Watch for, watch out for means to stay alert and observant. There are
dangers everywhere.
But notice that
watch out for is the same as
look out for
.
WATCH OUT FOR
Three-word verb
No problem.
watch out
Watch out means almost the same as
look out
, but whereas
look out can
be
a scream meaning danger NOW! watch out is normally a warning of a
possible danger in the future.
'You're going to Slum City tonight? I'd watch out if I were you.'
Two-word verb without an object
No problem.
watch over
This is watching from high up
over
what you see. When you
watch over
something you look carefully over it, you observe it continuously. So you
are guarding it.
Mama watches over the baby, and the foreman watches
over the factory floor.
Inseparable two-word verb
No problem.
wear
(wear, wore, worn)
We
wear jackets, skirts, trousers, and shoes. We also wear glasses,
rings, and watches, but we
carry
suitcases and shopping bags. In other
words, if it is attached to our bodies, we wear it.
wear in
Certain pop stars used to pay assistants to wear in their new shoes for
them
New clothes - new shoes in particular - can be very stiff and
uncomfortable. They have to be
worn for some time before we are happy
with them. They have to be
in use for a while. They have to be
worn in.
Separable two-word verb
. Careful.
wear out
When we have worn clothes for a long time, they go out of shape, holes
appear,
the colours fade, and so on. They become
worn out and we
throw away
our old shirts or give them to charity. They go
out
of use.
They are finished.
'I never buy cheap clothes,' said Steve. 'They wear out too fast.'
By extension, we also say this of machines, and then we throw them
away as well.
Sammy would have to buy a new bike every couple of years. He was
always wearing them out.
We also say when someone is really tired, that they are
worn out.
Shoes WEAR OUT.
Two-word verb without an object
No problem.
We WEAR them OUT.
Separable two-word verb
. Careful.
And when someone is WORN OUT it is a fixed expression.
work
(work, worked, worked)
Work means what you do every day to get food on the table and a new
Mercedes in the garage. It also means
'to function' as in
'my new
Mercedes works very well.'
work off
To
work off a debt means that you must work to pay the debt, and to
work
off
a few kilos means that you feel too fat and you are going to the
gym to suffer.
You can't afford to pay for that lovely meal you have just eaten in the
restaurant? No problem. You can
work it off.
We need somebody to wash
the dishes in the kitchen. You'll only have to work for seventeen hours.
Every New Year, Anna goes to the gym to work off the extra weight of
Christmas.
Separable two-word verb
. Be careful.
work on
Dora doesn't want to go out for the next few weeks. She is working on
her thesis.
You
work
on
a project.
Inseparable two-word verb
No problem.
work out
You have a problem in your mind, and it is worrying you. You cannot get to
sleep, and your daily life has become more difficult. The problem is
in
your mind. Then,
suddenly, AHA! You have the solution. You can now do
something
out
in the real world. The problem has been worked out. It has
been solved.
Grandpa says that he didn't have calculators when he was a child. He
had to work everything out in his head.
Separable two-word verb
. Be careful.
Out
can be the final result, such as
try out
or
die out
.
'Hi, Jim. What happened to that legal case with your uncle's will?'
'Fine, Harry. It worked out fine. Want some champagne?'
The final result was fine for Jim.
In this sense, it is a two-word verb without an object
No problem
.
Work out is a newer expression.
Work (your stress,
your problems, or
even your fat)
out (of your body). It means 'to exercise a lot in a gym until
you can hardly walk home.'
After a week in the tax office, Peter loves working out in the gym. He
sleeps very well on Friday nights.
In this sense as well, this is a two-word verb without an object
No problem.
work round to
If you have a lot of work, maybe it takes time to
work round to everything.
We more often use
get round to
with the same meaning.
Three-word verb
No problem.
