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English Lessons - Phrasal Verbs

Practice your English with Caroline Brown's English Lessons

 

Now let's look at the verb 'to sit'. Here are some common expressions using this verb combined with particles:

'to sit around' means to spend time doing very little.

  • They just sit around and do nothing all day.
  • We sat around in the hotel until it stopped raining.

'to sit back' means to wait for something to happen while deliberately not being involved.

  • She just sat back and waited for us to do everything.
  • You can't just sit back and expect me to do everything.

'to sit down' means to lower your body into a sitting position.

  • We looked for somewhere to sit down.
  • She sat down beside me on the sofa and started talking.

'to sit in on' something means to be present during a meeting or event but not participate.

  • He asked me to sit in on the discussion and report back to him.
  • When I was new to the department, I sat in on meetings to learn the procedures.

'to sit on' a committee or panel means to be a member.

  • As the representative of the personnel, I sat on the board of directors.
  • He sat on many committees dealing with education.

'to sit out' means to be outside rather than inside.

  • While the weather was good, we sat out and had lunch.
  • We went to the pub and sat out at the tables in the garden.

'to sit out' something means to wait for it to finish.

  • His injury meant that he had to sit out the rest of the competition.
  • When it started raining, we decided to sit out the storm in the café.

'to sit over' someone is to watch them very carefully to check up on them.

  • I sat over him and made sure he took his medicine.
  • She sat over me until I had finished everything.

'to sit through' means to remain until something is finished, especially if it is unpleasant.

  • They sat through a very long meeting.
  • We had to sit through a very boring lecture before we could go for a drink.

'to sit up' means to not go to bed until it very late.

  • I sat up and waited for him to come home.
  • She sat up all night to finish her project before the deadline.

exercise 1

exercise 2

exercise 3

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