The phrasal verbs to sign in/out, to sign off, to sign up, to sign on

—   Hello, boys and girls! My name is Martin Green. This is James Wilson.

—   Our friend Nathaniel is also with us today.

—   Welcome to our grammar lesson!

—   Yesterday we decided to go to the swimming pool.

—   When we got there, we saw two boys. They were twin brothers.

—   They were talking so loudly. Let’s listen to their conversation and you’ll find out the topic of our lesson.

—   Fred, can you tell me everything about the phrasal verbs “to sign in/out”, “to sign off”, “to sign up”, “to sign on” when we return home? I didn’t understand anything!

—   Jake, you needed to listen to the teacher more attentively!

—   Come on, please! If you don’t explain the rule to me, I’ll get a bad mark tomorrow.

—   Well, Jake, to tell the truth, I didn’t understand anything myself.

—   Oh, what should we do now? The teacher told us that we would write the test the following day. And if we get bad marks, mum and dad will forbid us to play computer games for a week.

—   Yes, you’re right! But I don’t know what to do, Jack!

—   The boys were in despair, so we decided to help them.

—   We walked up to them to offer our help.

—   Hello, boys. My name is James. This is Martin. And this is Nathaniel.

—   Hello, sirs! Did we do something wrong?

—   Oh, no, boys! Sorry, we have just happened to overhear your conversation, so we decided to help you.

—   Do you want us to tell you everything about the phrasal verbs “to sign in/out”, “to sign off”, “to sign up”, “to sign on”?

—   Oh, sure! We would be so grateful for that!

—   All right! In this case, let us invite you to our place tomorrow.

—   There we will explain the rule to you. If you are afraid, you can bring your parents with you.

—   Okay, thank you, sirs.

As you can understand, today in the lesson we will:

·        talk about the phrasal verbs “to sign in/out”, “to sign off”, “to sign up”, “to sign on”;

And

·        put the knowledge into a practice.

—   Hello, sirs. We read about you on the Internet yesterday, that’s why we decided not to bring our parents.

—   Okay, boys! If you are ready, let’s start our lesson.

—   Yes, we are!

—   Great! First of all, we will tell you what a phrasal verb is.

A phrasal verb is a verb that is made up of a main verb together with an adverb or a preposition, or both. Typically, their meaning is different from the meaning of its separate parts.

Let’s look at the following two examples and compare them.

The first example:

The man cut his ear yesterday.

(Here we used the original meaning of the verb “to cut”).

And the second example:

Ryan was trying to talk to his dad, but his little sister kept cutting in.

(The meaning of the word “to cut” changed, when we added the preposition “in”. Here the phrasal verb “to cut in” means to interrupt a conversation).

Phrasal verbs can be:

Intransitive (It means that they don’t have an object)

For example:

Marcus and Jillian broke up six weeks ago.

or

Transitive (It means that they have an object)

For example:

The police officer was called to break up the fight between two friends.

Now let’s talk about the phrasal verb “to sign”.

In its primary meaning the phrasal verb “to sign” is translated as “подписывать, подписываться, отмечать, помечать, подавать знак”, but if we use it with the following prepositions: in, out, off, up, on – the meaning of this verb will change completely.

Let’s review all of them.

Sign in.

It has three different meanings.

1. To write your name when you arrive at a place or leave it.

    Записываться, когда приезжаешь в какое-либо место или покидаешь его.

For instance: Excuse me, young lady, you have to sign in before you can enter our club.

2. To open a computer program that requires a name and password.

    Запускать компьютерную программу, которая требует ввода имени и пароля пользователя.

For instance: Megan signed in and started chatting with her best friend Mike online.

3. To register in a hotel.

    Зарегистрироваться в гостинице.

For instance: When Alex signed in, he went straight to his bed. The man was so tired.

The following phrasal verb is sign out.

It has two meanings.

1. To close a computer program that requires a name and password.

    Закрывать компьютерную программу, которая требует ввода имени и пароля пользователя.

For instance: Marry signed out and then she turned off the computer.

2. To sign something in order to show that you have borrowed something.

    Написать расписку о том, что ты взял что-либо.

For instance: Bobby, could you sign those magazines out, please?

Let’s look at the phrasal verb sign off.

There are four different meanings of this verb.

1. To end a conversation or a television or radio broadcast.

    Завершать беседу, прекращать теле- или радиовещание.

For instance: Rachel, let’s sign off now, but we will continue our conversation tomorrow.

2. To close a claim for unemployment benefit.

    Отозвать заявление на получение пособия по безработице.

For instance: Regan signed off when she found her new job.

3. To stop doing something.

    Прекращать что-либо делать.

For instance: Victor, you should sign off and go home! You look so exhausted.

4. To give someone a letter to be away from work.

    Выдать кому-либо больничный лист.

For instance: Amy’s doctor signed her off for two weeks with stomach problems.

The following phrasal verb is sign up.

It has two meanings.

1. To join a group or organization.

  Вступать в группу или организацию.

For instance: Joan signed up for the basketball team this year.

2. To agree to become involved in an organized activity.

  Согласиться участвовать в организационной деятельности. 

For instance: John has signed up to make three cakes for the party.

The last phrasal verb is sign on.

There are four meanings of this verb.

1. To open a claim for unemployment benefit.

    Написать заявление на получение пособия по безработице.

For instance: Max had to sign on when he was fired from his job.

2. To agree to participate in something.

    Согласиться принять участие в чём-либо.

For instance: Barbara has signed on to help the children from Australia.

3. To start broadcasting.

   Подавать знак начала трансляции передачи.

For instance: The man signs on the same way every show.

4. To employ somebody.

    Принять кого-либо на работу.

For instance: Our boss has signed on three new workers.

—   Wow, you are so good at your job!

—   Yeah, I agree with Jake.

—   Thank you, boys!

—   Jake and I understood everything you said.

—   We are glad to hear that! But we would like to check your knowledge if you don’t mind!

—   No problem!

Read the sentences and insert the necessary preposition.

One.

Let’s check.

Jessica signed off when the girl found the job of her dreams.

Two.

Let’s check.

Mrs. Mills, don’t forget to sign in at reception!

Three.

Let’s check.

It's getting dark, so I have to sign off now. But I will write you tomorrow. With love, Oliver.

Four.

Let’s check.

Anthony signed out. Then he switched off the computer and went to bed.

Five.

Let’s check.

Dylan’s doctor signed him off for seven days with health problems.

Six.

Let’s check.

Mr. Phillips has signed on four new software engineers.

Seven.

Let’s check.

Sarah signed up for the baseball team this year.

Eight.

Let’s check.

Excuse me, sir, you need to sign in before you can enter the school.

Nine.

Let’s check.

The company’s workers are asked to sign out as they leave.

Ten.

Let’s check.

Andrew has signed up to buy four pizzas and napkins for his son’s birthday party.

Eleven.

Let’s check.

The man had to sign on when his angry boss fired him.

Twelve.

Let’s check.

Kayla, let’s sign up as volunteers!

—   Good job, boys! Now we see that you understood everything.

—   Yes, it’s true. Thank you very much, sirs.

—   You’re welcome, boys!

—   Now we won’t get bad marks.

—   Hooray!

—   That’s all for today.

—   We hope you liked the lesson.

—   See you soon, our dear friends.