Hey Siri, what's the meaning of phrasal verb? Phrasal verb means an idiomatic phrase consisting of a verb and another element typically either an adverb as in breakdown or a preposition for example c2 or a combination of both such as look down on look down on i like that that's actually a really good phrasal verb to look down on someone means you think you are
better than someone like for example just because she's a waitress you don't need to look down on her as a matter of fact you don't need to look down on anyone so To look down on someone means you think you are better than that person. And no one is better than anyone. So we should never think that we're more important or we're higher and superior.
to somebody else so never look down on anyone and that was the meaning of phrasal verb a phrasal verb is a verb that has a an element like a preposition or an adverb after it and the meaning of a phrasal verb is completely different than the verb that's used in the phrasal verb like the meaning of look you know looking at something right
to see something but to look for something means to search for something or to look down on someone means to think you are better than someone and that's today's topic I'm going to explain 26 phrasal verbs, A to Z, the most commonly used phrasal verbs with their definitions and meanings.
and examples. Let's get started. 26 commonly used phrasal verbs a to z native speakers use a lot of phrasal verbs on a daily basis like even if you're texting your friend say hey you wanna you wanna play soccer this afternoon and maybe your friend says oh yeah Definitely, if you go play soccer, just hit me up. Hit me up. Hit me up. Hit me up means what? It doesn't mean hit me up.
Right? It doesn't mean hit me. It means let me know. Let me know. Hit me up. Hit me up. And if you don't understand that phrasal verb, then you need to look it up.
Or if you're having a conversation with your American friend and he or she says that, hit me up, hit me up later. It might become awkward if you didn't understand it. Phrasal verbs are used in... daily conversations in movies and everywhere so very important let's get to it number one act up act up act up act up act up has two main meanings it has more meanings i think but these two are very common to behave badly misbehave not to function properly
for an engine but to behave badly that's for people not for engines like children or people in general sometimes like if your student is Acting up, right? Example, one of my students was acting up today. I need to talk to her parents. I need to talk to her mother because she was acting up. That means she was misbehaving. She was not acting.
properly she she was behaving badly or my car's engine is acting up i need to go to a mechanic so my car's engine is maybe not doing not sounding very good and looks like it's going to break down which is the next idiom So if your car's engine is acting up, that means it sounds weird. It's sounding weird and you need to show it to a mechanic. It's also not good if you're children.
are acting up so number two breakdown breakdown has several different meanings i'm going to explain three of them one is to stop functioning or working So if your engine keeps acting up, then it might eventually break down. Or you can say, I think my car will break down soon because... the engine is acting up. Second meaning of breakdown is to analyze information in order to make it easier to understand or manage.
like you can use that for mathematics like this equation is complicated we need to break it down or you can use it for language like this grammar is difficult or this sentence is difficult can you please break it down let's break it down it'll be easier for you to understand The third meaning of breakdown is to lose control of your emotions when you are in a state of stress, shock or...
Like if you receive a bad news, if someone tells you a really bad news, like someone died or something, maybe you will break down. That means you get really stressed emotionally and maybe you start crying. Another example is, I broke down in tears when I heard of the passing of my aunt. Number three. Call off, call off, call off, or call off. Call off means to cancel something, to cancel an event or a meeting, not canceling a subscription.
of your Netflix account. You can't say call off. No, it's more for meetings and events in your calendar. If you call it off, that means you canceled it. Another example or you can say a good example would be they had to they had to cancel the they had to call off the wedding because of COVID-19 or they had to call off the wedding. Maybe.
Something happened between the couple before the wedding and they wanted to split. They didn't want to get married. So they called off the wedding, which is not good. Number four, catch up. Catch up. To catch up. Not ketchup, right? Ketchup, not the sauce. Catch up, not ketchup. So to catch up means to get to the same point or level as another person or... the level or point that you're supposed to be, like in work or school, etc. For example, I had a great two-week vacation overseas.
But it's going to take me forever to catch up on everything. Like at work, school. That means to get back to your level because now you are behind. Or maybe you guys are... You know, you and your friends are hiking and your friends are running, right?
running behind you or they're walking very fast and you say can you guys slow down i can't catch up with you guys if you keep running that fast or if you keep walking that fast so catch up i need to catch up number five drop off drop off to drop off something or someone means to leave something or someone at a specific location so maybe
You give a ride, you're driving and you give a ride to your friend, to his house. And he says, you can drop me off right here. You can drop me off right here at the corner. You don't need to get to the driveway. Just drop me off right here. So to leave someone at a specific location or the mailman dropped off the package at my neighbor's door. Sometimes delivery people do that. They mistakenly drop off a package or delivery at a wrong location or at a wrong address. Number six, end up.
This is a good one. End up means to reach or come to a place, condition or situation that was not planned or expected. Or maybe it was expected and you ended up in that condition. And the condition sometimes can be negative. or positive so it usually so basically it means to to reach or to to to reach a a condition or a state or a level or to reach an outcome or a result, whether negative or positive. For example, he didn't want to end up like his father. That means he didn't want to reach...
or get into the same... He didn't want to reach... He didn't want to end up like his father means he didn't want to reach at the same condition or he didn't want to... He didn't want to get into the same condition or outcome like his father. Maybe his father had some issues or problems.
Or became really, really poor because of certain decisions. And he says, I didn't want to end up like my father. I didn't want to end up like my father. That means I didn't want to... reach his condition or come or become like him in a certain area or she ended up a rich woman It basically means she became a rich woman. Maybe she kept trying, she kept trying, and she ended up becoming a really rich woman. Or he kept...
He kept getting into trouble until he ended up in jail. So that was like the end result. So end up. Or you can even say... We kept hiking, hiking. We kept hiking and hiking until we ended up in a small town and we stayed the night in that town. Ended up. Or I ended up like you can also say. I ended up not going to the party because I was really tired. That means I came to.
point that i didn't go maybe something happened or you didn't want to go so ended up it's a good word seven fit in fit in to fit in you know like the word fit if something fits you like a shirt or pants that means it fits perfectly it's it's the same size as uh as your size so but To fit in means to try to be accepted by a group of people or seen as one of them, not like an outsider.
not like a stranger so if you fit in that means you're trying to or you become or you become a try to be accepted or you become accepted in a group or A small community, a neighborhood, a classroom, something like that to fit in. So you can you can say after they moved to California, Paula. or paula had trouble fitting in with the new students in the new school so fitting in maybe their behavior was different so especially for for kids it's hard sometimes fitting in
Or you go to a different country and you say, in the beginning, I had trouble fitting in. I had trouble being accepted or being looked at as the same group. But later, it was fine. So fitting in. Number eight, get by. Get by. Get by means to manage, to do something with great difficulty, to struggle to do something. You manage to do it. That means you can do it, but with great difficulty. Get by. Usually they use this for financial situations. For example...
He had just enough money to get by when he started his business. So in the beginning, it was rough. It was difficult. He had just enough money to get by. That means to... maintain his business to pay his bills to pay his rent and he didn't make any profit he don't he had only enough money to get by or they had just He had a job, but it was paying him just enough to get by. So he had to look for another job. Number nine, go over. And we usually use this with something.
to go over something to go over something means to review something like a document a file or paperwork something like that so for example can you Can you go over the files that I send you? I want to make sure everything is correct and there are no mistakes before I finalize the contract. So to go over something. Or let's go over it together. Number nine, get along. Get along. Get along means to have a friendly relationship with someone.
Not a lot of arguments. The relationship is good. I get along pretty well with my neighbor. I get along pretty well with my girlfriend. Or with my roommate. She doesn't get along with her mother-in-law. That's a problem, right? Especially with married couples and stuff. It's funny. That means... Their relationship is not very friendly. Sometimes they get into fights or they get into arguments. They don't like each other very well. Or we get along pretty well. Number 11. Hold on. Hold on.
Well, one meaning of hold on is like, hold on, hold on, hold on. That means wait a second, wait a second. Hold on, hold on. But I'm going to explain two other meanings of hold on. One is to hold on something tightly and carefully so that you don't... drop it or you don't fall like hold on tight hold on tight everyone the boat is getting ready to go
That means make sure that you hold on tight to whatever you're holding on and make sure you're not going to fall. Another meaning of hold on is to endure. Or keep going in difficult circumstances. To persevere. To keep going. To keep fighting. And not giving up. Without giving up. We have to hold on and keep moving forward. Or you can say, it's difficult holding on. That's another meaning of holding on. Number 12, identify with.
identify with has several different meanings but here are three of them To identify with someone or something is like the first one is to think of something as being the same as something else. Like it is a mistake to identify being healthy.
with being thin thin t-h-i-n a lot of people identify being healthy with being thin but actually it's not always the case So be careful and don't identify being healthy with being thin or don't try to be thin so that people think you're healthy or or so that you will think you're healthy because no. being healthy is one thing being thin is something else another meaning of identify with is to think of someone as being very closely
Associated with something like she has always been identified with the civil rights movement. You identify someone's personality with something or. We can identify Steve Jobs as one of the best innovators of our time, or we can identify him with, you know, the definition of innovation. Because he changed the world, right? Another meaning of identify with is to feel that you are similar to someone and you can understand them or their situation.
So it's kind of like to empathize with someone like readers can identify with the hero of the novel or I can identify with her because I've been in similar situations.
kind of like walking in someone else's shoes but that's for difficult situation usually to identify with someone it's not always for negative things so like you identify with someone that means you you have similar ways of thinking or you relate to their situation number 13 jack up this is a good one actually to jack up to jack up means to increase the price
or the cost of something by a large amount. They jacked up the price of toilet paper and hand sanitizers, right? This is a true story right now, right? They jacked up the prices, or they jacked up the price of oil. not yet hopefully no but number 14 keep up keep up to keep up with something or to just to keep up means to move Or progress at the same rate as someone else. Or something else. So it's kind of similar to.
catch up but to catch up it's like when you're behind but to keep up that means you didn't get behind you keep up the pace that means you are keeping up your level technology is advancing very fast i can't keep up with it i just can't keep up it's too much it's it's advancing very fast i can't keep up i still have an iphone 4s I just can't keep up. No, I'm kidding. But that's the meaning of keep up. Number 15. Lay off. Lay off. Lay off. Lay off.
Means. To discharge. A worker. Temporarily. Or maybe permanently. Because of a shortage of work. So. It's not like firing someone. If you fire someone means maybe you didn't like this person or so you don't want this person to work for you. So you don't you don't like that person. Or maybe you had some problems with this person or this employee, so you don't want him or her to work for you anymore. Or some problem happened, so you fire them.
That's fire. But to lay off someone, it means you are forced. It's a difficult situation. You are forced to let go. of some employees because you just don't have the money to pay them or there are no more work for them. Especially right now with COVID-19, this is a good example. Two major airlines had to lay off over 35,000 employees last month due to COVID-19. Or I got laid off from my job because of the pandemic.
So I got laid off. L-A-Y-O-F-F. And if you say I got laid off, that's L-A-I-D-O-F. number 16 move out move out to leave your or someone else's place of residence and go somewhere else you are when especially when you live in that place it's not like leaving a place you're visiting someone and you leave that person no to move out that means you are living in that place and
You are leaving and you're moving somewhere else. Many American teenagers move out of their parents' house after 18 or after they go to college. Her roommates were toxic. So... She had to move out. She had to get out of there. 17. Name after. Name after. If you name someone after someone. or something else, you give them the same name. For example, their son, for example, you can say their son.
was born the same day the president got elected so they named him after the president or yeah that's that's a good example number 18 open up Open up. Open up. If you open up to somebody, it means you share your feelings with them. I thank you for letting me open up to you. That means thank you for letting me express my feelings. I was very sad and I wanted to just express my feelings. And you were very easy.
You are a great listener and it was easy, so easy for me to open up. Usually for people that you trust, like your family, your best friend, your boyfriend, your girlfriend. So open up. So that's one meaning of open up. Or if the president opens up the border or opens up the country, it means it becomes easier for other people to travel to the country.
or you can also use it for the economy. They need to open up the economy. Millions of people are losing their jobs. So open up the borders, open up the economy. Number 19, put off. To put off means to postpone something until a later time. They are thinking about putting off the wedding. They are not calling off the wedding. They are... Just putting off the wedding or for homework you can say
I always put off my homework until the last minute or I always put off my assignment until the last minute. We're all guilty of that, right? I've done that. so many times i always put off stuff number 19 rip off rip off to cheat someone especially by charging them too much money for something sometimes tourists worry about getting ripped off while traveling to a new country rip off or that guy really ripped me off he gave me a really crappy car for a lot of money he sold me a really bad car
For a lot of money. Rip me off. Ripped me off. Or you can also use it as a noun. Like you say, oh my god, that's a ripoff. That means it's not worth that much money. It's a ripoff. Don't buy it. Number 20, turn down. To turn down something means you reject something that was offered to you. or that was proposed to you like a contract or a deal a job offer something like that you turn it down that means you decline it or you reject it after carefully thinking about it
he decided to turn down the offer for the head of sales position. Or before he became a best-selling author, he got turned down so many times by many publishers. 21. Take off. Take off has a few different meanings. Again, like to remove clothing from your body, of your body, right? You take off your clothes. Right. You take off your hat, you take off your glasses or to leave for a journey, to leave a place. I don't know where he went. He just got into his car and he just took off.
Or you can also use it for airplanes. The airplane took off. That means the plane left the ground. She was very happy that she finally got home and took off her shoes. They had been hurting her all day. Number 22. Use up. Use up. If you use up something, you use all of it and have nothing left of it. Example, you used up all the milk last night. We have no milk for breakfast. Don't use up all the battery.
Like if you're going camping and you say, don't use up all the battery in the light or don't use up all the fuel for the generator. Don't use up all the fuel. We're going to need more tomorrow. 25. Work out. To work out. If you say workout, that's a noun. Like exercise. That's one meaning of workout. Let's go work out. As a noun. the stress is on a different syllable you say workout i did a really good workout today that means i did a really good exercise session
So work out. But as a verb, you say work out. Work out. Two meanings of work out here. The first one is to have a good or specified result or to be successful. Or to have a really good result. I really hope your business plan will work out. I really hope your business plan will work out. Or another meaning of work out. Is to plan or devise something in detail. To plan something in detail. Like they had to work out a plan for the tournament. For the soccer tournament indoors on rainy days.
So because the whole tournament was planned for outdoors or to be played outdoors. But now they had to work out a plan. in case some days rain so that they play indoors inside so they had to plan they had to make a specific plan a detailed plan in case in case it rains, then they need to have a backup or a specific plan to play indoors. Or they have to work out a plan to work online, to work remotely.
during the pandemic so work out a plan means create a plan in a very detailed and specific way number 26 and this is the last one zone out to zone out means to lose consciousness or concentration usually for a brief moment for a short period of time like uh Maybe your friend is talking to you, but you didn't hear him or her because you zoned out. I just zoned out for a second. I'm sorry. What did you say? Who called you?
Who called you today? Who called you on the phone today? I'm sorry, guys. I just zoned out for a second. We all zone out. You know, like sometimes you're at the traffic light.
in your car and you're just thinking of something maybe and the light is already green but you zoned out and you couldn't you didn't see the light and you know oh oh it's green and someone honks the horn behind you oh my god I zoned out for a second zoned out and that brings us to the end of this episode i hope you made it to the end of this episode because sometimes you know when you're listening to an audio lesson or a podcast halfway you give up
so if you didn't give up this is another phrasal verb give up to quit if you kept going and you didn't give up till the end you didn't quit you didn't stop listening to me If you liked this episode, share it with your friends on social media, on WhatsApp, send it as a text. Have a great day. I'll see you next time.