Phrasal verbs with break

Break is used in a number of common phrasal verbs. Here is a list of them. Each phrasal verb is followed by its definition. Example sentences are also given.

Break away – become separate; (of members of a group) escape; run away

Break down – a) fail to work; prove to be useless; b) become weak through overwork; c) be overcome by emotions

The car broke down on the way to work.

She broke down during the speech.

Break something down

To break something down is to use force to get it down.

Break into

To break into is to get into by force.

The police broke into the room where the captives were being held and freed them.

Break in on – interrupt, burst suddenly into

I was talking to James on the phone and suddenly the operator broke in on our call.

Break in

To break (a horse etc) in is to tame it.

We need a trainer to break in our pony.

Break something off – a) separate; b) end; stop suddenly

He broke a branch off the tree.

Alice has broken off her engagement to Peter.

Break out – begin suddenly

Cholera has broken out in the city.

Wars can break out anytime.

Break up – a) come or smash to pieces; b) (of a meeting, school term etc.) end

In a fit of fury, he broke up the television.

The meeting broke up at 6 pm.

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Practice, practise, advice, advise etc.

These words are often confused. Those forms that end in ce or cyare nouns. The other forms that end in se or sy are verbs. That means ‘advice’ is a noun, whereas ‘advise’ is a verb. In the same way, prophecy is a noun, whereas prophesy is a verb.

Examples

• He gave me some advice. (Advice – noun)
• I hate people who advise me. (advise – verb)
• I practise the piano every day. (practise – verb)
• You just need some practice. (practice – noun)
• Some of her prophecies have come true.
• The Mayans prophesied that the world would end in 2012.

Hoard and horde

These words are often confused. Both hoard and horde rhyme with board and ford.

Hoard is a verb. To hoard something is to store it away for future use. This is not exactly an honest practice. For example, merchants often hoard grains like rice and wheat when there is a shortage. By secretly storing grains away, they can further reduce their availability in the market. This will increase their prices. And when prices rise, the same merchants will sell these grains at a huge profit. Hoarding food grains is a punishable offence in many countries.

Horde is a noun. It is used to refer to a large gathering of people.

• Hordes of fans came to the stadium to cheer their team.

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What’s the origin of the word ‘blackleg’?

When trade unions call for strikes, they expect all of their members to refrain from work. That is the norm. However, sometimes some members of the trade union go against the wishes of their leaders and go to work. These people will go to offices and factories while they fellow workers protest in the streets. They are called . In British English, this term is mainly used to show disapproval.

blacklegs

• All blacklegs will be suspended from the union.

The expression blackleg originated from the bird rook. As we all know, this bird is black in colour and has got black legs. Rooks are very cunning and they know how to steal food. Needless to say, few people like them. Even today, the term rook is sometimes used to refer to a person who takes advantage of gullible individuals. Since rooks have black legs, cheats are also called blacklegs. As time went by, this expression began to be used to refer to workers who cheat by going to work when their fellow employers are on strike.

The word rookie also has its origin in the word ‘rook’. In the old days the word rookie was used to refer to a person who could be easily cheated because he / she lacks experience. Now this word is used to refer to any inexperienced individual.

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Easily confused words

The words breath, breathe, aid, aide etc. are often confused by English learners. In this lesson we will take a look at some of these easily confused words.

Breath and breathe

Breath is a noun. It rhymes with death. Breath denotes the air inhaled or exhaled during the process of breathing. Breath is a countable noun. It can be used with the article a.

• Take a deep breath. (NOT Take a deep breathe.)
• The brave warriors fought until their last breath.

Breathe is a verb. To breathe is to inhale and exhale air.

• Fish breathe through their gills. (NOT Fish breath through their gills.)
• He breathed a sigh of relief. (OR He heaved a sigh of relief.)

Aid and aide

Aid can be a verb or a noun. As a noun it means help or assistance. To aid (verb) is to help or assist.

• The poor woman cried aloud but nobody came to her aid.
• Rich nations must aid the poor. (= Rich nations must help the poor.)

An aide is a helper or an assistant.

• The minister visited the flood affected region with his aides.

Confident, confidant and confidante

The word confident is an adjective. If you are confident you are not shy and believe in your own abilities.

• She is confident of her success.

A confidant is a person with whom you can discuss your private or personal matters. Of course, you wouldn’t do it with someone who doesn’t enjoy your trust.

• If you have trust issues, you may not be able to find aconfidant.

Confidante means the same, but is only used to refer to a female confidant.

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Words confused

Complete the following sentences using appropriate words.

1. The robber …………………………. a pistol and threatened the passengers.

a) waved                b) waived

2. If your style of writing is too ………………………….., you will have few readers.

q) verbal              b) verbose

3. I went to buy some good …………………………….. for the office.

a) stationary       b) stationery

4. It was a ………………………………… fight and many of our men were killed.

a) sanguine         b) sanguinary

5. We entered the sanctuary in a very …………………………. mood.

a) reverend        b) reverent

6. Cotton is the ……………………….. export from Bombay.

a) principal          b) principle

7. He said that he would not ………………………….. his right to the house.

a) wave                                b) waive

8. He has invented an ………………………. device for making sugar out of coal.

a) ingenuous      b) ingenious

9. The growth of crops was …………………………. after the application of fertilizers.

a) luxurious        b) luxuriant

10. The ship has its full ……………………………. of sailors.

a) compliment   b) complement

Answers

1. The robber waved a pistol and threatened the passengers.

2. If your style of writing is too verbose, you will have few readers.

3. I went to buy some stationery for the office.

4. It was a sanguinary fight and many of our men were killed.

5. We entered the sanctuary in a very reverent mood.

6. Cotton is the principal export from Bombay.

7. He said that he would not waive his right to the house.

8. He has invented an ingenious device for making sugar out of coal.

9. The growth of crops was luxuriant after the application of fertilizers.

10. The ship has its full complement of sailors.

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Collocations with heavy

Collocations are word groups that sound natural to a native English speaker. Of course, ESL students often find it difficult to understand which adjectives best collocate with which nouns and which adverbs best collocate with which verbs. For example, we say heavy rains, but we don’t say strong rains. In order to learn collocations students have to listen to spoken English as much as possible.

In this article we will take a look at the nouns used with the adjectives heavy.

Nouns used with heavy

It was a heavy suitcase. I couldn’t lift it. (NOT It was a strong suitcase.)

His wife deserted him because he was a heavy smoker and drinker. (NOT …because he was a strong / hard smoker.)

I had a heavy breakfast in the morning, now I don’t feel like eating anything.

She paid a heavy price for her stupidity.

I have a heavy cold.

He received a heavy blow to his head.

I have a heavy workload.

Schools should place a heavy emphasis on children’s character development.

Cough syrups may cause drowsiness and hence patients taking cough syrups are advised against handling heavy machinery.

Common collocations with heavy: heavy weights / heavy machinery / heavy workload / heavy emphasis / heavy rains / heavy reliance / heavy loss / heavy price / heavy cold / heavy blow / heavy fall / heavy burden.

Light is the opposite of heavy. However, it is not always used to express ideas opposite to the ideas given above. We can say light suitcase, light meals, light weeks and light casualties. However, we can’t say a light smoker or a light cold. The opposite of heavy cold isslight cold.

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The words refuse, reject, decline and deny

The words deny, reject, refuse and decline are often confused. Of these, the words reject, refuse and decline have very similar meanings. Interestingly, the word accept can be the opposite of all of them. Deny has a different meaning. The opposite of deny isadmit.

To deny is to say that something is not true. To deny somebody something is to refuse to give it to them.

• He denied taking the money
• She denied that she had acted irresponsibly.
• The minister denied the allegations.
• She denied him the right to visit her daughter.
• She denied me the permission to go.
• The guards were accused of denying the prisoners food and water.

To refuse to do something is to say that you won’t do that.

• She refused to clean the floors.
• The child refused to take the medicine.
• She refused to pay the dues.

When you refuse something you do not accept it.

• I offered her a drink but she politely refused it.
• They refused the invitation.

Reject is quite similar to refuse. To reject a proposal is to refuse to accept it.

• The promoters rejected the plan out of hand.
• The manager rejected my request for more time to finish the project.

If someone rejects you, they show indifference towards you.

• She was rejected by her own people.

Reject can also be used as a noun. The noun reject is used to refer to something or somebody that has not been accepted.

• The gown was very cheap because it was a reject.

Decline is relatively formal. It has more or less the same meaning as refuse. To decline something is to politely refuse to accept it.

• I offered her a job but she declined it.
• She offered to bear all the expenses but he politely declined.

Decline can also mean become less or become worse.

• The quality of life in many of our cities is declining.
• The number of people who buy homes have declined in recent years.

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Vocabulary exercise

From the given list of words select the word closest in meaning to the underlined word.

1. There was one problem, though: the negotiations were all acharade.

a) Series

b) Charter

c) Absurd pretense

d) Spate

2. Her social activities are circumscribed by her work commitments.

a) Limited

b) Entangled

c) Destroyed

d) Eroded

3. Our politicians are a bit of a parochial bunch.

a) Generous

b) Narrow-minded

c) Brave

d) Kind

4. I was discomfited to find the boss in the disco.

a) Irritated

b) Uncomfortable

c) Embarrassed

d) Displeased

5. He spent most of his life debunking politicians and self-styled god men.

a) Exposing

b) Cheating

c) Pacifying

d) Threatening

6. If peace is what you seek, you must stop drinking heavily andbrawling publicly.

a) Quarreling

b) Preaching

c) Socializing

d) Threatening

7. He continued his tirade even after they asked him to shut up.

a) Denunciation

b) Eulogy

c) Discredit

d) Speech

8. He was neurotic, vindictive and insensitive as well as thoughtful and charismatic.

a) Forgiving

b) Vengeful

c) Uncomfortable

d) Eager

Answers

1. c) Absurd pretense

2. a) Limited

3. b) Narrow-minded

4. c) Embarrassed

5. a) Exposing

6. a) Quarreling

7. a) Denunciation

8. b) Vengeful

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Afraid, frightened and scared

These words are often confused. Although the words afraid, scared and frightened have similar meanings, the grammar is not the same. These are all adjectives and express nearly the same degree of fear. In many cases, they are interchangeable.

Frightened is mainly used to talk about a sudden fear.

• Many children are afraid of / scared of / frightened of cockroaches and spiders.
• Don’t be scared / afraid / frightened. He is a kind person. He won’t hurt you.

Note that all of these three words can be followed by of + -ing form.

• He never drives fast. He is scared of / afraid of / frightened ofcrashing.
• I didn’t go hiking. I was afraid of / scared of / frightened ofinjuring my knees.

Frightened is not normally followed by of + pronoun.

• He is a stern master. The boys are all afraid of / scared of him. (More natural than ‘The boys are all frightened of him.’)

All three of these adjectives can be followed by a to-infinitive.

• She was too scared to raise her voice.
• I am not afraid to tell the truth.
• I am too frightened to stay alone in this house.

Things can frighten or scare us. Or we can be frightened by orscared by something. We cannot be afraid by something.

• She was frightened by that haunting tune.
• They were scared by the explosion. (BUT NOT They were afraid by the explosion.)

Position

Afraid is not normally used before a noun. It goes after the verb.

• She is afraid. (BUT NOT She is an afraid woman.)

Scared and frightened can be used in both attributive (before the noun) and predicative (after the verb) positions.

• She is a frightened woman. OR She is frightened.

Frightened / Frightening

As a general rule, adjectives ending in –ed (e.g. frightened, interested, bored, excited etc.) are used to say how people feel. Adjectives ending in –ing (e.g. frightening, interesting, boring, exciting etc.) are used to describe the things or situations that invoke those feelings. Frightening experiences make peoplefrightened. In the same way, terrifying experiences make people terrified.

Compare

• It was a frightening experience. (= That experience frightened me.)
• I was frightened by the gunshots.
• She looked very frightened when I told her that she would need to be operated on.

Terrified / terrifying

In the same way, you can use terrified to describe how you feel andterrifying to describe the thing that terrifies you. Note that terrified and terrifying are used to talk about a greater degree of fear or anxiety.

• It was a terrifying ordeal. I am glad that it is over.
• I was terrified when I heard the explosion.

Scared / scary

Scared is similar to terrified and frightened. It shows how people feel. Scary is similar to frightening.

• I felt scared when the lights suddenly went out.
• Spending the night all alone in that big bungalow was scary.

Scared and frightened have very similar meanings and indicate fear or anxiety of the same degree.

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Confusing words exercise: mind, care, matter

The words care, mind and matter are often confused. See if you can use them correctly with this grammar exercise.

1. She looked as if she didn’t have a …………………… in the world.

a) mind

b) care

2. I don’t ……………………. what happens.

a) care

b) matter

3. Would you ………………….. my coming in late?

a) mind

b) care

c) matter

4. Do you ……………………. if I look at your paper?

a) mind

b) care

c) matter

5. I don’t …………………. whether it rains – I’m happy.

a) care

b) matter

6. It doesn’t ……………………. how much it costs. I really want it.

a) matter

b) mind

c) care

7. There is nothing the …………………… with you. You are just tired.

a) matter

b) mind

c) care

8. As usual, money was at the heart of the …………………….

a) matter

b) mind

c) care

9. What really …………………….. is how you use your time.

a) matters

b) cares

10. I don’t …………………….. what you think.

a) care

b) matter

Answers

1. She looked as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

2. I don’t care what happens.

3. Would you mind my coming in late?

4. Do you mind if I look at your paper?

5. I don’t care whether it rains – I’m happy.

6. It doesn’t matter how much it costs. I really want it.

7. There is nothing the matter with you. You are just tired.

8. As usual, money was at the heart of the matter.

9. What really matters is how you use your time.

10. I don’t care what you think.

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Get and become

The word get and become are sometimes interchangeable. However, get has several different meanings. Become, on the other hand, is mainly used to talk about a development of some kind.

Get is one of the commonest words in English. It is mainly used in informal English. Some people even believe that get should not be used in formal speech and writing. That probably doesn’t make much sense, though.

Get/become + adjective

Both get and become can be followed by adjectives. In this case, they both indicate growth or development of some sort.

Compare the following sentences.

She got angry when she realized that he was lying. (Informal)

She became angry when she realized that he was lying. (Formal)

I got / became interested in classical music when I was in high school.

As I get older I get more optimistic.

As I become older I become more optimistic.

It got colder and colder the higher we climbed.

It became increasingly cold as we climbed higher.

Become + noun

Get cannot be used with a noun to indicate development or change. In this case, only become is possible.

She became a nun. (BUT NOT She got a nun.)

Get + noun/pronoun

When get is followed by a noun or a pronoun, it means ‘obtain’, ‘fetch’, ‘receive’ or ‘acquire’. Become cannot be used with this meaning.

I got a call from Betty. (= I received a call from Betty.)

She gets $300 a week. (= She earns $300 a week.)

Could you get me a glass of water? (= Could you fetch me a glass of water?)

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