Phrasal Verbs con Back

Los phrasal verbs con back implican:

1. Un movimiento hacia atrás

2. Una reducción

3. La acción de devolver algo

COME BACK / GO BACK

La historia de come y go es muy sencillo, pero no es exactamente tan sencillo como ir y

venir.

Se usa come para un movimiento hacia donde estás ahora. Y go para un movimiento
hacia otra parte. La regla general es:

Come here, go somewhere else.

Tengo un video donde explico mejor el tema en YouTube: Cómo usar Come y Go.

“Here” siempre es donde está la persona que está hablando.

Lo mismo pasa con come back y go back. Se ha dicho que “come back” es volver, pero
“go back” también es volver. ¿Cuál es la diferencia? Pues, que come back es hacia
donde estoy en el momento de decirlo. Y go back es a otro sitio.

Come back = volver (aquí)

Go back = volver (a otro sitio)

He lives here in Madrid, but he always goes back to his village when he can. (Estamos en
Madrid)

She’s studying in London, but she’s coming back to Madrid in June. (Estamos en Madrid)

My boss is on a business trip, but he’s coming back to the office on Friday. (Estamos en la
oficina)

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I hope to go back to university next year to study a Master’s degree. (Ahora no estoy en la
universidad)

Come back! Don’t run away! (Vuelve hacia donde estoy yo)

CUT BACK

Cut back = recortar o reducir. El sustantivo, cutbacks, son recortes.

The doctor told me I need to cut back on cholesterol.

Due to cutbacks in their budgets, a lot of schools are eliminating art classes.

I’m afraid were going to have to cut back on the number of employees in the Paris office.
Business isn’t very good.

If you don’t have any money, maybe you should cut back your spending.

TAKE SOMETHING BACK

“Take back” es devolver algo que has comprado a la tienda, o devolver algo /alguien a un
sitio.

I’m going to take these shoes back to the shop. I’ve only worn them once and they’re
already falling apart.

I have to take these books back to the library tomorrow. (recuerda: library es “biblioteca”)

Don’t worry. I’ll take you back home later.

I picked Maria up at the airport when she arrived, and took her back to the airport when
she left.

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GIVE SOMETHING BACK

Give back = devolver algo a su dueño

That’s my phone! Give it back!

He borrowed those books from me months ago. I wonder when he’s going to give them
back to me.

I gave the drill back to Mike last week. (drill = taladro)

Thanks for letting me use your umbrella. I’ll give it back to you tomorrow.

PAY SOMEONE BACK

Pay someone back = devolver un dinero prestado

He helped me when I needed money, so now I have to pay him back.

I took out a loan when I bought my car, and I’ve been paying it back for two years. (En
este caso, it se refiere al préstamo, porque el banco es una cosa más impersonal.)

I forgot my wallet. Can you lend me 20 pounds? I’ll pay you back tomorrow.

I’m going to pay Pedro back as soon as I get paid. (get paid = cobrar, recibir el salario.)

CALL BACK / WRITE BACK

Call back = devolver la llamada. Write back = contestar por escrito.

My grandmother wrote me a letter. I’m going to write her back.

I got a lot of emails yesterday. I’ll never write back to all these people!

Hey Maria, it’s John. Call me back when you have time.

I couldn’t answer the phone when Maria called, so I called her back later.

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GET BACK TO SOMEBODY

Get back to somebody puede ser call back, write back, etc. Es “volver a comunicar con
alguien” pero no es muy específico.

I don’t know if I can go to the music festival. I’ll get back to you as soon as I have a better
idea.

I made an offer for that house, and I’m waiting for the owner to get back to me. I hope he
accepts!

Get back to me later. I’ll be at the office till 7 o’clock.

I’m not really sure. Let me ask my boss and I’ll get back to you tomorrow.

THINK BACK

Think back = pensar en el pasado

When I think back, I realize that I made a lot of mistakes when I was younger.

Okay, think back. When was the last time you saw your keys?

If you think back to the last time you did that, you can see it’s not a very good idea.

LOOK BACK

Look back puede ser literalmente “mirar hacia atrás” o puede ser “pensar en el
pasado” (igual que think back)

Now that I’m older, I spend a lot of time looking back at my life…

He looked back and saw that he had left the door open.

She turned around and looked back one last time before walking away forever.

When I look back on it now, I don’t know why I studied law. It seemed like a good idea at
the time!


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