MicroEnglish.

Live up to
Phrasal Verbs | B2

Listening exercises with “Live up to”

to live up to something is a useful phrasal verb to talk about your reaction to something, specifically to say whether it was better or worse than you were expecting or hoping.

There are a few ways you can use this (and similar) expressions, depending on how you feel:

The film didn’t live up to my expectations = the film was worse than I was expecting

The film lived up to my expectations = the film was as good as I was expecting

The film exceeded my expectations = the film was better than I was expecting.

You can also use this phrasal verb to ask someone what they thought of something, and how their opinion compared to their expectations. e.g. How was the meal last night? Did it live up to your expectations?

Have a go at these micro-dictation exercises to hear this expression being used in context – how much can you understand?

Accent: English (RP)

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. .
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The film disappointing . didn't expectations.
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The film a bit disappointing . It didn't really up to expectations.
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Accent: Northern England

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Luke .
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Luke is haunted that he never his father's .
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Luke is haunted the that he never up his father's .
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About the sentence

Accent: North America

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? ?
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the concert the other day? Did it your ?
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How the concert you to the other day? Did it up to your ?
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About the sentence

In

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28 responses

  1. amens Avatar
    amens

    I was expecting good result in my fourth year of bacheolars but it didn’t live up to my expectations

    Reply
    1. Chris Bargery Avatar
      Chris Bargery

      Good example Amen, sorry to hear about your fourth year results!

      Small correction: it should be “in the fourth year of my bachelor’s”, but it would actually sound more natural if you said, “in the fourth year of my degree”. We usually refer to a bachelor’s degree as a degree, and then a master’s degree as a master’s (e.g. you might say, “I’m planning on doing a master’s next year”).

      Reply
  2. mferna Avatar
    mferna

    Awesome listening practice this is close to c1 level test

    Reply
    1. Chris Bargery Avatar
      Chris Bargery

      Thanks Milton, glad you like it!

      Reply
  3. Veronica Silva Avatar
    Veronica Silva

    My country has always suffered from different natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcano eruptions, floods, tsunami, fire, etc. I wish this year wouldn’t have any natural disaster and it will live up my expectations.

    Reply
    1. Chris Bargery Avatar
      Chris Bargery

      Hi Veronica, really good example.

      Be careful with ‘wish’ – in English, we don’t use this verb to talk about the future. For that, you would normally use ‘hope’.

      ‘Wish’ is used to express things that you want to change but can’t – it’s a way of talking about regrets.

      Because we can change the future (and you can’t regret something that hasn’t happened yet), it doesn’t make sense to use wish when talking about the future.

      So in your example, you could say: “I really hope this year we don’t have any natural disasters”. I hope so too.

      Well done!

      Reply
  4. Sveta Avatar
    Sveta

    Actually I have the example not from my recent experience 🙂 I love the cartoon “How to train your dragon” very much! To everyone who knows me well it’s not a surprise I’m waiting for the new part (not sure if “part” is appropriately used). Hope it will live up to my expectations! 🙂

    Reply
    1. Chris Bargery Avatar
      Chris Bargery

      I watched the first one the other day, it’s great!

      Unfortunately, sequels to good films often don’t live up to expectations. Hopefully the next How to Train Your Dragon will be an exception 🙂

      By the way, instead of ‘part’ you could say the next film, new film, or next instalment (that’s a bit more formal).

      Reply
  5. Marisela Avatar
    Marisela

    Well, last year I was dating a handsome guy, but the more I know him, the less I I like him because he was such a self-centered person, show-off and much of what he used to talk about was nonsense for me. Shortly after, I realised that he didn’t live up to my expectations so I decided to split up.

    Many of my friends who come to visit Bogota find the city more exciting and lively than they were expecting. When I ask them what they think of the city they tell me: “this city really has lived up to my expectations”. That make me feel great because that means they are very likely to come back some day, meet each other and have fun.

    Reply

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