We all need to chip in and lend a hand!

Hey everyone, today we will look at the meaning of the phrasal verb:

chip in

It has three meanings. The first is to work together.

Ed: How were you able to get this party ready in just a day?

Fred: We all chipped in and did our best.

Ed: That's great.

The second meaning is related, it means to help pay for something together.

Paul: Wow guys, a new computer! You shouldn't have!

Friends: Well, we all chipped in.

Paul: Thanks a lot. I really appreciate it.

It is a great way to buy a really special gift for someone. Individually, you don't want to spend so much but together you can afford a fantastic present!

It is also useful when asking people to help pay for something.

Hey guys, it's almost closing time. I'll go get more beer if you all chip in.

I'll give you a ride to Tokyo if you chip in on gas.

The third meaning is to interrupt with a comment.

During my presentation this guy kept chipping in with stupid comments. It was really annoying...

If you have any questions or comments feel free to chip in with your two cents.

Someone's two cents, means their opinion. 

Any questions? 

Phil

This is a stick up~!

Today, we are looking at phrasal verbs and expressions using the verb "to stick". The first one we are looking at is:

a stick up

This is a robbery. Someone comes into a bank or shop and yells "This is a stick up" and all the people there stick their hands up in the air.

to stick with ( X )

This means that you will stay on the same team as someone. You won't leave them.

I tried Coke but I think I'll stick with Pepsi.

Meaning, I am a Pepsi drinker and I tried coca-cola but I won't change brands. I will continue to drink Pepsi.

We have to split up. Tom you stick with me. Jed go with Paul.

to stick up for ( X )

This means that you will stand up for someone. You will take their side and defend them.

When I was young I always stuck up for my brother.

You should stick up for yourself. You shouldn't let people push you around.

to stick around

This means that you will stay in the same place. You won't leave.

Al: Ted you should stick around till Jill shows up. You'll like her.

Ted: I can't stick around anymore or I'm gonna miss my train.

Al: Don't leave yet. Stick around just a bit more.

Ted: OK, I'll stick around for 10 more minutes.


 Have a good week,

Phil

Check it out!

Hi guys, you may have read my previous post about phrasal verbs using check:

http://phils-english.blogspot.com/2008/12/check.html

But, I've recently realized I left out a few of the meanings for CHECK OUT:

1- to look at something

Bob: Hey Tom! Check out that Lamborghini!

Tom: Man that's a nice car...

2- to try something

Bob: Yeah, I'd love to check out how fast how it drives.

Tom: speaking of checking something out. Why don't we check out that new cafe?

3- to finish a stay at a hotel and leave

Bob: Good idea, let's check out of the hotel first and drop off our bags at the station.

Tom: Sure, that sounds fine.

4- the cashier at a shop/convenience store/supermarket

talking at the cafe...

Bob: Don't you hate it when the check out line is so long?

Tom: Yeah, I don't know why Japanese supermarkets don't have express check out lanes... ...but why are you bringing that up now???

Bob: I was at the supermarket today and had to wait like 30 minutes to buy just 2 things!!!

Tom: Man, that sucks...|

5- to borrow a book from the library

later at at the library

Bob: I'd like to check out this book.

Librarian: Certainly, please return it in two weeks to avoid paying late fees.

Bob: No problem.

OK that's all for this month I think. Have a great weekend!

Phil

I bumped into my friend the other day ^_^

Hi everyone here's a quick mid-week lesson for you all. In English, we often use these two phrasal verbs:

to run into (someone)

to bump into (someone)

To bump into in Japanese is 打つかる (ぶつかる). They have a literal meaning, where you ACTUALLY bump/run into someone:

A: Ouch, watch where you're going!

B: Sorry, I didn't mean to run into you like that.

-------------------------------

C: HEY!! What the hell?!?!?

D: Sorry for bumping into you, let me help you pick up your things.

They also have an idiomatic meaning, where you meet someone by chance. In Japanese, you would say 出会う (であう).

I bumped into an old friend from high school at Book Off yesterday. It was a nice surprise.

-----------------------------------

A: Ah hey, fancy meeting you here! I didn't know you liked old movies.

B: Yeah, I love black and white films but I never thought I'd run into you here.

A: Oh? Why not? You know I've seen Casablanca, like, 10 times.

That's all for now, see you soon,

Phil

Do you get it?

Hey everyone, time for a quick mini-lesson about the phrasal verb:

Get it

Which is pronounced: geddit.

Do you get it?

Means

Do you understand it?

It is most often used when talking about JOKES~!

A: Do you get it?

B: No, I don't get it. Do you?

C: Me neither. Why's he laughing so much?

A: Well, if none of us gets it, it can't be that funny...

It might also be used to simply say you don't understand something like a book or a piece of art, a song, etc... in which case we use don't get X.

I don't get why Britney Spears is so popular.

I don't get this book, it's gibberish.

Gibberish means 珍糞漢 (ちんぷんかん) or 痴れ言 (しれごと).

I don't get this painting...do you?

OK that's it for now. If you like click on the tag for get on the left side of the screen for more lessons about this useful verb!

Have a good week,

Phil

Do you guys get along?

Hey everyone, just a quick lesson on this rainy Sunday before I go make dinner ^_-

Do you usually get along with your classmates?

Get along is a phrasal verb that simply means two(or more) people have a good relationship with each other. They don't fight or dislike each other.

When we were kids my brother and I didn't get along... we fought like cats and dogs~!

Ugh, I don't get along with that guy. He's a total jerk.

Since we shared an apartment, we don't get along anymore. I can't stand him, he's an idiot and a slob.

My girlfriend and I get along great! We hardly ever argue or fight ^_^

Here's a bonus phrasal verb:

get by

This means:

-to survive

I'm just getting by since I lost my job.
The money I have is just enough for me to live and survive.

She gets by on her looks.
She survives/lives based on her appearance.

-to pass someone/something

Excuse me, could you move so I can get by?
Excuse me, can you move so I can pass you?

or

A few mistakes got by my editor into the book.
A couple of mistakes got passed my editor into the book.

-to achieve the minimum necessary

In high school, he just got by.
He had passing grades only.

OK that is all for now!

Phil

Sorry, I dozed off...

So the other day, one of my students looked up the Japanese word:

仮眠 (かみん)

Do you know how to say this word in English? When used with する it means to nap or doze. Actually, to nap in Japanese is usually translated as昼寝 (ひるね) +する.

So what does to doze mean in English? It means to sleep lightly or a light sleep. Basically, you are not sleeping in a very deep way...

I was dozing on the train when I got to my stop.

Recently, to doze is not used so often instead we use the phrasal verb:

to doze off

Which means that you were really tired and you fell asleep even though you WEREN'T planning to go to sleep!

You fell asleep by accident = You dozed off

I was watching TV last night and dozed off.

I dozed off on the train and woke up in Osaka!

That's all for today, I hope to write a longer lesson next time. Have a good week!

Phil

Run low vs. run out

Hey everyone, I am at a cafe using my netbook which is something I rarely do these days... Anyways, today we will be talking about the two phrasal verbs:

to run low

and

to run out

Do you know the difference between them? Well let's find out!

To run low means that your supply of something is going down... think of the gas gauge on your car. The needle moves from F (Full) to the middle and then slowly towards E (Empty). Or you can think of a bag of rice which is very full, so the level of the rice is very high. As the month goes by, you use more and more rice and the level gets lower and lower... so:

I'm running low on rice.

I'm starting to run low on gas, I'll stop at the next gas station.

To run out is a bit stronger than to run low, it means you are out of something. You have none left! So it is often used in the past tense:

I ran out of gas and had to walk 5km to the nearest gas station!

When I was on my date, I ran out of money and she had to pay for me, how embarrassing...

It can be used in the present progressive tense but it is STRONGER than running low.

I'm running out of time!

or in the future tense

I'm gonna run out of gas! I need to find a gas station quick.

Well that's my quick mini-lesson for this cloudy Sunday afternoon in Kyoto. I hope you enjoyed it,

Phil

A blast from the past...!

Hey everyone, today I am going to publish a lesson from my archives ^_- It's a blast from the past that I wrote way on September 15th, 2008! The reason I chose to publish this blog again is that I last month I thought I should teach about the opposites:

clean<------> dirty
neat <------>messy

Neat means tidy, things are organized and put away. According to the online dictionary it is like, 清楚 (せいそ) in Japanese.

But I felt like I had already talked about them before and when I checked my archives there it was! So I hope you enjoy this old lesson and I will add a few more examples today ^_^ Here we go:

-----------Sept, 15th, 2008-------------------------

Well, it's time to talk about learning some English ^_- today, I am going to go over some useful vocabulary and phrasal verbs that have to do with cleaning.

messy

This is an adjective meaning disorderly, untidy, etc. To me, it is not really dirty, more it is clean but things are all over the place, nothing is put away...

Look at this mess! How did you make our hotel room so messy? We've only been here 2 hours!?!?!

Wow, two hours after straightening up my room and it's already messy~!

dirty

This adjectives means the opposite of clean, there is dirt present... so to me, it is stronger than messy.

Billy was playing in the park, he got his clothes really dirty!

Kids' hands are almost always dirty...

clean up

This phrasal verb is telling you, make something or somewhere clean. You put things away and also get rid of any dirt.

Sorry guys, I can't go out tonight I have to clean up my room.

If I clean up my room once a week I get my allowance ^_^

tidy up

This phrasal verb goes with messy; "you have to tidy up your messy room". It means, to put away things, to organize them. Like Katadzukeru(片付ける,かたづける) in Japanese. It does not really mean getting out the mop and cleaning in a serious way... it is a more casual kind of cleaning.

Oh! My girlfriend just called, she's coming over. Hurry, help me tidy up!

Just give me 2 minutes to tidy up before you come in.

straighten up

This phrasal verb is very similar to tidy up, the main difference is that it is more formal and a bit of a higher level expression.

Smith, straighten up your office! Our clients will be here any minute!!!

I have to straighten up my room, this sucks!

Alright, I think that is it for now. If you have any questions, thoughts, comments or ideas for a lesson let me know!

Phil

Check...

Sorry for not blogging in awhile but last week was my Japanese test, I think it went ok and I will find out in 3 months!!! What a long wait...

Anyways, today I will just make a quick post about an instruction I saw on the test's answer sheet. There was this English phrase:

"Check up on your test voucher"

This isn't correct English... so I thought I would talk about phrasal verbs using check.

I would probably say something like "Check against your test voucher" or simply "Check your test voucher".

Check up on means that you research someone's background.

At my office, we check up on all new applicants before hiring them.

Or, it is used by parents when talking about seeing(checking) what their children are doing. This is to make sure they stay out of trouble.

I always check up on my kids via cellphone.

Check on has a similar meaning but is not as strong, so check up on can often be seen as a little negative...

(a teenager) Stop checking up on me!!!

Check out means to look at something or go and try a new shop or restaurant, like I want to go and see if it is any good. Kind of like the Japanese 行って見たい。

Check out that cute girl!

I want to check out that new restaurant near the train station.

Check over, means double-check so look over something carefully to see that everything is ok.

Check over your answers before handing in the test.

Check off, comes from having a list of things to do. When finish doing something you check it off your list or cross it off your list.

I found the gift my girlfriend wanted~! I can cross her off my Christmas list.

Check into is the same as look into, again this means research or verify. It is usually used when talking about situations and you will try to find out what is happening.

A: What's going on with the Johnson account? I hear there's a problem.

B: I'll check into it and get back to you.

Basically, check means to verify, to see if something or someone is as you imagine it to be.

A: Is Bob in his office?

B: Let me check... yeah, he is.

So that is it for now, the next post will continue my series on fingers and finger idioms!

Phil

It's cleaning time~!!!

Hey everyone, how are you? This in Japan are cool but there seem to be some typhoons or something coming to Japan this week which is kind of annoying when the forecast says it will rain 10cm in a day... ...especially, when it barely rains~!!! hahaha

Anyways, due to the forecast I decided to skip going to the beach and instead went to Osaka. I picked up a Nintendo Wii and managed to set it up even though it was all in Japanese. Good practice for me, I guess. ^-^

I had picked up Red Steel from Book Off last Saturday for 10 bucks and it was cool trying it out. It was made by Ubisoft who have a HUGE office in Montreal so it is nice to support my hometown. The game is a first person shooter(with Japanese subtitles) which also involves some sword-fighting too! It is cool playing with the wii controllers, much more exercise than a regular game console. I look forward to playing it some more and picking up the wii fit.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, it's time to talk about learning some English ^_- today, I am going to go over some useful vocabulary and phrasal verbs that have to do with cleaning.

messy

This is an adjective meaning disorderly, untidy, etc. To me, it is not really dirty, more it is clean but things are all over the place, nothing is put away...

Look at this mess! How did you make our hotel room so messy? We've only been here 2 hours!?!?!

dirty

This adjectives means the opposite of clean, there is dirt present... so to me, it is stronger than messy.

Billy was playing in the park, he got his clothes really dirty!

clean up

This phrasal verb is telling you, make something or somewhere clean. You put things away and also get rid of any dirt.

Sorry guys, I can't go out tonight I have to clean up my room.

tidy up

This phrasal verb goes with messy; "you have to tidy up your messy room". It means, to put away things, to organize them. It does not really mean getting out the mop and cleaning in a serious way... it is a more casual kind of cleaning.

Oh! My girlfriend just called, she's coming over. Hurry, help me tidy up!

straighten up

This phrasal verb is very similar to tidy up, the main difference is that it is more formal and a bit of a higher level expression.

Smith, straighten up your office! Our clients will be here any minute!!!

Alright, that's all for now. I will try to think of some medical English for mikan-chan...

See you,

Phil

Phrasal Verbs...

Hey everyone, I am in Montreal now. My flight was ok and seeing my friends and family has been great¬! Today, I will go over a few phrasal verbs...

Phrasal Verbs are verbs plus a preposition or adverb that change or modify the meaning of the verb. They are EXTREMELY popular in North American English. To have a bit more information about phrasal verbs, check out this website: http://www.englishpage.com/prepositions/phrasaldictionary.html

Here are some phrasal verbs using "pick".

pick out: this is pretty much the same as choose or select.

Which movie did you pick out?

(separable) Do you need help picking something out?

pick on: this has a negative meaning and is inseparable, it means to bully or try to upset someone.

Stop picking on me!

You shouldn't be so mean to that little kid. Pick on someone your own size!

pick up: this is a really useful phrasal verb which is separable, with 5 possible meanings.

1- lift, take up, clean.

a) "Your room is a mess, pick up your clothes."

b) "This box is heavy, help me pick it up."

2- get, buy.

a) "Please pick up some milk on your way home from work.@

b) "I have to go pick my new passport up tomorrow."

c) "I have to go pick up my new passport tomorrow."

3- refresh, revitalize.

a) "I'm exhausted, I need some coffee to pick me up."

b) "Black Black is a great pick me up."

4- arrange to meet someone to give them a ride.

a) "What time do you want me to pick you up?"

b) "Mom, can you pick me up after school?"

5- to meet someone at a bar, get their phone number or more ^_-...

a) "What is your best pick up line?"

b) "Where did you pick her up?"

c) "That bar is a great place to pick up cute guys."

For an alphabetized list of phrasal verbs check out this website:

http://www.eslcafe.com/pv/

I hope that helps¬!

Phil