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A defender hanging on to an attacker's shirt.

Medium: Hanging on

Medium: Hanging on

Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

This episode is medium so we’re looking at football words and phrases you need to describe what’s happening on the pitch or words and phrases fans and commentators on TV might use. There are lots of phrasal verbs to learn at this level.

Summary

Learn more football vocabulary with Premier Skills English. Each lesson in our Premier Vocabulary section looks at one football word or phrase. This lesson looks at the phrase holding on

You can find more lessons on the side of this page.

Transcript

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich and welcome to Premier Skills English - Premier Vocabulary.

Jack: Hi there! I’m Jack. We’re here to help you with your football English. Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. 

Rich: We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

Jack: This episode is medium so we’re looking at football words and phrases you need to describe what’s happening on the pitch or words and phrases fans and commentators might use. There will be lots of phrasal verbs to learn at this level.


Rich: The phrase we’re looking at today is hanging on - but we’re also going to talk about holding on because it means the same thing and is used in exactly the same way.

Jack: So you get two words for the price of one in this episode!

Rich: Exactly - it’s a lexical bargain.

Jack: Both of them are phrasal verbs. Have a listen to this conversation and see if you can understand the phrasal verbs - hang on and hold on.

Rich: Hey Jack! How are you doing?

Jack: Hold on a second. Come in. I’m just watching the match. United are only just hanging on. I think City are going to equalise.

Rich: How long’s left?

Jack: Just a couple of minutes.


Rich: In the conversation, you heard hold on and hang on and they had different meanings. Jack said hold on a minute.

Jack: Here hold on means wait. We usually use it when we are busy and we want someone to wait just for a few seconds or minutes. Can you hold on just a minute?  I’m on my way. That kind of thing.

Rich: We also used hang on in the conversation. We used it to speak about the football match Jack was watching. Jack said United were hanging on.

Jack: In the conversation, City were attacking and United were defending near the end of the game. To hang on means to continue doing something in a difficult situation.

Rich: United were hanging on because they were defending a lot and City were trying to equalise and attacking a lot.


Jack: We said at the beginning that hold on and hang on can mean the same and be used in the same way. Have a listen to the conversation again. What’s changed?

Rich: Hey Jack! How are you doing?

Jack: Hang on a second. Come in. I’m just watching the match. United are only just holding on. I think City are going to equalise.

Rich: How long’s left?

Jack: Just a couple of minutes.


Rich: Did you notice? We swapped hold on and hang on in the conversation and there is no change in meaning.

Jack: What else do we need to know about these phrasal verbs?

Rich: We often say that a team held on or hung on for the win or maybe held on or hung on for a draw or a point.

Jack: We can use the preposition for with both of these phrasal verbs. The team hung on for a draw. United held on for the win.

Rich: Yes, we use for when we use a noun like a draw or a win but when we use a verb form we use to. The team held on to draw or United hung on to win.

Jack: Hang and Hold are both irregular verbs. Hang Hung Hung and Hold Held Held.

Rich: The team held on. United hung on.


Jack: There is the final whistle!

Rich: We’ll be back soon with more Premier Vocabulary from Premier Skills English.

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football.

Discuss

  • Is it better to defend and hang on to a lead or attack and try to score again?

Write your answers in the comments section below.

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Comments

PhuCuong
30/03/2024
VN
103
points

I always feel the urge to keep attacking, even when my team is ahead by one goal.


PhuCuong
30/03/2024 08:27
Vietnam
Arsenal
103

I always feel the urge to keep attacking, even when my team is ahead by one goal.

KareemZain
07/08/2023
EG
383
points

That depends on the opponent and their style of playing, some teams have really strong attack that you better defend and don't try to attack otherwise you will get your defense exposed and be in danger of receiving a goal.


KareemZain
07/08/2023 21:42
Egypt
Manchester City
383

That depends on the opponent and their style of playing, some teams have really strong attack that you better defend and don't try to attack otherwise you will get your defense exposed and be in danger of receiving a goal.

Michaelsun
17/02/2022
CN
738
points

To attack and try to score again is better to defend and hang on to a lead.


Michaelsun
17/02/2022 07:52
China
Manchester United
738

To attack and try to score again is better to defend and hang on to a lead.

Michaelsun
17/02/2022
CN
738
points

To attack and try to score again is better to defend and hang on to a lead.


Michaelsun
17/02/2022 07:52
China
Manchester United
738

To attack and try to score again is better to defend and hang on to a lead.

Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
28/04/2021
BR
1512
points

I love attacking football. There's no way I prefer a team that hangs on to deffense rather than atack.


Gabriel Amaral's picture
Gabriel Amaral
28/04/2021 18:47
Brazil
Arsenal
1512

I love attacking football. There's no way I prefer a team that hangs on to deffense rather than atack.

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
03/12/2020
UA
6562
points

When a team tries to hang on, it's good to have a swift and clever player-"problem-solver", let me say, who might strike a decisive goal or at least have all the opponent's attention on him.


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
03/12/2020 05:30
Ukraine
Liverpool
6562

When a team tries to hang on, it's good to have a swift and clever player-"problem-solver", let me say, who might strike a decisive goal or at least have all the opponent's attention on him.

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
03/12/2020
UA
6562
points

In yesterday's battle, Istanbul were hanging on for a draw against Leipzig but it was of no avail - they lost in the end.


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
03/12/2020 05:26
Ukraine
Liverpool
6562

In yesterday's battle, Istanbul were hanging on for a draw against Leipzig but it was of no avail - they lost in the end.

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
03/12/2020
UA
6562
points

It's always right to defend and hang on to a lead AND counter-attack trying to score if possible.


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
03/12/2020 02:46
Ukraine
Liverpool
6562

It's always right to defend and hang on to a lead AND counter-attack trying to score if possible.

hsn's picture
hsn
03/06/2020
TR
5552
points

The winning team should hang on to score again otherwise the game get slow. I always bored of the matches that two team pre-accepted draw or one point and there was no much goal position in the match.


hsn's picture
hsn
03/06/2020 18:11
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5552

The winning team should hang on to score again otherwise the game get slow. I always bored of the matches that two team pre-accepted draw or one point and there was no much goal position in the match.

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1Alex_from_Ukraine6562
2mobeckham6536
3hsn5552
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4779
6Liubomyr4417
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia74670
2Ukraine33800
3Spain29306
4Serbia27426
5Brazil23326
6Albania20578
7Vietnam20405
8Turkey20047
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United146517
2Liverpool111048
3Chelsea90021
4Arsenal86213
5Manchester City58633
6Tottenham Hotspur19335
7Newcastle United10545
8West Ham United7637
9AFC Bournemouth4887
10Everton4533

Level

3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Goals

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