Phrasal verbs: to carry along

[Tamara]

Hi, everybody,

I permanently have lots of problems with phrasal verbs.
This morning I posted a message with an example that has confused me just recently.
Alan (thanks a lot, Alan!) kindly gave me his explanation on the verb meaning, but as my example seemed to be disputable, proposed to continue in the more appropriate forum

Well, I’ll take the occasion.

The initially quoted phrase was taken from ‘hand-out’ materials (I am a (UK) ESOL learner).
As far as I can remember this was a tutorial on the language of common newspapers and popular magazines (like The Observer Magazine) and discussing (imagined or real) situations.
(The very end of the tutorial, when usually we are playing with language in imaged and fun situations).

The general context is the following (I’ve got only a page with the (xerocopied) text and have no idea about the source).

Small ads
…
[size=142]WEDDING DRESS, never been worn. Size 12, cream, Chinese silk. Full length. sleeveless. Wedding items, new bargain. ?120 [/size]

Read the article and answer the questions.

Ben, a struggling DJ with no money, proposed the night before Felicity flew home to Melbourne. They had been going out for two years. When he proposed, she thought marriage was exactly what she wanted.
…
Her mother knew a fashionable young dressmaker. Felicity sketched a design, and as the dressmaker gradually put it together, Felicity became carried along by it all.
…
She returned to London ready to marry. But things had changed.
…

7. Why does she want to sell the dress?

[Tamara]

(transferred from New ESL user?)

@Tamara

My Longman Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs (12.000+) tells me:
carry along

1. to carry something with one (syn. carry about)
2. to cause (someone) to share one’s feelings, opinions, etc.
3. to encourage (someone), as to keep trying.

@Alan

Hi Tamara,

Part of your sentences:

Her mother knew a fashionable young dressmaker. Felicity sketched a design, and as the dressmaker gradually put it together, Felicity became carried along by it all.

is an unusual use to me. Carried along to me literally means be transported but I’m not familiar with the use of it in this sentence. I would say: Felicity became quite carried away by/with it all suggesting she was caught up with the dressmaking and was very enthusiastic about it.

Alan

PS

Maybe this kind of discussion should be transferred to another forum:
english-test.net/forum/forum17.html

I undestand the Alan’s idea, but still am not sure with the verb (when it is used for 'physical transportaion. but when - in abstract, indirect sense, as the synonym for carry away

P.S.
Because I am not confident with phrasal verbs, all I can do is being all ears and saying ‘Dear all, please keep talking on the subject, if you are interested’

Regards,
Tamara

[Tamara]

Hi Amy,

Thank you for your response.
Sorry, I have just edited my last post trying to make clear my confusion with the meaning of the verb.

Am I right that carry away is only about mental transportation :), whereas carry along can be also used for physical action, as well (and mostly?) ?

[Yankee]

Hi Tamara

No, “carry away” is also used very often in a physical sense.

I would use “carry along” primarily in a physical sense. ***

Amy

*** Edit:
I might say that ‘someone carried me along in times of trouble’. In other words, the person supported me and helped me keep going when I felt like giving up.

[Tamara]

No, “carry away” is also used very often in a physical sense.

O, no… they both can…

‘his fancy carried him away’ – correct?

‘The disease carried away an infinite number of persons.’ © ABBYY Lingvo

Yess!
As it seems to me :), I’ve got it. The difference, I mean

When someone takes something away from the point or the place we consider – he/she carries it away.
For example, it could be (in my undestanding) main prizes in a competition – right?

When someone take something, has got it and bring it with him/her permanently – he/she carries along with(?) it.

When someone encourages somebody else (as in your example) giving him/her permanent support in his/her difficult time or situation – he carries along
(and the second person in this case is carried along by… - right?)

P.S.
… I can’t comment the above ‘strange’ using of the verb. I just have a page with the text of the exercise.
And the (that) ESL tutor is now inaccessible for me.

P.P.S.
Nice to read you, Amy. I like all your posts, your sense of humour and your energy.

[Yankee]

@Tamara

When someone encourages somebody else (as in your example) giving him/her permanent support in his/her difficult time or situation – he carries along
(and the second person in this case is carried along by… - right?)

Hi Tamara

If you want to use this phrasal verb this way, you definitely need an object in the sentence:

“She had problems and desperately needed moral support. he encouraged and supported her. He carried her along until she could handle things alone.”
OR → She was carried along by him.

Amy

[Conchita]

@Tamara

Felicity became carried along by it all.

Hello Tamara and welcome aboard!

The fact that Felicity wants to sell the dress and perhaps doesn’t even get married after all may influence the way I interpret the sentence. But, as I understand it, she was rather swept/dragged/pulled along by circumstances. In other words, things might have happened a bit too fast and were not totally under her control. Maybe she only went along with the whole thing without even being sure of herself or of what was really happening!

Enjoy the site!

[Tamara]

Hi Amy,

Thank you for ‘carried her along’.
Yes, this is one of my favourite mistakes with phrasal verbs… I often lose (leave out?) an object, especially when it should be put before particle (inside of a transitive phrasal verb).

As for me, it seems completely impossible to keep in memory the loooong list of the phrasal verbs, which could be broken by an object.
This is the list and it isn’t full….

act out, add in, add on, add up, ask in, ask out, ask over, ask up, back up, beat up, bend back, bend up, bind down, bind off, bind over, bind up, block in, block off, block out, block up, bring about, bring off, bring out, bring up, carry out, carry through, clear away, clear off, clear out, clear up, cool down, cool off, cover up, cover over, deal out, divide up, draw back, draw down, draw in, draw off, draw out, draw up, dry off, dry out, drive in, drive off, drive out, eat away, eat up, factor out, figure out, find out, fish out, fish up, fit in, follow up, give away, give back, give in, give out, give over, give up, hand around, hand back, hand down, hand in, hand on, hand out, hand over, lead in, leave in, leave out, level down, level off, level out, line up, live down, live out, look over, look up, make out, make over, make up, mark down, mark off, mark up, move in, move out, paper over, point out, point up, pump in, pump off, pump out, pump up, read over, read in, read out, read off, read through, reason out, rule out, save up, send away, send back, send down, send forth, send out, show in, show off, show out, show around, show up, sleep off, slice away, slice open, slice off, slow down, slow up, smooth away, smooth back, smooth down, smooth off, smooth out, space out, split away, split off, split up, stop up, store up, strip away, strip off, switch off, switch on, take away, take along, take off, take out, take up, think out, think over, try on, try out, turn down, turn off, turn on, turn over, use up, wash away, wash down, wash off, weigh down, work off, work out, work over, work through, write down, write in, write off, write out, write up

O, Dear…
I clearly undestand that fluent language skills are based not on the memorization of plenty of rules, but on the feeling of the language.
I’ve got it for my native language but not for English. As yet, it is just following (to?) the rules… with the hope on… transition… hmm… ‘the transition from quantity to quality’

Thank you, indeed
Tamara

[Tamara]

Hi Conchita,

Thank you for your interesting version and the warm welcome.
I really enjoy the site and feel (as?) carried me along by Forum’s people

Regards,
Tamara