PHRASAL VERB CUT part 1
This is the Rachel’s English 30-day challenge.
Learn 30 phrasal verbs in 30 days.
Jumpstart your vocabulary in 2017.
Today is day 3 and we’re studying ‘cut’
phrasal verbs.
Now, there are so many phrasal verbs with
‘cut’, and they’re so complicated, that
we’re breaking this into a two-part series.
So today, you get part 1.
Today we’re studying ‘cut’.
And there are so many phrasal verbs with ‘cut’,
that I’m going to cut this video in two.
There’s a story about my brother when he
was a baby, and some confusion over phrasal
verbs.
He heard the sound of a chainsaw outside,
and he said, “What are they doing?”
My mom said, “they’re cutting down a tree.”
This means, cutting it at the base so there
is no tree anymore.
Cutting it down.
Later, they were still going, he still heard
the sound of the chainsaw, and he said, well,
what are they doing now?
My mom said, “well, now they’re cutting
it up.”
He said, “why would they cut it down if
they were just going to cut it up?”
Well, of course, cutting a tree down is not
the opposite of cutting a tree up.
Cut down has a couple of different meanings.
It can mean, like in the case of the tree,
to make something fall down by cutting it
at the base.
It can also mean to reduce: I’m trying to
cut down on sugars, but it’s so hard around
the holidays.
If you cut someone down, you’re trying to
make that person look or feel stupid.
The bully cut her down in front of everyone
by making fun of her glasses.
There’s also a phrase to cut someone down
to size.
That means, they think they’re better than
they are, and you want them to know you don’t
think they’re so great.
He was so arrogant.
I’m going to cut him down to size at the
next meeting.
To cut up means to cut into pieces.
The vegetables need to be cut up.
If someone is a cutup, he or she is making
jokes, being funny.
I love John.
He’s such a cutup.
If you cut someone up, that’s not good.
That means you’ve attacked him with a knife.
But, it also has a figurative meaning, for
when someone is very upset, hurt feelings.
She’s cut up over losing her job.
To cut back has the same meaning as to cut
down: it’s to reduce.
We need to cut back our reliance on fossil
fuels.
I need to cut back calories if I’m going
to lose weight.
To cut across or to cut through something
is to take a shortcut, make your route a shorter
distance.
Let’s cut through the quad, it’s quicker
that way.
He cut through the woods.
‘Cut across’ can also mean to affect different
groups: News of the merger cut across all
the departments: Everyone, even those people
in separate departments who maybe didn’t
usually get along, felt worried about the
merger.
‘Cut through’ can also mean to slice something:
the knife cut through the rope easily.
That can also be used figuratively: his words
cut through my heart.
Cut away means, in video, to change to a different
scene.
For example, cut away to people laughing.
If you cut something away, that means you
remove it, with a knife or a scissors or something
like that.
Cut away the fat before cooking the chicken.
Okay, so that was cut down, cut up, cut back,
cut across, cut through, cut away.
Tomorrow you’ll learn cut in, cut into,
cut off, and cut out.
The word CUT is pronounced with the K consonant
sound, the UH as in BUTTER vowel, and the
T. Kk, touch the back of the tongue to the
soft palate and release, cu-.
For the UH vowel, relax everything, uh, , cu-,
let the resonance of the voice fall low, uh,
down here.
Uh, cu-.
The pronunciation of the T sound depends on
the word after it.
If the next word begins with a vowel, make
that a Flap T, like in ‘cut across’.
Cut a-, cut a-, cut a-.
Just bounce the tongue against the roof of
the mouth, don’t stop the air, cut a-, cut
across.
If the next word begins with a consonant,
then a Stop T will sound great here, like
in the phrase “cut back”.
Cut back, cut, stop the air, cut back, cut
back.
You don’t release the T, you don’t hear
a T sound.
What you hear is an abrupt stop, the the next
word.
Cut back, cut back.
To catch all of the videos in this 30-day
challenge, be sure to sign up for my mailing
list, it’s absolutely free.
And definitely subscribe to my YouTube channel
and like Rachel’s English on Facebook.
Click the links in the description.
This 30-day challenge is leading up to a phrasal
verbs course that will be available in my
online school on February 1.
Rachel’s English Academy is a collection
of courses focusing on English conversation,
pronunciation, and listening comprehension.
You will understand Americans better, and
speak better English, with these courses.
Visit RachelsEnglishAcademy.com to sign up
and get started today.
See the 30-day challenge playlist here and
be sure to subscribe to my channel.
Keep in touch with details like my online
school and courses by signing up for my mailing
list.