Hey, everyone. I'm Alex.
Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on: "'Push' Phrasal Verbs".
So phrasal verbs, like you know, if you have been following my channel for a while, are
some of the most difficult words and expressions to master in the English language.
They take a verb with a preposition, which is actually called a particle in a phrasal
verb, but it looks like a preposition, and they create a new meaning when you match the
verb with the particle, with the preposition, whichever one you want to call them.
So we are going to look at eight, eight "push" phrasal verbs in this lesson.
We'll start with four, we'll do another four right after this.
So, I don't want to waste any more time.
Let's get started.
Number one: "to push ahead with something".
So, to push ahead with something means to continue with something, to continue doing
something when there are problems or when other people maybe working on a project
wish to stop.
So you keep doing it even though other people say:
"No, no, stop. It's a bad idea."
Typically, you push ahead with things in an office or the government will push ahead with
something.
Let's look at the two examples to show you what I mean.
Number one: "We pushed ahead with the policy despite unpopular public opinion."
The public didn't like the policy we introduced, maybe the policy says:
"Everyone must have a fake mustache on the second day of every month."
I don't know.
And this is unpopular public opinion, but, you know, the government says:
"Oh, it's a great idea. Let's do it."
So they push ahead with the policy.
Second: "The municipal government is pushing ahead with its plans."
So, again: "to push ahead" is to keep going, to keep pushing with something even if there
are problems or other people think it's a bad idea.
Next: "push someone around".
So think of...
If someone pushes you around, they treat you in a rude way.
They act like a bully.
For example: "Our boss thinks he can just push people around."
Or: "My brother pushed me around a lot as a kid."
So imagine you are the person who is being pushed around, you're...
Someone is bullying you, pushing you in this direction and that direction, treating you
like they are a bully.
Next: "to push someone away" means to force someone away from you.
So: "The relationship wasn't working, so she pushed him away."
This means, you know, she stopped calling him, she stopped commenting on his Facebook
photos, she just did not text him anymore.
She pushed him away because the relationship was not working.
Next: "We're friends. Why are you pushing me away?"
Okay?
So: "You're my best friend.
Don't push me away. Come back."
Okay? Don't separate yourself.
Don't try to force yourself away from me.
Next: "to push a date or an appointment back", this means to postpone something, so delay
something (s/t - something) until a later time or a later date.
Two examples: "The meeting had to be pushed back by a week."
So the meeting was pushed back, delayed by one week.
"We pushed our wedding date back."
So we realized...
There was a family emergency maybe, so we had to push the wedding date back.
Okay, now we're going to look at four more.
Next we have: "to push back against someone or something".
This means to fight back against someone or something.
For example: "They pushed back against the enemy",
against the enemy army.
So the enemy army is coming at them, they're pushing them, pushing them, pushing them.
And then they push back, push back, push back against the enemy army.
Next example:
"We can't accept these conditions. We need to push back."
So, this could be a situation at your workplace where you do not like the conditions, so you
want to push back against the management.
Next: "to push for something" or "to push for someone"
means to support and advocate for something or someone.
Examples: "The employees pushed for more money."
So maybe, again, the employees are not happy with how much money they are making, so they
go on strike and in their discussion with the management, they push for more money.
They support and advocate for more money.
Next: "Most Canadians pushed for Justin Trudeau in the 2015 election."
So they pushed for him, supported him, advocated for him, and he won.
He became the Prime Minister in 2015.
Two more examples: "push or press on with something or with a plan".
So you can say: "to push on" or "to press on".
This means to continue doing something, even when it's difficult.
So: "The drive was difficult, but we kept pushing on."
Okay? So it's snowing a lot and you're like:
"Okay, just 20 more minutes and I'm at home."
Okay, we kept pushing on, pushing on, pushing on, continued to drive.
Next: "We can't quit. We need to push on."
This could be any situation.
"We can't give up. We need to keep going."
Push on, and continue studying English, for example.
Finally: "push past", and you need to push past someone.
So, to push past someone is to press roughly into someone as you pass them.
So the two examples will make this very clear:
"I had to push past a bunch of people to catch the bus."
So, you're, you know, trying to catch the bus, the bus is there.
There are people in front of you, you have to: "Uh, uh, uh", push past them to catch
the bus on time.
Finally: "She pushed past three runners to win the race."
So she's running, she's running, she's running, and she's pushing past three runners to win
the race.
That's a lot of information.
So, if you'd like to test your understanding of the material:
Number one, I recommend you go back, watch the video again because there is a lot of information here,
then do the quiz on www.engvid.com.
If you enjoyed the video,
don't forget to like it, comment on it, subscribe to the channel,
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Til next time, push on.