PHRASAL VERBS! tear up, tear down, tear apart, tear,tore,torn,AMERICAN ENGLISH /comprehensible input

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]Hello and welcome to English for everyone, where we practice real life American English. Today we're going to learn some great phrasal verbs. So let's get started. Today we're learning these phrasal verbs: tear down, tear apart, tear off, and tear up. And we're also learning tear up because it's different.

[00:00:19]And we're going to talk about the verb tear all by itself. So let's get started.

[00:00:23]Let's start with tear down.

[00:00:26]We see tear is an irregular verb, so in the present tear, tore down, in the past tore down, and the participle is torn down.

[00:00:34]And what does it mean? It means to demolish. To completely destroy something is to demolish it.

[00:00:41]Pronunciation: demolish. Put the stress on the second syllable.

[00:00:45]Example: They're going to demolish the building. So I can use the phrasal verb tear down. They're going to tear down the building.

[00:00:53]Let's practice. Are they going to tear down the building?

[00:01:00]That's right, they're going to tear down the building. Are they going to demolish the building?

[00:01:07]That's right, they're going to demolish the building. Now let's practice with the past.

[00:01:12]What happened? There's no more building.

[00:01:14]They tore down the building, using tore in the past.

[00:01:18]They tore down the building.

[00:01:20]Or I can use passive voice and say the building was torn down.

[00:01:24]Remember with passive voice we need the participle torn. The building was torn down.

[00:01:30]Let's practice. Did they tear down the building?

[00:01:37]That's right, they tore down the building.

[00:01:40]Was the building torn down?

[00:01:46]That's right, the building was torn down.

[00:01:49]And don't forget the verb demolish. I can say they demolished the building, or the building was demolished.

[00:01:55]Let's practice. Did they demolish the building?

[00:02:02]That's right. They demolished the building.

[00:02:05]Was the building demolished?

[00:02:11]That's right. The building was demolished. So we practiced with the verb demolish in the present and demolished in the past.

[00:02:18]And there's also a noun, demolition.

[00:02:20]We see how the stress moves. The stress is on the de and the ish. Demolish.

[00:02:27]Demolition. That's the noun.

[00:02:29]Example. I'm not a demolition expert.

[00:02:33]What about you? Are you a demolition expert?

[00:02:38]Very good.

[00:02:40]Now let's talk about the phrasal verb tear apart.

[00:02:43]So again, in the past, tore. So we have tore apart in the past and torn apart is the participle.

[00:02:49]And what does it mean? It means to tear something into pieces. You tear it apart into pieces.

[00:02:56]We can talk about the example, he was torn apart by wild animals.

[00:03:01]But that's gross, so we're not going to practice with that.

[00:03:04]Let's look at another situation.

[00:03:07]Let's say the police tore apart the house searching for something.

[00:03:13]They destroyed it.

[00:03:15]They partially destroyed it.

[00:03:17]They tore apart the house looking for something.

[00:03:20]Maybe looking for evidence.

[00:03:22]Let's hear some examples.

[00:03:23]>> So you tore apart your room?

[00:03:25]>> I tore apart the attic to fix the roof.

[00:03:28]>> They tore apart my dad's room.

[00:03:29]>> They just tore apart Ronnie's study.

[00:03:32]>> You know, when the police tore apart my house looking for imaginary heroin, found this little calculator that I thought I lost, so totally worth it.

[00:03:41]>> Let's practice. Did the police tear apart the house?

[00:03:48]That's right. The police tore apart the house.

[00:03:51]Why did they tear apart the house? Were they looking for something?

[00:04:00]That's right. They tore apart the house looking for something.

[00:04:04]Now, let's look at the phrasal verb tear off.

[00:04:07]So, again in the past, tore off.

[00:04:09]And the participle is torn off. It means to remove something. But, you're removing something that is on something else because off is the opposite of on.

[00:04:19]You tear off something.

[00:04:22]Example, you can tear off a Band-Aid because the Band-Aid is on your skin. If you remove it fast, you tear it off.

[00:04:30]You can tear off a Band-Aid.

[00:04:32]Example, he tore off the Band-Aid.

[00:04:34]He removed it quickly.

[00:04:36]Let's practice. Did he tear off the Band-Aid?

[00:04:43]That's right. He tore off the Band-Aid.

[00:04:46]And it hurts. It hurts when you tear off a Band-Aid.

[00:04:50]Let's practice. Does it hurt when you tear off a Band-Aid?

[00:04:57]That's right. It hurts when you tear off a Band-Aid.

[00:05:01]Not fun.

[00:05:02]Or, you can tear off a roof. You remove the roof. Before you build a new roof, you have to tear off the old one.

[00:05:09]So, they're tearing off the roof.

[00:05:12]They're tearing off the old roof before they build a new one.

[00:05:15]Let's practice. Are they tearing off the roof? Are they tearing off the old roof?

[00:05:24]That's right. They're tearing off the old roof.

[00:05:26]Now, let's talk about separating these phrasal verbs and using it in the middle.

[00:05:31]Because it's a pronoun, you have to put it in the middle. These are all separable phrasal verbs.

[00:05:35]So, example, they tore down the house. Or, I can say they tore it down.

[00:05:41]Let's practice. Did they tear it down?

[00:05:47]That's right. They tore it down.

[00:05:49]Example, they tore apart the house or I can say they tore it apart.

[00:05:53]Did they tear it apart?

[00:05:59]That's right, they tore it apart. I can say they tore off the roof or they tore it off.

[00:06:04]Pronunciation, the T in it is a fast D because it's between vowels. Tore it off, it off, it off, tore it off.

[00:06:12]Let's practice. Did they tear it off?

[00:06:18]That's right, they tore it off.

[00:06:20]So now we're going to practice with the verb tear and the phrasal verb tear up and tear up. So keep watching.

[00:06:27]First let's compare the difference between the verb fold and the phrasal verb fold up.

[00:06:33]Why do we use up?

[00:06:36]In this case, we use up to say completely.

[00:06:39]When you fold something many times, you can use the phrasal verb fold up.

[00:06:43]And we see the difference between the verb tear and the phrasal verb tear up.

[00:06:49]Why do we use up? Why do we make the phrasal verb?

[00:06:53]Again, it's to say completely.

[00:06:55]If you tear something many times, you can use the phrasal verb and say tear up. It means you do it completely or more. First let's look at the verb fold.

[00:07:05]Fold.

[00:07:06]I folded the paper. The action fold.

[00:07:11]Fold in the present, in the past folded.

[00:07:13]I folded the paper.

[00:07:15]But if I do it many times, fold up.

[00:07:22]I folded up the paper.

[00:07:25]Fold in the present, in the past folded.

[00:07:27]I folded up the paper. I use the phrasal verb because I folded it many times.

[00:07:33]And it's a separable phrasal verb. If I have a pronoun it, I have to put it in the middle.

[00:07:38]I folded up the paper.

[00:07:40]With the pronoun it, I folded it up. I folded it up.

[00:07:46]The T in it sounds like a fast D. I folded it up.

[00:07:50]Let's practice. Did I fold the paper?

[00:07:56]That's right. I folded the paper.

[00:07:59]Let's practice. Did I fold up the paper?

[00:08:07]That's right. I folded up the paper.

[00:08:09]Or I can use the pronoun it.

[00:08:11]Did I fold it up?

[00:08:17]That's right. I folded it up. Let's look at some more examples.

[00:08:21]He folded the paper.

[00:08:24]Fold in the present, in the past folded.

[00:08:26]Let's practice. Did he fold the paper?

[00:08:31]That's right. He folded the paper.

[00:08:34]And he's doing origami. So, he's folding the paper many times. Now, I can use the phrasal verb fold up.

[00:08:41]In the continuous form, folding. He's folding up the paper. He's doing origami.

[00:08:47]Let's practice. Is he folding up the paper?

[00:08:55]That's right. He's folding up the paper.

[00:08:58]Is he doing origami?

[00:09:04]That's right. He's doing origami. Let's look at the word origami. This is a Japanese word, but we have an American pronunciation.

[00:09:13]O-ra.

[00:09:14]O-ra.

[00:09:16]O-ra-ga-mi.

[00:09:18]Four syllables.

[00:09:19]O-ra-ga-mi.

[00:09:21]Put the stress on the first syllable and the third syllable.

[00:09:25]O-ra-ga-mi.

[00:09:27]He's doing origami.

[00:09:29]And what about this? What about laundry?

[00:09:31]What about shirts? He's folding it many times, more than once anyway, but we don't use phrasal verb here. We just say fold.

[00:09:39]He's folding the shirts or he's folding the laundry.

[00:09:43]Let's practice. What is he doing? Is he folding the shirts?

[00:09:51]That's right. He's folding the shirts.

[00:09:54]Is he folding the laundry?

[00:10:00]That's right. He's folding the laundry.

[00:10:03]Good boy.

[00:10:04]Now, let's look at the difference between the verb tear and the phrasal verb tear up.

[00:10:10]Example.

[00:10:12]You [snorts] can tear the paper.

[00:10:14]It's easy to tear the paper.

[00:10:17]In the past, he tore the paper.

[00:10:20]And the participle is torn. I can use the participle as an adjective and say the paper is torn.

[00:10:28]Let's practice.

[00:10:29]Can you tear the paper?

[00:10:35]That's right. You can tear the paper. Is it easy to tear paper?

[00:10:44]That's right. It's easy to tear paper.

[00:10:47]Let's practice in the past. Did he tear the paper?

[00:10:55]That's right. He tore the paper.

[00:10:57]Now, I can describe the paper and say the paper is torn.

[00:11:01]Let's practice. Is the paper torn?

[00:11:08]That's right. The paper is torn.

[00:11:11]What about the phrasal verb tear up?

[00:11:14]We use the phrasal verb tear up when you do it many times.

[00:11:18]When you do it a lot.

[00:11:20]This is tear up.

[00:11:22]>> It occurred [music] to me to tear up the check. But I didn't.

[00:11:25]>> Come on, just tear up the forms.

[00:11:27]>> Why didn't Mama do it?

[00:11:29]Tear up the pictures.

[00:11:31]>> Example. He can tear up the paper. It's okay. We don't need that paper.

[00:11:36]He can tear up the paper.

[00:11:39]Or if I use the pronoun it, I have to put it in the middle.

[00:11:42]He can tear it up. We don't need that paper anymore. He can tear it up.

[00:11:47]Or he can tear up the paper.

[00:11:50]>> If you Please, please just just tear it up and I will tell you everything, okay?

[00:11:55]>> Tear it up.

[00:11:57]>> No. Don't tear it up, huh?

[00:11:59]>> No.

[00:12:00]He told me to tear it up and throw it away.

[00:12:02]>> In the past, he tore up the paper.

[00:12:06]And if I use the pronoun it, I have to put it in the middle. He tore it up.

[00:12:11]We hear the T in it sound like a fast D.

[00:12:14]Tore it, tore it up, tore it up. He tore it up.

[00:12:18]>> little pieces. He tore it up and sprinkled it all over the GROUND LIKE A >> SHUT UP.

[00:12:22]>> I SEE. AND And you tore it up, did you?

[00:12:25]>> My father tore it up.

[00:12:27]>> SHE TORE IT UP.

[00:12:29]>> I got a letter from your father today and I tore it up.

[00:12:32]>> I tore it up.

[00:12:33]>> Didn't open them. Tore them up, threw them in the fire.

[00:12:36]>> Your mama tore them up.

[00:12:38]>> He uh tore up the rest.

[00:12:41]>> I tore up all those checks.

[00:12:43]>> Cat.

[00:12:45]Mama tore up our pictures.

[00:12:47]>> Just what were you doing when this comic opera queen tore up our constitution anyway? Praying?

[00:12:52]>> You tore up her picture.

[00:12:54]>> She tore up her paychecks and she put her life at risk for you.

[00:12:57]>> And the participle is torn, so I can use that as an adjective and say, "The paper is torn up."

[00:13:03]The paper is all torn up.

[00:13:06]Completely torn in little pieces.

[00:13:09]That's when we use the phrasal verb tear up.

[00:13:12]And the adjective, "The paper is all torn up."

[00:13:16]Let's practice.

[00:13:18]Can he tear up the paper?

[00:13:25]That's right. He can tear up the paper.

[00:13:26]It's okay, we don't need it.

[00:13:28]Can he tear it up?

[00:13:34]That's right, he can tear it up. We don't need it anymore.

[00:13:38]In the past, did he tear up the paper?

[00:13:46]That's right, he tore up the paper.

[00:13:49]And with the pronoun it, tear it up, in the past tore it up.

[00:13:54]I ask the question, did he tear it up?

[00:14:02]That's right, he tore it up.

[00:14:04]Now I can describe the paper and say the paper is all torn up.

[00:14:08]Let's practice. Is the paper all torn up?

[00:14:16]That's right, the paper is all torn up.

[00:14:19]But it's okay, we don't need it anymore.

[00:14:21]It was old paper.

[00:14:23]Now let's compare these two phrasal verbs. The first one is tear up, like you tear up paper.

[00:14:30]And the second one is tear up, like when you cry.

[00:14:34]You cry one tear.

[00:14:37]It's spelled exactly the same, but it's pronounced differently.

[00:14:41]So let's look at pronunciation. The first [snorts] phrasal verb is tear up.

[00:14:46]We use the air sound like hair and chair, tear.

[00:14:51]Tear up the paper.

[00:14:53]And the second one is tear.

[00:14:55]We use the ear sound like here and beer.

[00:15:00]Tear up.

[00:15:02]What is the phrasal verb tear up?

[00:15:04]It means when you cry, but just a little.

[00:15:07]You're not really crying, maybe there's one tear or two tears, or you just get a little water in your eyes.

[00:15:15]That's tear up, the phrasal verb.

[00:15:18]In the present, tear, in [snorts] the past, teared.

[00:15:23]So it's a regular verb, just put ed.

[00:15:26]Tear up in the present, teared up in the past.

[00:15:29]Link the sounds. Link the d sound teared to the next sound uh in up.

[00:15:35]Teared up. Dup dup. Teared up.

[00:15:39]She teared up.

[00:15:41]She cried a little bit. Maybe one tear, maybe two tears.

[00:15:45]Why did she tear up? She teared up because she was watching a really sad movie.

[00:15:50]So, she teared up a little.

[00:15:53]And I can use the phrasal verb in a continuous form tearing. Right now, in this moment, she's tearing up.

[00:15:59]She's tearing up because she's sad.

[00:16:01]>> Are my eyes tearing up cuz sometimes I can't tell.

[00:16:06]>> It was just It was a beautiful moment in my life. I teared up.

[00:16:10]>> Let's practice.

[00:16:11]Why is she tearing up?

[00:16:18]That's right. She's tearing up because she's sad.

[00:16:21]Let's practice in the past. She teared up. Link the sounds. She teared up.

[00:16:27]Why did she tear up?

[00:16:29]Was she watching a sad movie?

[00:16:37]That's right. She teared up a little because she was watching a sad movie.

[00:16:42]So, remember the difference between the verb and the phrasal verb. If I say fold, that's one time, maybe two times.

[00:16:48]But, if I say fold up, that's many times. Use the phrasal verb when you fold something many times.

[00:16:55]Fold up.

[00:16:57]But, when you talk about clothes or laundry, just use the regular verb fold.

[00:17:02]Fold in the present, in the past folded.

[00:17:04]He folded the laundry.

[00:17:07]And remember, it's a separable phrasal verb. So, if I use the pronoun it, I have to put it in the middle.

[00:17:12]I folded up the paper or I folded it up.

[00:17:15]I folded it up.

[00:17:17]Why did I fold it up?

[00:17:19]I folded it up so I could put it in my pocket.

[00:17:22]Let's practice.

[00:17:23]Why did I fold it up?

[00:17:31]That's right. I folded it up so I could put it in my pocket.

[00:17:36]And remember the difference between tear and tear up.

[00:17:39]You tear a piece of paper one time.

[00:17:41]But if you tear it many times, use the phrasal verb tear up.

[00:17:46]And it's a separable phrasal verb. So if you use the pronoun it, put it in the middle.

[00:17:51]Tear it up.

[00:17:53]Tore it up.

[00:17:55]Tear it up in the present.

[00:17:56]Tore it up in the past.

[00:17:58]And remember the difference between these two phrasal verbs. The first one is pronounced tear, tear up.

[00:18:04]Like you tear a paper.

[00:18:06]And the second one is tear, tear up.

[00:18:09]When you cry just a little.

[00:18:11]Maybe one tear, maybe two tears. You tear up.

[00:18:15]Thank you for watching. And if you like this video, subscribe to our channel.

[00:18:18]And if you want to become a member, click the join button. And we'll see you next time.