Turn Around, Take Up, Look Down ✨Most Common Phrasal Verbs in English (40-42)

Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English  with Jennifer. When did you learn to cook?  

I'll tell you my cooking story. I loved  to bake cakes and cookies at a young age,  

but I didn't learn to cook until I was an adult.  I think I was one of those people who kind of  

looked down on cooking, and I just thought  there were more important things to learn,  

so I only learned to cook when I absolutely had  to. In the 1990s and early 2000s, cooking shows  

exploded. On TV, there were many cooks teaching  us how to make really good everyday dishes.  

I learned a lot by watching. Thanks to TV and now  the internet, I bet a lot of people of different  

ages have taken up cooking just for fun. You get  pleasure from preparing good food and sharing  

it with others. So, if you're not eating well  because you haven't invested the time to learn,  

I think you can turn things around  just by watching some cooking shows  

or some videos online. It's never too late  to learn. Speaking of learning, we're going  

to study three common phrasal verbs together:  turn around, take up, look down. Let's begin.

"Turn around" can be a transitive  or intransitive phrasal verb.  

Literally, if you turn around,  you face the opposite direction.

If a situation turns around or if someone  turns things around, then there's a significant  

change for the better. Your life can  turn around. The economy can turn around.  

Or if the country has a poor economy,  then a strong leader can turn it around.  

Note how "turn something around" is separable.

We sometimes combine "turn around" with another  action, and it means a change in thinking.  

Someone decided to do something different,  something surprising, and not always good.  

Picture this situation. A man made a promise to  his business partners. Then he turned around and  

betrayed them. He sold company secrets. Sounds  like a plot for a movie or a book. Right?

Guess what the compound noun is? Turnaround.  It's one word. It refers to a significant  

change in someone's performance. Or in  the context of business and production,  

"turnaround" refers to how quickly  someone can produce their service.  

For example, I offer editing services through  my website. For a short document, turnaround  

time can be 24 hours. But for a longer document,  turnaround becomes a matter of days, not hours.

Okay. So, let's see if you  remember everything so far.  

What are two possible meanings of "turn around"?

Change for the better and decide to do  something surprising, something different.

And when could we talk about turnaround  time? In what kind of situation?

How long it takes to repair a phone.

Here's an expression you can  hear and use in conversation:  

every time I turn around or  every time you turn around.  

It refers to something that happens frequently.  It's similar to "every time I look."

For example, home ownership isn't  easy. Every time I turn around,  

there's something to clean or fix,  meaning I often face these kinds of tasks.

Or here's another example.  Every time you turn around,  

social media platforms are making changes.  It seems like there are updates every month.

Every time I turn around, Denise is there.  Every time I turn around, you're talking  

to him. Is there anything that happens  often? Maybe too often? Finish my sentence.

"Take up" is transitive and separable.  

There are a few different meanings. Can you guess  from context? Match the meanings to the sentences.

Here are the answers.

"Take up" can mean "begin." When I took up  folk dancing, I began to do it as a hobby. So,  

you can take up a new hobby, but you  could also take up a new position,  

though I think that's a little less  common. Personally, I talk about  

taking on a new position or taking on new duties,  but some people use "take up" in this context.

When take up means "use," we're referring to  space or time. Take up space. Take up time.  

For example, if cleaning your home takes up  too much of your weekend, maybe you should  

try doing a little bit throughout the week  instead of waiting until Saturday and Sunday.

"Take up" can also mean "discuss  or handle." When there's a problem,  

you can take it up with someone. Note  how we take something up with someone.

Often we use the phrase "take  the matter up with someone,"  

meaning you discuss a certain matter with  someone or you deal with a certain matter.

Answer these questions for practice. Name a hobby  that you enjoy. When did you first take it up?

Name something other than work  that takes up a lot of your time.

If you had a complaint about something in  your town, who would you take it up with?

We learned the expression "take the matter up  with someone." Don't confuse that with "take  

someone up on something." If you take someone  up on something, you accept their offer.  

For example, if your friend jokingly  offers to help you clean your house,  

you may say, "Hey. I just  may take you up on that."

Hey! I might take you up on that. Thanks. I  might take you up on that. I might take you  

up on that one day. "Look down" all by itself  doesn't need an object. Literally, to look down  

means to lower your eyes. You can look down at the  floor. You can look down at your feet. "Look down  

on" needs an object. It's transitive. You can look  down on something. You can look down on someone.

Do you remember why I didn't learn to cook for a  long time? I just felt there were more important  

things to learn first. I also had other people to  cook for me, and they were really good at it. Now,  

of course, I understand it's wrong to look down on  cooking. Cooking is a skill and a very good one.  

I've really grown to appreciate people who cook  well. Some have built careers on their cooking  

skills, and they don't just work in restaurants.  There are those people who love to teach others  

to cook, and they're amazing at it. So, what's  another way to say "look down on something"?

Consider unimportant.

If you look down on something, you don't value it.  

If you look down on someone, you see  them as inferior. You don't respect them.

So, I think at this point, you can understand the  expression "to look down your nose at something  

or someone." It's the same as simply  looking down on someone or something.

I'm sick of you looking down your nose at us.  Do you look down on me? Here are a couple of  

questions for you to think about. Why  do some people look down on others?  

Are there groups of people that  others tend to look down on?

Feel free to share your  thoughts on these questions  

or any of my earlier questions in the comments.

We've studied three common  phrasal verbs: turn around,  

take up, look down. Do you think you  remember phrasal verbs from previous lessons?  

Let's review a little. I promise  it won't take up too much time.

That's all for now. Remember to review as  needed, and I'll see you soon for another lesson.  

Please like and share the video  if you found the lesson useful.  

As always, thanks for watching and happy studies!

Everyone, visit me on Patreon. You can join to  support my online work, get live lessons and bonus  

videos, and some of you may even want a monthly  one-on-one video call. Follow me on Facebook,  

Twitter, and Instagram. Why not join me on  Patreon? And don't forget to subscribe on YouTube!