In this mini episode, you will learn the phrase “shape up to be.”
Episode 456 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the phrase “shape up to be.” 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
“Hi, everyone! This is Red, from Fujian, China. And you’re listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 456 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 phrase. The phrase is “shape up to be.” Shape up to be.
That’s s-h-a-p-e, u-p, t-o, b-e. Shape up to be.
What does it mean when we use the phrase “shape up to be? “Shape up to be” means “to develop into something or to progress into something.” It means to become something or to become a certain way.
Let me give you an example of a situation where you might hear the phrase “shape up to be.”
Imagine that you have plans to take a long walk. But in the morning, you see that the weather is terrible. It is very windy and cold and it has started to rain. So you decide not to walk in the morning. You decide to wait because maybe the weather will change, and the weather will become good weather for walking. Later in the day, you realize that the weather has changed. The sun has come out, the rain has stopped, and it is no longer windy.
Now, this looks like good weather for walking. And you might say, “It is shaping up to be a nice afternoon.” It is shaping up to be a nice afternoon. In other words, it is becoming a nice afternoon. Or the day is developing in a certain way so that now it is a nice afternoon. Or things are progressing toward the day being a nice afternoon.
It is shaping up to be a nice afternoon.
I think when we use this phrase, we often use it in the present continuous form: “shaping up to be.” I think you will hear it in that form much more often than you will hear it with other verb tenses. No matter what the tense is, it means the same thing. It means “develop or progress or become a certain thing or a certain kind of thing.”
Let me give you one more example of a situation where someone might say, “shape up to be” or “shaping up to be.”
Imagine that somebody is a basketball fan. This person loves basketball and has a favorite team. And he cares about his favorite team very much. He follows all of the news stories about the team. Imagine at the beginning of the basketball season, when the season has just begun, his favorite team is not very good. They are not doing very well. But then the team starts changing. Maybe they get some new players, or maybe they get a new coach, or they change something else. And now the team is playing very well. The team is doing much better. This person could say something like, “This is shaping up to be a good season.” This is shaping up to be a good season. Or “This is shaping up to be a good team.” This is shaping up to be a good team.
In other words, this is becoming a good team. Or developing into a good team. Or progressing into a good team. Moving toward being a good team.
This is how we use the phrase, “shape up to be.”
That is “shape up to be,” an interesting and useful phrase that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 456 of Everybody ESL. Remember: If you have any 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 Red 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!