Hey, it's Annemarie was Speak Confident English.
This is exactly where you want to be every week to get the confidence you want
for your life and work in English.
One area that my students want confidence in the most is in
vocabulary, using precise language and knowing that it's accurate,
that it's correct. So today we're going to do that with one specific word,
the word run, that word might seem simple,
but the truth is it has multiple meanings in English as a verb
and as a noun, plus, we use it in multiple phrasal verbs as well.
For example, did you know that if you look up the verb, run in the dictionary,
there are over 90 different uses or possible meanings
of that word? Isn't that crazy? Thankfully,
many of them are similar and there are just a few that are common.
That's what we're going to focus on in today's lesson. You're going to learn,
understand,
and know how to use the word run as a verb with six
different possible meanings.
We're also going to look at seven phrasal verbs that use the verb run.
And we're going to look at two ways that we use the word run as a noun as
always. I'll include examples throughout today's lesson.
So you know exactly how to use this word correctly every time.
And I'll give you opportunities to practice as well.
Let's start by using the word run as a verb. And of course,
when you think about running, you probably think of moving your legs quickly,
much faster than walking and as a form of exercise,
that is definitely the first or most commonly used meaning when
someone uses the verb run.
So obvious example sentences would be: To stay fit,
I run three days a week.
Or this morning I ran to catch the bus. Now,
when your legs move quickly, of course your whole body moves quickly.
And that's the second meaning of the verb run to move or act quickly.
If someone spills something at dinner, you might tell them,
run to the kitchen and get a towel.
What you're really telling them to do is to move or act quickly.
Similarly, you'll often hear English speakers use the verb,
run as a way to finish a conversation and say goodbye.
Here's what that sounds like. It's been really fun talking to you,
but I'm sorry, I have to run. I've got a meeting in 10 minutes.
A third common meaning for using the verb run is to make a
quick trip or a casual informal visit.
I might ask my husband, could you run to the grocery store on your way to work?
In that example, I'm not asking him to run with his legs to the grocery store,
but instead to make a quick trip or a quick stop on his way to work.
If you work in a large office building, you might say to a coworker,
let's run to John's office and wish him happy birthday.
Now that we have those first three definitions of the verb run,
that all deal with moving quickly,
let's move on to three more possible definitions.
Number four is to campaign or be in a campaign for an election.
For example, have you ever thought of running for president?
Or can you believe there are 12 people running in this election?
That's just way too many.
I've been thinking about running for president of the neighborhood association.
What do you think? I'm curious, have you ever run in an election,
whether it was an elected position in an association or club,
maybe local government, city, government, or even a national position?
If you have, I'd love to hear about it.
And this is the perfect opportunity to try using the verb run with
that context or meaning in mind.
Number five is to flow as liquid.
The river current is running strong right now due to all the rain.
And finally our sixth meaning using run as a verb is to
creep, climb or grow the way that vines do.
For example,
I've always loved houses that have Ivy running up the side of
the house. In my garden in the summer,
there are many vines that run along my fence.
Now that we have our six meanings of the verb run,
let's move on to seven phrasal verbs that use that word.
The first phrasal verb is to run around and this has two possible meanings.
The first is to move quickly around an area or it could mean to run,
move your legs quickly around an area. You might tell your kids,
they can go run around the backyard before dinner> or whenever I
travel to a new city,
I always spend the first day running around to get
familiar with the area. In that example,
I'm not necessarily running in a way that's faster than walking,
but I'm moving around that area quickly.
The second meaning of run around is to be busy, doing multiple things.
For example, in preparation for the holidays,
I have a lot of running around to do. In other words,
I have multiple places where I need to go and multiple things to do.
The second phrasal verb is to run after which is a synonym or
alternative to the verbs to chase or pursue this
morning. I tried to run after the bus to catch it, but I missed it.
Phrasal verb number three is a great one to know, to run into.
To run into someone or run into something.
To run into someone is to meet them unexpectedly. For example,
when you run into your neighbor at the grocery store.
But if you run into something,
it means to encounter or hit some kind of an obstacle.
For example, have you ever run into a glass door?
Definitely not a pleasant experience. With this phrasal verb,
you'll often hear the collocation to run into a problem.
At work, you might run into a technical problem.
Perhaps your team ran into a problem with a deadline.
I want to put it pause here for a moment and challenge you to try using run into
in a couple of different sentences. Remember, you could run into someone,
meet them unexpectedly or run into something
encounter or hit something like a problem or a glass
door phrasal verb.
Number four is to run on and this is used when we want to say that
something is powered by something else.
For example, this light runs on batteries.
An electric car runs on electricity.
Number five on our list is to run out of.
It is a crisis in my house when we run out of coffee.
When you run out of something, it means that it's gone. It's empty.
There's nothing left.
Is there anything in your life that you really hate to run out of or you feel
frustrated when you've run out of it? If so,
tell me about it in the comments and use this phrasal verb to run out of.
All right. We've got two phrasal verbs left on our list,
and then we're going to look at how we use the word run as a noun in two
different ways. Phrasal verb number six is to run through,
to run through something.
I'd like to run through my presentation one more time.
Let's run through the meeting agenda to make sure we haven't missed anything.
What do you think?
Can you identify the meaning of the phrasal verb to run through based on those
two sentences?
If you thought that to run through means to review or practice something you are
absolutely right.
Can you think of other situations where you might want to run through something
again, either practice it or review it?
Share your example with me in the comments below.
Our last phrasal verb for this list today is to run by,
to run something by someone.
We typically use this with the word idea to run an
idea by someone.
What that means is you want to tell someone your idea to get their feedback or
input. If you're thinking about sharing an idea at a meeting,
you might run your idea by a coworker in
advance to get some feedback and make sure that you've explained it clearly.
In brainstorming conversations, you'll often hear someone say,
I want to run something by you, or let me run this idea by you.
Do you have something that you've been thinking about an idea or a solution that
you're considering that you'd like to run by someone? If so,
try using it. In an example sentence,
you can share with me in the comments below.
And now let's finish our lesson on the word run and it's multiple
uses and meanings by focusing on two different ways that we use this
word as a noun.
The first one is closely related to the first example that we had
of the word run as a verb.
Remember we said it is to move your legs quickly, faster than walking.
A run is the act,
the length or the distance of running.
For example, over the weekend, I completed a 5k run.
This morning, she went on a long run.
The second way of using the word run as a noun is our last meaning
on the list today. And it's an odd one.
A run is a line or a place where stitches
in fabric have come undone.
If you're wearing stockings or nylons with a dress or a skirt,
have you ever accidentally snagged your nylons and
as a result, you had a run?
Discovering a run in your stockings is definitely an
infuriating moment when you're on your way somewhere important like a job
interview. And with that,
you have six meanings of the word run as a verb,
seven phrasal verbs, and two meanings of the word run.
As a noun throughout this lesson,
there are multiple opportunities for you to practice what you've learned and
use the word precisely what that means is using it with the
exact meaning that you want. But before we finish,
I have one more question for you.
I want you to choose a phrasal verb that was new to you from today's list
and use it in your own example, sentence.
Doing that regularly will help you keep that new phrasal verb
in your mind so that you can remember it and use it in conversations easily.
As always,
you can share your examples with me and any questions that you have in the
comments below. If you found today's lesson useful to you,
I would love to know, and you can tell me in three ways, number one,
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have a wonderful week.
And I look forward to seeing you next time for your Confident English lesson.