Learn 8 Phrasal Verbs with "PUSH"

Ready to learn more English phrasal verbs? In this lesson, you'll learn 8 phrasal verbs with the the word "push". These English expressions are used in professional, social, academic, and athletic situations, so there's something for everyone! You probably already know that phrasal verbs are very common in spoken English. You'll hear definitions and examples for how these "push" phrasal verbs are used, so you can start using them yourself. After the lesson, you can push ahead and practice the English you learned by taking the quiz at https://www.engvid.com/8-phrasal-verbs-push/

TRANSCRIPT

Hey, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on: "'Push' Phrasal Verbs". So phrasal verbs, like you know, if you have been following my channel for a while, are some of the most difficult words and expressions to master in the English language. They take a verb with a preposition, which is actually called a particle in a phrasal verb, but it looks like a preposition, and they create a new meaning when you match the verb with the particle, with the preposition, whichever one you want to call them. So we are going to look at eight, eight "push" phrasal verbs in this lesson. We'll start with four, we'll do another four right after this. So, I don't want to waste any more time. Let's get started.

Number one: "to push ahead with something". So, to push ahead with something means to continue with something, to continue doing something when there are problems or when other people maybe working on a project wish to stop. So you keep doing it even though other people say: "No, no, stop. It's a bad idea." Typically, you push ahead with things in an office or the government will push ahead with something. Let's look at the two examples to show you what I mean. Number one: "We pushed ahead with the policy despite unpopular public opinion." The public didn't like the policy we introduced, maybe the policy says: "Everyone must have a fake mustache on the second day of every month." I don't know. And this is unpopular public opinion, but, you know, the government says: "Oh, it's a great idea. Let's do it." So they push ahead with the policy. Second: "The municipal government is pushing ahead with its plans." So, again: "to push ahead" is to keep going, to keep pushing with something even if there are problems or other people think it's a bad idea.

Next: "push someone around". So think of... If someone pushes you around, they treat you in a rude way. They act like a bully. For example: "Our boss thinks he can just push people around." Or: "My brother pushed me around a lot as a kid." So imagine you are the person who is being pushed around, you're... Someone is bullying you, pushing you in this direction and that direction, treating you like they are a bully.

Next: "to push someone away" means to force someone away from you. So: "The relationship wasn't working, so she pushed him away." This means, you know, she stopped calling him, she stopped commenting on his Facebook photos, she just did not text him anymore. She pushed him away because the relationship was not working. Next: "We're friends. Why are you pushing me away?" Okay? So: "You're my best friend. Don't push me away. Come back." Okay? Don't separate yourself. Don't try to force yourself away from me.

Next: "to push a date or an appointment back", this means to postpone something, so delay something (s/t - something) until a later time or a later date. Two examples: "The meeting had to be pushed back by a week." So the meeting was pushed back, delayed by one week. "We pushed our wedding date back." So we realized... There was a family emergency maybe, so we had to push the wedding date back. Okay, now we're going to look at four more.

Next we have: "to push back against someone or something". This means to fight back against someone or something. For example: "They pushed back against the enemy", against the enemy army. So the enemy army is coming at them, they're pushing them, pushing them, pushing them. And then they push back, push back, push back against the enemy army. Next example: "We can't accept these conditions. We need to push back." So, this could be a situation at your workplace where you do not like the conditions, so you want to push back against the management.

Next: "to push for something" or "to push for someone" means to support and advocate for something or someone. Examples: "The employees pushed for more money." So maybe, again, the employees are not happy with how much money they are making, so they go on strike and in their discussion with the management, they push for more money. They support and advocate for more money. Next: "Most Canadians pushed for Justin Trudeau in the 2015 election." So they pushed for him, supported him, advocated for him, and he won. He became the Prime Minister in 2015.