This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2530, give in versus give up in English.
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Do you ever hear native speakers say the phrase give up?
Do you wonder how it's different from give in?
Today, get all the details you need to use these two phrasal verbs correctly.
Hey there, Michelle.
How's it going?
Hey, Lindsay.
Got a trivia question for you.
Oh, trivia.
I'm ready.
I'm ready.
Okay.
How many teeth does a snail have?
Okay.
I guess I never even knew that snails had teeth.
I don't even know, Michelle.
That's a great question.
I give up.
I give up.
Between 1,000 and 25,000 teeth.
What?
That is so weird.
That's kind of creepy.
How do 25,000 teeth even fit in their mouths?
I don't know.
They're very tiny teeth.
I can't believe it.
Can you believe that?
That's crazy.
I really can't.
Yeah.
Well, I did ask you if you said give up, right?
Yeah.
Because you didn't even know where to start, right?
Yeah.
Do you ever have that, where somebody is like oh, do you, how many something?
Something do you think is this
And you're like, I don't know.
Why are you asking me?
Right.
And then I might just say, I give up.
Just tell me.
Right.
Exactly.
Exactly.
So we're talking about this today because we have a really good listener question from a listener on YouTube.
This is from Nassaral Sibbe for YouTube. seven four zero.
And guys, if you didn't know, we have our channel over on YouTube.
If you prefer to watch the podcast on YouTube, we are over there right now.
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Yes, Michelle, I'll go ahead and read the question from Nassaral.
Are you ready?
Yes.
All right.
So Nassaral says Hey, Michelle and Lindsay, I've been listening to your podcast for almost four years now.
Oh my gosh, Michelle, that is amazing.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Big fan of your show.
I know you like straightforward questions.
That is true.
We do.
So here's mine and hope it will be answered.
What's the difference between give up and give in?
Sometimes it's confusing and feels the same to me.
Thanks.
Love you guys.
Michelle, I love this question.
Yeah.
And you're right, Nassar.
All you know, we do love the straightforward forward questions.
And this is a perfect example of a great question.
Give up and give in.
There we go.
Good question.
And thank you so much for listening to our show for almost four years and for enjoying it.
So we're happy to have you.
Yeah.
Yes.
And before we move any further in the show, I want to say a huge thank you to those who have reviewed us on Apple Podcast or Spotify, wherever you've left a review.
Thank you to Fred Lieb from China.
Thank you to QCC from China, Vaila on October 19th.
And again Janice Winkler, who reviewed us in apple podcast.
Huge thank you to our reviewers and guys.
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All right, that's right, all right, thank you so much, All right.
So let's get into the question.
So let's start with give up because we were already kind of on that road already.
So I asked you a question at the beginning of the episode, a trivia question, and then I said give up.
So what did I mean by that?
Yeah.
You're basically asking me, is it too hard?
Do you want me to just tell you what you're saying?
Right.
Right.
Yeah, exactly.
So So it basically means to like give up can mean to surrender.
Right.
Or just stop something.
Right.
Either because of its difficulty or you don't know or even pertaining to a habit.
Now I know that I just threw a lot at you, but we're going to.
We're going to go over some examples here.
So, yeah, OK, here let's see.
Okay, what number are you thinking of?
I've give up.
I have no idea.
So I surrender, right?
It's too hard.
I'm not going to ask anymore.
I'm not going to make any more guesses, right?
Yeah.
And I think there are kind of two sub meetings of give up here.
There's this, I surrender in terms like, I don't know.
I don't know the answer.
And then there's also I'm going to stop doing something.
Yeah, I surrender.
So there's two ways of surrendering.
You're saying you don't know or you're saying you can't do something anymore.
Right.
So this is the second meaning here.
This example, you can't give up on your 5K.
You're doing so well.
Right.
So I think any time we're preparing for a big race or any competition, we might hit a plateau in our training or hit a dip.
I think some authors have talked about the dip, where we feel like we're just not getting anywhere and we might want to give up at that point.
I mean, I'm sure our listeners can relate to this with English, right?
Like you know, I know that we've talked to listeners about that plateau feeling and you know this feeling of oh well, I want to speak like a native speaker, but I'm stuck at this area, right.
And we might say, well, you can't give up, right?
Yeah.
Yep.
Yeah, there was a funny commercial I saw on TV.
It was related to a medication.
But who is that Australian actress?
She's blonde.
I think her name is Reese something or Rain or I can't think of her name.
Anyway, she's really funny.
She does a lot of comedies.
And it was all about plateaus.
And they had her up on the top plateau in a chair.
And she's like, I'm at the best plateau.
And then someone else is at a lower plateau.
And you had to move to the next plateau.
But, like we experienced this dip in anything we're trying to do losing weight, getting fit, preparing for a race, whatever it is.
And so we can't give up, right?
Yes.
Yes.
And so and now we're going to give a couple different examples that are don't quite fit this.
So she gave up her computer when the computer lab got too crowded.
So yeah, again, here, it's still like to surrender it, right?
You're surrendering it to someone else. right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So you're basically you're giving it, you're giving it to someone, or you're you're returning it or throwing it away or something.
I don't know what you're doing with it.
Oh, okay.
I get it.
I didn't understand what was going on in this.
Actually, it means that she left the room, right?
Is that what we're saying here?
Well, yeah.
Imagine like a big computer lab at school and that's.
You know, maybe it might not be.
Um well, i guess now it would be.
Everybody has a laptop.
But let's say there are desktops, and you know, she's at one of the computer lab desktops, but it's too crowded and people are waiting, and so she's just like oh, i'm gonna, i'm giving up my computer, it's too crowded.
Anyway right, you'll go to work at home.
Yeah, so you are kind of surrendering and you're leaving that space open for someone else.
Um, but we also, we can give something up when we actually just get rid of it too.
Right.
Like, uh, possession, um, giving it to someone else.
Right.
If you don't have space for something in your home.
Right.
Well, it also.
I mean, I'm also thinking of um.
I think I wrote about this for an example in a future episode, but I'll talk about it now too.
I was at Lindsay.
Have you ever been to, um, Reading terminal market in Philadelphia?
Yeah uh probably, but i don't remember it.
It's like a huge food, but yeah, a food market, i mean, like with so many places to eat.
It's incredible, but it is very hot because it is so crowded.
It is so crowded um, but it's kind of one of those things where it's an experience, so you just do it um yeah, so we were there this weekend and it makes me think of when you're waiting for a seat right and so there's, there's not that many seats.
Well, there are a lot of seats, but there are more people, Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Um, So yeah, and then also there's this way, I gave up meat after watching that documentary.
So this is the one about pertaining to a habit, right?
I gave up cheese when I found out I was lactose intolerant, right?
Right.
Or you gave up soda.
I gave up drinking soda in like 1999 when I heard how bad how bad it is for you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we all, over our lifetimes we probably give up certain things food drinks habits, giving up smoking.
Right.
That's a good one.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
So so giving up, stop doing something, stop using something.
What else, Michelle?
Give something over surrender.
You know there are, or also the, I don't know right.
Oh, I give up.
I don't know what's the answer, right?
So there's a lot of meanings here, but in general it's this umbrella idea of ending something and making an effort and stopping doing something right.
There's a lot of, like, I would say that's the overarching theme.
Yep.
Love it.
Okay, we have conquered give up.
Now let's talk about one that might be a little less common for our listeners to hear, but really important to know the difference.
Give in, Michelle.
Is this the same thing?
I mean, what do we need to know?
Yeah, I mean, it's similar in the way that you stop doing something, but it is different, right?
So here you surrender or you stop doing something after you resisted it.
Right.
So there was a time when you were resisting doing, when you resisted doing something, and now you are going to do it.
So after some time, you surrender.
So here's an example.
She asked her mother for a piece of chocolate over and over until she finally gave in.
Yeah.
And it has a sense of also compromising to someone like someone is pushing you to do something.
And yes, you resisted it at first.
And then finally, you're going to give in.
You're going to compromise and you're going to allow something, right?
Yep.
To allow something.
Yeah.
What's another example?
I told him I wasn't going to the gym, but I gave in when he said he would buy me lunch after.
Fair enough.
Working outer.
Yep.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
What else?
Or I am not going to spend $300 on a concert.
I'm not giving in.
Yeah, that means a lot of people are probably pushing you.
And that's important.
Someone has to be trying to convince you to do that, right?
Otherwise it would be a little strange to say you just see the price online and you say I'm not giving in.
That's not quite right because someone needs to be pushing you to give in.
Exactly, right.
So there has to be something on the other side, right?
Right.
You don't generally say I'm not giving in to no one, unless I mean it could be kind of a conflict to yourself or with yourself, I suppose.
But yeah, I mean, or it could be just with with society's rising prices.
Right.
Like you, you know, you see these prices going up.
Maybe you say you're going to change your grocery shopping habits like or you're not going to write something like that
So but there has to be some force on the other side that's pressuring you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Pay that money.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
So.
So again, I mean, how are these different, Lindsay, just to review?
Yeah, let's look at it.
So giving up again, guys, is quitting, not trying anymore, maybe being defeated, surrendering, as we said before.
Giving in is when you agree to something after you've been saying no for a while, right?
So you're going to stop resisting.
And usually someone or something whether that's inflation or whether that's your friends is pressuring you to do the thing.
Right.
Yes, exactly.
So let's just talk about the grammar piece for a moment.
So when you say give up, it's followed by a noun or gerund.
Right.
To give up something.
Yes.
I suppose you could or you could just say I give up.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then at a later date, we could talk about like to give up on something, right?
When you add on.
Yeah, we can add that in another episode.
Yes, exactly.
And what about with give in?
So given is usually used with a noun.
So you would give in to something.
So that's important.
So I give in to her every time.
Like my kid is always asking me for a treat when we go to the grocery store.
And I try to resist, but I give in to her every time.
I give in to her.
That's tricky, guys.
Watch out with all those prepositions there, right?
Exactly.
Or you can use a gerund, but not an infinitive.
So you would say, you could say I gave in to watching my brother's dog for the week, if it means, but if it means surrender.
An object isn't necessary.
So I gave in after he begged so much and let him win.
So you don't need to say I gave in to him, right?
Yeah, tricky.
This is where it could get a little complicated around the grammar.
Yeah.
So let's do some examples, Michelle, shall we?
So I'm going to quiz you, Lindsay.
Okay, I'm ready.
Okay.
And let's see if you get it right.
Okay.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I blank gluten when I realized it bothered my stomach yeah.
So guys, as you're listening today, see if you can quiz yourself and see what belongs in there.
So I'm gonna give it three seconds three two, one.
I'm gonna say gave up.
I gave up gluten.
I gave up and a lot of people use it in this context I gave up some kind of food again soda sugar, salt or smoking, something like that.
Here's another one.
Good job, Lindsay.
Another one is I asked my mom to switch her appointment, but she wouldn't blank.
She wouldn't.
So think about it, listeners, for a minute.
And I think the answer is she wouldn't give in.
Is that right, Michelle?
So this is again.
You are the force pressuring your mom to switch that appointment and she resisted it and she continued to resist it.
So she wouldn't give in.
Yeah.
You didn't get what you wanted.
Here's another one.
I will not blank to peer pressure on this.
I don't want the cookie.
I do want the cookie.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I know.
Sorry, Lindsay.
In this one, you don't.
All right.
Hopefully our listeners have had a second to think about it.
The answer here, I will not give in to peer pressure.
I will not give in.
Okay.
Let's do one more.
Don't blank on me.
I can change.
Good one.
All right.
So here I'm going to say, don't give up on me.
Don't give up on me.
Feels like it belongs in a song or something.
Yes.
Yeah.
I'm sure it's in tons of songs.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Don't give up on me.
It's like basically saying still believe in me.
Yeah.
Don't stop.
Don't surrender.
Don't drop.
Don't drop.
Yeah, exactly.
So, yeah, you can see in many different ways how these are used.
Lindsay, should we do a role play before we go?
Yeah, let's do a role play just to really solidify this for our listeners.
Here we go.
So we're at a happy hour.
Yay, fun.
And there are past hors d'oeuvres at this happy hour.
So that's fun.
So it's a fancy happy hour.
Nice.
Yes, exactly.
All right, here we go.
Oh, man, look at those goat cheese balls.
Want one?
I'm trying to give up cheese because it hurts my stomach.
Oh, no, I'm sorry.
You sure?
Okay, I give in.
One won't hurt.
You'll be fine.
Do you know how much this place costs for a bridal shower?
I asked.
Oh, I don't know.
Okay, I give up.
$70 a person.
Whoa.
Whoa.
Yeah, that's where Lauren wanted it, but I'm not giving in to her.
That's way out of my budget.
Same.
Nice, nice.
Yeah.
All right.
Let's go through.
So how sad if you're giving up cheese?
I don't think I could give up cheese.
The idea just makes me sad.
Yeah.
Or ice cream for that matter.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
All right.
So you said, look at those goat cheese balls.
Do you want one?
And I said, I'm trying to give up cheese.
Yeah.
Right.
And again, this is very common with any kind of food.
We've given numerous examples in this episode.
Guys, any kind of food that you're trying to no longer eat.
You're giving it up.
Or sometimes you see like for Lent, people give up certain kinds of food for Lent, right?
Or not food, habits or something.
I don't know exactly how it works, but I've heard that before, right?
Good.
So what else, Michelle?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Then I said, oh, you sure?
And you said, okay, I give in.
One won't hurt, right?
So you're giving in to, I would say, the force of the cheese, right?
Or I guess you too, you're kind of pressuring me a little bit as well, right?
Yeah.
You could have said, okay, I give up, right?
You could have.
You could have.
Yeah, that's interesting.
This is a place where it would be interchangeable, Michelle.
Mm-hmm.
It's so...
Um, that can happen.
Um, and then let's just clarify that for a minute.
So we've said I give in and that's because my my, my own, like my own sense, my taste buds are like I'm salivating and you're also pressuring me.
So that's I give in, I surrender, but also I give up.
Would mean, if I switched and I say I okay, I give up.
You're saying essentially I'm going to stop resisting.
Like, right.
Right.
It's so that's why both work there.
It doesn't happen in every scenario, but in this scenario it does.
Yeah.
Interesting.
Um, so then I said, do you know how much this place costs for a bridal shower?
And you said, I said, I'm, so I'm thinking, I don't know.
Okay.
I give up.
And again, that's like what we did the very top of the show.
I didn't know how many teeth a snail has.
Right.
Right.
So I want you to tell me.
Yes, exactly.
And then I told you and then I said, that's where Lauren wanted it, but I'm not giving into her.
So maybe I'm the maid of honor in her wedding and I'm planning it, or she's my sister and she wants you know I'm not giving into her.
So I am not, you know, giving into her.
I'm resisting it.
You're resisting.
Someone is pressuring you and you're resisting that.
So you're pushing back.
So you're not giving in.
All right.
Really good.
We had a lot of examples here because this was a fantastic question.
Oh, yeah.
And I think probably a common stumbling block for our listeners, Michelle.
Yeah.
So hopefully we cleared it up for you today.
We gave you a lot of different examples.
Guys, for another episode to check out, this was really fun.
It was All Ears English.
Make your English the chef's kiss.
So check that one out.
And for our takeaway today.
I mean, it's these little differences, give in, give up, that we want to start to look at at the C1 B2, C1 level guys to level up into being near native with our language.
Right, Michelle?
Yeah.
So yeah, give these a try.
Listen out for them.
Try one at a time if that would be helpful for you.
But these are, you'll hear this all the time.
I mean, many different contexts.
So you'll be able to get a lot of different examples just from the real world.
Exactly.
And if you're making mistakes here, remember, it's all about connection.
So come back to connection with the person in front of you.
That is the ultimate goal.
And eventually we'll get this right.
Okay, good.
Perfect.
All right.
Well, thanks, Lindsay, for talking about this with me today.
And thank you to our listener for that question.
All right, Michelle, talk soon.
Bye.
Bye.
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