Pearson Brown English Lesson - Phrasal Verb "cut"

These exercises are about using the verb ‘to cut ‘ combined with particles:

‘to cut across’ means to take a shortcut over an area instead of going around the edge.

* It’ll be quicker to cut across the field.
* She quickly cut across the car park to where he was standing.

‘to cut back’ means to reduce the amount of money being spent.

* The government has cut back on education with less teachers.
* I’ve had to cut back on my spending as I’m not making any money at the moment.

‘to cut down’ means to remove a tree or plant by cutting it near the base.

* To make bigger fields, the farmer has cut down a lot of the hedges.
* We cut down the old tree in the garden as it blocked all the light.

‘to cut down’ also means to reduce the number or quantity of something.

* The article was too long and so I had to cut it down to fit the space.
* I have cut down the number of hours I work to only thirty a week now.

‘to cut in’ = to interrupt someone when they are speaking.

* I was trying to explain it when she cut in and started talking.
* He really annoys me. He’s always cutting in and never lets me speak.

‘to cut off’ = to stop supplies of something like electricity or water

* They didn’t pay the bills and the electricity was cut off.
* The water was cut off while they repaired the leaking pipes.

‘to cut off’ can also mean to stop a telephone connection.

* I’ll ring him back. We got cut off in the middle of the conversation.
* I’m sorry but I pressed the wrong button and cut you off.

‘to cut out’ = when an engine or piece of machinery suddenly stops working

* There’s a problem with my car. The engine keeps cutting out.
* When I stopped at the lights, the engine cut out.

‘to cut through’ difficulty means to be able to deal with the problems or bureaucracy quickly

* To get the permits in time, we had to find a way to cut through all the bureaucracy.
* She can cut through the complex legal language and get to the point.

‘to cut up’ = to divide something into smaller pieces

* It was too big to go into the bin so I cut it up.
* At the end, there was a cake left so we cut it up and each took a piece home.

Exercises:

http://www.carolinebrownenglishlessons.com/cutphrasals/exercise1.html

http://www.carolinebrownenglishlessons.com/cutphrasals/exercise2.html

http://www.carolinebrownenglishlessons.com/cutphrasals/exercise3.html