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 take up. 

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 take up. 

Jack: Last week, if you remember, we looked at the phrasal verb take on which can be used to mean to employ someone or to take responsibility for something. 

Rich: Or in football to compete against or battle against something. We often use it to talk about upcoming fixtures. Liverpool take on Tottenham tonight. 

Jack: We looked at take on because Marco from Mexico, one of our listeners, emailed us to ask when and how we can use the phrasal verbs take on and take up. 

Rich: So, we looked at take on last week and in this episode, we’re going to look at the phrasal verb take up. 

Jack: Like take on there are a number of different meanings of take up and we’ll look at some of the more common meanings in this episode. 

Rich: I suppose the meaning that is used most frequently when talking about sport is to learn or start doing something new. 

Jack: We are often talking about hobbies here so we might talk about sport. 

Rich: I’ve taken up running in my local park recently. 

Jack: I thought you took this up ages ago, Rich? 

Rich: No, before I was just walking quickly - now I’m actually running. 

Jack: Good for you! So, we use it to talk about starting a new hobby - I always think of taking up a language like Chinese or Russian but I never get around to it. 

Rich: Well, New Year is nearly here - lots of people decide to take up new hobbies on the first of January. 

Jack: So we can speak about taking something up - a new hobby for example. We can also take up something. I’ve taken up tennis. My son’s taken up the guitar. You need to take up football at an early age if you want to be a professional. 

Rich: Another meaning of take up is connected to occupying space or time. Here are some examples: 

Jack: Doing the cleaning in my house takes up too much of my time. Work takes up too much of my time. 

Rich: The giant cuddly panda in my son’s bedroom takes up too much room. Funny cat videos on my phone take up too much space. 

Jack: We often use take up in a negative way to say that something occupies too much space or too much of our time. 

Rich: The phrase taking up space can be used on the football pitch. We often hear commentators saying that a player is taking up space between the lines. 

Jack: This usually describes an attacking player finding and occupying space between opponents defence and midfield. 

Rich: I hope you have a better idea of how to use take on and take up now, Marco and everyone else who is listening. 

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 

What new hobby would you like to take up? 

What takes up too much of your time?