Phrases and Expressions with 'PUT'
- Put up with
- Put aside
- Put off
- Put on
- Put through
- Put out
Hello, dear learners 
How are you feeling today?
This morning I couldn't decide what clothes to put on, and then I suddenly understood that I haven't told you about phrases and expressions with 'put'!
And in my previous sentence you already heard one expression with 'put'. Did you notice? Put on. We put on clothes in the morning and then take them off at night.
What clothes do you put on when you want to go to the gym?
That's right, sneakers and a tracksuit.
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Jessica is living with a roommate now, she can't stand her but she has to put up with her because Jessica doesn't have enough money right now to live alone. She has to put up with her roommate. What does 'put up with' mean? Does Jessica like her roommate? No, she doesn't. But she bears her, she tolerates her for some reason.
So ' put up with someone or something' means to tolerate.
What kind of stuff do you have to put up with at work?
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I always try to put off doing things I don't like, such as going to the dentist. For example, last time I needed to go in May but I only found enough courage to actually go in August! So I put off going to the dentist for three months! Do you think that's a good idea?
What expression with put did I use? Huh? Bet you didn't notice! Oh, you did? Well, yes, you're right, the expression is 'put off'.
When we put off doing something we postpone or delay doing this. We try to do it later than we should.
What things do you usually put off?
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Cecily and James want to go on vacation next summer, so they're putting aside some money every month this year. If they manage to put aside 300 dollars every month for ten months, they'll be able to afford a great vacation!
What does 'put aside' mean? It means to save some money, not to spend all your income.
Are you trying to put aside some money now?
Put aside can also have a slightly different meaning. Imagine that you're in a store and you really like a pair of shoes, but right now you don't have enough money with you which you need in order to pay for those shoes. You want to come back tomorrow with the money and buy them, but you think that perhaps someone else might buy them before you!
What can you do in this situation? You can ask a sales assistant to put this pair of shoes aside for you. In this way, you can come back tomorrow and they'll be ready and waiting!
Put something aside or set something aside means to reserve something for someone.
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I called a bank earlier today, because there was some problem with my credit card, it didn't want to pay online for tickets to the cinema. An bank worker picked up the phone, and when I told her my problem she said: 'Hold on a moment, I'll put you through to the online payment department'. She then put me on hold and connected me with another manager from a different department.
The bank worker put me on hold first, which means that she stopped talking to me and I could hear music in the phone receiver. She was talking to someone else while I was on hold.
Then she put me through to another manager. She connected me with another person, she transferred my call to another phone and I was able to explain my problem to a more suited worker.
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Yesterday there was a fire in my neighbor's house, but the fire engine quickly arrived and the firefighters put out the fire in no time at all. All's well that ends well
What is put out? What did the firemen do? They extinguished the fire, they stopped it. So ' put out a fire' means stop the fire.
Have you ever put out a big fire?
So now you know some expressions with 'put'!
Please don't put them aside, use them in your everyday life
