5 'RUN' expressions in English

Hey, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on expressions

with "run". Today, we're going to look at five expressions that use the word "run" and

look at the meaning of the expressions as well as some sentences that use them. So we're

going to look at the meanings and some context for each one. A lot of these are phrasal verbs,

so let's have a look, and we'll start with the first one, which is "run into".

So the sentence says, "I ran into my cousin on the bus." Now, again, you can "run into"

someone or something. But specifically, when you "run into someone", this means that you

meet them by accident. Okay? So to "run into" is to meet by accident. Now, what I mean when

I say "by accident" is you were not expecting to see this person. So if you run into a person

on the bus, it's like, "Oh, hey! I didn't expect to see you here." You can run into

people everywhere. We do this all the time in our lives. If you are shopping at the grocery

store, maybe you run into your sister, your brother, your mother, a friend, a classmate.

So think of places that you can meet people unexpectedly, by accident. You can run into

people on the metro, the subway, the train, the bus -- anywhere in public. And you can

-- again, you can use this in the past tense, in the present tense, in the future. The future

is a little weird. It's like -- you could say, "I hope to run into you there at the

concert" for example. Okay?

The next one says "to run out of something." So the "s/t" means "something". Now, the sentence

is, "We're running out of juice." So if you live with someone, whether you're married

or you have a roommate, and you look in the refrigerator and you see the juice is almost

finished -- so if you "run out of something", it means that you use it until there is no

more left. You have finished all of it. So to "run out of something" -- "to use until

finished". Now, I used the example of juice because this is an expression that is commonly

used with food items in your refrigerator. So you can say, "We ran out of milk", or "we

ran out of bread." We ran out of juice." A very common thing that we run out of is gas

in your car as well. So you can say, "I'm running out of gas." Or you can also be "out

of something". So you can also say, "We are out of gas", or "We are out of juice." "We

are out of milk", for example.

Okay. "To run behind." So the sentence says, "Sorry. I'm running a little behind." Now,

what do you think of when you think of "running behind"? Okay. You're not with the person

in front of you; you are behind them. So if you're "running behind", essentially, you

are "running late", so you're not on schedule. Okay? So "to run behind", "to not be on schedule"

-- essentially, "to be late". You know, if you have a meeting with a friend and you call

them and you say, "Sorry. I'm running a little behind", this means, "Something happened to

make me late, and I'm going to be five minutes late -- ten minutes late." And you can even

give a time for how long you're running behind. So you could say, "Sorry. I'm running behind

by ten minutes", or "I'm running behind by five minutes." Something like that. Okay?

The next one is "to run against someone or something". The sentence says, "Obama ran

against McCain in 2008." So we're talking about a presidential election that occurred

in politics. And what do you think this means? If you know anything about the presidential

elections in the United States, that Obama was in opposition to John McCain in 2008.

So they were running against each other like a race. So to "run against someone" means

to be in opposition to them. Now, this is an expression that is very specific to politics.

So you can say, "Hey, who is he? Or who is she running against in the next election?"

So one more time, it means "to be in opposition. Sorry for my B there. It's a little fancy.

Now, again, you can also "run against something", specifically, I think of the word "time".

I say, "I'm running against time." You know, time is always going to win, and if you're

doing a project, you could say, "I'm running against the clock. I'm running against time.

I'm in opposition to time or the clock." Okay?

The last one is "to run something by someone". So the example sentence says, "Could you run

this by Mark first?" Now, if you have an idea for a presentation, for example, if you're

working in a group and you're talking with one of your partners and there's a third partner

in the group, but the third partner is not here right now, and you talk about, you know,

an idea with your partner and you say, "Okay. This sounds like a good idea. However, I want

to get Mark's opinion on this idea first, our third partner who is not here." So if

you "run something" -- the "something" is usually an idea, okay? If you "run something

by someone", it means that you're telling someone something to get their opinion. So

you say, like, "Okay. This sounds good, but I want to run it by this person first because

they need to know, and I want their opinion on this subject." Okay? So "to run something

by someone" -- "to tell someone something to get their opinion".

Now, you can also use this expression if you're, like, surprised at the news that someone gives

you and you don't believe them 100 percent. So if someone says something shocking and

you say, "Whoa. Could you run that by me again?" Okay? So this means, "Could you tell me that

one more time because I didn't understand. I don't believe you." Sometimes, you weren't

listening, so you can say, "Sorry. I wasn't paying attention. Could you run that by me

again?" Okay?

All right, guys. So from the top, we've "run into". "To run into" means to meet someone

unexpectedly or by accident in public. "To run out of something" is to use all of something

until it is finished, until there is nothing left. And one more quick note, you can also

run out of abstract things. So you can say, "I am running out of patience", or "I ran

out of patience." "To run behind" is to not be on schedule, to be a little late. "To run

against someone" is to be in opposition to someone in politics or also to be in opposition

to something like time or the clock. And finally, "to run something by someone" is to tell someone

your idea or something to get their opinion on it because you're not sure 100 percent,

you know, how they're going to feel.

So if you want to test your understanding of this material, you can do the quiz on www.engvid.com.

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