Phrasal Verb To Carry On To Put Off

Phrasal verbs – carry on/put off


Introduction


1) A phrasal verb is a verb that is made up of a main verb together with an adverb or a preposition, or both. Typically, their meaning is not obvious from the meanings of the individual words themselves.


2) The phrasal verb to carry on has several meanings:


a) to carry on doing something/with something means to continue doing something.

Sorry, I interrupted you. Carry on, please.
You’ll put on weight if you carry on eating fast food.
I want to carry on with my business idea.

b) to carry on means to continue moving.

Carry straight on until you see the red building.

c) to carry on something means to do or take part in a particular kind of work or activity.

It was so noisy there that it was difficult for us to carry on a conversation.

d) (spoken) to carry on about means to speak with overwhelming enthusiasm.

I wish my friends would stop carrying on about their trip.

The phrasal verb to put off has several meanings:

a) to put something off/to put off doing something means to delay doing something or to arrange to do something at a later time or date, especially because there is a problem or you do not want to do it at that time.

The game has been put off until tomorrow because of bad weather.
I’ve been putting off working on my thesis because I’m never in the mood.




b) to put somebody off/put somebody off (doing) something means to make you dislike something or not want to do something.

Don’t let his humour put you off – he’s a nice guy actually.
I don’t want my fears put you off finding a job in another state.

c) to put somebody off means to make someone wait because you do not want to meet them, talk to them etc. until later.

If my brother calls, put him off as long as possible.

d) to put somebody off (something) means to make it difficult for someone to pay attention to what they are doing by talking, making a noise etc.

It puts me off when you’re listening to music while I’m talking to you.