hand in: meaning and explanation
When you hand something in, you give something to someone who is an official or in a position of authority. If you find a wallet in the street, you would hand it in to the police. When a student finishes their work at school, they hand it in to their teacher.
This phrasal verb can be used when you decide to leave your job – you hand in your notice. In this case, you give your resignation letter to your boss or manager.
Have a go at these micro-dictation exercises to hear this expression being used in context – how much can you understand?
Listening exercises
Micro-listening #1
Accent: North America
About the sentence
…Before leaving the hotel…
Notice the structure before doing sth. With before/after, we can use a noun, a gerund or a clause. e.g. Before lunch/before eating lunch/before I eat lunch.
Micro-listening #2
Accent: England (RP)
About the sentence
…After two weeks on the run…
If someone is on the run, then they are trying to avoid being captured by the authorities (usually the police). e.g. The suspect was refused bail because the police suspected that he might go on the run.
Micro-listening #3
Accent: North America
About the sentence
…there’s no chance of me passing the module…
Notice the useful structure chance of something happening. e.g. She’s into the final round of interviews now, so there must be a decent chance of her getting the job.
Extra practice
Here are some questions/links to help you learn the new vocabulary:
- Have you ever handed anything in to the police?
- Can you remember a time when you forgot to hand something in?
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