with our manager to see if it is possible. When we use it this way we need a direct object such as 'a day' or 'time'. I need to get the day off tomorrow as I have to take my wife to the hospital. Helen asked her boss if she could get some time off but her request was denied. MEANING 6: To receive a less severe or no punishment Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level ​C1 - Advanced Usage Moderate Separable Sometimes The next usage of ' get off ' is one that we use specifically for criminals and it relates to the punishment that they receive for their crimes. If we want to say that a criminal avoids punishment completely or receives a punishment that is less severe than expected, we can use the phrasal verb ' get off ' to express this. Here, the additional preposition ' with ' is required to say what the lesser punishment is that the criminal receives. The murderer was found guilty in court but somehow got off with a sentence of 15 years instead of the recommended 25 years. EXTRA INFORMATION TO SOUND LIKE A NATIVE It is also to use this form of ' get off ' with the criminal as the direct object and normally a lawyer as the subject. We use this when we want to say that a criminal received a lesser punishment or no punishment at all due to the intervention of the lawyer. Roger is such a good lawyer; yesterday at the trial he managed to get the entire criminal gang off . Finally, I just want to make you aware of the expression 'to get off lightly', which means to receive a punishment that is less severe than expected or deserved. Photo: Pexels SPEAK LIKE A NATIVE: TYPICAL EXAMPLES OF HOW 'TO GET OFF' IS USED BY NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS Get off the [noun] and give me a hand! Please get your hands off [noun]. Get off me! We need to get off the [public transport] here. I should be getting off now, it's late. I can't get my [item of clothing] off . I've got the day off today. Did you manage to get the week off f or our holiday? He got off very lightly, in my opinion. Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this first post about the phrasal verb 'get off' and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. For the second part of this post, click here Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'get off'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'get off' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context. This is the second of two parts....for the first part click here . Photo: Pexels 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 '.... Please  like  and share the post if you find the article useful (I won't know otherwise)! Also, feel free to leave a comment at the end with your own sentence featuring 'get off' 😊 GET OFF: KEY INFORMATION Usage Common Number of meanings 11 (sorry) Literal meaning Yes Idiomatic meaning ​Yes Separable? Yes Past forms Got / gotten Got / gotten British or American? Both For more explanation of the terms in the table above, click here MEANING 7: To fall asleep (idiomatic) Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced ​Usage Moderate Separable Yes Potential synonyms To fall asleep, to drift off 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. 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. It took me so long to get off to sleep last night. I am absolutely shattered* today! She was so tired that she got off to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Lisa tried all night to get her daughter off to sleep but nothing worked. * Shattered is an informal adjective meaning very tired or exhausted. MEANING 8 : To send something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Moderate ​Separable Yes Potential synonyms To send, to send off, to despatch 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. I have written the email and will get it off to my manager shortly. We have got a birthday card off to him in the post, so he should receive it in the next couple of days. MEANING 9: To enjoy something intensely Photo: Pexels ​CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Moderate Separable No ​Potential synonyms ​To get a kick out of, to enjoy (a lot), to be excited by something 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. My friend gets off on true crime podcasts. He really loves them. Lisa's boss loves the power of his position; he really gets off on it. MEANING 10: To French kiss someone (idiomatic) Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Separable No ​Potential synonyms To kiss, to make out 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 Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Intermediate Usage Moderate ​Separable Yes ​Potential synonyms To take, to fetch, to receive 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. I got some lovely birthday presents off my parents this year. John: Where did you get that cake? Lisa: I got it off Helen, she has brought some homemade cakes into the office today. Can you go and get the signed report off the CEO before you leave today, please. Photo: Pexels SAY IT LIKE A NATIVE: TYPICAL EXAMPLES OF HOW '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. Photo: Pexels 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. 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. 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. 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! Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'get off'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'sort out' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pixels 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. The featured phrasal verb in this post is 'to sort out' , which is a relatively informal phrasal with a number of different meanings and usages. Across these different meanings there is a general theme though, which will hopefully help to help you understand and make sense of them. So, without further ado, let's take a look at them.... Please  like  and share the post if you find the article useful (I won't know otherwise)! Also, feel free to leave a comment at the end with your own sentence featuring 'sort out' 😊 SORT OUT: KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table , click here   Usage Common Number of meanings 5 Past tense forms Sorted out / sorted out Separable? Yes MEANINGS   (Click to jump to each one) To arrange into categories To resolve a problem To organise or arrange something To provide something for someone To punish someone More examples of usage and sort out vs sought out Photo: Pixels THE BASICS A great way to start our exploration of the phrasal verb 'sort out' is to consider the words 'sort' and 'out' and what they mean individually. Firstly, we have the base verb 'to sort' , which can mean either 'to arrange something into categories' (think of a hat in a famous literary school for magicians) or to resolve a problem or difficulty. John sorted the playing cards into different suits. I need to sort all these old clothes before tomorrow. I have managed to sort the problem with the computer. How did you manage to sort that issue so quickly? Next, we have the prepositional particle 'out', which is a widespread and common word in English that can function as a preposition, adverb, adjective and even a verb! When used in phrasal verb constructions, 'out' can emphasise the ideas of movement to an external space ( go out ), exhaustion ( run out ), revelation (find out), removal ( cut out ), expansion (spread out) and exclusion (leave out), among other things. So, following that short introduction, let's take a look at the idiomatic usages of 'sort out' and how us native speakers use it.... MEANING 1: To arrange into categories Photo: Pixels CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Intermediate Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To sort, to arrange, to organise Separable? Yes As we have just seen in the previous section, one of the main meanings of the verb 'to sort' is to arrange something into categories or types and you'll be pleased to know that this first meaning of the phrasal verb 'sort out' means the exact same thing 😀. I sorted the playing cards out into different suits. John helped Helen sort out the clothes into colour groups. You will see from the examples above that it is perfectly fine to separate 'sort' and 'out' (like in the first example) with no difference in meaning. Moreover, don't forget that the preposition ' into' is also required to specify the end category or group. IS THERE ANY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TO SORT OUT AND TO SORT ? So, you may be wondering why native speakers add the extra word 'out' when 'to sort' alone means the same thing? While it is true that these two variations can be interchangeable with no difference in meaning, sometimes native speakers will add 'out' for extra emphasis. In other instances however, 'sort out' does have a different meaning to ' sort' , which you should be aware of. In a situation where we want to separate or remove one type of item from the others, we would use 'sort out' rather than ' sort' . Photo: Pixels Imagine that you have some old clothes that you want to check through in order to decide which items you want to keep and which you want to throw away. In this instance you would say that you are sorting out the clothes that you no longer want. Using 'to sort' for this sounds incomplete as the particle 'out' adds the extra element or idea of separation. I need to sort out the clothes that I am taking on holiday with me. Lisa has finally sorted out which items she will donate to the charity shop. The librarian sorted out the returned books into their respective genres. Can you help me sort out the laundry into whites, colours, and delicates? We need to sort out these files into different folders based on the year. MEANING 2: To resolve a problem Photo: Pixels ​CEFR Language Level ​B2 - Upper intermediate ​Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To sort, to resolve Separable? Yes Commonly used with Mess, things, problem, issue As I mentioned before, 'to sort' has two main meanings in English: the first is to arrange something and the second is to resolve a problem. Luckily for you English learners, the second meaning of 'to sort out' is also the same meaning as the second meaning of 'sort', i.e. to resolve a problem or issue. Nouns commonly used with this application: Mess Things Problem Issue IS THERE ANY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'TO SORT OUT' AND 'TO SORT' ? The short answer here is no. Both variations can be used interchangeably without any change in meaning, however like with the previous meaning, native speakers will often add the word 'out' for emphasis. From my own perspective, I think that 'sort out' is often used by native speakers when the problem or issue is a complicated or difficult one and we tend to use 'sort' more for issues that are easier or quicker to resolve. WHAT A MESS! We often use 'sort out' with the word ' mess' , which can either mean an untidy physical space like a typical teenager's bedroom or a complex situation with lots or problems. We can therefore use 'sort out' to talk about tidying the messy, untidy space as well as to resolve a complicated issue. Photo: Pixels LOVE PROBLEMS! For the romantics among you, if us native speakers want to talk about resolving problems in a relationship, we will often say that we need to 'sort things out'. From a formality perspective, I would say that this meaning of 'sort out' is very informal. We do use it in business English, however in more formal situations and on formal documentation it should be avoided and an alternative like 'to resolve' should be used instead. Did you manage to sort out the customer's problem? Helen, your bedroom is a terrible mess! Sort it out! John and Roger have sorted out their differences and they are now best friends again. Lisa and her husband are trying to sort things out. MEANING 3: To organise or arrange something Photo: Pixels ​CEFR Language Level B2 - Upper Intermediate ​Usage ​Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To organise, to arrange Separable? Yes Our third meaning of 'sort out' is to organise or arrange something, such as an event or a party. The focus here is on doing what is necessary in order for the event to happen. Imagine that you arranging a surprise birthday party for a family member and you need to book a DJ for the music, book a suitable venue for the party, organise the decoration of the venue and invite the guests. For all of these you could say that you need to sort them out.... We have managed to sort out a great venue for my daughter's party next week. I haven't sorted out a DJ or the decorations yet. I need to sort both of those out this weekend! This meaning is a definite variation of the previous idiomatic meaning of resolving a problem as here we are resolving the specific problem of something not yet being organised. MEANING 4: To provide something for someone Photo: Pixels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced ​Usage Rare Where is it used? British English Potential synonyms To obtain, to provide, to supply Separable? Yes In informal British English, it is also possible to use 'sort out' to mean to provide someone with something that they need. This is normally something that in not easy to obtain or could possibly even be something illegal. Since it is informal, I would not recommend using this in business English, where an alternative such as ' provide' or ' supply' would be much more appropriate. This is often followed by the preposition ' with' to talk about the item that is to be provided. I couldn't find any gym equipment anywhere but luckily my personal trainer was able to sort me out with some. The IT department were able to sort my manager out with a new printer. The mechanic sorted out a new car for my brother after he crashed his old one. MEANING 5: To punish someone Photo: Pixels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? British English Potential synonyms To punish, to tell off, to admonish Separable? Yes The final meaning that we are looking at in this post is to 'sort someone out', meaning 'to punish someone' or 'to stop someone who is causing you a problem'. This is normally by using physical force but sometimes can be by shouting at them. Again, the underlying idea of this meaning is to resolve a problem but this time it is a problem that another person has caused or is causing you. This usage is also very informal and like with the previous meanings, it should be avoided when in formal situations or in business English. His parents will sort him out when he gets home. The coach promised to sort out any players who broke the rules during the game. Don’t worry about the bully; I’ll sort him out if he bothers you again. The gang leader sent his men to sort out anyone who didn’t pay their protection money. Photo: Pixels BONUS INFORMATION In British English it is also possible to use 'sort out' as a noun, in which case it is spelt sort-out, with a hyphen. We normally 'have a sort-out' when we are looking through our possessions in order to decide what to keep and what to throw away. It is an alternative way to say "to have a spring clean" if you are familiar with that expression. I have too much stuff in my bedroom. I really must have a sort-out! Photo: Pixels SAY IT LIKE A NATIVE: TYPICAL EXAMPLES OF HOW 'SORT OUT' 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: I need to sort out which [noun] I am taking on holiday with me. [Pronoun] is sorting out the issue. Do you think you can sort it out by [time] We are trying to sort things / it out. That cupboard is so full. It really needs sorting out. We've managed to sort out the problem. When I have a headache, paracetamol and fresh air really sort me out. Can you do this while I sort this customer out. I am going to have a sort-out at home this weekend. Photo: Pixels ONE FINAL NOTE: Sort out vs Sought out Before I finish the post, I just want to make you aware of one more thing. Make sure you that do not confuse 'sort out' with 'sought out', which is the past form of the phrasal verb 'to seek out'. The pronunciation of 'sought out' is exactly the same as 'sort out', so it is good to be aware that both of these exist. It is worth remembering that both past forms of sort out are sorted out, so if you do hear 'sought out' in a past context, you can be fairly sure it is the past of 'seek out'. Photo: Pixels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'sort out'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'grow up' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them. This post is all about the well known phrasal verb 'to grow up', which many of you will be very familiar with, however are you familiar with the other less well known meanings? In this post, I will explain each of the different meanings for you and provide you with lots of example sentences to make it easier to learn them. So, without further ado, let's make a start.... Please  like  and share the post if you find the article useful (I won't know otherwise)! Also, feel free to leave a comment at the end with your own sentence featuring 'grow up' 😊 GROW UP: KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table, click here   ​Usage Common Number of meanings 3 Past tense forms Grew up / Grown up Separable? No MEANINGS   (Click to jump to each one) To grow in an upwards direction To grow from a child to an adult Bonus information To start to develop More example sentences and speaking questions Photo: Pexels THE BASICS To begin with, let's look at the individual components of the phrasal verb 'to grow up', as this will help us to understand its rarer figurative meanings. Firstly, we have the base verb of our phrasal verb construction, 'to grow', whose principal meaning is to increase in size or height. 'To grow' is an irregular verb and is mainly used to talk about people, animals and living things, however it can be applied in more abstract contexts, like business, numbers, popularity and feelings. Our new baby is growing so fast. I keep watering my plants but they don't ever seem to grow. My follower count on social media has grown this year. Our business is expected to grow over the next 12 months. I have a growing feeling of unease in my stomach. Next, we have the prepositional particle 'up', meaning in the direction away from the ground or towards the sky ↑. 'Up' features extremely frequently in English phrasal verbs and in addition to conveying the idea of a movement in an upwards direction to the verb, it can also add ideas like increase (add up), improvement ( look up ), preparation ( set up ), ending ( break up ) and creation ( make up ), among others. Do you know which of these will apply for the meanings of 'grow up'? Read on to learn more.... MEANING 1: To grow in an upwards direction Photo: Pixels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To grow Separable? No Let's start the meanings off with a nice and simple one as this first one is simply the literal combination of the two words, i.e. to grow in an upwards direction. This is in fact just a variation of the verb 'to grow' , with additional emphasis on the upwards direction. As the idea of 'up' is already implicit in the idea of the verb 'to grow', the use of 'grow up' to describe something growing in size is not normally necessary in English. As a result, this literal usage is very rare. If we do use it, it is mainly for describing the growth of plants, trees and flowers, to emphasise that they are growing in an up ↑ direction, rather than down ↓ or out ←→(across). We do not use 'grow up' to describe people getting taller. To do this we only use ' grow' . It is also possible to use the construction 'to grow up + noun' to talk about when a plant grows up against the surface of another object. Photo: Pexels Plants grow up and not down or out because they need sunlight. The ivy has been growing up the wall for many years. Another form that we can use and that you should be aware of is 'to grow upwards'. The prefix - wards in English is always used to identify a direction of movement, so 'to grow up wards' is a nice alternative way to say that something is growing in an up direction. This is also a very natural way of saying it. Furthermore, if growth is happening towards something e.g. the sky, we can use the construction 'to grow up towards + noun'.... The sunflower that we planted last year is growing up towards the roof of the house. Plants naturally grow upwards in search of sunlight. MEANING 2 - To grow from a child to an adult Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level A2 - Elementary Usage ​Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To mature, to age Separable? No In English, this second usage of 'grow up' is by far the most common one in use and is therefore the one which you probably already know, which is 'to grow from a child to an adult'. This application is usually used to describe the PROCESS of growing from an adult to a child over time. This can be in a physical sense and also in a mental or spiritual sense. 'Grow up' is only used to describe people and is not generally used to talk about animals or businesses. In usage, it is often used by adults to refer to their past or the period of time when they were a child..... I grew up in Birmingham, close to a really big park, which we played in every summer. When I was growing up I hated school but now that I am an adult, I wish I could go back! He was born in Edinburgh but he grew up in Glasgow.                               I had blond hair when I was growing up.        Also, children often use it to talk about what job they want to do when they become an adult.... When I grow up I want to be a doctor and have an enormous house with a swimming pool. What does your daughter want to do when she grows up? My daughter wants to be a police officer when she grows up. WHAT IF WE WANT TO USE IT AS AN IMPERATIVE? 'Grow up' is often used by native speakers in the imperative form ("Grow up!") to show annoyance when someone is acting in a silly way or like a child. If you want to add some extra impact to this, you could insert 'the hell' or 'the f**k' between 'grow' and 'up' to show that you are very annoyed. Oh grow up, John! It's really not funny! Whoever is playing these jokes on me needs to grow up! It's not funny!     Seriously, Matt, it's about time that you grew the hell up and stopped acting like such a baby. BONUS INFORMATION #1: To grow up into If we want to talk about who or what a person will be at the end of the growing up process, it is necessary to add the extra preposition 'into'..... I see that you have grown up into a fine young man! There are many child actors who grow up into Hollywood film stars. BONUS INFORMATION #2 : To grow up + gerund One way to talk about something that we did often or regularly when we were children is to use the simple past form of the verb (grew up), followed by the verb or action in the continuous ('ing) form. This is often (but not always) with verbs related to the senses e.g. to watch, to listen to etc. I grew up listening to Michael Jackson and Madonna and so I still love their songs today. My mother is Polish, my father is German and I live in the USA, so I grew up speaking three languages. BONUS INFORMATION #3: 'Grown-up' as a noun Before we finish this section, I just want to make you aware of the existence of the noun 'grown-up', which is used commonly in everyday English when dealing with children. A 'grown-up' is simply just a synonym for the noun 'adult' and simply refers to someone who has finished the growing up process and is no longer a child. It tends to be used a lot when talking to children and is often what a child will say instead of 'adult'. Moreover, it can also be used as an adjective. Grown-ups always talk about boring things. I was allowed to sit at the big dinner table with the grown-ups today. That was a very grown-up thing to say! Mary has a grown-up daughter who lives in London. MEANING 3 - To start to develop Photo: Pixels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Rare Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To develop, to spring up Separable? No Our third and final application of 'grow up' is a much rarer and more advanced idiomatic one, meaning 'to begin to exist'. This meaning is not used to talk about people, but rather things that are founded, created or developed by people and these things include businesses, towns and cities as well as abstract items such as theories and academic schools of thought. As it is used to talk about the origin of things, it is often found in historical contexts. The idea grew up in the 17th century during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The river made trading possible and as a result many towns grew up alongside it. A vibrant community grew up around the shared love of art and creativity. New businesses are starting to grow up in the formerly abandoned neighborhood. Photo: Pixels SAY IT LIKE A NATIVE: TYPICAL EXAMPLES OF HOW 'GROW UP' 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. You'll need to use your imagination to complete some of them. When I grow up I want to....... When I was growing up I...... He / she is growing up so fast! It's about time you grew up and got.... I want my children and grandchildren to grow up in a world where..... [Person] and I grew up together. [Gerund] is a natural part of growing up. It is very close to the city where I grew up. Photo: Pixels POTENTIAL IELTS QUESTIONS Should children grow up in the city or in the countryside? Where did you grow up ? Describe it. Is it better to grow up with or without siblings? OTHER OPEN QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER PRACTICE What is your favourite memory of when you were growing up ? Did you have a skill or talent when you were growing up that you no longer have? What was it? If you could have grown up in a different place, where would you have chosen to live? Has your taste in music changed since you were growing up ? How has the village, town or city where you grew up changed since that time? Photo: Pixels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'grow up'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END

An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'run out' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context Photo: Pexels Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them. This post is all about the phrasal verb 'run out'. In it, I will explain its different meanings for you, with lots of example sentences, so that you can impress your English-speaking friends and family with your excellent skills. So, without further ado, let's make a start.... Please  like  and share the post if you find the article useful (I won't know otherwise)! Also, feel free to leave a comment at the end with your own sentence featuring 'run out' 😊 RUN OUT: KEY INFORMATION For more explanation of the terms in the table, click here   Usage Common Number of meanings 3 Past Tense Forms Ran out / run out Separable? Rarely MEANINGS (Click to jump to each one) Literal To have no more left of something To abandon someone or something EXTRA: To run out of steam and further questions Photo: Pexels   THE BASICS To begin, let's first consider the meaning of the base verb 'to run' and the particle 'out' and what they mean on their own. Firstly, we have the irregular verb 'to run', meaning to moving on foot at a speed faster than walking, with moments when neither foot is on the ground. In addition to this meaning of, it can also be used to mean 'to manage' (in terms of business) and 'to flow' (in terms of water and liquid) and 'to function (in terms of machines), among other uses. I run 5km at least twice a week to stay fit and healthy. Sophie ran past my house this morning. John runs a very successful printing business. The river runs alongside the road. All of the computers in the office are running. Next, we have the prepositional particle 'out', which is an enormously common word in English, with many meanings and applications. It functions as the natural opposite of 'in' and is used for all things to do with movement away from the inside of something and towards the external part of it and this meaning is often conveyed when 'out' is used in phrasal verb constructions. In addition to this, 'out' can also add the ideas of exhaustion (as I will explain later), appearance ( come out ), separation ( sort out ) and exclusion (leave out). So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'run out'.... MEANING 1: Literal Photo: Pixels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To escape, to flee, to pop to, to nip to, to dash Separable? Sometimes For our first meaning of 'run out', we are going to keep things literal and just consider what we get when we combine the these two words together, which is 'to leave an interior space by running'. This could either be to enter into another interior space or to go to an exterior space. Whilst this application can be used to talk about leaving a room, a building or other internal space quickly (i.e. by running and not walking), it is more often than not used by native speakers when referring to a sudden, dramatic or exciting exit. This could include an escape from somewhere, leaving a room quickly to vomit or chasing someone. Every day when I get home from work, my dog runs out of the house to greet me. The schoolchildren ran out of the classroom as soon as the lesson finished. People started running out of the sea when someone shouted "Shark!". If you were paying attention to the table at the beginning of the section, you will have noticed that this application of 'run out' can sometimes be used separably. In order to do this, we require a direct object in the sentence (which we do not have in the sentences above). Let's consider the next expression where we have a direct object between run and out. What do you think the meaning of the sentence could be? John ran Roger out of the city. In American English (and less so in British English), if we run someone out of a town or city, it means that we chase or force a person to leave a place, normally by threatening them. Other synonyms of this could be 'to drive away', 'to drive out' and 'to force out'. I guess in the past it was normal for people to chase after someone in order to make them leave their town or city, but nowadays (thankfully) it is not so common and therefore the usage of this is also much rarer. You may still hear this in American television shows and movies however, so it is always useful to know. The angry villagers ran the tax collector out of the village. We ran him out of town last week and he has not dared to come back since. EXTRA INFORMATION TO SOUND LIKE A NATIVE #1 It is possible to use ' run out to somewhere ' to express when we need to go somewhere and back quickly. For example, imagine that you are preparing a dinner party for 5 guests and you realise that you have forgotten to buy dessert. You may then need to run out to the shop to buy a dessert. This does not mean that you are physically running to the shop, but rather that you are going there and back quickly (normally in a car). It is also common for people to drop the "out" so that they simply 'run to somewhere', however the meaning is the same with or without 'out'. This usage is perhaps more common in American English, with ' to pop to' or ' to nip to' being more common alternatives in British English. He has just run out to the post office to post a letter, he will be back shortly. I've forgotten to buy potatoes. I'm going to quickly run to the store to get some. MEANING 2: To have no more left of something Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level B1 - Intermediate ​Usage Common Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To sell out, to exhaust, to use up, to expire, to have no more left Separable? No Our second meaning of 'run out' is the most commonly used and means 'to have no more left of something'. If you have heard 'to run out' in an English conversation, it is probable that you heard this idiomatic application. Nouns commonly used with this application: Money Energy Ideas Time Patience For this usage, we require the additional preposition 'of' to specify the thing that we do not have anymore, followed by a noun, giving us the construction to run out of something. We have run out of bread and milk. Many supermarkets ran out of toilet paper at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. My printer stopped working because it ran out of ink. Lucy wanted to bake cookies but realised she had run out of sugar. After hiking for hours, Sharon and Tracey ran out of water and had to turn back. The computer shop ran out of the new video game within an hour of opening. Since we use many different things in our lives, the list of possible nouns that can be used with this phrasal verb is very long, but common examples are money, food, energy, space, ideas, patience and options. Photo: Pexels Another very common noun that we use with this phrasal verb is ' time' , normally when we have a deadline or future point in time before which something must be completed. Based on this idea of time and deadlines, we can also use 'run out' as a synonym for the verb "to expire", i.e. to express when the validity of something ends. Typical situations for this would be with a passport or a drivers license, which expire or run out on set dates. This phrasal verb can certainly be used in formal situations, however in very formal situations a different verb such as 'to exhaust' is definitely more suitable. I need to find a petrol station before I run out of petrol*! There are only 5 minutes left in the match; the England football team is running out of time to score another goal and win. Roger is running out of money fast, so he needs to find a job quickly! I've booked a holiday to Spain in April and I've just realised that my passport runs out in March! I hope I can renew it in time. * Petrol in British English is Gas in American English Photo: Pexels EXTRA INFORMATION TO SOUND LIKE A NATIVE #2 In informal conversations, it is also extremely common to simply drop the word 'run' and use the informal construction 'to be out of something' as a synonym. We need to stop, we are out of time. I'm afraid we are out of bread, sir. The next delivery will be tomorrow. A variation of this informal usage is 'to be all out of something'. Again, this is something that should only be used in informal conversations and situations: Oh no, we are all out of coffee! I will run out to the shop to get some. MEANING 3: To abandon someone Photo: Pexels CEFR Language Level C1 - Advanced Usage Medium Where is it used? Everywhere Potential synonyms To abandon, to quit, to leave Separable? No Commonly used with ​Family, partner, job Our third and final meaning of 'run out' means 'to abandon' and is normally used when someone leaves very quickly, suddenly or unexpectedly. Nouns commonly used with this application: Family Children Partner Job For this application, we are replacing the extra preposition 'of' with 'on', giving us the construction 'to run out on someone / something'. I imagine that you can probably guess, but this usage is reserved for dramatic and often traumatic life events for people, so thankfully it is not one that you will probably need in tour day to day English. It is definitely more of an informal usage and I would say that it is mainly used to talk about when someone suddenly leaves a relationship or a family. My ex-husband ran out on me and our 6-month old baby. Helen was so stressed that she ran out on her job and never went back. Tony ran out on his wife and 5 children to start a new family with his lover. He ran out on me last year and now he is begging me to take him back. IDIOM ALERT! Before I finish the post, I want to make you aware of a very common expression featuring the phrasal verb 'run out': 'to run out of steam'. We use this nice little saying to express when the progress of something slows down or stops because we lose energy or interest in something. The Scotland football team played brilliantly in the first half of the game but they ran out of steam in the second half. I was doing really well with the pre-Christmas baking but I ran out of steam and ended up sitting down for a coffee. Photo: Pexels QUESTIONS FOR WRITING & SPEAKING PRACTICE Have you ever run out of things to say when answering a job interview question? Did you get the job? Would you rather run out of gas for your heating on a cold day or electricity for your air conditioning on a hot day? Why? When was the last time that you ran out of patience (became angry) with someone? What happened? Do you think that we are running out of time to save the planet from climate change? How can we change the situation? Photo: Pexels We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts. Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'run out'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!! Sign up on the form below if you want to receive new blog posts directly by email every week as soon as they are published. Also, if you found the post useful, please like and share it on social media. See you next time! James 😊 THE END