Let us take the example of the phrasal verb to cool down or calm down........... which seem to come from adjectives, ???????does cool down mean: become hotter (if you imagine the coolness disappearing, you'll feel hotter, or if the calmness goes down you'll become more irritated?????????)
When you are an advanced student these are common questions and the best thing you can do is always check and check in an English-English dictionary to allow you to get the meaning in English and avoid comparing your idea with your own language. My favourite dictionary for phrasal verbs is
WordReference.com and this is how you can do it.
Step 1. Type the original verb without the preposition in the dictionary and you get the general idea and the meaning of the verb and the phrasal verb too: This is what you get for COOL DOWN.....
.v.
- to (cause to) become cool:[no object]The cake cooled on the plate.[~ + off]We cooled off with a quick swim.[~ + object]The air conditioner cooled the room adequately.[~ + object + off]The swim in the river cooled us off.[~ + off + object]They cooled off the horse by pouring water on its back.
- to (cause to) become less excited, friendly, interested, or cordial:[no object]She cooled visibly when I invited her to my house.[~ + object]Disappointment cooled whatever enthusiasm she might have had.
- cool down:
- to (cause to) become cooler:[no object]The feverish child just wouldn't cool down.[~ + object + down]They tried cold washcloths to cool her down.[~ + down + object]to cool down the patients.
- to (cause to) become less angry or excited; (cause to) become calm:[no object]She finally cooled down enough to talk about the fight.[~ + object + down]I took him aside and cooled him down before he did anything crazy
Step 2. Now type the verb with the preposition......and look for its meaning in Spanish and you'll get this:
cool down
| Principal Translations | ||
| cool down vi phrasal | (become less hot) | enfriarse v prnl |
| Give the cookies ten minutes to cool down. | ||
| Dejaré que se enfríe en la nevera. | ||
| cool down vi phrasal | figurative, informal (become less angry) | aplacarse, sosegarse v prnl |
| El paciente se había puesto violento, hubo que inyectarle un tranquilizante para que se aplacara. | ||
| cool [sth]/[sb] down vtr phrasal sep | (make less hot) | enfriar⇒ vtr |
| Para enfriar la mezcla colóquela en un baño de hielo. | ||
| cool down vi phrasal | figurative (feeling: lessen) | enfriarse v prnl |
| Con el tiempo la pasión inicial se va enfriando. | ||
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'cool down' found in these entries
Spanish:
refrescar - refrescarse un poco - templar - acondicionar - apaciguar -atemperar - enfriar - entibiar
Forum discussions with the word(s) "cool down" in the title:
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Have a great day everybody!
