Professional English Practice · Phrasal Verbs
18 · OVER: transfer, review, excess, and concealment
Handing across, looking again, spilling past, and covering up.
ACCESS
Read the scene and notice the moves in bold. One of them, mull over, is never taught in this book. Before you read on, let the particle show you what it means.
A consulting team wrapping an engagement, the week before the client's staff take it on.
Dev The engagement's wrapping. We hand over the workstream to the client's team Friday.
Priya Before that, let's go over the findings once more. Two numbers still don't reconcile.
Dev Good. And the project ran over budget by nine percent. The client will ask about that.
Priya We don't gloss over it. We show exactly where the scope grew.
Dev Agreed. Let's mull over how to frame the overrun before the call.
Priya I'll talk it over with the client lead first, so nothing boils over in the room.
ANALYSIS
ONE QUESTION RUNS THIS WHOLE UNIT
What is crossing, and what is underneath?
Over is two pictures at once: across, and above. Ask which one the sentence is using: something moving across from one hand to another, attention passing back and forth, a quantity crossing its edge, or a cover laid on top of something.
The structure
Over's hub is physical: across and above. Climb over a wall, spread a cloth over a table. Every abstract sense in this unit is that crossing or covering applied to control, attention, a limit, or a flaw.
In the transfer sense, control moves across from one hand to another: hand over, take over. In the review sense, attention passes back and forth: go over, talk over. In the excess sense, something crosses the edge of its container: run over, boil over. In the concealment sense, a cover is laid across a flaw: gloss over, paper over.
Transfer
- Sense
- control moves across from one hand to another
- How you know
- somebody had it before and somebody else has it now
- Use it to
- report a handover of responsibility, not of an object
Review
- Sense
- attention passes back and forth across a thing
- How you know
- the thing is examined, not moved
- Use it to
- report a review done together
Excess
- Sense
- something crosses the edge of what held it
- How you know
- there was a limit and the thing exceeded it
- Use it to
- report an overrun, not a failure
Concealment
- Sense
- a cover is laid across a flaw
- How you know
- the flaw is still there underneath
- Use it to
- name the act of smoothing something over rather than fixing it
The literal sense sits at the top, and all four senses under it belong to this unit. This particle does not split across two.
Across, and on top of
The four senses split cleanly into the two halves of the picture, and knowing which half you are in settles most of the choice.
Hand over and go over are the across half: something travels from one side to another, whether it is control or attention. Run over and gloss over are the above half: something is on top of something else, either spilling past its edge or covering it.
Talk over sits in a useful spot between them. Talk something over with a colleague and you are reviewing; talk over a colleague and you are on top of them. One particle, two halves, and the sentence tells you which.
The test you can run with no book
Ask: is something traveling, or is something on top?
Traveling from one party to another is transfer; traveling back and forth over a thing is review. On top and spilling past the edge is excess; on top and hiding what is beneath is concealment.
The concealment sense is the one to check for at work, because it is a judgment disguised as a description. Saying a report glosses over a risk says the risk is real and the report is not.
The mechanical half: excess takes a measure. It ran over by three weeks, came in over by nine percent. Nothing glosses over by three weeks.
One idea covers them all: over means across or covering, and the only question is what goes across: control, attention, a spilling quantity, or a covering laid over a flaw. This is why go over the numbers and gloss over the numbers are near opposites, though they share a particle.
ACTIVATION
Work down the page: the form first, then the strangers, then the particle choices, then the words, then say one out loud.
Complete the form
Use the verb in brackets plus over, in the correct form.
Spot and fix the error
Each sentence has one mistake. Rewrite it correctly.
1. The project ran over budget by nine percent.
2. We hand the workstream over to the client Friday.
3. We won't gloss over the overrun in the report.
4. Let's talk the numbers over before the call.
5. The client will take over the account next quarter.
Rewrite with a phrasal verb
Replace the formal verb with a verb plus over that carries the same meaning.
1. We hand over the workstream to the client Friday.
2. I'd like to think over the offer before we answer.
3. The delay in the discovery phase spilled over into the client handover week.
4. Priya spent an hour smoothing over the client after the overrun call.
5. I'll talk it over with the client lead first.
Match the halves
Join each opening to the ending that completes it.
Meet a Stranger
These three are not taught anywhere in this book. Reason from the particle, then reveal the key.
1. “The founder signed over her shares to the family trust.”
2. “The launch event was so packed that the energy brimmed over.”
3. “The vendor brushed over the security gap in the demo.”
sign over: to transfer legal ownership to someone else. Transfer sense.
brim over: to overflow with more than can be contained. Excess sense.
brush over: to treat something important too lightly. Concealment sense.
Particle swap
Same verb, three particles, one right answer. Choose the particle the situation needs.
Vocabulary: handovers and review
Match each expression to its meaning.
Vocabulary in context
Complete each sentence with an expression from G.