Phrasal Verbs: CHECK – check up, check out, check off...

Hi, welcome to www.engvid.com , I'm Adam.

In today's video, we're going to look at some phrasal verbs with the verb "check".

Now, as you know, a phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and a preposition that, together,

can have very different meanings - more than one meaning, or very different from the actual

words themselves.

Now, this was actually a request on www.engvid.com , so let's look at these.

We're going to look at check out, check in, for, into, off, on or upon - can be the same

thing, over, through, with and back.

Now, checkup and checkout are not verbs.

They're actually nouns, okay, but I'll explain those separately.

So, we're going to start with "check out".

Now, most phrasal verbs have like, one, two, three meanings, maybe four.

Check out actually has quite a few, we have six of them.

And we're going to look at them - I'm going to write them down so you can remember them.

Now, most people, I think, understand "check out", for example, out of a hotel.

When you're done with your stay at the hotel, you go down to the reception.

You pay your bill, you finish everything there, and you leave, okay?

So, that's check out.

Pay and leave.

Now, "checkout" is very closely related.

When you go to a supermarket or a store and you get your items and you're ready to pay,

you go to the checkout.

This is the cashier or the place where you pay and you get your receipt and you move

on, okay?

Again, remember, when you have the verb and the preposition squeezed together into one

word, it becomes a noun.

Now, check out.

You can also use it to mean look at.

When you want to tell somebody to look at something or to pay attention to something,

you can say, "Check that out".

So, for example, I'm looking at a big truck and I'm thinking "Oh, those are huge, nice

tires.

Check out the tires on the truck", right?

Look at, make sure you pay attention to it.

Excuse me.

You can also use it to mean "investigate".

So, we have some problems at our downtown office.

I'm going to go there this afternoon and check it out.

I'm going to go find out, another way to say it is "find out".

Find out what the problem is.

So, check out the situation, investigate, figure out what the problem is.

Now, to confirm.

When something checks out, it means that it - the story is confirmed or something is true,

okay?

So, for example, I have a student and he - my student didn't come to class today.

And then the next day, he said "Oh, my mother was sick.

I had to stay home, so I couldn't come to class."

But I don't trust this student.

He often makes up excuses.

So, I call his house and I speak to his mother and she said, "Yes, I was sick, so my son

had to stay home and help me."

So, his story checks out.

It's confirmed.

It's true.

I know it's true, I can trust him.

Okay?

Another meaning, it's more of a slang meaning, is die.

If somebody checks out, or if somebody checked out, it means they died.

It's a bit - again, slang, so it's very informal.

You don't necessarily want to use it when you're talking about family or friends or

whatever.

"Oh, they checked out."

You'll see it more in movies and TV shows, etc.

And then finally, there's in the library.

You go to the library, you find the book you want or you need, you go to the librarian,

you give your card.

She takes your name, puts a date, a due date on the book, and you check it out.

You take it home with you, you bring it back later.

So, you check it out of the library.

You register it out.

Check in.

So, check in has a couple of meanings.

Again, the opposite in the hotel.

When you arrive at the hotel, you go to the concierge or you go to the reception, you

give your name, you sign, you go to your room.

In an airport, in the airport, you have your baggage that you're not taking with you on

the plane.

It's going to basically go in the cargo hold to your destination.

So, you check in your baggage.

You give it to them to take care of.

And check in can also mean, basically, to let somebody know your situation that you're

- what's going on with you.

So, for example, I work for a company and I'm out of the office all day.

So, around noon or 1:00, I call in just to check in, just to let them know yes, I'm still

here.

Yes, I'm working.

This is the situation.

I'll call you back later this afternoon.

So, check in, just let them, let somebody know where you are, what you're doing, etc.

Check for is the same as - check out in terms of look for something, but when you check

for, you're looking for something specific, okay?

So, somebody gives me their document and they ask me to check it for grammar errors.

So, I'm reading through and I look specifically for grammar mistakes, okay?

Check into, now check into can be similar to check in.

You can check into your hotel, but more common - more often, we use check into to talk about

something more serious, usually medical.

You can check into hospital.

It means you go in there and you stay there for as long as you need to be remedied.

For example, alcoholics, when they feel they've gone to the point that they just need somebody

to help them get off the alcohol, they will check into a rehab or a rehabilitation center.

They will stay there.

Somebody will help them get off the alcohol and when they're ready, they will go back

out into the world.

Okay?

Next, when you have a list.

For example, a to-do list.

These are the things I need to get done today.

As you complete each task, you check it off.

So, this is a check mark.

Check!

So, when you check something off, you take it off your list.

It's done, move on to the next item, okay?

Check up on, basically it means check, like go see how somebody is doing.

So, my friend is sick.

I haven't seen him all day.

He didn't come to the office.

So, after work, I go by his house just to check up on him, or just to check on him.

Make sure he's okay, if he doesn't need any food or medicine or anything like that.

Check over and check through are very similar.

It means you're looking for something within something.

Now, check over, you're going to talk about documents or papers or materials.

So, you check over the documents to make sure there are no errors, to make sure there's

nothing missing.

When you check through, it's usually something physical, like a pile of clothes.

So, I left my wallet in my jeans, and I put my jeans in the laundry basket.

So, I'm checking through all the clothes until I find my wallet and take it out.

So, check over documents, check through clothes, for example.

So, check with.

With you check with somebody about something, means you want to ask them for permission

or availability or anything like that.

You want to make sure that that person knows or allows you to do something.

So, for example, next week I want to go on vacation.

So, I go - before I book my plane ticket, I need to check with my boss to make sure

it's okay.

Make sure we're not too busy and I can take the time off.

So, I check with my boss.

My boss says okay, I book my ticket.

Check back means just come back and ask me again, right?

So, somebody asks me - I go to my boss, I'll use the same example.

I go to my boss, I say, "Can I take a week off for vacation?"

He says, "You know what?

I don't know the schedule yet.

Check back with me later today."

Check back with me, ask me again later today.

Now, I already mentioned checkout is a noun, the cashier.

Checkup, now you can go to the doctor and he will check you up, but we don't necessarily

- we don't use that expression very commonly.

We use the noun.

I go to the doctor for a checkup, or he performs a checkup on me.

It means he does blood tests or urine sample or whatever.

He looks everywhere, makes sure I'm okay, and then sends me home or gives me some medicine,

depending on the case.

So, there you have it.

Phrasals with "check".

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section.

There's also a quiz where you can test your understanding of these phrasal verbs and see

- make sure that you know how to use them.

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