In this mini episode, you will learn an interesting way to use the phrasal verb “go for.”
Episode 366 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you an interesting way to use the phrasal verb “go for.” Send your questions about English and your comments and suggestions to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hello, this is Carla, from Brazil. And you’re listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 366 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to teach you an interesting way to use a certain phrasal verb. The phrasal verb I’m thinking of is go for. To go for.
This phrasal verb has more than one meaning. And in this episode, I’m going to tell you about an interesting way to use this phrasal verb. You might not believe it, but the phrasal verb go for can mean “to have a certain price.”
First, let me give you an example of the way that we use this phrasal verb with this meaning, with the meaning about buying and selling things.
Imagine that somebody goes into a jewelry store, and this person is looking at some necklaces. For some reason, none of these necklaces have a price tag. So, no one knows the price of the necklaces.
If the person is interested in buying this one necklace, he can ask, “What does this necklace cost? What does this necklace go for?”
Doesn’t that sound a little strange? “What does this necklace go for?” That means “What is the price of this necklace? How much are you selling this necklace for? What does it go for?”
I think I can explain why go for can have this meaning. I think the idea is something like this: If I work in this store, and I am deciding the price of everything, I am saying, “I will let this necklace go—I will let it leave my store—in exchange for this much money.” Or, in other words, “If you pay me this amount of money—if you pay me $100—I will let this necklace go with you when you leave. If you pay me $100, I will say it is okay for this necklace to go, to leave my store, to leave with you. It can go in exchange for $100. It’s okay for you to take it if you pay me $100.”
And so, to go for means “to have this price, to cost this much money.”
You will hear people say things like, “This motorcycle went for $5,000.” In other words, “I was able to buy this motorcycle for $5,000.” Or “I heard that celebrity’s new house went for $10,000,000.” I heard this celebrity’s house went for $10,000,000.” In other words, I heard that this celebrity bought the house for $10,000,000.
That is go for, an interesting phrasal verb that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 366 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Carla recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode. And until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!