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Are You Hungry for Food Phrasals?
Part One |
Today’s program is about phrasal verbs related to food
and eating. You’ll recall that a phrasal verb is a verb
made of two or more words: a verb and a preposition or
adverb, or both.
A great way to learn the meanings of phrasal verbs is to
hear how they may be used in real life. Listen to these
two people talk to each other. You will hear seven
phrasal verbs dealing with food and eating. Try to find
them and guess their meanings:
Jamie: Hi, Lauren!
Lauren: Hey, Jamie, good to see you. How’s it going?
Jamie: It’s going…okay. I’m on my second week of the
30-Day Good Food Diet. And…it’s been hard! I’ve cut out
sugar, grains and processed foods. Now, I snack on
things like fruit or…nuts in between meals.
Lauren: I’ve been hearing a lot about that diet! But, it
would be impossible for me to give up chocolate for 30
days. Impossible.
Jamie: Well, my weakness is noodles. I’ve been dreaming
of the ramen from Noodle House. But, this month, I can’t
eat out much.
Lauren: Noodle House! We used to live on ramen noodles
back in our college days! Remember?
Jamie: Yes! Well, anyway, the good news is that my
favorite dress fits again. But, honestly, I’m looking
forward to day 31!
Lauren: Me too! Let’s pig out to celebrate!
Jamie: Uh… that would defeat the purpose. I think those
pig out days are over for me. But I remember when we
used to wolf down huge pizzas in our dorm.
Lauren: Oh, come on, Jamie. Live a little!
Did you find all seven food-related phrasal verbs?
Cut out (something)
Cut (something) out
The first one was cut out. To cut out a food means to
stop eating it completely. Jamie has cut out unhealthy
foods for her 30-day diet.
Cut out is separable. That means the object may go after
the verb, or it may appear in the middle of it. Here’s
Jamie using the verb cut out with the object appearing
after the verb:
“I’ve cut out sugar, grains and processed foods.”
The object is: sugar, grains and processed foods. And
here’s the same sentence with the object in the middle:
“I’ve cut sugar, grains and processed foods out.”
Note that we usually only separate the words of a
phrasal verb when the object is not too long.
Cut down on (something)
A similar phrasal verb that Jamie and Lauren did not use
is cut down on. This verb has three words, instead of
just two.
To cut down on a food means to decrease the amount of it
that you eat. Here’s an example:
“I’ve cut down on dairy to help lower my cholesterol.”
Notice that the object dairy comes after cut down on.
That’s because cut down on is inseparable. The object
must go after the verb.
Snack on (something)
Okay, our next verb is snack on. To snack on something
means to eat a small amount of it between meals.
Since last week, Jamie has been snacking on healthy
foods:
“Now, I snack on things like fruit or…nuts in between
meals.”
The verb snack on is inseparable. And, unfortunately,
Jamie won’t be separated from her fruit and nuts any
time soon!
Give up (something)
Give (something) up
Next, we have give up. To give up something means to
stop having, doing or using it. Lauren refuses to give
up chocolate, so she is not interested in trying the
diet.
Give up is separable. Listen to Lauren use the verb with
the object chocolate appearing after it:
“But, it would be impossible for me to give up chocolate
for 30 days. Impossible.”
And with the object in the middle:
“But, it would be impossible for me to give chocolate up
for 30 days. Impossible.”
Well, maybe not impossible.
Eat out
Now, let’s talk about an easy one: eat out. To eat out
means to eat at a restaurant, not at a home. Eat out is
an inseparable verb.
And Jamie isn’t eating out a lot during her diet. She
tells Lauren:
“But, this month, I can’t eat out much.”
Hmm…I wonder what she’ll make for dinner?
Live on (something)
The next phrasal verb is live on. To live on a food
means to have a specific food as the only or main food
that you eat. Jamie and Lauren lived on ramen noodles in
college:
“We used to live on ramen noodles back in our college
days! Remember?”
The verb live on is inseparable. And Jamie is still
dreaming of ramen.
Pig out
Pig out on (something)
Ok, now we have pig out. Think about the way pigs eat.
Do they eat a lot? Of course! So, to pig out means to
eat a lot of food at one time. It is very informal,
which is why you heard it used between two friends.
Lauren said:
“Let’s pig out to celebrate!”
Here, Lauren doesn’t mention a specific food.
But, when we use this verb with an object, we must use
the preposition on. Listen to an example of Lauren
talking about specific foods:
“Let’s pig out on pizza and noodles to celebrate.”
Note that the object – pizza and noodles – comes after
the verb, as the verb is inseparable.
Wolf down (something)
Wolf (something) down
Our last phrasal verb today is wolf down. To wolf down
something means to eat something very quickly. It’s
another very informal phrasal verb.
Back in college, Jamie and Lauren would wolf down large
pizzas:
“But, I remember when we used to wolf down huge pizzas
in our dorm.”
Huge pizzas is the object. In the example, it appears
after wolf down. But, since this verb is separable,
Jamie could have also said this:
“But, I remember when we use to wolf huge pizzas down in
our dorm.”
Well, that’s all the time we have today. Join us again
soon for more food-related phrasal verbs.
I’m Alice Bryant.
Alice Bryant wrote this story for Everyday Grammar. Caty
Weaver was the editor. |
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Words in This Story |
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preposition - n.
a word or group of words that is used with a noun,
pronoun, or noun phrase to show direction, location,
or time, or to introduce an object
- adverb
- n. a word that
describes a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a
sentence and that is often used to show time,
manner, place, or degree
- guess
- v. to form an opinion
or give an answer about something when you do not
know much or anything about it
- dorm /
dormitory - n. a
building on a school campus that has rooms where
students can live
- specific
- adj. precise or exact
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