VOA慢速英语--Phrasal Verbs: Come Back, Come Up

 

Braveheart was released¹ over 20 years ago, yet is still popular among American movie-lovers today.

The 1995 film tells the story of William Wallace, a Scottish knight² who led a rebellion³ against English rule.

Actor Mel Gibson directed the film and also played Wallace. In the movie, he said the following lines:

“Would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance … to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!”

Today we will explore Gibson’s statement. Specifically⁴, we will study how he used a very common phrasal verb.

But first, let us begin with a few definitions⁵.

Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs are made up of two or more words - verbs and particles⁷. The particle⁶ is often a short word like back or up.

When used together, the verbs and particles have an idiomatic⁸ meaning. In other words, the phrasal verb means something other than what the individual words suggest.

As we have noted⁹ in other programs, the English language has thousands of phrasal verbs.

The good news is that some phrasal verbs are more common than others are.

Norbert Schmitt and Mélodie Garnier are language experts. They developed a list which ranks the most common phrasal verbs. They called it the PhaVE list.

We talked about some of the most common phrasal verbs in another Everyday Grammar program.

Today, we will explore two common phrasal verbs. They both have the verb “come.” They are come back and come up.

#1 Come back

Schmitt and Garnier put come back at #3 on their list.

When English speakers use come back, they almost always mean to return to a place or a conversation topic.

Think back to the lines from Braveheart:

“…for one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!”

Mel Gibson said come back with the meaning of returning to a place. The word here suggests that he is talking about a place.

How might an English speaker use come back to mean to return to a conversation topic?

Here is an example. Imagine you are watching some kind of a debate on television, or TV. It could involve politicians, political commentators¹⁰, or even news broadcasters.

1: I understand you.

2: I’m not sure that you do, I keep coming back to this point…

In the exchange, you heard the speaker say, “coming back to this point.” The words “to this point” suggest that the speaker is talking about returning to something said earlier.

#2 Come up (Come up with and come up)

Now, let us turn to a different phrasal verb: come up. Schmitt and Garnier put it at #4 on their list.

English speakers use come up in different ways.

One common way is to add the word with. So, English speakers often use the expression come up with.

Come up with often means to bring forth¹¹ or produce.

Imagine you are at a high-tech¹² company in the United States. An employee describes a very good idea or answer to a problem. You might ask, “How did you come up with that idea?”

In this case, you are asking how the employee thought of the idea. You are asking for the steps that led the employee to form their idea.

Think of come up with as an intelligent phrasal verb. Intelligent people come up with solutions to problems.

English speakers use come up without the word 'with' to mean something different: “happen soon.” When speakers use come up, they often use it in the present progressive¹³ tense.

For example, TV or radio broadcasters often say, “a new program is coming up,” or “a shocking¹⁴ interview is coming up after the break.”

In both cases, the speaker is using coming up to suggest that something will be happening soon. The verb tense can also give you an idea about what they are suggesting.

Closing thoughts

Now, let’s come back to our main subject: phrasal verbs.

Learning¹⁵ phrasal verbs is not easy. But you can make the learning process easier by studying and using small numbers of them at a time.

Over time, you will slowly build up a set of many phrasal verbs that you can understand and use.

How should you practice with them? You could start by coming up with examples of your own.

And that’s Everyday Grammar.

I’m John Russell.

And I’m Jill Robbins.

Words in This Story

knight – n. a soldier in the past who had a high social rank and who fought while riding a horse and usually wearing armor

rank – v. to rate or place (someone or something) in a position among a group of people or things that are being judged

conversation – n. an informal talk involving two people or a small group of people; the act of talking in an unofficial way

topic – n. a subject or issue being discussed

progressive tense – v. a verb tense that is used to mean an action or a state that is continuing to happen

interview – n. a meeting involving two or more people during which information is collected

practice – v. to train by repeated exercises

1 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

2 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

3 rebellion   

n.造反，叛乱，反抗

参考例句：

• The next year they rose up in rebellion.第二年他们就揭竿起义了。
• The new government quickly suppressed the rebellion.新政府迅速把叛乱镇压下去。

4 specifically   

adv.明确地，具体地；特别地，特意

参考例句：

• The book was written specifically for children.这本书是特地为儿童编写的。
• I told you specifically not to do that.我明确地告诉你不要那样做。

5 definitions   

定义( definition的名词复数 )； 规定； 清晰（度）； 解释

参考例句：

• Write clear definitions in order to avoid ambiguity. 释义要写清楚以免产生歧义。
• Definitions in this dictionary are printed in roman type. 这本词典里的释义是用罗马体印刷的。

6 particle   

n.微粒，颗粒，粒子；小品词，语助词

参考例句：

• There is not a particle of truth in what you said.你所说的没有一句是实话。
• This particle has a very small mass.这种粒子的质量很小。

7 particles   

微粒( particle的名词复数 )； 颗粒； 极少量； 小品词

参考例句：

• These small particles agglomerate together to form larger clusters. 这些颗粒聚结形成较大的团。
• The nucleus of an atom consists of neutrons, protons and other particles. 原子核由中子、质子和其他粒子构成。

8 idiomatic   

adj.成语的，符合语言习惯的

参考例句：

• In our reading we should always be alert for idiomatic expressions.我们在阅读过程中应经常注意惯用法。
• In his lecture,he bore down on the importance of idiomatic usage in a language.他在演讲中着重强调了语言中习惯用法的重要性。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

12 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

13 progressive   

adj.先进的；前进的，渐进的；进行式的

参考例句：

• There is often a progressive loss of sight in old age.上了年纪的人视力逐步减退。
• It's a progressive idea.这是一种进步的思想。

14 shocking   

adj.令人气愤的；令人震惊的

参考例句：

• His attitude was shocking to her.他的态度令她感到震惊。
• Such behaviour is really shocking.这种行为真不像话。

15 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。