1000 Phrasal Verbs In Context

1000 Phrasal Verbs In Context © Matt Errey 2007

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1000 Phrasal Verbs in Context T t (4/8)

talk back
My son gets into trouble for speaking impolitely to his teachers. They
say he talks back to them when they ask him to do something.

talk back

talk back to sb

Most students in Asia
don’t talk back to their
teachers or speak rudely.

✍  see also:^ answer back^

talk down

to

I hate the way Helen talks down to our cleaner. It sounds like she

thinks she’s talking to a child or someone with brain damage.

talk down to sb

Do you ever talk down to

people just because

they’re poorer than you?

✍ ^ see also:^ look down on

(also assumes superiority)

talk into
Miyoko didn’t want to join the English class, but Sue talked her into it
by saying it’d help her get a good job in the future.

talk sb into sth

talk sb into (doing) sth

He told the judge his boss
talked him into making
the false tax claims.

✍  see also:^ talk round,

bring around

talk out of
His mother tried to talk Nathan out of joining up and becoming a
soldier, but he wouldn’t change his mind. He thought it was his duty.

talk sb out of sth
talk sb out of (doing)
sth
Once Lei has made up her
mind, it’s hard to talk her
out of doing something.

✍ ^

talk round
Bob says his wife votes Republican. He’s tried to talk her round to
voting for the Democrats, but she won’t change her mind.

talk sb round

It took a while, but we
finally talked him round
and he agreed to help out.

✍  see also:^ bring around,

talk into

talk
through

If you have trouble setting up your internet connection, call the service

line and a technician will talk you through it on the phone.

talk sb through sth
talk sth through with
sb
If he has problems at
work, he talks through the
issues with his friends.

✍ 

tear apart
When the bomb exploded, it tore the car apart and left behind a terrible
scene of smoking wreckage and burnt remains.

tear sth apart

Nothing tears more
marriages apart than one
partner’s abuse of trust.

✍ ^

tear down
They’re going to tear down our beautiful old church and put up another
shopping mall.

tear down sth

tear sth down

Many people protested
against the plan to tear
their old market down.

✍  see also:^ knock down,

pull down

tear up
After she read the letter from her boyfriend, she tore it up into little
pieces and then she burst into tears.

tear up sth

tear sth up

The angry workers tore
up their work contracts in
front of the TV cameras.

✍ ^

tell apart
All the puppies look the same to me. How do you tell them apart? tell sth/sb apart^
tell sth/sb apart from
sth/sb
How do you tell real
banknotes apart from
counterfeit ones?

✍ ^