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 holding 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: We have three different levels for you: 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 might use. There will be lots of phrasal verbs to learn at this level.

Rich: The phrase we’re looking at today is hanging on - but we’re also going to talk about holding on because it means the same thing and is used in exactly the same way.

Jack: So you get two words for the price of one in this episode!

Rich: Exactly - it’s a lexical bargain.

Jack: Both of them are phrasal verbs. Have a listen to this conversation and see if you can understand the phrasal verbs - hang on and hold on.

Rich: Hey Jack! How are you doing?

Jack: Hold on a second. Come in. I’m just watching the match. United are only just hanging on. I think City are going to equalise.

Rich: How long’s left?

Jack: Just a couple of minutes.

Rich: In the conversation, you heard hold on and hang on and they had different meanings. Jack said hold on a minute.

Jack: Here hold on means wait. We usually use it when we are busy and we want someone to wait just for a few seconds or minutes. Can you hold on just a minute?  I’m on my way. That kind of thing.

Rich: We also used hang on in the conversation. We used it to speak about the football match Jack was watching. Jack said United were hanging on.

Jack: In the conversation, City were attacking and United were defending near the end of the game. To hang on means to continue doing something in a difficult situation.

Rich: United were hanging on because they were defending a lot and City were trying to equalise and attacking a lot.

Jack: We said at the beginning that hold on and hang on can mean the same and be used in the same way. Have a listen to the conversation again. What’s changed?

Rich: Hey Jack! How are you doing?

Jack: Hang on a second. Come in. I’m just watching the match. United are only just holding on. I think City are going to equalise.

Rich: How long’s left?

Jack: Just a couple of minutes.

Rich: Did you notice? We swapped hold on and hang on in the conversation and there is no change in meaning.

Jack: What else do we need to know about these phrasal verbs?

Rich: We often say that a team held on or hung on for the win or maybe held on or hung on for a draw or a point.

Jack: We can use the preposition for with both of these phrasal verbs. The team hung on for a draw. United held on for the win.

Rich: Yes, we use for when we use a noun like a draw or a win but when we use a verb form we use to. The team held on to draw or United hung on to win.

Jack: Hang and Hold are both irregular verbs. Hang Hung Hung and Hold Held Held.

Rich: The team held on. United hung on.

Jack: There is the final whistle!

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

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football.

Discuss

• Is it better to defend and hang on to a lead or attack and try to score again?

Write your answers in the comments section below.