Upgrade Your Speaking: 18 Better Ways to Describe Movement in English

Hi there. This is Harry. And welcome back  to advanced English Lessons with Harry,  

where I try to help you to get a better  understanding of the English language, to

in the advanced English lesson  today, we're looking at different  

verbs about movement. Okay, now  these would be really important,  

particularly for those of you who are  preparing for exams, whether it be the

FCE, CAE or IELTS exams,

There are 18 actually in this particular  list. So we'll go through them.

So first one is soar. S-o-a-r.  Soar. And when something soars it  

goes up very quickly and usually  very suddenly okay. Like rockets  

soar up into the sky. So when you hear  the countdown ten, nine, eight, seven,  

six etc. and then boom, the rocket will  soar up into the sky very, very quickly.

Ore prices console when there's rampant  inflation. So if the price of petrol goes from  

at $2 or €2 for a litre, up to $3 or €3 in  the space of a few days or weeks, we might  

say prices at the petrol pumps have soared and  recently they've gone up really, really quickly.

Number two is this word hurtle? Yeah. So do be  

careful with the pronunciation. You'll see  the spelling appearing on the screen. Here  

you are, telly hurtle. So this is when  something is falling but a little bit,

out of control. So, for example, if you're  like me, not such a good skier. And when  

you get to the top of the blue run, you look  down, go, oh, and then you make a mistake,  

and then you hurtle down the slope a little  bit out of control, like a big snowball.

Yeah. Okay, so to hurtle means to fall very,  

very fast. Yes. So he hurtled down  the slope when he lost his balance  

trying to stand up and ski properly. He  just missed his turn. Okay, so to hurtle

And I can hurtle out of control. Perhaps  it's an aeroplane that the pilot has fallen  

asleep at the controls, or he's had  a heart attack and the plane hurtles  

out of control. So it's going in lots of  different directions, but falling very,  

very quickly until the co-pilot is able  to take over and get control to hurtle.

Number three is to zoom. Okay, so lots of  things can zoom. Okay. You can zoom in with  

your telephone photo lens on your camera so that  you make something really close and you get very,  

very close to it, even though you are quite a  distance away. So you can zoom to bring you closer  

to the animal or piece of wildlife that you're  trying to photograph without frighten it away.

Okay. Zoom. Or trains can zoom through  the station when they don't stop. If  

you've ever stood on a platform and a  train goes by without stopping and wow,  

you can feel the pull of the wind as that train  goes by and it zoom zero one minutes there and  

the next it's gone. Or watching a formula one race  on the TV and you hear this noise of all of these  

wonderfully high performing engines zoom, zoom,  zoom as they pass by the camera on your screen.

Okay. To zoom.

Number four whizz. Whizz is another good,

movement

sound and verb. To whizz through something means  to go through something very quickly. So perhaps  

you are a speed reader. Yeah, as you can read  very quickly. And you. It doesn't take you long  

to get an understanding of what an article is  or a book is about, so you can read it quickly.

So you've just got some books from the library,  and after a couple of hours you finish one of the  

books already and your mother or father tells  you say, wow, you whizzed through that really,  

really quickly. Meaning you read with great  speed. Okay, so to whizz means to go quickly.

You can whizz around the shops. If you're  in a hurry, you're going to the supermarket  

to buy the weekly groceries, but  you're in a little bit of a hurry,  

so you've got a good idea of what you want.  You've got a mental note of the things you  

bought the last time or the things you usually  buy, so you whizz up and down the different lanes

in the supermarket with your trolley,

Warm up and down, whizzing around and  eventually get back to the the starting point,  

back to the the checkout. Okay, so  to whiz through something. So watch  

out for the preposition to whiz through.  Or you can whiz around the supermarket.

Number five roll across. Well, this is what  happens when something is usually around  

circular shape. It will roll like a football or  a can, or a table tennis ball or a tennis ball.

a car, if you take the handbrake off the car  and push the car, it will roll across the street

Okay. So anything that rolls and after  and something that's circular like

a globe

Or if you have a roll of carpet that  you're getting ready to put down in  

your new living room or hall, and you drop it,  

it will roll across the floor or the roll of  wallpaper that you're going to use on the walls.

It will roll across the floor if you drop  that. Okay, so anything that is circular,  

anything that is round the action, the  movement will be to roll across the floor.

And as always, if you like this particular  lesson, then please like the video. And if  

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Number six. This is the word plunge.  And number one we use the word soul.  

So this is the exact opposite. So when  something goes up very quickly we talk  

about soul or soaring prices. When  something falls really quickly we  

talk about plunge or plunging prices.  So if the gas crisis is ever over and.

the supply far outstrips demand, then we  might see an end to rising gas prices.

And in fact, they may plunge on the on the market.

the reports in the papers will say, well,  crisis in the gas market. Prices have plunged  

for the second week in a row. Okay. So  to plunge means to fall very quickly.

Okay. Or you can plunge into the water. So you  jump off a very high cliff into the water below.  

You plunge the depths of the sea. You go down  and down, down. And eventually then the force of  

gravity will bring you back up. So to plunge means  to go down, but to go down really, really quickly.

Number seven. Whirl around while world means  to go round almost in circles. Okay, so

I look outside I will see bits of  paper, bits of twigs from branches  

whirling around with the strength of  the wind. So they are almost going  

in circles because the wind is blowing  constantly from all different directions.

So that's to whirling around. Or if you go to  the old fashioned dance clubs and dance halls,  

people used to enjoy whirling around  the dance floor with their partner,

they whirl around the the dance floor  or boyfriend or partner speaking to  

his or her partner might say, come on,  let's go for a quick whirl around the  

the dance floor one more time and then  we'll go home. So to whirl around to  

dance around. Okay. So it means to spin  around or to move very quickly. Okay.

To whirl around.

Number eight is this word you might have heard of.  Whoosh. Yeah. That's the sound it makes. Whoosh.  

And again look at the screen for the spelling of  the word. Just be careful with the pronunciation.  

Whoosh. And this is the sound the wind makes  as it whooshes through the trees. You hear the  

rustling of the leaves and the autumn, the dry  leaves and the wind blowing through the tree.

You get that whoosh sound during the the winter  when the trees are bare, the wind will blow,

in an unstoppable way through the trees. Whoosh,  

whoosh. So the movement of the the wind  whoosh. Okay. To whoosh through the trees.

Number nine a little bit slower now, so we'll  slow down a bit. The word is crawl. To crawl  

means to move very, very slowly. Crawl. Okay,  so if your car is in trouble, it's got some

mechanical

difficulty and you crawl along the  street until you get to the garage  

looking for help. Something's wrong with my car.

I can't get it to go. It's out of  first gear, so I had to crawl here.

Or if the traffic is really heavy and your  car is fine, but you're just not able to  

go very fast because there's too much  traffic. You get to the office and say,  

oh, I'm sorry for being late. The traffic just  crawled along today. I don't know what happened.

So moved really, really slowly

And crawl is often the first action of

young child just before it begins to walk.  

So for several months the child will crawl  along the floor on its hands and knees,

it moves

he or she slowly as they crawl along, and then  as they get a little bit more adventurous,  

they crawl along, but a little bit more quickly.

When you thought the child was behind you,  

you look around and see she or he is somewhere  else in a different room. But crawling means  

that action being on the hands and knees or  something that moves really, really slowly.

Okay, so that gets us up to number ten.

and number ten is all about military steps  marching. Okay, so the the marching of the  

soldiers, you hear the noise? Left, right, left  right, left, right. As they march in unison along  

the parade or around the parade, under the  watchful eye of their corporal or sergeant,  

or whoever is in charge of that particular  part of the the military at the time.

So they march against a forced step. It's  a regular beat. Okay. So March 1st 212

And we can also have the marching of a brass band.

And they march up and down the streets  playing their brass instruments their horns,  

or whatever it might be. So  the marching of the band.

So it's very musical, very rhythmical.  Okay. So but it's a little bit like that  

military step. They are all marching  in line, one behind the other to march

number 11 is to leap. Leap is a jump.  Yeah. Usually leaping into the air. Leap  

from one stone or rock to the other.  Yeah. One giant step. Yeah. One leap.

Lots of animals leap. Yeah. When you  watch them they they don't just run,  

they run and they leap across the ground. So  helps them to go a little bit quicker to leap.

Number 12 to drift. Okay. This often  refers to water and ships and boats. Okay,  

not always, but most of the time. So  you can drift out to sea. So if you're

unfortunate or not, so careful on your line on  one of these air beds on the the sea and then  

the current or the wind takes you out, you drift  out to sea and it can be very, very dangerous.

So you have to be very, very careful.  Or it's the boat isn't tied up to the,

edge of the river or the lake with the,

currents under the water or the tide. It will  drift out. It will drift out into open water,

Or it will drift away, meaning it'll just  disappear and you will won't be able to stop it,  

or you won't even be able to to find it. So  you can say, drift out or drift away. Yeah.

Number 13 creep. Now this is again is  another action. Another slow action.

But usually it's something when you're trying  to add, do something unseen or unheard or in,

quiet or secret. Okay, so he crept up  the stairs as he came in late at night  

because he didn't want to wake the  rest of the family. But of course,  

as he tried to creep up the stairs,  the the stairs were creaking.

Yeah, there were here. That's cool. Everybody  knew who it was and what time it was. And the  

next morning up, we heard you coming in.  We heard you creeping up the stairs. Or  

as the parents do at Christmas, they creep  down the stairs to put out all the presents  

under the trees. The children will get a great  surprise on Christmas morning when they wake up,  

so they creep up the stairs or  creep down the stairs, okay?

Or burglars. They creep around the house not  to disturb the residents or the neighbours so  

that they can steal what they came to steal.  So they crept around the house in darkness,  

trying to find the jewels or the money or  whatever they were after to creep. Okay,

Number 14 limp. If you've  got a sore foot, a sore leg,

a knee, you hurt playing some sport,  then you'll know all about this word  

because it's very difficult to put your  weight, your full weight on your foot,  

your ankle, your leg or your knee  because it really hurts. So you are  

forced to limp around so you can't put all  of your weight on that left or right leg.

So you have to almost hop. Yeah. So you limp,  you drag your leg a little bit and somebody says,  

what? What? What happened to  you? You're limping. You know,  

it's one of those silly things. I told the  friends and I played football with them,  

and I really, I haven't played football for years.  Of course, five minutes in, somebody tackled me.

That was it. Twisted my ankle. And I've been  limping all over the weekend. Well, you know what  

you should do with that? You should ice it. But  plenty of ice. That's what you should do. Ice it.  

Okay. That's a family joke in this house to ice  it. Anytime something goes wrong with somebody,  

ice it. Ice it. So when you're limping, you've  hurt your leg, then, yeah, you need to be careful.

But you limp. Yeah. You can't put all of  your weight on that left foot or the right  

foot. You have to limp. Or some unfortunate  dogs or cats that have been hit by a car  

or just old age for the dog. They limp  around the house. They limp around the  

garden because they are not able to put  all of their weight on that leg either.

To limp.

Number 15 stagger. Another interesting  movement of the the legs. Yes, we we stagger,

down the stairs in the morning when we've just  got out of bed and we're not really with it yet,  

and we really need a cup of coffee to  waken us up. So we stagger down the stairs,

Of course, if you've had 1 or 2 drinks more  than you should have had. You're definitely  

going to stagger. You'll stagger  along the street home from the pub  

the morning comes and the partner says, what  time did you stagger home at? I heard the  

door opening. I heard the door banging.  I heard you fall in about the stairs.

You must have been in an awful state. You were  staggering here and staggering there. Okay,  

so stagger can be self-inflicted because you've  had too much to drink. You can stagger because  

you're sick, not feeling so well. Perhaps you're  going to faint and you stagger over to the chair  

to sit down. The temperature outside is touching  38. You're really needed to bring some water.

You can feel the heat and you stagger  around the park not feeling so good.  

So you find a park bench and you  eventually sit down. So to stagger.

00:16:36:22 - 00:17:02:11 Unknown 

Number 16. Here it's slide to slide  down. When you take the kids to the park,  

they love playing on the playground. So you've  got swings, roundabouts, all sorts of things.  

And of course you've got the slide. And the slide  is literally sit on the top and slide down. That's  

the motion. That's the action. That's the the  movement from the top to the bottom to slide down.

And in the past tense slid. He  slid down on his bum. Okay. So  

if you take the kids skiing and  you go in one of these little,

rubber ring down on the slope,  you slide down to the bottom,  

or he slid down on his bottom because he  couldn't control the wheel of the tire.  

Okay. Slide slid. And usually with that  preposition down to slide down. Okay.

And you can use it in lots of different ways.  Again, if we use it in a sporting context. If a  

tennis player hasn't been playing well for several  months, he hasn't been winning any competitions.

Or qualifying for the important rounds.  Then he will slide down the points table  

so he's not winning enough points and  the people behind him are overtaking  

him. And now he's number 20th in the world  rankings when he used to be number eight. So  

he has slid down the table and he  needs to improve his performance.  

Otherwise he's not going to get an event  invited to the big events to slide down.

Number 17, rush. Okay. When you're in a rush,  you're in a hurry. When you're in a rush,  

you are running around quickly, grabbing  this, grabbing that. So you get up late,  

out of bed, you know, run down the stairs and  your partner says, you got time for breakfast? No,  

no, I'm in a rush. I have to rush.  I have to go very, very quickly.

I've got a meeting in. Oh, my God,  

in half an hour. I really need  to go. So you have to rush, okay?

Or you're meeting friends for coffee. I said,  look, I can only stay for a few minutes. I have  

to rush home. It's my wife's birthday.  I promised I would take her out. Yes,  

or to rush means to do something quickly.  To do something in a hurry. Not necessarily  

so well planned. And usually because you're  late for something, you left late to get up.

You've left it late to buy a present  for your wife. You've left it late to  

get to the office. So inevitably you  have to rush to get there, to rush.

And then finally stroll. Stroll around the place  as if there's no tomorrow. Yeah, you're just

stroll around the park. Not in a rush. You stroll  

around the shopping centre  doing some window shopping.

Yeah. The impresario who's  introducing the theatrical performance

comes onto the stage, strolls across  the stage. Lady and gentlemen,  

it's my great pleasure this evening  to welcome you to. Blah blah blah,  

blah, blah. So strolls onto the  stage and makes the announcements.

Okay, so these are all different  verbs connected with movement words  

and verbs that you can use. And all of those  proficiency exams, particularly in writing,  

but also in your speaking tests, you've got  18 of them, so lots of them to choose from.

I suggest that you pick a few practice, see what  action activity you can associate with them,  

and see how you can use them. And  as always, you know the drill by now  

of you don't understand any or you need  some extra help or you need some other  

examples. Yeah, you just drop me a  line www.englishlessonviaskype.com

Very happy to hear from you. Very happy  to help you. So this is Harry thanking  

you for watching for listening. And as  always, join me for the next lesson.