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hi everybody my name is Alisha welcome
back to know your verbs in this episode
we're going to talk about the verb beat
let's get started
let's start with the basic definition
the basic definition of the verb beat is
to hit repeatedly to hit something
repeatedly examples he was beaten until
he was unconscious I have to beat the
dust out of this blanket let's talk
about the conjugations of this verb now
present beat beats past beat past
participle beaten progressive beating
let's talk about some additional
meanings for this verb the first
additional meaning is to defeat to
defeat some examples
I think spider-man could beat Batman in
a fight
our team has never been beaten so in
both of these examples sentences we see
beat meaning defeat in the first example
sentence I think spider-man could beat
Batman
it means spider-man could beat Batman in
a fight that's kind of the implied the
suggested meaning of this sentence
spider-man could beat Batman equals
spider-man could defeat Batman
spider-man would be better than Batman
spider-man would win in a fight against
Batman spider-man would beat Batman in
the second example sentence our team has
never been beaten it means our team has
never been defeated our team has never
lost our team has won every match every
game we have ever played our team has
never been beaten so no defeats pretty
great so this is one meaning to defeat
something okay let's go on to the second
additional meaning for this verb the
second additional meaning for this verb
is to act before something else happens
examples let's beat the crowds and get
tickets for the afternoon movie I left
the house early to beat rush-hour
traffic okay so both of these examples
show one action happening before some
other like negative thing we want to
avoid in the first example sentence it's
about avoiding like big crowds of people
at a movie theater so let's beat the
crowds is the expression that's used
there so beat the crowds doesn't mean
like hit the crowds of people it means
take action to do something before the
crowd of people arrives and that action
will be to see the afternoon movie so
let's beat the crowds means let's do
something before this crowd of people in
the second example sentence its I left
the house early to beat the rush hour
traffic we see rush hour traffic is the
thing to beat so again it doesn't mean
hitting rush hour traffic it means doing
something in this case leaving the house
early
to beat in order to avoid rush-hour
traffic
so we're doing something before this
other negative thing happens so in these
examples it's a large crowd of people
and rush-hour traffic so we do something
to avoid that thing to do something
before that thing happens okay let's go
on to the third meaning for this verb
the third meaning for this verb is to be
more enjoyable than something else to be
more enjoyable than something else
examples
enjoying some Sun on the beach sure
beats working in an office relaxing at
home beats spending the day shopping so
both of these example sentences present
two ideas one of which is better than
the other in the first example sentence
enjoying the Sun on the beach beats or
is better than is more enjoyable than
working in an office in the second
example sentence relaxing at home beats
or is more enjoyable than spending the
day shopping so we're comparing two
things and the thing that is better we
use beats just after that so when you
want to use this pattern you can just
say a beats B and where a is better than
B a is more enjoyable than me
the fourth meaning here is to have a
regular movement like to have a rhythmic
movement that is regular in some way
examples my heart was beating fast after
my run the birds wings beat the air in
the first example sentence my heart was
beating fast after my run it means the
rhythm of my heart the steady regular
rhythm of my heart was fast after my run
so the rhythm was constant but it was
quick so in the second example sentence
about the bird's wings it's this motion
the birds wings beat the air so there's
a rhythmic a steady motion happening the
birds wings beat the air meaning it's
always it's like going regularly here so
we can see this use of beat as well to
refer to a regular kind of rhythmic
motion
let's move on to some variations and how
we can use this then the first variation
is to beat someone to something to beat
someone to something means to do
something before someone else so it kind
of has that meaning of defeat that we
talked about before examples I was gonna
book tickets for the show but you beat
me to it all my coworkers beat me to the
office this morning
so in these expressions beat me to
something mean someone did something
before me in the first example sentence
I was gonna book tickets for the show we
see the past tense I was gonna I was
going to book tickets for the show but
you beat me to it
so this is quite common you beat me to
it means you did that thing I just
talked about before me so I plan to do
it but you did it before me you beat me
to it this is quite a common expression
to use in the second example sentence
all my co-workers beat me to the office
this morning it means all my co-workers
got to the office before me this morning
so when you want to talk about someone
doing something before you you can say
they beat me to the office keep in mind
though that this kind of has the nuance
a little bit of competition like there's
something that you want to do before
someone else like there's a little bit
of a competitive feel with this
expression okay
let's go on to the second variation here
the next variation is beat yourself up
to beat yourself up this means to be
very negative or critical about yourself
often for no reason or not for a big
reason example don't beat yourself up it
was just a small mistake I think he's
really beating himself up for declining
that job offer
okay in the first example sentence don't
beat yourself up this is a very common
expression it means don't be so negative
about yourself in this case we followed
this expression with it was just a small
mistake so in other words it's not a big
problem don't beat yourself up don't be
so negative to yourself for such a small
mistake in the second example sentence I
think he's really beating himself up for
dick
that job offer it means he's thinking
really really negatively about his
decision he's thinking about himself
critically like oh it wasn't a good idea
I shouldn't have done that he's really
down maybe disappointed in himself for
declining the job offer though maybe
it's not a big deal it's not an
important situation so he doesn't need
to beat himself up or he is beating
himself up about it in this case so he's
upset in other words but maybe he
doesn't need to be okay so those are a
few different ways that you can use the
verb beat I hope that you found
something new of course if you have any
questions comments or if you'd like to
try out a different way of using the
word beat please feel free to do so in
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Studies thanks very much for watching
this episode of know your verbs and
we'll see you again soon bye Mike
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