BUCKLE UP and BUCKLE IN

These two phrasal verbs are similar, and can sometimes be interchanged.

If you are giving someone instructions to fasten their seatbelt, use buckle up.

Buckle in is used for child or infant car seats, because the child sits “inside” the special seat.

What is the Meaning of the English Phrasal Verb BUCKLE UP?

buckle someone up

buckle up someone

Definition

Buckle up means to fasten your seat belt in a vehicle

Examples of BUCKLE UP in Sentences:

1. Everyone has to buckle up. It’s the law.

2. Josh, will you please buckle your brother up?

3. The pilot asked the passengers to buckle up because they were flying in some turbulent weather.

What is the Meaning of the English Phrasal Verb BUCKLE IN?

buckle someone in

buckle in

Definition:

Buckle in means to fasten the seat belt so that one is belted into a specific seat

Examples of BUCKLE IN in Sentences:

1. You must buckle your child in to a child car seat before driving.

2. Okay, we’re ready to go.  Is everyone buckled in?

present	BUCKLE
present participle	BUCKLING
past	BUCKLED
past participle	BUCKLED

Watch an old TV commercial which uses the phrasal verb BUCKLE UP

Phrasal Verb Listing

What is the meaning of NAILED IT?

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LEARN MORE ABOUT PHRASAL VERBS

What are Phrasal Verbs?

DEFINITION

PHRASAL VERBS are sometimes called two-word or three-word verbs, or verb phrases.

A Phrasal Verb is a verb plus a particle. A particle is a small word. Usually, but not always, the particle is a preposition.

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Many Phrasal Verbs are idiomatic. This means that if you know the meaning of the individual words, it will not help you understand the meaning of the Phrasal Verb. When the words are put together, the meaning changes.

For example, your friend tells you that he is going to give up smoking. You know that give means to make a present of something, and that up is a direction. You are confused! Knowing the meaning of give and the meaning of up is no help at all when someone says they are going to give up something.

But if you know that the Phrasal Verb give up means to quit doing something, then you know that your friend plans to stop smoking.

Why Learn Phrasal Verbs?

Many of our students said that they studied English for years in their home country, but when they arrived in Canada, they could not understand what people were saying.

Spoken English is filled with Phrasal Verbs and yet very few schools teach them. If you want to have conversations with English speakers, you MUST learn Phrasal Verbs.

One of the main reasons for this is that no one had taught them Phrasal Verbs.

DO YOU WANT BETTER ENGLISH?

You need to learn phrasal verbs if you want to have English conversations. 

You need to know phrasal verbs if you want to live, and succeed, in a country where English is a primary language, such as Canada or the U.S.

How to Learn Phrasal Verbs

Learn phrasal verbs the same way you learn vocabulary. There is no magic trick for phrasal verbs. Like vocabulary, you need to memorize them and practice using them.

Don’t waste time learning uncommon vocabulary words. You can use a translator app for those words!

Spend your time focusing on what you need. 

Grammar Rules for Phrasal Verbs

Here is a simple overview of the rules for Phrasal Verbs.

THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF PHRASAL VERBS – INSEPARABLE AND SEPARABLE.

1. INSEPARABLE PHRASAL VERBS are easy. You use them the same way you would use any main verb.

Inseparable means “not separable”. You cannot separate the parts of these phrasal verbs. The phrasal verb must stay together as though it were one word.

e.g., Check out means to pay your bill and return your key card when you leave a hotel. “We should check out at 11:00 am.”

2. SEPARABLE PHRASAL VERBS can be kept together or separated.

When you separate the words in a Separable Phrasal Verb, put the OBJECT between the two parts of the Phrasal Verb.

For example, hand in means to give something to someone in authority. The two sentences below are both correct because hand in is a separable phrasal verb.

1)  Please hand in your test.

2)  Please hand your test in.

ONE MORE IMPORTANT RULE FOR SEPARABLE PHRASAL VERBS

If you use a pronoun for the OBJECT, it must go in the middle, not at the end of the phrasal verb.

Sentence 1 is incorrect. Sentence 2 is correct.

1) Please hand in it.

2) Please hand it in.

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