41 British House Cleaning Vocabulary Words Phrases Phrasal Verbs Slang
Hello everyone and welcome back to english
with lucy today i’m very excited about
this video it’s a video about cleaning i
have noticed so many people making loads
of errors when they’re talking about
cleaning it’s a very popular topic
online nowadays i’m going to give you
lots of cleaning verbs these are
essential but also the corresponding
phrasal verbs that a lot of people
struggle with i’m also going to give you
some phrases and vocab words related to
cleaning at the end firstly before we
get started i would just like to thank
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right let’s get on with the lesson
firstly we’re going to look at some
cleaning verbs and they’re examples of
course because I know you love examples
but afterwards we’re going to look at
their corresponding phrasal verbs how
you can transform them into cleaning
related phrasal verbs I’m going to show
you a really cool trick that will help
you remember which preposition goes with
which verb but let’s begin with the
verbs
number one is to wipe to wipe this is to
clean or dry something by rubbing across
your hand or some paper for example make
sure you wipe the surfaces with a clean
cloth number two we have to clean it’s
important because it relates to the
phrasal verb this means to make clean
not dirty free from marks and dirt for
example I’m going to clean the bathroom
because it’s in a terrible state
number three sounds similar to to clean
it’s to clear and the meaning is
different it means to remove unwanted
items or objects from so with to clean
you’re simply removing marks and dirt to
clear you’re removing actual objects or
items for example I cook the food my
fiance clears the table he’s clearing
objects he is removing used and unwanted
items from the table if I clean my
workspace I’ll probably be wiping down
the surfaces or washing the table if I
clear my workspace I’m probably
organizing it removing pens and old
bills and things like that number four
is to sweep to sweep this is to clean an
area by brushing away dirt or litter I
wouldn’t say to brush the dirt or brush
the patio I would say can you sweep the
patio an example please sweep the floor
carefully last time you missed a spot a
spot is a small area number five is to
wash this means to clean with water and
usually soap or a detergent for example
when you wash the dishes don’t use a
metal brush on my non-stick pans two
things to note here
I say wash the dishes but I also talked
about pans when we say wash the dishes
we’re speaking about dishes you know
plates and cutlery but also any other
kitchen
utensils that have been used in the
process of preparing a meal non-stick
pans are different to normal pans
because they have a special coating that
makes sure that food doesn’t cling and
burn the next one number six is to hang
this means to suspend something from the
top leaving the bottom part to dangle
free for example why does it always rain
just as I go to hang my washing on the
line number seven is to Hoover or to
vacuum this means to clean with a vacuum
cleaner now to vacuum is the universal
phrase but Hoover is very common in
British English and this is because for
many years
Hoover which is a brand of vacuum
cleaner basically dominated the market
so we just said we were going to Hoover
something instead of to vacuum something
now even if our vacuum cleaner is made
by a different brand we are still
inclined to call it a Hoover an example
when my mother who visit the carpets
she likes to leave visible vacuum
cleaner marks so that everybody can
notice the effort that she’s made true
story I love my mum I always used to
wonder why she would Hoover so hard to
leave these marks now I get it when I
Hoover I want people to notice that I’ve
hoovered number eight is to tidy this
means to organize or to arrange neatly
or to put something in its place for
example I’m terrible at tidying my own
bedroom but I’m very good at telling
others to tidy theirs number nine is to
mop this means to clean something by
soaking up water or liquid for example
if you see any spilt drinks be sure to
mop the floor number ten is to polish
this is to make the surface of something
smooth and shiny by rubbing it usually
with a cloth for example please could
you polish the cutlery before setting
the table note to set the table is to
place all of the things that you
need on a table before dinner cutlery
napkins plates salt and pepper sauces
everything to set the table we can also
say to lay at the table
number 11 is to scrub scrub this is to
rub something hard usually with a brush
and water in order to clean it for
example you’ll have to really scrub
those baking trays unfortunately they’re
covered in burnt cake number 12 is to
scour to scour this means to clean the
surface of something by rubbing it hard
usually with an abrasive or a detergent
for example you should scour that pan
with a metal brush and lots of washing
up liquid and the last one number 13 is
to dust this means to remove the dust or
dirt from the surface of something by
wiping it or brushing it for example
please could you dust the ornaments on
the mantelpiece a mantelpiece is a
wooden stone or sometimes marble
structure above a fireplace it’s like a
shelf and we like to put photo frames
and ornaments there right so we’ve got
these 13 cleaning verbs how do we
transform them into phrasal verbs and
how do we know which verb goes with
which preposition oh I can make this so
much easier for you every single one of
these verbs can be used with the
preposition up and up simply adds
emphasis to wipe up to clean up to clear
up up implies that you’re making
something better so to clean up means to
clean something in order to improve it
because up is adding emphasis it doesn’t
necessarily change the meaning of the
verb before it you can use these
cleaning verbs with confidence with the
preposition up knowing that the meaning
is not changed to clean is the same
as to clean up just the latter has a
little bit more emphasis now another
preposition that you will hear a lot
with cleaning verbs is out the first
seven verbs in the verb list can also be
used without the following six cannot be
used without I mean you could try but
they would sound a bit weird using out
with a cleaning verb implies that
something like an unwanted object or
dust or dirt is being removed from the
inside of something whether that be a
room or a hollow object to wipe out this
could be the inside of a bag can you
wipe out your lunch box I’m removing all
the dirt and old food from the inside of
a lunch box to clean out or to clear out
these are commonly used with rooms to
clear out your garage for example to
throw away unwanted items and to make it
cleaner to hang out is an exception in
this case because if you hang out the
washing it doesn’t mean that your
washing is unwanted it just means that
the washing is going to be hung outside
but because to hang out is used quite
frequently I thought it was important
that it was included in this list to
Hoover out to vacuum out to wash out to
sweep out this is all talking about
removing dust from somewhere or
something to tidy to mop to polish to
scrub to scour and to dust are not
usually used without but they are
commonly used with up English is a very
diverse and complicated language so yes
you might hear someone say can you scrub
out those pans I wouldn’t recommend it
because it’s not commonly used right
let’s move on to the next part of the
lesson I’m going to give you some
vocabulary words and phrases some are
quite idiomatic that describe
cleanliness words and phrases that you
can use to talk about things that are
very clean a couple of words first
the first one is spotless
spotless she cleaned the kitchen until
it was spotless
next number two we have immaculate
immaculate this means absolutely perfect
by the time he’d finished the flat was
immaculate number three is orderly
orderly this means that something is
very organized or tidy everything has a
specific place the library was very
orderly every book had a place a number
for the last vocabulary word is
shipshape shipshape this means in good
order very clean Sarah vacuums everyday
to keep her house shipshape now let’s
move on to the phrases the first one is
as clean as a whistle
as clean as a whistle the sink was as
clean as a whistle after using the new
detergent we also have as neat as a pin
as neat as a pin this means the same
thing an example there hallway was as
neat as a pin the next one number three
is spic and span spic and span the
guests left the hotel room spic and span
very clean and the last one is you could
eat off the floor and this normally
talks about someone’s kitchen if their
kitchen is so clean it would actually be
hygienic to eat off the floor their home
was so clean you could eat off the
kitchen floor it’s a huge compliment to
be told that someone would eat off your
kitchen floor right that’s it for
today’s lesson I hope you enjoyed it and
I hope you learned something don’t
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see you soon for another lesson
was me ad libbing I shall make a note to
avoid doing so in the future
let’s get stop no let’s not get started
the lesson I need to thank my sponsor I
did that too Lucy Bella this means to
make clean not dirty free from dirt and
rub them dammit spot is on your face for
example please could you
you