Phrasal verb: Come down with

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  1. come down with something
    Transitive, Inseparable
    Meaning: become sick
    Example: The first time I visited South America my stomach did not react well to the water and I came down with a sickness that lasted two weeks.  I hope that doesn’t happen again!

    Did you know that New York State declared a “Public Health Emergency” due to the number of people who have come down with the flu?  There have been 18 deaths nation-wide, and 12 of them have been in New York!  All New York residents now have free access to flu shots.

 

 

 

 

Phrasal verb: mix up

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  1. mix something up
    Transitive/Intransitive, Separable
    Meaning: confuse two or more things
    Example: I always mix up the twins.  They are too similar!

    Many people often mix up the following words in English.  Be careful to understand the different meanings!

    Affect / Effect: “Affect” is a verb meaning to impact or influence, and “effect” is a noun.   To affect is to produce an effect.

    Farther / Further: “Farther” is the comparative form of “far” referring to physical distance (ex. How much farther do we have to travel to get to your house?).  “Further” refers to metaphorical or figurative distance (ex. Can we discuss this further tomorrow?).

    Fewer / Less: Fewer is used for countable nouns and less is used for uncountable nouns.  (ex. There are fewer students in this class than in my last class.  There is less water in my glass than in your glass.)

    Its / It’s: “Its” refers to possession (ex. The bird spread its wings).  “It’s” is a contraction meaning “it is.”

Phrasal verb: cross out

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  1. cross something out
    (transitive, separable)
    Meaning:     draw a line through
    Example: Please cross that out and write it again.

    Sometimes in the English language, we eliminate words that are unnecessary to understand the meaning of the sentence.  This is called ellipsis.  For example, if I ask you, “Do you love TeacherDiane.com?” and you say, “Yes, I do.”  Then you know how to create an ellipsis!Try this activity: Cross out the words that are not necessary.

    ex. Do you like Italian food?  Yes, but I prefer Thai (food).
    *In this sentence, the second “food” can be removed!

  1. John can play the guitar, Mary can play, too.
  2. I went to the bar and I asked for a beer.
  3. She is tired, and I am tired too.
  4. I really like caffeinated coffee, but my husband prefers decaf coffee.
  5. We haven’t forgotten, and she hasn’t forgotten either.
  6. He’ll come soon but I don’t know exactly when he’ll come.
  7. If you need any money, I’ve got some money.
  8. Has she been running? No, she has been cycling.

Phrasal verb: come from

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  1. come from somewhere
    (transitive/intransitive, inseparable)
    Meaning: originate
    Example: My blue eyes come from my dad.

    In the past, when there were no cameras, images were either sculpted or painted.  Prices charged by painters were not based on how many people were painted, but by how many limbs were to be painted.  Arms and legs are “limbs” therefore painting them would cost the buyer more.  This is where the expression “it’ll cost you an arm and a leg” comes from.  We use this expression nowadays when something is very expensive. (ex. “My phone bill costs an arm and a leg!”)

    Read about some more interesting origins: http://all-that-is-interesting.com/post/5692281236/interesting-origins-of-7-common-english-idioms