41 British House Cleaning Vocabulary Words, Phrases, Phrasal Verbs & Slang!

Hello everyone and welcome back to english with lucy today i'm very excited about

this video it's a video about cleaning i have noticed so many people making loads

of errors when they're talking about cleaning it's a very popular topic

online nowadays i'm going to give you lots of cleaning verbs these are

essential but also the corresponding phrasal verbs that a lot of people

struggle with i'm also going to give you some phrases and vocab words related to

cleaning at the end firstly before we get started i would just like to thank

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firstly we're going to look at some cleaning verbs and they're examples of

course because I know you love examples but afterwards we're going to look at

their corresponding phrasal verbs how you can transform them into cleaning

related phrasal verbs I'm going to show you a really cool trick that will help

you remember which preposition goes with which verb but let's begin with the

verbs number one is to wipe to wipe this is to

clean or dry something by rubbing across your hand or some paper for example make

sure you wipe the surfaces with a clean cloth number two we have to clean it's

important because it relates to the phrasal verb this means to make clean

not dirty free from marks and dirt for example I'm going to clean the bathroom

because it's in a terrible state number three sounds similar to to clean

it's to clear and the meaning is different it means to remove unwanted

items or objects from so with to clean you're simply removing marks and dirt to

clear you're removing actual objects or items for example I cook the food my

fiance clears the table he's clearing objects he is removing used and unwanted

items from the table if I clean my workspace I'll probably be wiping down

the surfaces or washing the table if I clear my workspace I'm probably

organizing it removing pens and old bills and things like that number four

is to sweep to sweep this is to clean an area by brushing away dirt or litter I

wouldn't say to brush the dirt or brush the patio I would say can you sweep the

patio an example please sweep the floor carefully last time you missed a spot a

spot is a small area number five is to wash this means to clean with water and

usually soap or a detergent for example when you wash the dishes don't use a

metal brush on my non-stick pans two things to note here

I say wash the dishes but I also talked about pans when we say wash the dishes

we're speaking about dishes you know plates and cutlery but also any other

kitchen utensils that have been used in the

process of preparing a meal non-stick pans are different to normal pans

because they have a special coating that makes sure that food doesn't cling and

burn the next one number six is to hang this means to suspend something from the

top leaving the bottom part to dangle free for example why does it always rain

just as I go to hang my washing on the line number seven is to Hoover or to

vacuum this means to clean with a vacuum cleaner now to vacuum is the universal

phrase but Hoover is very common in British English and this is because for

many years Hoover which is a brand of vacuum

cleaner basically dominated the market so we just said we were going to Hoover

something instead of to vacuum something now even if our vacuum cleaner is made

by a different brand we are still inclined to call it a Hoover an example

when my mother who visit the carpets she likes to leave visible vacuum

cleaner marks so that everybody can notice the effort that she's made true

story I love my mum I always used to wonder why she would Hoover so hard to

leave these marks now I get it when I Hoover I want people to notice that I've

hoovered number eight is to tidy this means to organize or to arrange neatly

or to put something in its place for example I'm terrible at tidying my own

bedroom but I'm very good at telling others to tidy theirs number nine is to

mop this means to clean something by soaking up water or liquid for example

if you see any spilt drinks be sure to mop the floor number ten is to polish

this is to make the surface of something smooth and shiny by rubbing it usually

with a cloth for example please could you polish the cutlery before setting

the table note to set the table is to place all of the things that you

need on a table before dinner cutlery napkins plates salt and pepper sauces

everything to set the table we can also say to lay at the table

number 11 is to scrub scrub this is to rub something hard usually with a brush

and water in order to clean it for example you'll have to really scrub

those baking trays unfortunately they're covered in burnt cake number 12 is to

scour to scour this means to clean the surface of something by rubbing it hard

usually with an abrasive or a detergent for example you should scour that pan

with a metal brush and lots of washing up liquid and the last one number 13 is

to dust this means to remove the dust or dirt from the surface of something by

wiping it or brushing it for example please could you dust the ornaments on

the mantelpiece a mantelpiece is a wooden stone or sometimes marble

structure above a fireplace it's like a shelf and we like to put photo frames

and ornaments there right so we've got these 13 cleaning verbs how do we

transform them into phrasal verbs and how do we know which verb goes with

which preposition oh I can make this so much easier for you every single one of

these verbs can be used with the preposition up and up simply adds

emphasis to wipe up to clean up to clear up up implies that you're making

something better so to clean up means to clean something in order to improve it

because up is adding emphasis it doesn't necessarily change the meaning of the

verb before it you can use these cleaning verbs with confidence with the

preposition up knowing that the meaning is not changed to clean is the same

as to clean up just the latter has a little bit more emphasis now another

preposition that you will hear a lot with cleaning verbs is out the first

seven verbs in the verb list can also be used without the following six cannot be

used without I mean you could try but they would sound a bit weird using out

with a cleaning verb implies that something like an unwanted object or

dust or dirt is being removed from the inside of something whether that be a

room or a hollow object to wipe out this could be the inside of a bag can you

wipe out your lunch box I'm removing all the dirt and old food from the inside of

a lunch box to clean out or to clear out these are commonly used with rooms to

clear out your garage for example to throw away unwanted items and to make it

cleaner to hang out is an exception in this case because if you hang out the

washing it doesn't mean that your washing is unwanted it just means that

the washing is going to be hung outside but because to hang out is used quite

frequently I thought it was important that it was included in this list to

Hoover out to vacuum out to wash out to sweep out this is all talking about

removing dust from somewhere or something to tidy to mop to polish to

scrub to scour and to dust are not usually used without but they are

commonly used with up English is a very diverse and complicated language so yes

you might hear someone say can you scrub out those pans I wouldn't recommend it

because it's not commonly used right let's move on to the next part of the

lesson I'm going to give you some vocabulary words and phrases some are

quite idiomatic that describe cleanliness words and phrases that you

can use to talk about things that are very clean a couple of words first

the first one is spotless spotless she cleaned the kitchen until

it was spotless next number two we have immaculate

immaculate this means absolutely perfect by the time he'd finished the flat was

immaculate number three is orderly orderly this means that something is

very organized or tidy everything has a specific place the library was very

orderly every book had a place a number for the last vocabulary word is

shipshape shipshape this means in good order very clean Sarah vacuums everyday

to keep her house shipshape now let's move on to the phrases the first one is

as clean as a whistle as clean as a whistle the sink was as

clean as a whistle after using the new detergent we also have as neat as a pin

as neat as a pin this means the same thing an example there hallway was as

neat as a pin the next one number three is spic and span spic and span the

guests left the hotel room spic and span very clean and the last one is you could

eat off the floor and this normally talks about someone's kitchen if their

kitchen is so clean it would actually be hygienic to eat off the floor their home

was so clean you could eat off the kitchen floor it's a huge compliment to

be told that someone would eat off your kitchen floor right that's it for

today's lesson I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you learned something don't

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see you soon for another lesson was me ad libbing I shall make a note to

avoid doing so in the future

let's get stop no let's not get started the lesson I need to thank my sponsor I

did that too Lucy Bella this means to make clean not dirty free from dirt and

rub them dammit spot is on your face for example please could you

you