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Lesson 23 / At home
5 phrases · 12 minutes · Look, listen and try.
Put things back, hang up clothes, and enter and exit the house at the right time.
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A randomly assigned, fixed male or female synthetic voice for each phrase or sentence · Slow playback at 0.7× preserves pitch.
Please put the book back where you found it.
Please put the book back where you found it.
I put the keys back on the table.
I put the keys back on the table.
Emphasis returns to previous position; “put away” just puts it in the right place in general.
Cambridge Dictionary · put back
This bag is heavy. I need to put it down.
This bag is heavy. I need to put it down.
Put down the cup before you open the door.
Put down the cup before you open the door.
Here is to put the object being held down on a surface; Not criticizing anyone.
Cambridge Dictionary · put down
Please hang up your coat instead of leaving it on the chair.
Please hang up your coat instead of leaving it on the chair.
I hung my shirt up after washing it.
I hung my shirt up after washing it.
The meaning in the lesson is to hang things. The past tense of “hang” in this usage is “hung.”
Remember to lock up before you leave.
Remember to lock up before you leave.
The last person in the office locks it up.
The last person in the office locks it up.
Often used when locking the door of a house, store or workplace after use.
Mai is waiting outside. Let her in, please.
Mai is waiting outside. Let her in, please.
I opened the door to let the cat in.
I opened the door to let the cat in.
Put the person or thing after “let”, then “in”: “let him in”.
The examples were written for this course. Usage was checked against Matt Errey’s book, pages 101, 101, 61, 80, 78. A2–B1 is the course’s intended level.
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OBSERVE · UNDERSTAND · MATCH
Drag a wire from the dot beside a phrase to the dot beside its matching picture. You can also tap a phrase, then a picture. Drag again to change a pair before checking.
Read the picture descriptions for more context. Similar expressions are accepted when they fit the particular scene.
Minh put the book back in its original position on the shelf.
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Minh placed a heavy bag on the floor.
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Minh hung his coat on a hook next to the door.
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Minh locked the door before leaving.
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Minh opened the door to let a friend enter the house.
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Choose a phrase to begin.
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Read the conversation and find the expressions you have learned.
Where should I put down these bags?
Where should I put down these bags?
By the door, please. Put the key back in the drawer.
By the door, please. Put the key back in the drawer.
All right. I will hang up my coat before I let the guests in.
All right. I will hang up my coat before I let the guests in.
“Put down” means set down something you are holding; “put back” means return it to its previous place. Setting an item down does not necessarily return it.
Try answering before revealing the suggested answer. This practice is not scored.
The answers below are models. Other answers can also work if they preserve the facts, meaning and structure requested in the task.
A cleaner is holding a heavy plant pot. Its usual place is a shelf that is not ready yet.
Give a temporary instruction using put down.
Put the pot down on the floor for now.
The cleaner is holding a heavy pot; “put down” places it temporarily on the floor while the shelf is unavailable.
Correct: Put back it on the shelf later.
Put it back on the shelf later.
“It” refers to the plant pot and precedes “back”: “put it back on the shelf”.
Explain the final position clearly.
Put the plant pot back where it was after the shelf is ready.
“Back where it was” identifies the original shelf position, unlike the temporary place on the floor.
The usage comparisons are checked against the Cambridge Dictionary entries linked beside the compared expressions. The additional conversations and exercises are written for this course.
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