Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

This episode is medium so we’re looking at football words and phrases you need to describe what’s happening on the pitch or words and phrases fans and commentators on TV might use. There are lots of phrasal verbs to learn at this level.

Summary

Learn more football vocabulary with Premier Skills English. Each lesson in our Premier Vocabulary section looks at one football word or phrase. This lesson looks at the phrase cheer on.

You can find more lessons on the side of this page.

Transcript

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich and welcome to Premier Skills English - Premier Vocabulary.

Jack: Hi there! I’m Jack. We’re here to help you with your football English. Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time.

Rich: Don’t forget you can always find the transcript for all our podcasts on the Premier Skills English website. Premier Vocabulary has three different levels: easy, medium and hard.

Jack: This episode is medium so we’re looking at football words and phrases you need to describe what’s happening on the pitch or words and phrases fans and commentators on TV might use. There will be lots of phrasal verbs to learn at this level.

Rich: The phrase we are looking at in this episode is cheer on.

Jack: Cheer on is a phrasal verb and it means to shout at someone in a competition to give them encouragement - to encourage them to work harder, run faster or play better.

Rich: I remember a few years ago Jack ran a half-marathon and I went to watch him. Everyone watching cheered on the runners when they went past.

Jack: Yes, it helped me keep going and carry on running. I’d have probably stopped if there had been no one to cheer me on. I’m trying to remember what people said.

Rich: I think we cheered you on by saying things like ‘Come on you can do it’, ‘Keep it up, keep going’, ‘Don’t give up’ and ‘not long to go now’.

Jack: Yes, things like that and it really did help. Cheers!

Rich: So the phrasal verb cheer on means to support someone through shouting encouragement and positive things. It uses the word cheer because to cheer means to shout loudly to support someone or something.

Jack: Football fans cheer a lot at football matches. We cheer when our team comes on to the pitch, we cheer when our team scores a goal and we cheer at the final whistle when our team have won.

Rich: When we talk about a team we support we don’t usually use cheer on. We use support. I support Liverpool or I support Sheffield United.

Jack: But football fans often watch matches when they don’t support either of the teams in action.

Rich: But we often cheer on one side over the other.

Jack: If Tottenham are playing Leicester I might be cheering on Leicester because I’m an Arsenal fan and Tottenham are our local rivals.

Rich: But what if Leicester need three points to go above Arsenal at the end of the season?

Jack: Then I’d probably be cheering on Tottenham - quietly.

Rich: It can be quite difficult sometimes but most fans are cheering on one side over another when they’re watching a match.

Jack: Yes, we usually know which team we want to win and cheer them on.

Rich: There is the final whistle!

Jack: We’ll be back soon with more Premier Vocabulary from Premier Skills English.

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football.

Discuss

Tell us about a time when you cheered on a friend or relative in a race or competition.

Which teams do you cheer on when your team isn't playing?