Put Up, Bring Back, Bring Up ✨ Most Common Phrasal Verbs in English (43-45)

Hi everyone! I'm Jennifer from English with  Jennifer. If you've studied with me for a while,  

you probably know that I love to take walks.  There's a path near my house, and it's lined  

with trees, so the surrounding nature is really  beautiful. But not too long ago, some kids decided  

to paint graffiti on the path. It's really  sad. They painted words, names, and symbols.  

What do you think should be done? A. Put  up a sign saying "No Graffiti Allowed."  

B. Bring up the matter for  discussion at a town meeting.  

C. Bring up the topic of  vandalism at a school assembly.

Hmm. Well, even if there were a sign,  I'm not sure it would stop people from  

painting more graffiti, and the fact  is some graffiti is already there.  

And talking about the matter isn't a bad  idea, but I'm not sure it would help.  

Do we try to find the people and punish them?  Well, we can't bring back harsh punishments  

from the Middle Ages, but I wish we could find  the people and make them clean everything up.  

Thankfully, the fall leaves and the winter  snow can hide a lot of the graffiti, so at  

least for half of the year, it won't be so bad.  In this lesson, we'll study and practice three  

common phrasal verbs: "put up" as in "put up a  sign," "bring up" as in "bring up a matter for  

discussion," and "bring back" as in "bringing  back harsh punishments from the Middle Ages,"  

which we won't do. We'll talk about the meanings  and uses of these three phrasal verbs. Ready?

"Put up" is transitive. When you put up a  sign, you raise it so that people see it.  

You can put up a sign, a poster, or a photo.  You can put up your hand or raise your hand  

when you're in a large group and you have a  question. You can also put up decorations, right?  

Many of my neighbors have put up Halloween  decorations this month, and we have too.  

You know what else we can put up? Every December,  my children and I put up the Christmas tree. This  

meaning is a bit different. We're not putting up  the tree in a public place, a visible place. We're  

not doing this so that people notice it. Putting  up the tree is about building it, erecting it.

Do you know how to put up a tent? I don't. "Put  up" can also be about arguing or resisting.  

If we did find those kids who painted the  graffiti, they would likely put up a fuss  

if we then made them clean everything  up. They would likely complain and say,  

"It's too hard. It's impossible. We don't have  the equipment to clean all that graffiti up."  

In other words, they'd resist  or struggle against the task.  

Put up a fuss. Put up a fight.  Put up stiff or fierce resistance.

If your town or city passed a law that you  didn't agree with, would you put up a fight?

I read that in my state of Massachusetts  there's actually a law that says you can't  

put tomatoes in clam chowder. Clam chowder is  that creamy kind of soup with potatoes and clams.  

Can you imagine such a law? I guess if someone  wanted to break it, they could in the privacy of  

their kitchen. They could add some tomatoes to the  chowder, but I'm sure most New Englanders wouldn't  

even think about this. New Englanders prefer the  traditional white creamy clam chowder -- nothing  

with tomatoes. In fact, if they were served  clam chowder with tomatoes at a restaurant,  

they would complain. New Englanders  wouldn't put up with that kind of variation.  

What does this mean? Celebrate,  tolerate, compliment?

Tolerate. You can put up with something;  you can put up with someone. In this case,  

New Englanders wouldn't put up with  tomatoes in their clam chowder.

We did it. We put up the sign. He  didn't put up much of a fight. Maggie,  

you put up a terrific fight. Oh, I wouldn't put  up with it. No more. I put up with too much.  

"Bring back" is transitive.Iit takes an  object. Remember how I said we're not  

going to bring back harsh punishments from the  Middle Ages? Society has progressed a lot and,  

thankfully, we don't believe in unnecessary  cruelty today. When you bring something back,  

you take it from the past and you  make use of it again. You revive it.  

A more positive example comes from the world of  fashion. Some designers are successful at reviving  

old trends, old styles. They can bring something  back and make use of it again. In the 1960s and  

70s, these were called bell-bottom pants. Bell  bottoms. Today you can shop for flare jeans.  

Different name, same style. Someone brought back  that wide cut leg, and it's fashionable again.  

Question: Is there a movie or a TV show that  brings back good memories of your childhood?  

In other words, does it make you remember your  childhood or recall memories from your childhood?

A final meaning of "bring back" is about  returning to a certain point. For example,  

the police can bring someone back  for questioning, meaning they make  

someone return to the police station for more  questions. Or if we have a group discussion  

and we get off topic, it would be my job  as a moderator to bring us back on topic.  

In a more literal sense, we can bring  something back from another place.  

Think about a trip you took at some point in  the past. Did you bring back any souvenirs?

Thanks. I'll bring it back. You be a good  boy. All right. I'll bring you back something.  

Audrey, you bring us back good news.  Good news. Well, I guess I better go.  

"Bring up" is transitive. It takes an  object. Do you remember my suggestion  

about bringing up the graffiti incident at a  town meeting? What exactly was I suggesting?  

A. Demonstrating graffiti. C. Condemning  graffiti. C. Mentioning graffiti.

C. If I brought up the incident at a town meeting,  

I would mention it because  I would want to discuss it.

Truthfully, in the case of graffiti, I  think sometimes it can be an art. There  

are celebrated graffiti artists who paint on  fences and walls. For me, it depends on the  

content. There shouldn't be anything offensive.  And does it show skill? How well is it done?  

It also depends where the graffiti is painted.  I wouldn't want graffiti on my house or my  

car. That would be vandalism. But on the  side of a building with permission of the  

building owner -- that would be okay.  Then the public could enjoy the art.  

Unfortunately, those kids in my town who painted  graffiti where people go to enjoy nature ruined a  

peaceful walk. And their work is kind of sloppy.  It makes me wonder how they were brought up,  

meaning how were they raised. Didn't someone teach  them about respecting public and private property?  

To be brought up refers to how  someone is raised from childhood.  

Sometimes grandparents are  responsible for bringing up a child.  

So this phrasal verb can be active  or passive. Bring someone up.  

Someone can be brought up -- brought up  by someone or brought up in a certain way.

Finish these two sentences. I  was brought up to respect...

My parents brought me up and taught me that...

A final meaning of "bring up" is computer-related.  As I prepared this lesson, I looked up silly laws  

in the state of Massachusetts. One website brought  up a list of laws that have been around for a long  

time but are quite silly to still have in 2022.  Like the one about tomatoes and clam chowder.  

"Bring up a list" means make the list appear.  This is only used for a device with a screen.

Bring up the video.

There. Bring that up. Stay with her. She's  across the street. Actually, my parents don't  

know about the Rita thing. What? Yeah. Well,  bring that up. Okay. Don't bring that up.  

Okay. Time to review our three phrasal verbs.  Match the phrasal verbs to their meanings.

Match the phrasal verbs to their objects.

Match the phrasal verbs to their objects.

Do you remember phrasal verbs from  our previous lessons? Let me quiz you.  

Match the phrasal verbs to their meanings.

Match the phrasal verbs to their meanings.

Match the phrasal verbs to their objects.

Match the phrasal verbs to their subjects.

Match the phrasal verbs to their objects.

Well, I'm not going to end until I bring up  different ways you can gain more practice  

with me. Join as a YouTube member. Then  you can participate in the members-only  

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