Many English learners find it difficult to remember phrasal verbs. A great learning strategy is to read them in a story. This helps you see how the words work in real life. Today, we will look at the verb run through the story of Sarah, a woman who followed her dreams.
Learning these expressions will help you improve your English fluency and sound more natural when you speak with native speakers.
The Story: Sarah’s Bakery
Sarah Starts a New Life
Sarah had always dreamed of opening her own bakery. After years of saving her money, she finally decided to run away from her boring office job. To run away usually means to flee or leave a situation to start something new. With a lot of determination, she rented a small shop in the city and began baking.
However, after a few months, she ran out of money. To run out means that you have used all of your supply and have nothing left. The cost of ingredients and equipment had run up a very large bill. When you run up a bill, it means the total cost is increasing or accumulating.
A Helping Hand
One afternoon, Sarah ran into her old friend Alex at a cafe. To run into someone means to meet them unexpectedly. Alex was an experienced businessman. He offered Sarah great advice and even ran off a list of people who might want to invest in her bakery. To run off a list means to print or produce a copy of it quickly.
Sarah felt hopeful again. She decided to run with Alex’s suggestion and talk to the investors. To run with an idea means to accept it and start acting on it. She ran through her presentation many times to make sure she was ready. To run through something means to practice or review it quickly. The investors were impressed and gave her the money she needed.
Success and Giving Back
As the bakery grew, Sarah kept running into new challenges, but she never gave up. Years later, her bakery became famous in the community. She wanted to help other people, so she decided to run for a position on the local business council. To run for a position means to campaign for a job in an election.
She was running against some very experienced people. To run against someone means to compete with them. Sarah worked very hard and shared her vision for the city. In the end, she won the election. As she stood on the stage, she thought about the day she first decided to run away from her old life to chase her dreams.
Dictionary: Common Phrasal Verbs with Run
To help you master phrasal verbs, here is a simple list of the words used in the story and a few extra ones for your daily life.
- Run away: To leave a place or a situation suddenly.
- Run out: To have no more of something left.
- Run into: To meet someone by surprise.
- Run up: To let a debt or a bill grow larger.
- Run off: To print or make copies of a document.
- Run through: To practice or review information.
- Run with: To accept an idea and start working on it.
- Run for: To try to win an election for a specific job.
- Run against: To compete against another person.
- Run over: To hit something with a car or bicycle.
- Run down: To say bad things about someone or criticize them.
- Run by: To tell someone an idea to see if they like it.
How to Remember These Verbs
If you want to grow your vocabulary through reading, try to write your own short story using three of the verbs above. You can also use our Phrasal Verbs Flashcards to test yourself every morning.
If you found this story helpful, you might also like our Phrasal Verb Story with Bring or our Phrasal Verb Quiz 1 to check your progress.
