Hey, all. Hoje eu falo pra você sobre o chamado phrasal verb "keep up". Você certamente já ouviu essa expressão se tem costume de assistir filmes e seriados legendados, e hoje se familiariza um pouco mais com ela no podcast.


Transcrição
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Today we take a look at the phrasal verb keep up. Keep up can have a few different meanings, and in today's episode we're gonna focus on two very popular, very common ways to use it.

Imagine you started a new job two months ago. So today your boss calls you for a little meeting... She says "I want to congratulate you on your work. You've been doing a great job. Keep it up!" Your boss told you to keep it up. That's the same as "keep up the good work."

"Keep up" is an extremely common phrasal verb and if you're a movie buff or into TV shows, you have certainly heard it before. When your boss tells you to keep it up, what is she talking about? She wants you to maintain the same level of performance at work. She wants you to keep doing a good job. Don't drop the ball! She congratulated you on your good work, and then told you to keep it up. Keep on doing a great job.

Your friend Laurie has been learning to play the piano. She plays a beautiful piece on the piano. You say "Keep it up!"
Your cousin Tony has been training to run a marathon and he's doing great. You tell him "Great job. Keep it up!"
Your friend John has been trying his hand at cooking. You eat one of the cookies he made, and it's delicious. You say "Yum! Please keep it up. What are you planning to cook for next week?"

I can't keep up

Now imagine a different kind of situation. Let's say you've been going to an aerobics class at the gym for about a year. You do great at that class. You even look like you could teach that class - you're that amazing. You're moving to a different neighbourhood though, so you leave your old gym and sign up for another gym that's just next door to where you live now. You start going to the aerobics class, only to realize that you can barely get through 50% of the class! You're in shock, but it's really happening: you can't follow all the moves, they're too complex. You're falling behind in the sequences - the pace is too intense. In short, you can't keep up with the class!

You can't keep up with this aerobics class. It's a bit too hard for you; too complex, too fast, it's too much for you right now. You see the other people in the class and they're doing just fine. Now, you... You can't keep up. You can't keep up with the teacher, you can't even keep up with the other people in the class! That means that right now you're not able to match their ability. You can't do things on the same level they do.

Here's a different example. You and your friend Mark are both preparing for the same exam. So you guys agree to meet every other day to study together. However, Mark doesn't have a job and therefore he's been studying all day long, every day. You, on the other hand, have a full time job and can only study at night. So every time you guys meet to study, you can tell Mark is way ahead of you. You just can't keep up with Mark. He's got all that free time to study, and you don't. He's always going to be ahead of you.

Now, come on. Tell me about a situation where you couldn't keep up. Maybe it was a gym class. Maybe it was a night class - you were not able to keep up because you worked all day and you were too tired to learn anything at night. Maybe you can't keep up with a relative or a friend -...