Speaker 1: Have you ever been in a meeting that felt like
it would never end? You keep looking at the clock, thinking, oh, man,
is this ever going to finish? But then there are
other times when the opposite happens. Maybe you're hanging out
with friends watching a great movie and suddenly you look
at the clock and think, wow, where did the time go?
In English, we actually have several very useful phrasal verbs
to talk about situations like these. So in today's podcast
English Lesson, we're going to look at some common phrasal
verbs related to time that you can use all the
time in your everyday conversations.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City, and here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: Okay, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael here
from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode one thousand and nine.
Fraser verbs related to time. Let's start with the Fraser
verb drag on. When something drags on, it continues for
longer than expected or longer than necessary, and because of that,
it often feels boring or tiring or frustrating. For example,
imagine you're watching a movie that everyone said, oh, it's exciting,
but halfway through you start to lose interest because the
story just keeps going and going. You might say that
movie really dragged on. I almost fell asleep. Or imagine
you're in a meeting that was supposed to last thirty minutes,
but an hour later, people are still talking and nothing
is getting decided, so you might think, oh, man, this
meeting is really dragging on. Here's another one. Think about
winter in a cold place. Sometimes people say something like, ah,
this winter is really dragging on. I can't wait for spring.
I think I said that this morning. So when something
drags on, it simply continues longer than people expected or wanted. Next,
let's talk about carve out. When you carve out time,
it means you make or create time for something in
your schedule, especially when you're all already busy. For example,
I have a friend who works long hours but still
wants to spend time with their family. They might say
something like, no matter how busy I get, I always
try to carve out time for dinner with my family.
Or like, maybe someone has a demanding job during the
week but enjoys painting or playing music. They might say
on weekends, I always try to carve out a few
hours to work on my paintings. And sometimes people use
this expression at work too. For example, a manager might say,
let's try to carve out some time next week to
discuss the project. In all of these situations, carving out
time means intentionally creating time in your schedule for something important.
Another useful expression related to time time is date back.
When something dates back to a certain time, it means
that it started or originated at that time in the past.
For example, if you visit a very old building or
historical site, a tour guide might say something like, this
castle dates back to the twelfth century. That means the
castle was built during that time. Here's another example. Many
traditions have a long history, so like the tradition of
celebrating Halloween dates back to ancient Celtic festivals. And this
expression can also be used in everyday conversation. For example,
someone might say, you know, my love of music dates
back to when I was a kid. In other words,
that interest started along time. I'm a go. Now, let's
look at two phrasal verbs that are very similar fit
in and squeeze in. Both of these fraser verbs mean
to find time for something in a busy schedule. The
idea is that your schedule is already full, but you
manage to make something work anyway. Like imagine a friend
who has a very busy week but still wants to
meet you for coffee. They might say, Ah, I'm really
busy this week, but I think I can fit in
a quick coffee on Thursday afternoon. Here's another example. Maybe
someone has meetings all day at work, but during a
short break they managed to see a friend. They might say,
between meetings, I managed to squeeze in lunch with a friend.
Or imagine you're traveling for work, but you still want
to exercise. You might say, even when I'm traveling, I
try to fit in a quick workout at the hotel gym.
In these situations, both fit in and squeeze in mean
that you find time for something even though your schedule
is already tight. And finally, let's look at two more
frasal verbs that describe how time moves go by and
pass by. Both of these phrasal verbs are used when
we talk about the movement of time, especially when it
feels fast. For example, someone might say the years really
go by quickly. This is something people often say when
they're talking about getting older or looking back on their life.
And here's another everyday example. Imagine you're spending the weekend
with friends and having a great time. Suddenly it's Sunday night,
and you might say, wow, the weekend pass by so fast.
And here's one more situation that many people experience. When
you're enjoying a concert, a movie, or vacation, time seems
to move quickly. You might hear someone say time really
goes by fast when you're having fun. You know, we
also say time flies when you're having fun. These expressions
help describe the feeling that time moves quickly when we're
enjoying ourselves. So let's recap today. We looked at several
phrasal verbs related to time that come up often in
every day English conversation. If something drags on, it continues
longer than expected. If you carve out time, you create
time in your schedule for something important. When something dates
back to a certain time, it started in the past
at that time. If you fit in something or squeeze
something in, you manage to make time for it even
when you're busy. And when time goes by or passes by,
it simply means that time moves forward, often faster than
we realize. So here's your challenge this week. Pay attention
to how people talk about time in English. Maybe you'll
notice somebody says something is dragging on, or maybe you'll
hear someone say they're trying to carve out time for
a hobby, or maybe you'll suddenly realize that the weekend
just flew by. When you start noticing these expressions in
real conversations, it becomes much easier to remember them and
use them yourself. And keep in mind, the best way
to remember English like this at any other word or
phrase in English, is to take that word or phrase,
write it in a sentence that's true for you or
true in your world, and then memorize your sentences. So
go ahead, do that writing in your notebook. Now. Hey,
thanks for listening, and remember, learning another language is not easy,
but it's not impossible, and I'm here to help you
on your journey.
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