Learn how to use the verb "Send"
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| Hi, everybody. My name is Alisha. Welcome back to Know Tour Verbs. In this episode, we're going to talk about the verb, "send." Let's go. |
| Let's begin with the basic definition of the verb, "send." The basic definition is to cause something to move from one place to another, especially by post or by email. So, "post," meaning by mail. So, sending something by mail. To send, to cause something to move from one place to another place by mail or by email (digital). Okay. Examples of this, "Send me the files." "I sent my friend a postcard." |
| Let's look at the conjugations for this verb. Present, send, sends. Past, sent. Past participle, sent. Progressive, sending. |
| Now, let's look at some additional meanings for this verb. First additional meaning for this lesson is to cause someone to go and do something. So, it's like you make a request for someone to go away from you and take care of an action, to do something for you. Examples, "We sent the interns to the store to buy office supplies." "The prime minister sent his team to a room to prepare a speech." So, in both of these examples, someone or some group of people is being sent to a different location for a purpose. In the first example sentence, "We sent the interns to the store," so, that's the place, the interns were sent to the store to buy office supplies. So, in that case, the interns were sent for the purpose of buying office supplies. In the second example sentence, "The Prime Minister sent his team to a room," so, the place is a room; the purpose is to prepare a speech. So, we can use "send" to describe that, asking someone or a group of people to go somewhere and do something. That's one meaning of "send." |
| Let's go on to the second additional meaning of this verb for this lesson. The second additional meaning for this lesson is to cause someone to do something, or to cause something to happen. So, this is quite an open meaning. So, let's look at this with some examples. "The turbulence sent the airplane passengers into a panic." "I listen to music at night. It sends me to sleep right away." So, in the first example sentence, I said, "The turbulence sent the airplane passengers into a panic." Turbulence is that bumpy motion you feel when you're in an airplane, so, like that bumpy, uneasy feeling of air or things that the airplane is not steady. That's called turbulence. So, the turbulence sent the passengers into a panic. So, the turbulence caused the passengers to be in a panic. We use "send" in that way, sent the passengers into a panic, to send someone into a panic. So, it's like to cause someone to enter a state of panic. That's how we can understand this expression. But, we use "sent" instead. It's much shorter than "cause someone to become in a state of." So, we use "sent" instead. In the second example sentence, I said, "I listen to music at night. It sends me to sleep right away." I'm using the present tense there, "it sends me to sleep." So, "it sends me" means it causes me to be in a state of sleep. So, it sends me to sleep right away. It causes me to sleep, in other words. So, we use "send" to mean causing something to happen or causing someone to do something, panic, in this case, or sleep. |
| Okay. Let's move along now to some variations of how to use this verb. There are quite a few. Let's look at the first one. The first variation is "to send for." To send for. So, we can use this as "to send for someone" or "to send for something." This actually means to request someone or something to come. And, it's often through a written request. This sounds old-fashioned, actually. But, let's look at some examples. "Send for the doctor." "He sent for his mother." So, in the first example, "send for the doctor," it means like "ask the doctor to come here, please," or, "I would like to request that the doctor come here, please." Send for someone. So, that means I want that person to come here. In the second example sentence, "He sent for his mother." It means, he, the subject here, he wanted his mother to come to where he was. So, "he sent for his mother." So, when we use "sent" in this way, as I said, it's rather old-fashioned. You might hear this if you watch movies that are set in older time periods, but, I don't know, maybe old literature movies, for example. This is used for people who are not in the same place at that time. They are, maybe, across the house or they are in a city, or they're in a different town. They're far away from the person making the request, usually. So, room is probably not true. It could mean in the same house, if it's a big house. So, this is giving the image that it's a big request, "to send for that person." |
| The next variation is "to send back." To send back. This means to cause something to go back to an earlier location or an earlier status. Let's look at some examples. "He sent the steak back to the kitchen; it was horribly overcooked." "I'll send the file back to you with my comments attached." So, in the first example sentence, it's about sending a steak back to a kitchen. So, in other words, there was a problem with the steak and the diner sent back the steak. So, we will actually divide this phrasal verb, "to send back." We say, "to send the steak back," in this case. So, the steak falls between "send' and "back" here. So, it was returned to the kitchen. It was given back to an earlier location here, "sent back to the kitchen." So, presumably, to fix it or to improve somehow, or to make the situation better in some way. So, maybe, he'll get a new steak, we can imagine. So, "to send something back" refers to moving something to an earlier location; or, as we see in the second sentence, "I'll send the file back to you with my comments attached," so, that means I'm going to return the file to you, who maybe originally had it. So, I'm going to give it back to you. I'm going to return it to its earlier location, with you, but my comments will be attached. So, please look at that. So, there will be some update, in other words. So, "to send back" means to send something to an earlier location, an earlier status. |
| So, let's move along to the next variation. The next variation is "to send packing," to send someone packing. This means to dismiss someone quickly or very roughly. It has a negative image about it. So, examples, "He sent her packing when he found out she had three other boyfriends." "When the company discovered the thief, they sent him packing right away." So, this means quick dismissal, like quickly saying, "Go away," or, "No, you're out. You're finished. You're done. You've been dismissed. You're fired, for whatever reason." So, in the first example, "he sent her packing because he found out she had three other boyfriends," that means he broke up with her, he sent her away, he ended their relationship quickly. So, there was nothing graceful about it. It was over. It was finished. It was done. The same thing in the second example sentence, "The company discovered a thief. They sent him packing," means they sent him away, they fired him quickly. So, the image here, to send someone packing, is, I guess, you could imagine you dismissed them so quickly like they're still carrying their things; maybe, they're trying to pack their things in a backpack and carry it away with them. It's so fast. So, you send them away. To send them packing. So, some thing quickly, ending quickly, dismissing someone quickly. |
| All right. So, those are a few variations and a few, maybe, additional meanings, some new meanings, maybe, of the verb, "send." So, I hope that that was helpful for you and I hope you picked up something new that you can use. Of course, if you have any questions or any comments, or if you'd like to try to make an example sentence, please feel free to do so in the comment section of this video. Thanks very much for watching this episode of Know Your Verbs and we'll see you again next time. Bye-bye! |
| Oh, my goodness. Hello. This is me sending over out in the door, a letter. |
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