Phrasal verbs

Language in use

Posted by

0

Since the Coronavirus disease oubreak, we have been learning many words, expressions, idioms, in order to be able to  speak about the virus, herd immunity, safety measures, our new routines, work from home, remote learning, emotional responses… Videos, songs, poems, jokes, which refer to the pandemic, that inform, entertain or motivate us.

Four months of Blog posts, which would result in an extensive list if I added the links here. So scroll down andreaalthoff.com.br, to view them.

So now I want to show you a few more useful phrasal verbs, a verb and expressions, all in context, through this beautiful, inspiring message.

I can’t take it anymore!

This sentence is used when a person is annoyed very much, that he or she cannot mentally, emotionally, or physically deal with or adjust to something or someone anymore.

Check also I can’t bear it.

Miss

Portuguese learners like to say that there isn’t a word for “saudades” in English. But there’s not really accurate. The truth is, that there isn’t a noun that is used the same way as the Portuguese noun.

However, miss, a verb, in the context of the video, means to feel sad because you do not have something or cannot do something you had or did before:
I miss the car, but the bus system is good.

Aside from that, miss verb, means to feel sad because someone you love is not with you:
She missed her family badly.

Think to myself

“And I think to myself…”

That’s a verb + preposition. Think of/about is used to ask someone for their opinion: What do you think of your new school?

Pass away

To die – use this when you want to avoid saying the word ‘die’. Check the Blog post for more.

Get through

To come successfully to the end of an unpleasant experience or period of time, or to help someone do this:
I know we’re going to get through the pandemic.

Check this video for get through in context.

Go by

If time goes by, it passes:
Things will get easier as time goes by.

Get down

To make someone feel unhappy and tired:
His lack of social life was beginning to get him down.

Getting together?

Posted by

0

Okay! So, as we can see by their enthusiasm, some friends are probably getting together for the first time after the COVID-19!

get together

So to get together is a phrasal verb which in this context means:

MEET when people get together, they meet in order to do something, to discuss something or to spend time together, having arranged it before:

We must get together for a drink.

The whole family usually gets together at Christmas.

This is the only forum where East and West can get together.

He got together with some friends to plan a party for her.

get-together

MEETING But get-together [countable], can work as a noun, when it refers to a friendly, informal social meeting/gathering, often arranged for a particular purpose:

I look forward to our family get-togethers.

That was the last get-together I had at my home.

Okay! After watching this video, a student said: “Teacher, too much trouble! Better get together only with your immediate family!” I guess she’s right! 😉

Set aside time to study

Posted by

0

Now that families are being kept in quarantine* at home, parents need to set aside time to help their little children with their school assignments.

set aside something

— phrasal verb to keep, save something, especially money, time, or a particular area, for a special purpose:

He sets aside some time every day to read to his children. 

Try to set aside some time each day for exercise.

£130 million will be set aside for repairs to hospitals.

I’ll set that room aside for visitors.

After melting the chocolate, set it aside and beat the eggs.

*For more posts related to the COVID-19 quarantine, click here.

For other use of set aside, click here.

Long time no see! We have a lot of catching up to do!

Posted by

0

Listen and fill in the blanks.

Hello, it’s Tim here from www.domineingles.com.br. It’s ________ a long time since we’ve seen each other. What have you been ________ to? (be up to sth, means to be busy doing sth). Well, I’ve ___________ busy with lots of projects and trips. But ____________________________________________. I would say ___________________________________! And that’s the expression I want to teach you today: We have a lot of catching up to do.

What does that mean? Well, I believe you are familiar with the phrasal verb catch up, which means to bring a person up to _________ on all the latest news. So I can say to you:“Let’s go for a coffee – I want to _________ you _____ ____ all the latest gossip.”.

So that means I want to tell you all that happened since the last time we were together.
Now, let’s ________ _________ (to start doing something again or talking about something again) to the initial sentence: We have a lot of catching up to do. It uses the phrasal verb catch up, but in a specific way, and with a specific wording. – which our friend Denilso de Lima from www.inglesnapontadalingua.com.br likes to call collocations, which are sequences of words that are usually used together.

So what does it mean when you say, We have a lot of catching up to do.?

Well, it basically means that we have a lot to talk about because we haven’t _______ each other for a long time.

I did a quick Internet search and I found two clips – one from a movie, I believe, and another from a series – which use this phrase we have a lot of catching up to do. I haven’t watched them personally, so I can’t say if I recommend them or not; but I just wanted you to see this expression being used in a real situation, in context. So let’s watch it together.
—
– Hey dad.
– What’s up, cuz?
– Sup to cuz?
– What is up, cousin?
– I am sure you two boys have got a lot of ___________________________; but do not make it a late night. School starts tomorrow.
– Yeah, I got a dozen texts from people talking about your dramatic entrance this morning. Too bad Smithson High does not have a parachute club.
– It is not a joke to me.
– Okay.
—
– Emma.
– Looks like we have some ____________________________.
– You have no idea.
– How about dinner at Granny’s. On me.
– As long as it’s not Chimera, I’m in. Hey, kid. You hungry?
– Yeah. See you later.

catch up

— phrasal verb /kætʃ/ caught | caught

to talk to someone you have not seen for some time and find out what they have been doing

Come over tomorrow and we can catch up.

I’ll catch up with you another time, Kevin.

It’ll give them a chance to talk and catch up with/on all their news.

to go faster so that you reach the person or vehicle in front of you

We left before them, but they soon caught us up again.

If you hurry, you should catch up with them at the bridge.

For other uses of catch up, click here.

Monday! Time to go back to work! Or maybe, get back to work?

Posted by

0

Go back, come back or get back? English learners often get confused about this. So here it goes!

come and go

We use “come” for movements to the place where the speaker or hearer is:

Maria, would you come here, please?

We use “go” for movements to other places:

I want to go and live in Greece.

Now, when what we mean is “to return”, although we can use the word “return”, it is not usually the first choice of a native speaker. The phrasal verbs go back, come back and get back (meaning movement), are a lot more used.

First watch this video:

Então… O que deve ser considerado, é onde se encontra a pessoa que está falando. Portanto, revisando:

go back

Phrasal verb composto pelo verbo to go (ir) e, o advérbio back, muito usado nos contextos em que o que se quer dizer é: voltar ou estar de volta.

Aqui falamos em voltar, retornar, para um lugar fora ou longe de onde estamos no momento da fala. Veja:

I want to go back to Thailand one day, it was so beautiful. 

Did you ever go back to that Japanese restaurant? The food was delicious!

I can’t go back to that bar, the music was terrible.

Note que usamos a preposição to com go back, assim como com come back e get back.

come back

Phrasal verb composto pelo verbo to come (vir) e novamente, o advérbio back. Aqui, estamos falando de voltar ao local onde nos encontramos no momento da fala.

I just came back from my vacation in Spain, I had a great time.

Yesterday I went home for lunch and came back to work a little late.*

*Lembrando que com a palavra home não usamos preposições: I went to my home.

I lived in Rio de Janeiro for three years, but came back to São Paulo because I missed my family.

You have been on vacation for such a long time, when are you coming back?*

*Aqui usamos o present continuous (to be + gerúndio) com sentido do futuro, algo muito comum em inglês. When will you come back também é correto mas menos natural.

I always come back from the gym feeling so energized, it helps me work more productively.

Note que com o phrasal verb to come back, podemos usar a proposição to quando estamos usando o lugar onde estamos como objeto, ou from quando estamos usando o lugar de onde viemos como objeto.  

get back

É sinônimo do phrasal verb to come back, e é bastante usado na língua falada informal. Lembrando que este verbo é usado para se referir ao retorno ao local onde você estava antes. Let’s have a look!

If you get back in time, you can come with us.

When we got back to the hotel, Ann had already left.

I got back from my vacation very late last night, I’m so tired!

When will you get back from work tonight? I’ll make dinner if it’s not too late. 

I leave for Cabo Frio on Saturday and get back Tuesday. *

*Usamos o present simples com sentido de futuro quando algo está arranjado, planejado ou com data fixa. 

get back to

Aside from being connected with movement, this idiom is used in some other contexts.

1 to return to (a place) after going away

We got back to the office in the early afternoon.

2 to return to (an activity, condition, etc.)

Things are finally getting back to normal.

Let’s get back to the topic we were discussing yesterday.

3  to talk to or write to (someone) at a later time in order to give more information, answer a question, etc.

He got back to me (by e-mail) in a few days with a new offer.

“How much will it cost?” “I’m not sure. I’ll have to get back to you on that.”

4  to call (someone) back on the telephone

“There’s someone on the phone for you, sir.” “Tell them I can’t take their call now but I’ll get back to them as soon as I can.”

Okay! Did you enjoy all learning that? So…

My thanks to my diligent student Afonso for sharing the results of his research on go back and come back with us! 😉

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/get%20back%20to

https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/get-back-to