Study the phrasal verbs. Lead-in.
Jack dreams of buying his own house. So, he is putting away/ aside/ by $100 every month.
The meeting was scheduled for 16:30.
Michael is putting down the receiver.
Unfortunately, he hasn’t put down the new time of the meeting. “Have they put the meeting forward to 3 pm or put it back to 6 pm?” he wonders.
The pilots are trying to put the plane down.
“Put me through to the control tower! Now!” the pilot shouted to the air traffic controller.
The firefighter is putting out the fire.
Man: “What’s the cause of the fire?”
Woman: “The owner forgot to put out the cigarette in bed.”
Man: “He did what?! He didn’t forget to put out the rubbish, but he forgot to put out the cigarette?! ”
More phrasal verbs with PUT …
| put aside | save sth for further use: We intended to buy a car, so we started to put aside £200 every month. |
| put across = put over | (put sth across to sb) explain sth to sb very well: He’s put his ideas across, so now we need to discuss whether we can put them into practice. |
| put away | send sb to prison, a mental hospital, etc.: She was put away for years. |
| (=put aside) save money: They definitely must put some money away every month. | |
| put back | put an object where it was before: “Could you please put the book back?” the librarian asked politely. |
| postpone sth, organize sth at a later time/ date: The management had to put back the meeting due to a force major. | |
| change the position of the hands of a clock so that it shows earlier time: Oh no, you forgot to put the clock back, I could have slept more. | |
| put by | save money: We are putting by 20% of our salaries every month to go to the Maldives for a holiday. |
| put down | write sth down: Hold on a moment, I’ll put it down. |
| place an item instead of holding it in your hand(s): Put this box down over there, in the corner of the room. It’s too heavy. | |
| criticize sb: Why did you put him down? He felt really embarrassed. | |
| pay part of the sum for sth: The Smiths put down a deposit on their new house. | |
| land an aircraft or make it land: The pilot was very experienced and was able to put the Boeing 747 down safely on a corn field. | |
| finish talking to sb on the phone before they have finished talking or after they’ve finished talking: She stood there crying without putting the phone down – she just broke down. | |
| put down to | attribute, believe that sth causes sth else: I absolutely put down my success to my hard work and a strong desire to succeed. |
| put forward | suggest sth: He put forward a very interesting argument, let’s discuss it. |
| change the position of the hands of a clock so that it shows later time: Oh no, you forgot to put the clock forward, now I am late for work! | |
| put in for | ask for sth officially: I changed my mind, I am not going to put in for that job. |
| put on | start wearing sth, get dressed in sth: She can’t make up her mind whether to put on her coat or not. |
| use sth, e.g., a cream, on your skin and spread it: Kitty has just put on her sunscreen, she’s ready to go to the beach. | |
| become fatter: Miss Carrie put on weight, a few kilos. | |
| pretend you have a particular style or manner of doing sth: Mike has put on that horrible Australian accent so that nobody in the room can understand him. | |
| cook sth: Would you like some tea? I’ll put on the kettle. | |
| organize an event: The band put on a concert to raise money for charity. | |
| make a CD or tape play: Let’s put on jazz music to break the ice. | |
| put off | postpone sth: They company put off the exposition until next year. |
| distract: Will you please stop putting me off when I am working?! | |
| stop a vehicle in order to let sb get out of it: Can you put me off at the station? | |
| make sb dislike sb else: Ken put people off behaving like this. | |
| put out | extinguish: It took the firefighters 2 days to put out the fire caused by a lit cigarette. |
| leave sth/ sb outside the house: Let’s put some food out for the birds, so they won’t die of hunger in the winter. Did you put the rubbish out? The rubbish collectors will be passing soon. | |
| produce: Toyota puts out tens of thousands of cars yearly. | |
| put through | connect sb by telephone: I am incensed because the assistant didn’t put me through to the manager. |
| make sb suffer or experience sth unpleasant: Damian’s mother didn’t want to put her son through this ordeal, but she had to. | |
| put up | build: The local authorities have decided to put up a monument to commemorate the 10th anniversary of this sad event. |
| increase: The government is going to put up the prices for petrol and gas. | |
| offer sb to stay in your house for the night or longer: We can’t put Jerry up for the fortnight as there isn’t enough space. | |
| suggest an idea: | |
| display sth, make sth visible: Where shall we put this note up so that the others can read the information? | |
| put up with | tolerate, stand or bear: I hope the government won’t put up with this state of affairs in the country. |