Search results for 'tag:Football tag:Phrasal verbs' matching tags 'Football' and 'Phrasal verbs'

Re: I used not to play football.

milky — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 06:21:00 GMT

When was the verbal phrase "used to" ever used as separate components, apart from in such examples as the football one? As far as I know, it as been around as a compound form since 14th century. So maybe it's a case of overcorrection, where speakers think that they can and should split "used to" back into its components. Problem is, those components never existed separately, as far as I know. It's also like the case of splitting unsplittable phrasal verbs. Odd behaviour, IMO.

I compiled a test - need some help

Rokas2 — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 13:32:10 GMT

Hello.

I had to compile a test to check students' knowledge of various aspects of English. I would like some help. Since I thought up most of the sentences myself, I'm not sure if I hadn't left any mistakes. I would like someone to look through all the sentences and the answers (they're given in italic type). Thanks.

Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs in brackets.

1. Water ...freezes....... (freeze) at 0Â°C.

2. He always .....sits..... (sit) at the back of the room.

3. Newton ....published...... (publish) the Principia in 1687.

4. I ..was riding........ (ride) my bicycle when the accident ...happened....... (happen).

5. Many languages ....are spoken...... (speak) in modern India.

6. And here we can see the conveyor belt. Jars of jam ...are being transported....... (transport) at the moment.

7. If only I ......were.... (be) thinner!

8. Why donât you just forget about that plan? Iâm sure it â¦wouldn't have workedâ¦â¦. (not work) whatever.

9. By the year 2200 all cars â¦will have been replacedâ¦â¦. (replace) by personal hovercraft.

10. This time tomorrow morning Sue â¦will be flyingâ¦â¦. (fly) over the Mediterranean Sea.

11. If you â¦spendâ¦â¦. (spend) Â£10, you â¦getâ¦â¦. (get) a discount.

12. â¦â¦Have you cleanedâ¦. (you clean) your room yet?

13. Mike â¦â¦had been learningâ¦. (learn) English for three months when he â¦realizedâ¦â¦. (realize) he â¦hadn't learnedâ¦â¦. (not learn) anything.

14. The witness told the police that she â¦â¦had never seenâ¦. (never see) the suspect before.

15. More people â¦would have been involvedâ¦â¦. (involve) in the fight if I â¦hadn't calledâ¦â¦. (not call) the police.

16. Karan â¦has readâ¦â¦. (read) this book before.

17. Iâd rather you â¦didâ¦â¦. (do) the washing-up tonight.

18. You â¦are always complainingâ¦â¦. (always complain) about everything!

19. Hush! The baby .....is sleeping..... (sleep).

20. I wish I .....had revised..... (revise) for my German exam! Now I will have to retake it.

Complete the sentences using the correct tag questions.

1. Sarah is doing her homework, .isn't she.........?

2. You will collect the children after school, ....won't you......?

3. Donât drop those plates, ..will you........?

4. I donât need to pay in advance, ....do I......?

5. Whoâs faster? Letâs find out, .....shall we.....?

6. I am smart, ...aren't I.......?

7. You have hardly managed to clean up all the mess, ....have you......?

8. Ann has a headache, ....doesn't she......?

9. Stop talking, ..will you........?

10. They're not doing very well, .....are they.....?

Complete the sentences with the correct phrasal verb from the box. There are two extra phrasal verbs which you do not need to use.

give in fall back put up look after get by

go off turn out look for put off give off

turn off give up

1. Iâm .....looking for..... my keys but I canât find them anywhere. Have you seen them?

2. The doctor suggested that I ..give up........ smoking as soon as possible.

3. To avoid any more casualties, the army was given the order to ....fall back...... .

4. It is becoming impossible to ..get by........ with so small a salary!

5. Tell them to â¦â¦turn offâ¦. their radio right away! I canât ...put up....... with that music any longer!

6. When the alarm ...went off......., people started running out of the building.

7. They expected the coincidence to be a great setback but it actually ....turned out...... to bring them even greater success.

8. This car ...gives off....... a lot of exhaust fumes! I doubt it will pass servicing.

9. Tina promised to â¦look afterâ¦â¦. our cats while weâre away.

Think of a word which best suits the context of each of the sentences below. Use only one word to fill in each of the gaps.

1. She is popular â¦â¦withâ¦. her students.

2. Columbus is famous â¦forâ¦â¦. discovering the Americas.

3. The teacher asked if Melanie had heard of Cervantes. After a long pause, she â¦gaveâ¦â¦. an answer.

4. Come on, hurry up! â¦Makeâ¦â¦. your choice!

5. The twins are so alike that Iâm having a hard time telling them â¦apartâ¦â¦.

6. In Britain most towns have â¦theirâ¦â¦. own amateur football and cricket team, and people also have opportunities to play sports â¦â¦suchâ¦. as tennis and golf.

7. I canât give you a â¦liftâ¦â¦., because my car is being repaired at the moment.

8. â¦Atâ¦â¦. the age of 16, he started attending a local drama school.

9. Most people today â¦â¦takeâ¦. relatively little general exercise.

10. Evening falls. We must â¦makeâ¦â¦. haste.

KEY WORD TRANSFORMATIONS

In this type of exercise you have to say the same thing in other words. You are given a sentence, below which there is a word in bold type and the beginning and ending of the new sentence.

NB The words you fill in, should be between two and five. Short forms count as two words.

1. The woman arrived yesterday; she is the new manager.

who The woman â¦.â¦â¦who arrived yesterdayâ¦â¦â¦â¦â¦.â¦â¦â¦ is the new manager.

2. âI work in a bank,â Debbie said to me.

told Debbie â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦told me that she workedâ¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦.â¦â¦â¦ in a bank.

3. The pub was so smoky that we had to leave.

such It â¦â¦â¦was such a smoky pubâ¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦...... that we had to leave.

4. âDonât drive so fast!â the policeman said to Jenny.

warned The policeman â¦warned Jenny not to driveâ¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦ so fast.

5. People expect he will run for president.

expected He ................is expected to run................................................. for president.

6. Itâs the first time she has driven a car.

never She .............has never driven..................................................... a car before.

7. Iâm sure he left his briefcase at the office.

have He .................must have left........................................... his briefcase at the office.

8. Itâs possible that we will be given a test tomorrow.

might We ................might be given.................................................. a test tomorrow.

9. We took our umbrellas in case it rained.

fear We took our umbrellas ......for fear it might............................. rain.

10. I havenât eaten Chinese food for two years.

since .....................It's two years since........................................... I have eaten Chinese food.

The 'KEY WORD TRANSFORNMATIONS' task was taken from Enterprise 2 & 3 mostly with the exception of the tenth sentence.

Thanks again.

more phrasal verbs decoded

Kvinchuca — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 01:52:00 GMT

At explained

The particle at appears to be the goal or objective of opportunists who attempt to take advantage whenever possible. Some verbs show an endeavour to do something by the subject but we do not know if the attempt was successful or the goal was attained. The objects of some verbs are close to the subject, being within arms reach or at a distance that can be covered by a leap.

The particle is always followed by the accusative which denotes the importance of the object, or goal.

Because there is much effort in trying to accomplish something but no evidence of it being successful, there is a feeling that the subject is somebody who has not quite mastered the art of his craft, rather like an apprentice. So we can think of at as being more to do with adolescents rather than more mature and proficient adults.

There is much rough and tumble, grabbing, grasping, snatching, with sudden attacking, leaping, jumping, flinging, throwing, and flying at the target or objective, verbs that are aggressive in nature. Therefore who are these aggressive apprentices?

During the Middle Ages, vassals, who were people who swore allegiance to a nobleman in return for land, would send their sons to the lordâs castle at the age of seven, where they lived as a page to the noble family, this being the first stage in their preparation to be a knight.

For the next seven years, the child was brought up by the women of the household, helping in the kitchens, serving at the table and being taught how to behave. At fourteen the page became an esquire. During the next seven years, the esquire (or squire) was educated in all aspects of combat and warfare becoming a master of fighting on foot or on horseback proficient in the use of sword and shield, mace, axe and lance. Training daily with these weapons, the young adolescent developed a strong physique and stamina. When not training for combat his duties were to serve his knight, look after the knight's armour and weapons and accompany him to tournaments acting as the knightâs personal assistant.

Though strong and formidable combatants, they were still adolescents and had all the traits of juvenile behaviour. Groups of these young men who accompanied their knights to the tournaments very often became a source of trouble, picking fights with the esquires of other knights, or even fighting amongst themselves. The tournaments were very popular and drew large crowds, knights and esquires from all parts of the country and even abroad.

These juveniles were a serious problem, clashes between opposing groups resulted in death and injury, not only amongst themselves but also amongst the local populace. The breakdown of law and order, pillaging, raping and deaths were so common, that in 1260 King Richard the First issued the Statute of Arms. This was a law that restricted any knight attending a tournament to a maximum of three squires. The squires were required by law to wear the badge of their knight, so that they could be identified. The statute also declared that:

âââ¦no Knight or Esquire serving at the Tournament, shall bear a sword pointed, or Dagger pointed, or Staff or Mace, but only a broad sword for tourneyingâ.

Failing to obey the statute meant the forfeiture of horse and harness, arms and armour and three or more years in the dungeon.

This shows how problematic and out of control these young men were; anyone familiar with the world of football hooligans will see exactly what we are talking about.

There are several verbs meaning to âsuddenly attackâ.

To come at sb means to move in the direction of sb as if to attack them as in fly at sb, go at sb.

There are attempts to take hold of something, the movement is sudden, as if on impulse, eg. to grab, grasp leap, snatch, and throw. These suggest a melee, rather like a scrum in the game of rugby and the particle with several verbs are synonymous with the verb âto tackleâ as in rugby (which is the action of one player throwing himself at an opposite team member who has got the ball, his arms locked around the legs, in order to bring him to the ground). Throw yourself at sth, and go at sth, meaning to start to do sth such as a job or difficult task, working hard to do it and getting the job finished.

There is opportunism, as in jump at sth, leap at sth and snatch at sth , meaning to accept an opportunity with enthusiasm. To stick at sth meaning to work in a determined way, tackling the problem until it has been overcome.

Although there is an element of surprise, the surprise is always on the part of the victim, who has been assessed as a possible easy target by the attacker. Examples are look at sth meaning to closely examine, think or consider about sth, and to put sth at sth, meaning to estimate the age or weight etc. of sth. In this case the âsthâ is the target to be attacked. After looking at and putting sth at sth, the attacker can decide whether the target or victim will be easily overcome. If, because of the age, weight, size and probable fighting ability of the examined target is rather too much of a challenge, the young squire would go in search of an easier target.

The knight was a mature and accomplished suitor, with refined powers of seduction, the esquire however was a juvenile lacking in his masterâs polished skills of love. Therefore we have fling and throw oneself at sb, a clumsy attempt at seduction, with the result that other squires would laugh at him. A successful squire who managed to attract his desired maiden, could have received a knowing look from a fellow esquire, who would wink at his advances. Likewise, to wink at sth is to show acknowledgement of sth that sb has done that is illegal, or for the squire, perhaps a breach of the code of chivalry.

The squire could be criticised for behaving badly by his knight who would talk at him, or level sth at him, thus giving the squire a cause to worry at sth, being anxious or preoccupied about some problem or the future outcome of a passed misdemeanour.

Play, to act as if you are, or to pretend to be, when used with at suggests the horse-play of the squires in a rough and tumble, but without any serious

intent to cause injury.

With peck, pick and sniff at sth, we can see the young squire who is accustomed to eating fine food from his masterâs table, showing distaste at food not cooked to his liking.

Kind regards and merry Christmas from Kevin chuca.

Bottle

MrPedantic — Fri, 20 May 2005 13:47:49 GMT

I'd say 'to' fits quite well.

As for bottling...I've only heard 'bottle off' in this kind of connection:

1. The band played abysmally, and were bottled off the stage.

i.e. they were forced to retreat in a hail of beer bottles.

Related verbs are 'bottle out', 'to have lost one's bottle', 'bottle it', e.g.

2. We was all going to go down The Den on Saturday afternoon and sort out Millwall, but MrP bottled out.

(= We were planning to visit Millwall Football Club's ground on Saturday afternoon and indulge in fisticuffs with some of their supporters, but MrP suddenly remembered a previous engagement and decided not to accompany us.)

3. Sounds to me like MrP's lost his bottle.

(= I very much fear that MrP no longer has the stomach for a frank exchange of blows.)

4. Yeah, an' that ain't the first time he's bottled it, either.

(= I agree; especially in view of the fact that on previous occasions he has shown a similar reluctance.)

Here's some more info, from the Oxford Dictionary of New Words:

bottle noun
In British slang: courage, spirit, guts. Usually in phrases such as have (got) a lot of bottle, to be spirited or courageous; to have guts; lose one's bottle, to lose one's nerve (and so as a phrasal verb bottle out, to lose one's nerve; to pull out, especially at the last minute).

Etymology:
The phrase no bottle has been used in underworld slang to mean 'no use, worthless' since the middle of the nineteenth century; it is likely that this was reinterpreted this century to mean 'lacking substance or spirit', and that from there bottle started to be used on its own and eventually to be incorporated into new phrases.

The rhyming slang expression bottle and glass for 'arse' is often assumed to have something to do with these expressions (in which case bottle would be more strictly 'guts'), but this may be no more than popular speculation.

History and Usage:
These phrases, which are essentially part of the spoken language, started to appear in written sources in the sixties as representations of Cockney or underworld speech. Their use was reinforced by a milk marketing campaign in the early eighties, the caption for which read 'It's gotta lotta bottle', and by television series such as Minder, in which Cockney expressions were brought to a wide audience.

Bottle out did not appear in the written language at all until the very end of the seventies (at about the same time as this series was first shown).

Goodness, was I going to give her a bad time! Of course, when it got down to it, I bottled out completely.
Robert McLiam Wilson Ripley Bogle (1989), p. 162

You appear not to have the bottle, courtesy or wherewithal to actually approach her in person.
Just Seventeen Dec. 1989, p. 22

Some of the warders lost their bottle and just fled.
News of the World 8 Apr. 1990, p. 6

I'd add:

Pronunciation:
Almost invariably with a central glottal stop.

MrP