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Phrasal verb: saddle up

Angela Boothroyd — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000

To saddle up something (or saddle something up) is to put a saddle on a horse.

Examples of use:

1. She saddled up her horse and set off across the fields.

2. Can you saddle up my horse, please?

3. He saddled up his horse and rode off into the sunset.

4. Shall we saddle up the horses and go for a ride on the beach?

5. She's learning how to saddle up her pony.

6. News headline from a news item about a team of Palestinian horse riders who are hoping to form the first female national team (BBC News): Palestinian women saddle up.

Saddle up means the same as saddle.

Example:

She saddled her horse and set off across the fields.

infinitive	saddle up
present simple	saddle up and saddles up
-ing form	saddling up
past simple	saddled up
past participle	saddled up

Do you go horse riding? Can you write a sentence using this phrasal verb?

Image © eric.surfdude

Phrasal verb: grapple with (something)

Angela Boothroyd — Tue, 22 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000

To grapple with something is to try very hard to deal with or understand a difficult subject or problem.

Examples of use:

1. I've been grappling with English phrasal verbs all day.

2. Our town council often grapples with the problem of graffiti on public buildings.

3. News headline (IndiaTimes.com): G8 leaders grapple with euro crisis.

4. News headline (Reuters.com): NATO ministers to grapple with Afghan troubles.

5. Article headline (Mashable.com): BBC, SKY News and CNN grapple with Twitter rules.

infinitive	grapple with
present simple	grapple with and grapples with
-ing form	grappling with
past simple	grappled with
past participle	grappled with

Do you grapple with English phrasal verbs?

Image © Dan McKay

Phrasal verb: marry into

Angela Boothroyd — Sun, 20 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000

To marry into something (e.g. a family, culture, religion or group) is to become a member of something by marrying someone who already belongs to it.

Examples of use:

1. He married into a very wealthy family.

2. She is marrying into the British royal family.

3. He married into a prominent Chinese family living in Hong Kong.

4. She's marrying into the military.

5. His ambition is to marry into a very wealthy family.

infinitive	marry into
present simple	marry into and marries into
-ing form	marrying into
past simple	married into
past participle	married into

Have you ever heard or read this phrasal verb?

Can you use it in a sentence?

Phrasal verb: pig out

Angela Boothroyd — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:09:58 +0000

To pig out is to eat a lot of or too much food.

Informal English

Examples of use:

1. We pigged out on fish and chips.

2. You'll never lose weight if you keep pigging out on biscuits.

3. I pigged out on birthday cake on my birthday.

4. He pigs out on pizza and beer every Saturday night.

infinitive	pig out
present simple	pig out and pigs out
-ing form	pigging out
past simple	pigged out
past participle	pigged out

Can you write a sentence using this phrasal verb?

Where do you think this expression comes from?