When you talk about cleaning something it could either be the actual space or the mess/dirt in a space. In this English lesson you will learn different phrases used to talk about this.
English learners while speaking English make a common mistake while using these phrases (clean out, clean off, clean up and clean away)They think that they can use them interchangeably , that’s what we will correct today.
Clean out – to clean the inside of a space
- I need to Clean out the cupboard (inside of the cupboard)
- Please clean out the car (inside of the car)
- The drawer is dirty we need to clean out the drawer (inside of the drawer)
Clean off – used to talk about cleaning a flat surface
- We need to clean off the table since we have guests coming home (A Table is a flat surface)
- Please clean off the TV screen.(flat surface)
- Clean off the glass of the window (the window is a flat surface)
Clean up – to clean a room or a large space
- We should clean up the kitchen today, since it has been a long time.
- Lets Clean up the staircase
- The cleaner needs to Clean up the playground so that the kids can play happily.(large space)
Clean away – talks about cleaning the mess in a space
- Hey let’s clean away the mess.
- My mom will clean away the broken pieces on the floor.
- Please clean away the liquid on the ground.
We hope this English lesson has helped you a lot. Going forth you can use these phrases in order to talk about cleaning in your daily conversation.