Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • Hi.

  • Welcome back to www.engvid.com.

  • I'm Adam.

  • In today's video we're going to look at phrasal verbs using the verb: "bring".

  • Once again, phrasal verbs: A verb and a preposition that together have a very different meaning

  • than the words by themselves, sometimes more than one meaning, as we're going to see here.

  • So we're going to look at: "bring up", "bring about", "bring around", "bring back",

  • "bring down", "bring in", "bring on", "bring off", and "bring to".

  • These are the ones we're going to look at today.

  • And again, each of them has at least one meaning, sometimes...

  • More often than not, more than one meaning.

  • So: "bring up", a few meanings to this one.

  • The most commonly used one is to bring up something means to raise, but not raise like

  • physically, raise in terms of conversation.

  • So if we're going to talk...

  • We're going to have a conversation and I want to talk about something specific, I'm going

  • to find an opportunity to bring it up in conversation.

  • So I'm going to raise that topic, and we're going to talk about it, and it's going to

  • be the focus of the conversation.

  • So if you're going to a meeting with your boss and you're thinking:

  • "Oh, it's time for my promotion",

  • somehow you'll find a way to bring it up into the conversation and eventually

  • talk about it.

  • You can also bring up a child.

  • So you can raise a child, that's the one...

  • The verb most people use about children, you raise children, but you also bring them up.

  • Now, it doesn't mean that you physically lift them.

  • It means you educate them, you feed them, you teach them about life, you prepare them

  • for the world they're going to live in.

  • Okay? So you bring them up.

  • Another thing sometimes people use "bring up" is to throw up, puke, vomit.

  • So, today I had a really bad lunch.

  • I hope I don't bring it up all over this video.

  • But I won't. Don't worry, I'm okay.

  • I had a nice lunch.

  • So: "bring up" sometimes used as vomit.

  • There's too many slang words for vomit.

  • "Bring about", two meanings for this one.

  • One is to cause to happen.

  • Okay?

  • So something...

  • One situation exists, this situation will likely bring about this result.

  • Okay?

  • If we talk about military spending, so the government has decided to go to war in this

  • part of the world, but all the major economists are warning that this war will bring about

  • the destruction of our country economically.

  • Okay?

  • The war will bring about economic hardships to this country.

  • We can't afford it.

  • So: "bring about".

  • Now, a little side note, not really anything to do with phrasals, but I know all of you

  • think of the words: "effect" and "affect".

  • A...

  • "A" is the verb, "e" is the noun, but

  • "effect" with an "e" is the same as "bring about",

  • it means cause to happen.

  • This is a verb.

  • So "e" can be a verb and a noun, "a" can be a verb and a noun, but that's a whole other lesson.

  • "Bring about", "effect", same meaning.

  • Okay.

  • "Bring around".

  • Oh, sorry. Another "bring about".

  • If you're ever on a ship and you need to turn that ship and bring it back to the port, then

  • you have to bring it about.

  • Basically means turn around.

  • But we use this mostly with ships, bring about.

  • Okay. "Bring around", a few meanings to this as well.

  • "Bring around" basically means to revive someone.

  • So somebody is passed out, they fainted or whatever happened, they're lying on the ground,

  • they look like asleep.

  • You're trying to bring them around, means recover consciousness.

  • Okay?

  • "Bring around" means also bring a friend over to meet other friends, like a casual visit.

  • And the most common use: If you have a very set opinion about something and I have a very

  • different opinion, I will do my best to bring you around to my opinion.

  • So I want to persuade you, I want to make you change your mind and bring you around

  • to view the situation from the way I view it, from my perspective.

  • So I'm going to bring you around to my point of view.

  • That's the most common use of "bring around".

  • "Bring back", so, again, there's the literal bring back.

  • So you bought something from a store, you took it home, like a shirt, you tried it on,

  • you realize: "You know what? I don't like it."

  • So you bring it back to the store.

  • Now you can also say: "take it back", but technically you're taking it with you, so

  • you're bringing it back to the store.

  • Now, sometimes, people, especially celebrities, they try to bring back something that used

  • to be very popular.

  • So if I started wearing, like, fur coats, and everybody thinks:

  • "Oh, this guy is so cool and so popular", then everybody starts to bring...

  • To wear fur coats.

  • So I brought back the fur coat.

  • Okay?

  • So, try to make something old popular again.

  • For example, for many, many years people have tried to bring back disco, but you can never

  • bring back disco.

  • Disco died when it died, and that's where it's going to stay.

  • "Bring down", a few meanings here.

  • First of all we're going to talk about collapse.

  • Now, it can be a physical thing, it can be a person.

  • So if you bring down a building, means you maybe blow it up and the whole building comes

  • down so you bring it down, you blow it up.

  • You can also bring down a person.

  • So if you create a scandal, let's say especially politicians, celebrities, they're in a very

  • high position, very high level, if you tell them:

  • "Oh, this man cheated on his wife with 20 women",

  • you're bringing him down, you're destroying his reputation and his position,

  • and his stature, status, etc.

  • "Bring down" means also to depress.

  • So we're all having a good time, I'm with my friends, we're at a bar, we're having a

  • few drinks, and somebody starts talking about politics.

  • We say: "Oh, you're bringing us down. Leave it alone.

  • We're here to have a good time. Not to be too serious."

  • So to bring people down or to bring someone down means to be depressing.

  • Okay.

  • You can also bring someone down to earth, but this is more of an idiom.

  • If somebody thinks very highly of themselves, you...

  • You tell them the reality, that they're not that special.

  • They're just like everybody else, so you bring them down from their high position.

  • "Bring in", a few meanings here as well.

  • "Bring in", so my friend is outside or my dog is outside and he's really cold, so I

  • bring him in.

  • Inside.

  • So that's the literal, bring indoors.

  • "Bring in" can also mean arrest.

  • So the police are chasing the suspect, somebody committed murder, the police chase him, and

  • they want to bring him in.

  • It means they want to arrest this person.

  • I hope you know this word: "arrest".

  • So: "to bring in" means to arrest.

  • Another meaning of "bring in", I work at a very good company and my friend just lost

  • his job, so I want to bring him in.

  • It means I want to bring him into my company and get him a job at the same company as me.

  • So sometimes they...

  • My bosses will let me bring somebody in who's good, sometimes not.

  • "Bring in", okay.

  • "Bring on", now, this can also mean you can bring someone...

  • I'm going to put it in a bracket, here.

  • Now, the same meaning as "in", "bring someone in" means introduce them into the company.

  • You can bring someone on board.

  • So I'm the boss, so this time I don't have to ask anybody, I can just take my friend

  • and bring him on board.

  • It means I give him a job, I introduce him to the company, and that's how he gets employed.

  • Now, a more common expression is: "bring it on".

  • Now, I'm not sure if any of you used to watch the news when President Bush, the younger

  • Bush was president and he said: "If anybody's going to...

  • If anybody wants to threaten America, bring it on."

  • So he's very tough, yeah, like: "I'm going to fight you".

  • "Bring it on" means basically I'm not afraid of you.

  • Bring whatever challenge you want to me, and I will face it.

  • Okay? So this is a very common expression: "bring it on".

  • Quite often people will just say: "Bring it".

  • "Bring it" means "bring it on", means: "Challenge me.

  • I will fight you. I will win.

  • I'm the best", because that's how they think.

  • "Bring off", to bring something off means to do it successfully.

  • Okay? So, I hired my friend again to organize my party and she really brought it off.

  • The party was amazing, everybody loved it, and a few of my friends asked me for her number

  • so they...

  • She can plan their party as well.

  • So she really brought it off.

  • She did something successfully.

  • Now, you can also talk about, like, when somebody's dressed, so...

  • Like let's say Lady Gaga.

  • I think everybody knows Lady Gaga.

  • Sometimes her clothes are a little bit, you know, crazy, but somehow she's able to bring

  • it off, means she's able to wear it so it actually looks good and people think she did

  • a very good job of it.

  • Okay, so now we're going to look at "bring to".

  • Now, "bring to" mostly is used with other words.

  • By itself, "bring to" means to try to revive someone.

  • So, again, somebody passed out, you're...

  • They're lying there fainted, so you're trying to wake them up, give them...

  • Regain consciousness.

  • More commonly we use "bring to" with other words.

  • So, for example: "bring to mind".

  • So: "bring to mind" means you're trying to get an idea into someone's head.

  • You want them to start thinking about it, so you bring it to mind, or you remind them

  • or you hint at it.

  • Or something brings something to your mind, means it makes you remember or makes you think

  • about something you haven't thought about in a long time.

  • We also have another expression: "bring to light".

  • If you bring something to light, means before it was in the darkness, it means nobody knew

  • about it. It was, like, hidden.

  • If you bring it to light you reveal it, you expose it.

  • You make everybody aware.

  • So a newspaper journalist, for example, a newspaper reporter, their job is really to

  • bring secrets to light.

  • They want people to see what's going on.

  • And one more expression, just like I'm doing right now, if you "bring someone to his knees"

  • or someone to...

  • Some people to their knees, means that you dominate them.

  • You beat them.

  • So if you have a contest and you bring someone to their knees, like they're down, they're

  • weak, they're subservient, so you weaken them at the end of the day.

  • Okay.

  • I hope these were clear.

  • And if you have any questions,

  • please go to www.engvid.com and you can join the forum

  • there and ask all the questions you have.

  • There's also a quiz, you can test your knowledge of these words.

  • And, of course, subscribe to my YouTube channel,

  • and see us again soon. Bye-bye.

Hi.

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it