Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hello, and welcome to Bad English with Kate. In today's lesson, we're going to talk about
using the word "***" as a phrasal verb. Get ready. Here we go! Merriam-Webster defines
the word *** as a verb. It's important to know, though, that the word *** can also
be used as an noun or an adjective, as "This is *** crazy!" or "You're *** in the
head." We'll be learning about these adjective structures later, but today we're going to
focus on "***" as a phrasal verb. There are several phrasal verbs that utilize the verb
***. Today we're going to be looking at three of those phrasal verbs. The first one is "***
off". The second on is "*** with". And the third one is "*** around". And now, on to
our first phrasal verb for today. Today's first phrasal verb is *** off. If you want
someone to leave, or leave you alone, you can say, "*** off." "*** off." In this structure,
we have the verb *** with the preposition off. And it means "leave". We're using it
in the imperative structure. *** off. Try it with me now. *** off. *** off. Now let's
try it with some emotion. *** off! *** off! If you're really angry and someone is really
bothering you, that's the way you say it. *** off! You say it quickly. The words go
together, and it almost sounds like a single word. *** off! *** off! The imperative isn't
the only way to use "*** off," it's just the best way if you want to get results. British
people use the phrasal verb more often than Americans do in the past tense. For example,
you might hear someone say, "He's *** off to the store." In this case, someone is using
the present perfect in conjunction with the phrasal verb *** off to indicate that someone,
perhaps a friend, has left and gone to the store. Notice that in this sentence, the auxiliary
verb "has" is shortened. Our subject is "he". And we have "he" apostrophe "s", meaning "he
has" and then we have the word "***" which is the past participle of the verb "to ***"
just as the past tense of the verb "to ***" is ***-e-d followed by "off", our preposition,
"He's *** off" And then we have the preposition "to", the article "the" and the direct object
"store". Try it with me now. He's *** off to the store. He's *** off to the store.
This means someone's gone to the store. If you're in the United States or planning on
speaking with people in the United States, this structure may be a little odd for them.
But don't worry. You're among friends. The second structure we're going to look at today
is the phrasal verb "*** with". We often see this used in the negative form, as in
the negative imperative, "Don't *** with me." Let's try that one together now. Don't
*** with me. Don't *** with me. Good. "*** with" means "to bother." So if someone is
bothering you and they will not leave you alone, you can say this to them, and hopefully,
they will leave you alone after you say it. Another very common use of "*** with" is
the interrogative. You can use "*** with" to ask somebody if they are trying to make
a fool of you or if they're lying to you. The way we use this in the interrogative form
is by asking the question in the present continuous. "Are you *** with me?" Let's try that.
Are you *** with me? Are you *** with me? It's not necessary for this question to
always be used in a hostile way. For example, maybe one of your friends tells you his dad
is Samuel Jackson. If your friend tells you his dad is Samuel Jackson, you can say to
him, "Are you *** with me?" And that lets your friend know that you don't necessarily
believe him, but that maybe you think he's kind of funny. Are you *** with me? Alright,
guys. Good job so far. We've reached the final phrasal verb for today. Today's final phrasal
verb is "*** around". *** around. All "*** around" means is to be doing something with
no purpose, or to be doing something, but not accomplishing anything. So if a friend
of yours asks what you did yesterday, you could say, "I just *** around all day."
Or, "I just *** around on the Internet." Or if someone calls you on the phone and says,
"What are you doing?" You can say, "Uh. Just *** around." Right? And that just means
that you're not doing anything important, maybe that you're not especially busy. Another
way that we can use "*** around" still means to do something with no purpose, but we can
use it as a transitive verb with an object. For example, if the TV isn't working, you
can say, "Did somebody *** around with the TV?" Meaning that a button was pushed or a
setting was changed, and now the TV isn't working the way it should be. "Did somebody
*** around with the TV?" Or, "Somebody *** around with the TV and now it's not working."
Alright, guys. Enough *** around on the computer for today. If you have any questions
about bad English or bad English usage, I hope you'll let me know in the comments field
below. Thank you for tuning in to Bad English with Kate. See you next time.