Professional English Practice · Phrasal Verbs
19 · THROUGH: traversal, completion, connection, and breakthrough
Getting through it, seeing it through, reaching the other side, and breaking past the barrier.
ACCESS
Read the scene and notice the moves in bold. One of them, power through, is never taught in this book. Before you read on, let the particle show you what it means.
A sales team with two days left in the quarter, hunting for the gap to the number.
Rosa Two days left. We push through the pipeline review tonight and find the gap.
Ty The Halvorsen deal keeps stalling. I can't get through to their new VP.
Rosa Keep trying. If Halvorsen comes through, we hit the number.
Ty I'll follow through on the pricing they asked for and see the renewal through by Friday.
Rosa Good. We'll power through the forecast tonight, even if it takes until midnight.
Ty And I'll cut through the procurement red tape. Their legal team is the real blocker.
ANALYSIS
ONE QUESTION RUNS THIS WHOLE UNIT
What is on the other side?
Through is one picture: in one end and out the other. What separates the senses is what waits on the far side: the end of something hard, the end of a commitment, another person, or an opening where a barrier used to be.
The structure
Through's hub is physical: from one end to the other. Walk through a door, drive through a tunnel. Every abstract sense in this unit is that passage applied to hardship, a commitment, a connection, or a barrier.
In the traversal sense, you get through something hard and come out the far side: get through, push through. In the completion sense, you carry a thing all the way to its end: see it through, follow through. In the connection sense, you reach the far side and connect: get through to a person, come through. In the breakthrough sense, you pierce a barrier: break through, cut through.
Traversal
- Sense
- you come out the far side of something hard
- How you know
- the passage cost something
- Use it to
- report surviving a stretch, rather than finishing a task
Completion
- Sense
- a commitment is carried all the way to its end
- How you know
- somebody promised, and the verb says they kept it
- Use it to
- report a promise honored, not a job completed
Connection
- Sense
- you reach the far side and the other person receives it
- How you know
- there is a person at the other end
- Use it to
- report being understood, not merely being heard
Breakthrough
- Sense
- a barrier is pierced and an opening appears
- How you know
- there was something solid in the way before
- Use it to
- report a breakthrough, not an improvement
The literal sense sits at the top, and all four senses under it belong to this unit. This particle does not split across two.
Getting through it, and getting through to them
The same two words carry two of these senses, and one small preposition separates them.
Get through the week and the week is the tunnel: you are the one who came out the other side. Get through to somebody and the person is on the far side: what came out was your meaning, and they received it.
That to is doing real work, and it is the kind of detail worth trusting, because it is regular. Where the far side holds a person, the preposition appears.
The test you can run with no book
Ask: who or what is waiting at the far end?
Nothing but relief, and it is traversal. The end of what you promised, and it is completion. A person, and it is connection. An opening that was not there before, and it is breakthrough.
Traversal and completion get mixed up most, and the check is whether anybody promised anything. You get through a hard week nobody asked you to have. You follow through on something you said you would do.
The mechanical half: connection takes to, and the others do not. If the sentence has to and a person after it, the sense is connection.
One idea covers them all: through means in one side and out the other, and the only question is what you pass through: a hard stretch, a commitment you carry to the end, a line that finally connects, or a barrier you pierce. This is why get through the week and get through to the client differ, though they share a verb and 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 through, in the correct form.
Spot and fix the error
Each sentence has one mistake. Rewrite it correctly.
1. I can't get through to their new VP.
2. The vendor came through with the parts on time.
3. Let's follow through on what we promised the client, not just check in later.
4. I finally saw the renewal through to signature.
5. We need to cut through the red tape before we can close.
Rewrite with a phrasal verb
Replace the formal verb with a verb plus through that carries the same meaning.
1. I had to sit through the whole three-hour pipeline review.
2. Can you put me through to their new VP?
3. If Halvorsen comes through, we hit the number.
4. Rosa started the Halvorsen renegotiation and Ty carried it through.
5. I'll cut through the procurement red tape.
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. “With no playbook, the team muddled through the migration.”
2. “The renewal looked dead, but it pulled through at the last minute.”
3. “Dispatch patched the customer's call through to the on-call rep.”
muddle through: to get through something messily, without a clear plan. Traversal sense.
pull through: to survive or succeed after it looked doubtful. Completion sense.
patch through: to connect a call or signal by relaying it. Connection sense.
Particle swap
Same verb, three particles, one right answer. Choose the particle the situation needs.
Vocabulary: persistence and closing
Match each expression to its meaning.
Vocabulary in context
Complete each sentence with an expression from G.