Hi. Welcome back to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam. Today's lesson is phrasal verbs.
Surprise, surprise. Today, we're looking at the phrasal verbs used with "pass". Okay? So once again,
what is a phrasal verb? It's a verb and a preposition that together can have the literal
meaning of the two words, like what the two words actually mean, plus other meanings that
are a little bit unexpected.
We're going to look at "pass up". Sometimes it's "pass up on" something. "Pass on", "pass over",
"pass through", "pass by", "pass down",
"pass away", "pass out", "pass off", "pass around".
Notice how when I have prepositions that begin with vowels, like A, O, O, etc.,
it sounds like one word. "Pass away", "pass out". Just make sure you understand it's a
verb and a preposition.
So, let's start. "Pass up". When you pass up on something, for example, or you pass
up an opportunity, it means you let it go. You don't grab it, you don't catch it. An
opportunity comes, and you pass up on it. It means you don't really necessarily want
to take part of it. For example, in a job. The company has an opening for a manager,
and my friends or my colleagues say to me:
"You should apply for this position."
And I... I'm not really in the mood right now, I want to do other things, so I pass up on
that opportunity. Okay? So let it go. And of course, there's the literal meaning. You
are standing on a ladder, you are painting the ceiling, and you need a... Another paintbrush,
so I grab one and I pass it up to you. Okay.
"Pass on" has a few meanings. One is a soft way to say die. So:
-"Oh, how's your grandfather?"
-"Oh, I'm afraid he passed on a few weeks ago."
Pass on: died. "Pass on" also means
pass information, or move, or give, or transfer information. So I... I say to you... You're...
You're my staff, I say:
"Okay. Here's the new rules for this situation. Pass it on to everybody in the office."
It means give it, pass it to everybody. Okay? "Pass on" is also
a little bit similar to "pass up", but it's more with specific things. Okay? So for example,
you invite me to dinner, and you make a nice roast pig, or something like that. Very delicious.
But, I'm a vegetarian. I don't eat meat. So I pass up on the... On the roast, but I will
have the salad, I will have the vegetables. Oh sorry, I will pass on the roast. Not "pass up".
I will pass on the roast, thank you, I will take something else. Pass up on an
opportunity, pass on something. Say: "No thank you." Okay.
"Pass over" means I could just pass over. So, before I passed up, now I'm passing over.
More like sideways. We call it laterally. Okay? I can also pass over, it means have
a quick look at something. Here's your document, I'll just pass over it. I have a very quick,
not detailed look. Okay? Now, we can also use "pass over" to skip something or someone.
So, I have some people, and I'm trying to build a basketball team. And I'm thinking:
"Hm. Who...? Who are the best players?"
So I'll take you, I'll take you, I'll pass over
you, and I'll take you, and I'll take you. So this person is passed over. It means I
go over them, and I go to the next one. I skip them.
"Pass through". If you're just passing through town, it means you're not stopping for very
long. You're coming, you're saying hi, you're going. Now, "pass through" also literally
means to go through something. So if I'm wearing a very thin shirt, the wind will pass right
through it, and basically chill my skin. Chill my bones.
"Pass by" also means, like, staying for a very short time. So if I come up to my friend's
house, he is not expecting me or she is not expecting me, and I ring the doorbell. They open the door, and I say:
"Hi. I was just passing by. I was in the neighborhood."
It means I just came for a short visit unexpectedly. Okay? If something passes you by, it's
[whizzing noise].
The car, I was driving my car, the... Another car passed by, and just kept going.
So to move without stopping. And you can also talk about more general things, like time.
Time doesn't wait for anybody. Time just passes by, regardless of what you do. If you're waiting
for something, wait. Time just keeps passing. It passes by. Okay.
"Pass down". So again, I passed up something, I passed over something, now I'm passing down.
I'm in a high place, you're in a low place, I'm passing it down. But we can also talk
about giving something from one generation to another. So, my five-year-old child is
too big for his clothes now. So I take his clothes, and I pass them down to my nephew
who's only two years old, and can still use them. So, we also call them "pass-me-downs".
So if you ever hear or see this expression, these are clothes that came from somebody
older, usually in the family. Okay?
"Pass away". Very similar to "pass on", means to die. It's a euphemism, means it's a soft
expression. Because again, people don't like the word "die." So:
-"How's your grandfather?"
-"Oh, I'm afraid he passed away a few weeks ago."
Okay, you can use "pass on". "Pass away"
is more common than "pass on". Okay.
"Pass out". So two meanings. One: distribute. Similar to "hand out", which we've studied
before. If you have a group of people assembled, I will pass out the papers. I will pass out
the candy to everybody. But "pass out" also means
[exhales]
become unconscious suddenly,
unexpectedly. This is especially true if you like to drink, and drink, and drink.
If you drink too much alcohol-of course we're talking about not Coca-Cola, although that might happen too
-too much alcohol and you'll probably pass out. You think you went to sleep, but you
didn't. You were... Fell on the floor, and your friends took their marker and painted
things all over your face, because you were passed out.
"Pass off". What this means is try to convince people, or convince somebody that something
is what it isn't. Now, sounds a little bit confusing. So, I'm in a group of doctors, and I think:
"Oh, wow. Everybody here is really smart, so I need to be smart. So, I'm not
smart, but I will try to pass myself off as smart." So basically means pretend to be something.
Or I go to a store and I see a bag, and it says Gucci on the bag, and the... And the
shop owner or the store owner says:
"Oh, it's only $3,000."
And I'm like: "Really? It looks like a fake."
He goes: "No, no, no. It's real."
So he is trying to pass this bag off as real,
even though I know it's not. Okay?
And "pass around". So if you're passing it around, I give you a... Like a plate of candy,
and I say: "Take one and then pass it around."
So take it, take a candy, pass. Take it, candy, pass, pass. Pass around to everybody.
It's like distribute, except that the people are
doing it one to the next, one to the next, one to the next.
So these are your phrasal verbs with "pass". These are very commonly heard phrasal verbs.
If you have any questions about them, of course come to www.engvid.com,
go to the comments section, and ask your questions.
There is a quiz that you can practice these, you can
see these in actual sentences that you can try to understand on your own.
And of course, come back and see the next lesson.
Bye-bye.