Learning English

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Introduction

Here's an expression about increasing intensity.

Transcript

Feifei
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak, where we explain phrases used by fluent English speakers so that you can use them too. I'm Feifei, and I'm here with Phil.

Phil
Hello. How are you, Feifei? You look tired.

Feifei
Oh, that's a bit rude! Although, it is true – I have a new neighbour. Every time I try to go to sleep, my neighbour cranks up the volume of his music. It's driving me crazy.

Phil
Oh no! But that does give us a phrasal verb to learn in this programme – 'crank up'. It can mean 'turn up', but can you tell us a bit more about it?

Feifei
Yes. So, it might actually help if you think about an old machine – a ‘crank’ is a handle that you turn to make something happen. When we use ‘crank up’, we mean to increase the intensity of something – like the volume on my neighbour's speakers.

Phil
And it's not just volume. It can be the intensity of anything. We often use it metaphorically, so you can talk about cranking up your efforts to do something. So, if I really want to get fit, I need to crank up the level of my workouts.

Feifei
Yes, that's right. Here are some examples of people using 'crank up'.

Examples
I'm doing a course at the moment, and my teacher has brought forward the date of the exam, and that's really cranked up the pressure. I've got so much to study in no time at all.

I've got a half marathon coming up, so I've really got to crank up my training.

I'm going to Poland. I need to crank up my efforts to learn Polish.

Feifei
So, 'crank up' is a phrasal verb. Phil, what else do we need to learn about it?

Phil
OK, with phrasal verbs, it's always important to know where to put the direct object. With 'crank up' you can either put it in between 'crank' and 'up', or you can put it afterwards.

Feifei
So, when it's cold, you can crank the heating up, or you can crank up the heating.

Phil
Hopefully, this episode will help you crank up your vocabulary learning efforts.

Feifei
Yes, and we'll be back next time with another useful English phrase.

Phil
See you then. Bye!

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