Phrasal Verbs: Add “OFF” to change the meaning of these 8 verbs

84,603 views ・ 2025-01-31

Learn English with Rebecca


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Now, in this lesson, we will look at eight regular verbs, which you probably do know
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the meaning of, and see how they change in meaning when they become phrasal verbs.
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In this case, they are all going to become
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phrasal verbs by adding the word "of", alright?
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So, let's have a look at the regular words
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first, and then look at the new meanings with
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phrasal verbs.
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So, are you ready?
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Let's get started.
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Okay, so we have eight phrasal verbs on the board here, and there we have the meanings,
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but what we're going to do first, I'm just going to explain to you and review with you
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the basic verb itself before it becomes a phrasal verb, alright?
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So, the first one is "to hold".
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What does it mean to hold something?
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It's like this, like I am holding this marker in my hand.
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You might hold a baby, okay?
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So, that's "to hold" by itself.
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This is "to lay".
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What does it mean to lay something?
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It means to put something down.
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For example, oh, the groceries are very heavy,
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I need to lay them on the table, alright?
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Or I need to lay my backpack on the table, alright?
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To put something somewhere.
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That's the verb by itself.
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To break, well, if somebody's mad, they might
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break their pencil or something might break
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by mistake.
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If something is glass and you drop it, it will break, right?
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That's the meaning of "break".
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And "to doze", do you know that one as a regular verb?
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To doze means to take a short nap, okay?
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Kind of fall asleep, you're not planning it, but it's a short nap, alright?
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Now, let's see what happens when we make these
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into phrasal verbs and let's look at how the
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meaning changes completely, alright?
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So, repeat after me, just first the way it sounds.
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"To hold off", "to lay off", "to break off", and "to doze off", alright?
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Do you know the meaning of any of these already?
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Perhaps you do.
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All of these are used in regular, everyday life, in business situations, in academic
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context, in all aspects of life, alright?
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So, it's really good to know them.
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So, what we're going to do is this, I'm going
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to read the first meaning and then you tell
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me if you know what - which one that describes, alright?
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So, here we go.
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So, the first meaning is "to fall asleep briefly".
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Which phrasal verb do you think means "to fall asleep briefly"?
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Which of these four?
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If you need a little time, just pause the video, no problem, figure it out, and then
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come back and join me, or let's continue.
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So, "to fall asleep briefly" is "to doze off".
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So, what's the difference between "to doze" and "to doze off"?
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Well, "to doze" is what happens after you doze off, alright?
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So, let's suppose I'm watching a movie, and I really want to watch it, but I'm tired,
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so by mistake, I kind of, or without planning, I doze off.
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So, when you doze off, you're starting to fall asleep for a short time, okay?
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That's the meaning here, "to fall asleep
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briefly", so we're going to match these two.
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When I doze, that's what happened after I fell asleep briefly, okay?
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Then I'm dozing, I'm just taking a short nap, but it wasn't planned, alright?
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That's the meaning.
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Let's look at the next one, "be".
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It means "to end or stop an activity".
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So, what do you think that one is?
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What could it be?
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So, this basically means "to break off".
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So, you could break off a relationship, you could break off a negotiation in business
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or a discussion, okay?
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It means you end it, you stop it.
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So, it could happen that you break off something
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with someone or with something or with a company
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or with an organization, okay?
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So, "to break off".
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It's not the same as physically breaking something,
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but it is severing something, cutting something,
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alright?
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Good.
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Let's look at the next one, "to delay or to postpone something".
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So, which of the ones that's left means that?
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Is it "to hold off" or "to lay off"?
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So, this is like a "to delay or postpone", not
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just a meeting, but maybe a bigger decision
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like buying a house or moving to another city, okay?
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So, "to delay or to postpone" is "to hold off".
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Well, we were considering buying a new house,
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but I think we're going to hold off for now.
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We're going to postpone it.
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We're going to wait, okay?
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We're going to delay that, alright?
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That's the meaning of "to hold off".
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So, the last one, which you have now figured
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out, means "to stop employing people".
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Now, let me explain.
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It has a very specific and important meaning,
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especially considering what's been going on
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around the world.
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So, "to stop employing people" here is "to lay off", but there are many ways in which
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you could stop employing people.
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In this case, it usually refers to not one
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person, could be 30 people, could be 300 people,
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could be 3,000 people, okay, unfortunately,
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because when we lay off people, we are stopping
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their employment, but not because they did something bad or they did something wrong,
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but because the economy is bad or the company's
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business is down, and they just don't have
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enough money to continue going and continue employing all those people, so people are
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laid off, okay?
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We'll be looking at the present and past forms
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of these words, okay, the regular and irregular
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verbs.
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So, you've got those four.
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Let's go to four more.
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First, let's look at the basic meaning, okay,
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of the verb itself before it becomes a phrasal
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verb.
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"To stop", right?
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You know that.
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It's like now I stop talking, okay, to not do something anymore.
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The opposite of "to start", "to stop", alright?
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That's the meaning of "stop".
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"To call by itself", oh, I'm going to call
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my friend, I need to talk to her, okay, it's
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like to phone someone, right?
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"To drop", well, if this fell, then it would drop to the ground, right?
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That's "to drop".
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It can be something physical, it can also be a price, like, oh, the prices dropped,
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that means they fell.
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They were here, now the prices went down, wouldn't that be great if prices dropped?
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Okay.
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And "to rush", what does it mean, "to rush"?
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"To rush" means to hurry, okay?
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Sorry, I can't talk to you right now, I'd love to talk to you, but I've got to rush.
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I have to get to this meeting on time, okay?
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That's the meaning.
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Those are the regular words.
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Now, let's look at the phrasal verbs.
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So, first, repeat after me, "to stop off", "to call off", "to drop off", and "to rush
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off".
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Alright?
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Now, let's do the same thing, let's match them up.
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So, which of these phrasal verbs means "to cancel"?
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Which of these?
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Do you know?
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So, it is actually this one, "to call off".
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Now, here, we could say, "They called off the meeting."
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It means they cancelled.
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It can be anything.
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"They called off the meeting", it could be a
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social event, they called off the reception,
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or they called off the wedding, or they called off the ceremony, okay?
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They called off the conference, anything.
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It just means to cancel an event, alright?
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Next, "to leave in a hurry".
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Which of these means "to leave in a hurry"?
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There's a little clue in there because we
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have the word "hurry", but "to rush off" means
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"to leave in a hurry".
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Sorry, I would love to stay, but I have to rush off right now.
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So, "rushing" is what you're doing in general.
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Let's say that person is rushing all day, they're in a hurry, okay?
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They have a lot to do.
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But "to rush off" means at this point, now, I have to leave you and I have to rush off
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because I have to get to that meeting.
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So, it means "to leave in a hurry", not just
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to be in a hurry, but to leave in a hurry.
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Got it?
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Okay.
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Next, "to visit briefly".
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What do you think that one is?
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So, there are only two options left here.
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Is it "to stop off" or "to drop off"?
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Okay?
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So, "to visit briefly" means "to stop off".
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So, for example, let's say somebody needs
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something and they say to their friend, "Oh,
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I really need some formula for my baby or some diapers for my baby, and I can't get
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to the store right now.
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Could you please stop off on your way back from work and pick up some diapers, or pick
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up some milk, or pick up whatever?"
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Alright?
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"Stop off" means don't go and spend a lot of
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time there, just go there, go quickly inside,
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pick it up, and come back.
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So, you're just going to stop off there, you're going to visit a place.
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Could be like a store and pick up something,
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or you could stop off to meet somebody briefly
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also.
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It's not that you're always picking up something,
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you're just visiting that particular place
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or that particular person briefly.
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Okay?
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I'll stop off.
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I'm really busy today, but I'm going to stop
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off and see how you are and meet you or meet
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your parents or whatever.
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Okay?
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So, that's the meaning of that.
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So, the one that's left is this one, "to drop off".
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Okay?
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So, that means to take something or someone and leave it somewhere.
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For example, let's say you're tired today
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and you don't feel like cooking, so you order
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food from your favorite restaurant, and they
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say they are going to drop off your order
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or your food after 30 minutes.
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Okay?
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They're going to drop it off means they're going to take it and leave it at - leave it
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somewhere at your place.
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So, you could drop off an item, okay, such
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as this, or you could also drop someone off.
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For example, your friend needs a ride, they don't have a car today, so you say, "Hey,
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I'll drop you off.
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It's on my way home."
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So, you could drop off someone or you could drop off something.
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Alright?
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Got that?
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Those are the basic meanings.
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You've got it now.
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We're going to be checking what they mean, and if you've really understood it by doing
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a little quiz in a bit, but before that, I'm
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going to explain another short grammatical
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point to you.
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So, now, on this board, I've divided our eight phrasal verbs into two sections.
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The first five phrasal verbs are all regular
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verbs, and these three are irregular verbs.
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So, therefore, when you use them, you need to make sure you're using the correct form,
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whether it's in the present, in the past, or whether you're using one of the perfect
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tenses.
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Alright?
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So, as you know, regular verbs have basically two forms.
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When we use them with a perfect tense, like "have been", "have done", etc., then we use
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the same form with regular verbs.
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So, "doze off" becomes "dozed off".
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"I dozed off" or "I have dozed off", it's the same verb.
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Alright?
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This second form.
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There is really no third form, and if you
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say that there is a third form, it's the same
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as this for regular verbs.
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Alright?
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Here we go.
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"Rush off", "rushed off".
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You can repeat it after me.
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The more you say it, the more chances are
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that you're going to actually use these verbs.
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Alright? Don't be afraid of them.
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Use them.
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"Call off", "called off", "stop off", "stopped off", "drop off", "dropped off".
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Alright?
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I dropped off my laundry at the laundromat, for example.
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Alright?
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I stopped off to pick up some bread.
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They called off the meeting.
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He rushed off because he had to rush, he had to get to the airport.
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And I dozed off while watching the movie.
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Right?
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You can say these things, you can use these phrases every day.
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Let's look at the next three.
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So, these, as I mentioned, are irregular verbs, so they have three forms.
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This is the basic verb, right?
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Present tense, past tense, and these are with the perfect tenses.
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So, "hold off", "held off", and in this case, "held off".
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Okay?
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They need to hold off on making a decision.
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They held off on applying for a loan.
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They have held off.
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Alright?
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Good.
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And this one, "lay off", "laid off", also "laid off".
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Alright?
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They have laid off many workers.
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Or last year, they laid off many workers.
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Or they may lay off many workers.
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Alright?
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Okay?
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And the last one has three different forms, "break off", "broke off", and "broken off".
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Okay?
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They broke off contact.
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They have - sorry, they break off contact sometimes during negotiations, sides break
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off contact.
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They broke off the negotiations, or they have broken off the negotiations.
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Alright?
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So, make sure when you're using them, you're aware of these various forms.
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Now, let's see.
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Do the quiz and see where you are.
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Did you get it?
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Did you understand them?
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Can you identify them?
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Let's find out.
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Now, let's match up the phrasal verbs with the sentences, alright?
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Let's begin.
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Number one, "John just cancelled the webinar."
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Which phrasal verb of the four written above could we use to say the same thing?
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"John just called off", okay?
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"John just called off the webinar" means the same thing as "cancelled it".
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Number two, "Mary fell asleep while studying."
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Which of those four phrasal verbs?
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Which of those three phrasal verbs says the same thing?
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"Mary dozed off while studying."
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Alright?
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Again, if you need a little time, pause the video, figure it out, and then join me.
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Let's do number three.
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"Sorry, I need to leave in a hurry."
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How do we say that with the phrasal verb?
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"Sorry, I need to rush off."
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Yes, I heard you.
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Good, you've got it.
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And so, the last one is number four, "We decided to delay moving to New York."
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So, the answer would be, "We decided to hold off on moving to New York."
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To hold off, meaning to delay.
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Good.
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Let's go to the next four.
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Number five, "The union ended talks with the management."
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Which one of these phrasal verbs could you use to say the same thing?
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The union...
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Which one?
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Broke off.
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Okay?
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We have to change the tense because of the sentence.
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The union broke off talks with the management.
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Good.
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Number six, "They'll deliver the order by 8 o'clock."
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They will drop off, right?
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They'll drop off the order by 8 o'clock.
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Good.
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Number seven, "I'll go briefly to the mall later."
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I'll stop off at the mall later.
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And therefore, the last one is, "Unfortunately,
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200 workers lost their jobs because business
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has been so bad."
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What happened to the 200 workers?
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Unfortunately, 200 workers were laid off because business has been so bad.
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Alright?
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So, good for you.
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Did you get them?
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One thing you could do is, you know, use them yourself.
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So, start...
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Don't necessarily have to start using all of them, but choose one or two.
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Start using them already in your real life.
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And if you like learning phrasal verbs, which
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are so important, please check out my other
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video on phrasal verbs, which I will give you
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a link to in the lesson description below.
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Alright?
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Thanks very much for watching.
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I can see you're a serious student, and I wish you all the best with your English.
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Bye for now.
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