Work on

Work on

Today’s expression is “work on;” it’s a phrasal verb and I’ll give you two ways to use it. You can “work on” a thing or you can “work on” a verb. When we use “work on,” we mean that we’re doing, creating, or improving something. Let’s start with how you heard it just at the very end of the audio lesson today.

This new Bioceanic Road will connect Brazil to Paraguay to Argentina to Chile . It aims to connect the interior South American markets to the Pacific ports. The idea is to save time and money. But that road has up to three border crossings and four different sets of rules around immigration and customs. That could easily slow down the process.

But the four countries are working on an integrated customs and immigration system that will streamline the process, so that the rules are harmonized for truckers making those three border crossings. The governments are working on a process means, they are working to create or improve the process.

I’m currently working on a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. I used to think that doing a jigsaw puzzle was a frivolous waste of time. But—as frustrating as it sometimes is—I think it’s therapeutic. The image is a Monet painting. I’m working on the puzzle means, I’m doing the puzzle.

“I’m working on a big project” means, “I’m doing a big project.” If you say, “I’m working on the basement today,” that could mean a few things. It could mean you’re doing construction work down there, improving it. Or it could mean you have a basement project—like a clean-up or something—and you’re doing that project. Either way, it means you’re doing something or improving something in your basement. Remember the Marie Kondo lesson ? That was Lesson 136. It’s springtime, so maybe it’s time to work on your closet. It’s time to do some work in there, to clean it out.

So that’s working on with a noun. You can also use “working on” with an -ing verb. In this case, it simply means that you’re doing work as part of an action. “I’m working on improving the web site,” means that I’m working to improve the web site. “JR is working on finding a new apartment” means, JR is working to find a new apartment. Scientists are working on adapting MRNA vaccines to other diseases besides the coronavirus. That means they’re working to adapt these new vaccines to treat other diseases.

I recently finished “Inventing Anna” on Netflix—that was JR’s recommendation. Anna needs to work on treating people better. That means, she needs to work to treat people better, at least in my opinion. I could also say, she needs to work on her manners, meaning she needs to improve her manners.

Quote of the Week

Speaking of Netflix documentaries, I watched one called “White Hot .” I’ll link to it in the transcript. It was about the clothing brand Abercrombie & Fitch. This store, this brand, was extremely popular when I was in my peak mall-going age—about 16 to, say, 22 or so. The brand was upscale, premium, sexy—well, you can watch “White Hot” to learn the full story.

But part of the documentary included a quote from someone in the fashion industry; her name is Robin Givhan. She said this about the fashion industry: “The goal is not to give people what they’re asking for, but to make them ask for what you’re offering.”

She was saying that fashion brands don’t do market research, where they ask customers, “What do you want to buy?” Instead , fashion brands create what they want to create. And then their marketing tries to convince customers that they need what has been created. It’s fascinating, so the next time you think you need some article of clothing, ask yourself, do you need this because of you? Or did someone convince you that you needed it?

Here’s that quote once again from Robin Givhan about the fashion industry: “The goal is not to give people what they’re asking for, but to make them ask for what you’re offering.”

See you next time!

That’s all for the audio lesson. When I created this lesson, I started writing up a different expression. I was going to choose “for long.” At first, I thought it was almost too easy for you. But then as I dug deeper, I realized it was too hard to describe in audio format. I found myself saying, I wish the audience could see what I mean here…and that’s when I decided to make it the video lesson for today.

The video lessons are specifically for those concepts that are harder to understand just by listening. I want to show you what’s going on, step by step. And the other thing is, I give you the slides right below the video. So you can leave one side open as a reference as you watch the full video and do the exercises. Even though I wrote up a full explanation of “for long,” I scrapped it and made it the video lesson, because this one really is better in a visual format.

So I made it the video, which you can see at PlainEnglish.com/470 if you’re a Plain English Plus+ member. If you’re not yet a member, you can sign up at PlainEnglish.com/Plus and check out “for long” and our full library of hundreds of step-by-step videos.

That’s all for today—see you right back here on Thursday.