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hi everybody my name is alicia welcome
back to know your verbs in this episode
we're going to talk about the verb cut
let's get started
so the basic definition of the verb to
cut is to make something smaller or to
open something using a sharp tool like a
knife or scissors or something else kind
of pointy
let's look at the conjugations of this
verb
present tense cut
cuts
past tense cut
past participle tense cut
progressive tense cutting
okay so now let's take a look at some
additional meanings of this verb the
first additional meaning is to make
something smaller to make something
smaller but this can mean like
conceptually or it can refer to the
amount of something not only the size of
something examples
the company had to cut costs
you should probably cut your hair
so in both of these we're seeing
examples of things that became smaller
in the first sentence the company had to
cut costs so to cut costs means to
decrease costs to reduce costs to make
the cost smaller so we say cut costs in
the second sentence it's about hair so
we just say to cut hair this case in
this case yes we're talking about
something pointy like a sharp tool
that's fine but we're making hair
smaller so we say to cut hair
the second additional meaning for the
verb to cut is to remove something to
remove something from something else so
examples of this
i cut some mistakes from the radio show
she's cutting the damaged parts out of
the fabric
so in both of these sentences you'll see
we use the verb cut with from or out of
in the first example sentence i cut some
mistakes from the radio show means in
the radio show the original radio show
there were some mistakes i cut the
mistake so i removed the mistakes from
the radio show so we use from
or we can use out of both are fine as in
the second example sentence she cut the
damaged parts out of the fabric so in
that sentence we see out of instead we
could say she's cutting the damaged
parts from the fabric both are okay it
just means we're removing the damaged
parts in that case so removing something
from something else okay let's go to the
third meaning for the verb the third
meaning is to stop something or to cause
something to stop examples
can you cut the engine
oh no they cut the power
so here stop we're not physically
cutting something and we're not removing
anything here here we're we're talking
about like cutting maybe uh energy
source or we're talking about cutting
like an action if you can imagine that
so stopping in action causing something
to stop in the first example sentence
it's an engine cut the engine means stop
the engine or make the engine stop in
other words in the second example
sentence oh no they cut the power means
oh no they stopped the power or they
turned off the power maybe it's the
electrical company power means
electricity so they turned off the
electricity but we usually say cut the
power we can use this for computers for
machines
anything that can start and stop really
cut
something
the fourth meaning for this verb is to
move across or through a place examples
of this
let's cut across the soccer field
can we cut through the tunnel
so here we see cut with a cross and cut
through so we use cut across when we're
talking about moving physically like
across an open area so we could say cut
across the street cut across the field
cut across the road maybe
but with through we're going into
something we're going inside something
so cut through the tunnel for example or
cut through the house or cut through the
shopping mall so entering something to
come out the other side through so we
can use across and through so those are
some common examples of expressions we
use with cut in this way meaning to go
across something
okay
let's move on to some variations for
this verb the first variation for this
verb is to be cut out for something to
be cut out for something means to be
suited for something this is an
expression we commonly use in the
negative form actually let's look at
some examples
i'm not cut out for the pace of this
work
he's not cut out for life in the city
so as you can see we use this with not
in many cases so in the first example
i'm not cut out for the pace of this
work means i'm not suited to the pace of
this work it's not a good match for me
my personality my lifestyle for example
in the second example sentence he's not
cut out for life in the city it means
life in the city does not suit him it
doesn't match him very well so to not be
cut out for something is probably more
common than to be cut out for something
the second variation is to cut somebody
off to cut somebody off means to
interrupt someone or to stop them from
doing an activity
we often use this with like driving with
drinking also in speaking yeah so
driving drinking and speaking are common
situations where we use this in speaking
we use it when we interrupt someone so
examples
the bartender cut off the noisy couple
in the restaurant
somebody cut me off on the highway one
more example too is when we're talking
about money especially with parents and
children here's an example
his parents are going to cut him off
when he turns 35.
so in all of these we're seeing cut off
but actually each of these presents a
different use in the first example it's
a bartender so the sentence was the
bartender cut off the noisy couple cut
off here we have we know it means
interrupt but the key actually to the
meaning is bartender here
bartender as the subject suggests that
the couple are drinking in the
restaurant so to cut off some people at
a bar means to stop serving drinks to
stop serving alcoholic drinks so when a
bartender or restaurant staff cuts off
someone who is drinking it means they
stop serving that person or those people
alcoholic drinks so that's one meaning
of to cut someone off in the second
example sentence
somebody cut me off on the highway this
is very very common in driving when you
and your you are driving along in your
car i'll put this this is your car okay
so you're driving along in your car but
quickly somebody else comes near you and
drives in front of you very quickly like
kind of interrupting you maybe you have
to touch your brakes or you have to stop
or you have to move some something that
surprises you so we say this motion this
activity when driving is cutting someone
off so it's like you're causing an
interruption in in the driver's activity
so there's some interruption that
happens this other car disrupts your
activity or interrupts your activity so
we say this person carby cut me off on
the highway
in the third example it's about money
his parents say they're going to cut him
off when he turns 35. this is an
expression that means they're going to
cut him off financially in other words
when he turns 35 his parents are going
to stop giving him money so there are a
few expressions here that we have to
really think about the situation to
understand what is being stopped is it
drinks is it like driving is it
money we can also use it when speaking
if someone interrupts you when speaking
you can say ah don't cut me off like i'm
trying to talk the next variation for
this verb is to cut to the chase to cut
to the chase um this is an expression
which means to explain the main point of
something to explain the main idea of
something examples
hurry up and cut to the
chase he won't cut to the chase and
explain what he wants
so quite simply cut to the chase means
to explain the main idea so in the first
example sentence hurry up and cut to the
chase means hurry up and explain the
thing you want to say so if someone is
saying many many different things but
won't say the main point you can use
this expression hurry up and cut to the
chase in the second example sentence he
won't cut to the chase and explain what
he wants means again he's saying a lot
of different things but he won't just
say the thing he does want to say or the
thing he needs to say so we can say cut
to the chase to make a request of him so
those are a few maybe new ways to use
the verb cut i hope you found something
new or interesting here of course if you
have any questions or comments or want
to try making a sentence with this verb
please feel free to do so in the
comments section of this video if you
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thanks very much for watching this
episode of know your verbs and we'll see
you again soon bye-bye
i tried to you know i went like this i
said can we cut through the tunnel
wiggle my nose because it itched classy
lady okay
this is how i cut this is my cutting
motion
oh it kind of feels good
[Laughter]
give me a massage
stating that alicia is saying facts
oh no what's happened push the reset
button
sorry i should have prefaced that with a
little bit of
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purpose
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you