Shadowing Practice: Phrasal verb prepositions: DOWN part 06: DOWN & UP mean ALONG - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hi everyone and welcome back.

Today we're going to take another look at the prepositions up

and down and what they can mean when used with phrasal verbs.

So in a previous video, we saw that down looks like this and up looks like this.

And strangely enough, we can extend both of these to get the idea of along.

Now the reason for this has to do with the different ways we can perceive objects

when they move along a horizontal surface.

So to visualize this, let's imagine that we're standing on a flat surface, like a road, looking at an object.

If the object starts moving along the road but away from us, it appears as if it's moving in in an upward direction.

Therefore, we can associate the idea of along with the preposition up.

At the same time, however, the object appears to decrease in size as it moves farther away.

So we can also associate along with the preposition down, since the object's size appears to decrease. So, oddly enough,

an object moving away from us along a horizontal surface can be associated with either the preposition up or down.

Now, when the object moves along the road but towards us, the same thing happens in reverse.

As it gets closer, its size appears to increase.

So we can associate this with the preposition up.

Yet, it also appears to be moving in a downward direction, so we can associate this with the preposition down.

So, as you can see, movement along a horizontal surface in either direction could be perceived as either up or down.

Unfortunately, there's no hard and fast rule about which preposition, up

or down is the best one to use in a given situation as it depends on a variety of factors

and is somewhat subjective.

So let's take a look at some examples of phrasal verbs with up or down in which they mean along.

How do you think we could describe this?

Here, a car drives along a street.

So we can say, the car drives up the street.

Drives means drive, and up means along.

So the sentence just means, the car drives along the street.

Now we can also use down here instead of up to mean along.

That is, we could also say, the car drives down the street.

Either preposition would be fine.

Alright, let's try another one.

How do you think we could describe this using a phrasal verb with up or down?

Here the bartender slides a drink along the bar.

So we can say, the bartender slides the drink down the bar.

Slides means slide, and down means along.

So the sentence just means, the bartender slides the drink along the bar.

Now, we could use the preposition up here as well.

That is, we could say, the bartender slides the drink, ups the bar, although to my ears down would be a bit more natural in this situation.

Okay, let's try one more.

How do you think we could describe this.

Here a man looks along the barrel of a gun.

So we can say the man looks down the barrel of the gun.

Looks means look and and down means along.

So the sentence just means, the man looks along the barrel of the gun.

Now, in this case, we probably wouldn't use the preposition up.

That is, we wouldn't say the man looks up the barrel of the gun.

This is because the phrasal verb look up has a separate meaning and might be a bit confusing to the listener.

So, I hope this helped you understand the prepositions up

and down a little bit better and why they both can mean along.

And we'll see you next time.

Cheers.

Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?

Shadowing is een wetenschappelijk onderbouwde taalleermethode die oorspronkelijk is ontwikkeld voor professionele tolkentraining en gepopulariseerd door polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. De methode is eenvoudig maar krachtig: je luistert naar native Engelse audio en herhaalt het onmiddellijk hardop — als een schaduw die de spreker volgt met slechts 1–2 seconden vertraging. In tegenstelling tot passief luisteren of grammaticadrills, dwingt shadowing je hersenen en mondspieren om echte spraakpatronen tegelijkertijd te verwerken en te reproduceren. Onderzoek toont aan dat het de uitspraaknauwkeurigheid, intonatie, ritme, verbonden spraak, luisterbegrip en spreekvaardigheid aanzienlijk verbetert — waardoor het een van de meest effectieve methoden is voor IELTS Speaking-voorbereiding en echte Engelse communicatie.

Shadowing Practice: Phrasal verb prepositions: DOWN part 06: DOWN & UP mean ALONG - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?