GO OFF — Meaning: to start ringing (alarm)
• The fire alarm went off because someone was smoking in the toilets.
• I’m sorry I’m late. My alarm clock didn’t go off (ring)this morning!
BE UP — Meaning: to (stay) awake
• She’s not up yet.
• I’m sorry I was up (stayed awake) all night with a headache and I just couldn’t get up (get out of the bed)this morning.
GET UP — Meaning: to get out of bed
• I get up at seven o’clock on weekdays, but lie in till noon at the weekend.
BREAK DOWN — Meaning: to stop working
• My car’s broken down, so I came by taxi.
• I’m sorry my car broke down (stopped working) and I had to call a tow truck.
MAKE UP — Meaning: to invent a story
• They made up an excuse for being late.
• I’m tired of you making up (inventing stories) excuses every time you show up late for work!
SHOW UP — Meaning: to attend something or arrive somewhere
• Very few showed up at the meeting.
PUT UP WITH — Meaning: to tolerate
• I can’t put up with my neighbour’s noise any longer; it’s driving me mad.
• I won’t put up with (tolerate) this situation anymore!
END UP — Meaning: to become or do something unplanned
• We couldn’t get tickets for Egypt so we ended up going to Turkey instead.
• I told you he was going to end up pissing off (making him angry) our boss sooner or later.
PISS OFF — Meaning: to make someone angry
• It really pissed me off that they didn’t help me out when I needed it.
Quick Grammar Lesson: The Particle ON and OFF in Phrasal Verbs
In the previous lesson, you have learned the meaning of the particle ‘up‘ and ‘down‘ used with a verb in phrasal verbs. If you missed it, you can check out this link. When you have finished reading the lesson in that link, you can go back here.
So, today you are going to learn the meaning of the particle ON and OFF.
The particle ON means:
– contact
– support
– function
– continue
Example:
He put the water on the stove to boil.
Why do I use on instead of at? Because on in the sentence means contact. The water needs to be in contact with the source of heat, in this case stove, in order to boil.
Another example:
Julie is getting on very well with her school, but her brother’s marks are terrible.
The particle on in getting on means her study iscontinuing well; she is progressing well with her study.
The particle OFF means:
– separate
– deteriorate
– not function
– not continue
– complete
Example:
As we were talking on the phone, we were suddenly cut off.
We use the particle off with the verb cut to mean something is separated. We were separated; the contact was broken.
Another example:
Many old people in Britain live on nothing but tea and biscuits.
The particle on in live on means supported; the old people in Britain were supported only by tea and biscuits.
Now try this exercise. Let’s see if you understand the lesson right.
1. She worked (on/off) until she was exhausted.
2. Julie and Barry quarreled and decided to call (on/off) their engagement.
3. He kept (on off) whistling that stupid song!
4. We went with Sandra to the airport to see her (on/off).
5. That milk smells terrible. It has gone (on/off).
No comments:
Post a Comment