The Bear's big win
In this post, we watch a clip from the award-winning TV show 'The Bear'. We also look at why frequency of meaning matters when you're learning phrasal verbs.
Hello, I’m Mandeep. Welcome to my Watch and Learn English substack. My aim is to teach “real-life” English using videos and topics that are in the news.
Video of the week
This Monday, the great and the good from the small screen came together to celebrate the best of television at the Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. The night’s big winners were ‘Succession’, the story of a power-hungry family of billionaires, and ‘The Bear', also about family but more so about friendship.
Have you seen either? Honestly, I’ve watched them both and think they are equally brilliant. It’s difficult to find a TV show that makes you think, laugh and cry in equal parts, but these two TV series really deliver.
For this week’s video, I chose a clip from ‘The Bear’. It’s set in Chicago, America and is about a restaurant, the people who work in the kitchen and a very special young chef.
Before you watch a video, take a look at the questions below. I’d love to hear your answers in the comments.
When you eat in a restaurant, how important is the service you receive?
What makes a good restaurant famous?
What is the most famous restaurant in your country?
First Watch - Learning
Click the button below to watch the video with:
clear correct captions, not auto-generated
definitions for the key vocabulary
the option to slow the video down to help you catch every word
Second Watch - Testing
Now you can try “quiz” mode! As you watch, you need to choose the correct word to make the sentence. This will test how well you remember the key vocabulary from the video.
Now, we’re going to take a deeper look at some language from the video.
Phrasal verbs and frequency of meaning
When Garrett is trying to explain why everything (including the forks) needs to be perfect in the restaurant, he says something about the customers who are excited to go:
And at any given moment, one of those people that is waiting gets to eat here. They get to spend their time and their money here.
In your own words, how would you explain what the phrasal verb ‘get to’ means in this sentence?
If we look in a dictionary, there are three main definitions of this verb
You ask where people or things have got to when they do not arrive or are not where you expect them to be. You want to know where they have gone. Example:
I wonder where my keys have got to.
Where has James got to? He should be here by now.
If something gets to you, it makes you suffer:
The heat was beginning to get to me, so I opened a window.
If someone gets to you, they make you feel upset or angry:
I know he's wrong, but you shouldn't let him get to you.
If you get to do something, it means you have an opportunity to do something:
I never get to see her now that she’s working in London.
Which do you think is the right definition for Garrett’s comment?
That’s right, it’s number three. Garrett is saying that people are excited that they have the opportunity to eat at a famous restaurant.
It’s important to remember that many phrasal verbs have more than one meaning. A good dictionary will help you decide which meaning is correct for the context you have. I’m going to recommend two for you now.
The first is the The Cambridge Learners dictionary which gives simple definitions and lots of natural examples.
The second is the PHAVE dictionary. This lists the 150 most common phrasal verbs and their most frequent meanings - I’m excited to be creating a course on this at the moment, so send me a message if you want to be the first to know about it!
The 75th Emmy Awards
If you’d like to find out more about who won what at the Emmy Awards, here’s a rundown from Good Morning America with all the best bits.
Say hello
Please let me know what you thought of my post. Your feedback is appreciated.
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Also, please come and say hello to everybody in the comments. What do you think about the video?
Very nice lesson.. thanks!!