Have you lived up to your parents’ expectations?

Hey, fellas! How are things today?

Another phrasal verb post! Today I want to show you how to use the phrasal verb “live up to”. If you follow my blog, I’ve made a post about a nice expression which uses this phrasal verb. If you want to find out what “live up to the hype” means, click here.

Now moving on to today’s phrasal verb, I’ll be giving you the most common meanings to it as well as real life examples! You can listen to all examples, ok? That way you work on your pronunciation and intonation!

One very, very important thing after you finish this post: Leave a comment!!! I really want to know what you think about this post, ok? Thank you s2

Live up to means that you do something that is as good as people expect it to be. It can be something you do, something you watched, a place you went to, a new restaurant you tried. It was either what you expected, or not. In this case, you have the verb “live” plus two particles, ok? You need up and to in order to have this phrasal verb. Let’s see some examples:

Example 01: That new Thai food restaurant didn’t live up to New York Times’ critics. They hated the food and the environment.

In this case I’m saying that the new restaurant was not as good as the critics from the New York times  had expected. For their standards, for what they believe is good, the new restaurant was not able to deliver what they expected.

Example 02: It’s always been really hard to live up to my family’s success as a heart surgeon.  They have all been great neurosurgeons; I’m the only heart doctor in the family.

 

In this case I’m talking about the difficulty it is to be as good as my family and have the same success standards as they do. As I continue, I explain that everybody in my family is a neurosurgeon, while I’m the only heart specialist.

Example 03:  I watched this movie last week and all I can tell is that it definitely lived up to my expectations. The movie was amazing!

In this case, I’m talking about a movie I watched which was really good, as good as I had expected it to be.

Example 04:  I was a little bit disappointed after visiting the house. It didn’t really live up to what the real estate agent said over the phone.

 

In this case, I’m “sad” after visiting a house because it was not as good as the real estate agent made me believe. Probably, the agent said wonderful things about the house and how perfect it was, but when I actually visited it, it was not really what she had described.

Example 05:  I don’t think I’ll ever live up to Jack’s cooking skills. He is just an outstanding chef!

 

In this case, I’m saying I’ll never be as good as Jack at cooking. He is just a great chef, and even if I get better I may not reach his level.

Example 06:  Disney World definitely lives up to all the publicity. You will have an unforgettable vacation with your family, that’s for sure!

In this case, I’m saying that Disney is definitely as good as all the publicity says (the publicity is true) and the park is definitely amazing and people will have a wonderful time there.

Example 07: I broke up with Robert last week. I don’t know, why, I just felt like I never lived up to his standards. He was always criticizing me.

In this case, I broke up (ended a relationship) with Robert because I felt like I was not as good as he expected me to be, not as good as his standards.

Example 08: Lady Gaga’s concerts always live up to my expectations. She is a great singer!

In this case, I’m saying Lady Gaga’s shows are always great, always as good as I expect them to be. They are good to “my standards”.

I usually show different uses for the phrasal verbs, but in this case, this is it! This is how you use “live up to”

Don’t forget to write me a comment (seriously guys, I’m counting on it :D) and share this post with your friends!

Cheers!

Teacher Prix