PS: Uncover free English lessons: Free exercises: Perfect Tenses — Adverbs of Degree — Possible Positions of Adverbs of Time in a Sentence — Linking with And But So
- vincentAugust 2020
GIVE ANSWERS
AussieInBgAugust 2020 ”I can’t keep up with it” - comes via the phrasal verb "to keep up with sth / sb / doing sth" - to maintain the same rate as something that is moving. It could be something moving physically such as someone running, it could be more metaphorical such as changing knowledge in a field or the amount of work you must do in a certain time. So, take for example, there is a lot of work each day, but you can't do it all. You might say "There is too much work, I can't keep up with it." Here, "it" refers back to "too much work". If, for example, you are in a race. Someone is going faster than you and there is more and more distance between you and this person - no matter how hard you try to run faster. You might have a sentence like this: "That woman is running too fast for me, I can't keep up with her." So, instead of "it" like in the previous example, you are using the pronoun "her" to refer back to "That woman". |
vincentAugust 2020 This is a very clear answer. thanks. there are so many phrasial verbs. can you use "catch up with it' for the same meaning?
AussieInBgAugust 2020 No worries! "to catch up with sth / sb/ doing sth" has a similar meaning to "to keep up with sth / sb / doing sth". However, there is a very big difference. "to keep up with" means that you have to put in extra effort to be up-to-date or at the same position and you have to continue putting in effort to maintain being up-to-date or in the same position. " "to catch up with sth / sb / doing sth" - you initially put in extra effort to be up-to-date or at the same position. But, once you are up-to-date or in the same position, then you require no effort or much less effort to maintain this. e.g. "I saw my friend walking in front of me. I ran quickly to catch up with her". = There was effort to run to the same position as her, then I walked with her - less energy to maintain the same position as her, running -> walking. Our lecturer had given us a lot of homework last Monday. Yesterday evening, I finally caught up with it = I put in effort to complete the homework, the homework is now complete and I no longer (for now at least!!!) have to put in more effort. Yes, there are a lot of phrasal verbs. Generally, in English courses - and even in "good" dictionaries - they only give the gist of the meaning of most phrasal verbs and not the true one. In general, phrasal verbs are very badly taught - even by native speakers - and the course materials which cover them are abysmal. |