Phrasal Verbs - Expressions with 'BREAK'

hello everyone and welcome to maple leaf ESL my name is Andrew and thank you for joining me here today for today's lesson I want to take a look at some phrasal verbs specifically expressions with the word break so I've chosen six different phrasal verbs that use the word break and we're going to take a look at some definitions and some examples okay so let's get started so the first one here says break down and I've chosen three different definitions for it okay so the first one here says to stop working and for example a machine okay if my car breaks down that means my car has stopped working right I cannot use it same thing if my TV breaks down or my computer breaks down or my microwave breaks down that means they have stopped working so I cannot use them okay just be careful though when we use break down it's usually only electronic things or machines right so you would not say my couch broke down right if there's a hole in your couch you're not going to say that so it needs to be things that we use that are machines okay second definition says to have a physical or mental collapse okay so this is talking about a person if a person is physically breaking down that means their body is stopping working right so it's not working very well so usually as people get older their bodies break down also their minds begin to break down right okay another way could be imagine I have a lot of stress at work right and I can't sleep I'm not eating properly so I could say I'm starting to break down because of stress or because of being overworked so that would be another way to use it okay and third definition to separate into parts okay if I go to a restaurant with friends and I order you know you order a bunch of food we order some drinks after the waiter brings us the bill now we want to break the bill down into different parts right how much money I will pay how much money she will pay he will pay so we're going to break the bill down into parts oh it just means to separate something into different parts okay let's look at another one it says break up and the definition is to end a romantic relationship okay so if my girlfriend and I break up this means we stop dating right we are not a couple anymore same thing a married couple breaks up this means maybe they will get a divorce right okay you'll notice I've put romantic in brackets because it's not only romantic relationships imagine a musical band breaks up that means they stop making music together right many years ago the Beatles I think everybody knows the Beatles The Beatles broke up right so this means they stopped being a band they stopped making music together and they made music by themselves not as a group so they broke up okay next one there says break in and I've got two definitions for this one so the first one says to enter somewhere by force okay so if I'm talking about my house or my apartment and I say someone broke in this means somebody entered my apartment and they tried to steal something probably they tried to steal money or jewelry or something like that right so again if somebody breaks in it means it's usually a bad guy like a criminal broke in right so they're trying to steal something probably from my house okay second definition to begin using or wary until it becomes comfortable okay this is a common expression the best example is shoes so when you buy new shoes usually the first couple days or first couple weeks the shoes are very uncomfortable right but after you wear them a few times then they're comfortable so you usually have to break in new shoes okay another good example would be jeans the first time you wear a new pair of jeans they feel stiff they're really uncomfortable but after you break them in right after you wear them a few times maybe wash them once or twice then they're more comfortable they're less stiff okay it could also be used for an object that is not clothing for example usually with a new car you have to break in a new car right usually in the first couple weeks you shouldn't drive a new car really really fast because you have to break in the engine okay so that's another example with break in okay next one says break off and again I've got two definitions so the first definition says to suddenly stop or discontinue okay imagine I'm at a party and I'm talking with friends and then my phone rings so I will break off conversation with my friends to answer my phone right as it says there it's usually suddenly right so if you break off conversation it means you suddenly stop the conversation and again maybe it's to answer your phone or maybe you have to use the washroom or there could be many reasons but anyways it means to suddenly stop something okay second definition says to sever or become separated member sever is like this right okay so for example if I have a piece of chocolate and I want to give a piece of chocolate to my friend I will break off a piece of chocolate give it to my friend same thing if I have some bread I might break off a piece of bread and eat it so break off is anytime that we break something in half right okay we got two more to go next one there says break out and again there's two definitions so the first one says to escape okay think about a jail or a prison if a prisoner right a prisoner is a person in jail if a prisoner breaks out of jail this needs the escape from jail so that that is usually how this word is used to break out of jail right to break out of prison so to escape prison okay you can also escape from a country so you could say to break out of a country right okay second definition says to spread quickly okay and this is usually something negative like a virus or a disease right so if a disease spreads quickly right we can say the disease broke out same thing if I'm talking about say Ebola Ebola broke out in West Africa this means Ebola spread quickly through West Africa so again if something spreads quickly right if something breaks out it's usually something negative we wouldn't say a good thing broke out right usually not it's usually negative things okay and last one we can see here break into again there's two definitions so the first one says to enter somewhere by force okay you may recognize this definition if we go up to break in we have the same definition okay but there is a small difference okay with this one I don't need an object okay remember before I said someone broke in but if I have break into I cannot say someone broke into I must use an object so I have to say someone broke into my apartment or someone broke into the building but up here I don't need an object when I use break in but again break into must take an object okay we got one more definition it says to be admitted into or allowed to enter a profession or a business okay a good example would be breaking into Hollywood so of course many actors and actors want to enter Hollywood but they can't it's very difficult very few people get to break into Hollywood so again it says they're to be allowed to enter so not everybody is allowed to enter Hollywood it's very competitive right okay it also says a profession so think about if I want to be a lawyer or a doctor not everybody can become a lawyer or a doctor so you need to break into the law profession or break into the medical profession right so again you have to be admitted or allowed to enter those professions okay I'm going to erase the whiteboard I don't want to take a look at some written examples using each of these phrasal verbs alright then so let's see if we can take a look at some of these examples so the first one here says my car broke down on the way to work okay so again that just means my car stopped working on the way to the office okay next one his body was breaking down after working too hard so we can see there his body is getting worse it's getting weak after working too hard right or after working too much okay next one let's break down this table before we move it okay so imagine you're moving a big table it's too big to move so you're going to break it down right you're going to take the pieces off and break it down okay good next one Chris broke up with his girlfriend last week okay so again Chris separated right he still off dating his girlfriend last week okay next one a man wearing black clothing broke in last night right so that means somebody entered my house by force and maybe they broke a window and they stole some money or something like that okay next one it took three weeks to break in my new shoes so again remember new shoes are usually uncomfortable the first few times you wear them so it might take a few weeks or a few days to break in your new shoes right okay next one after I found out he lied to me I broke off all relations for him so again I stopped all relations right I suddenly stopped all relations with him right I ended all relations okay good next one she broke off a piece of her sandwich and gave it to her friend so she broke off a piece of sandwich and gave it to her friend okay next one the killer broke out of jail yesterday so the killer escaped from jail yesterday right fled from jail okay couple more Ebola broke out in West Africa in 2014 so Ebola quickly spread in West Africa in 2014 okay and last one Tom Cruise broke into Hollywood in the early 1980s right and if anybody remembers Top Gun then we can definitely say that he broke in in the 80s okay that is the end of today's lesson thank you so much for joining me and I hope you come back again next time have a nice day

Channel: Maple Leaf ESL

Views: 42,364

Keywords: ESL, English, Study English, Learn English, Phrasal Verb, phrasal verb break, grammar, English grammar, Lesson, School, Teacher, Lessons, Student, Education, Students, Teachers, Free, English Language (Language In Fiction), break down, break up, break in, break off, break out, break into, Verb (Literature Subject)

Id: 72I5tvidp10

Length: 12min 52sec (772 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 14 2015