00:00
Martin, I ran this morning, the coffee machine isrunning, and my sister runs a cafe.
Three sentences, one word, and three differentideas.
Welcome to One Word, Three Lives from Your EnglishToolbox.
Today our word is Run.
We will hear it in three everyday situations.
Listen first and see if you can notice thedifference.
I run in the park.
The washing machine is running.
My sister runs a small cafe.
What changes in each sentence?
The first meaning is moving quickly on your feet.
When you run, both feet briefly leave the groundas you move.
You can run in a race, run in the park, or run tocatch a bus.
I ran to the station because I was late.
Notice ran in that sentence.
Run is the present form, and ran is the past form.
Yesterday I ran, but today I run.
You can also say I went for a run, meaning I didsome running.
In our second life, nothing is moving on its feet.
The washing machine is running.
Here, running means the machine is operating orworking.
If the machine is running, it is switched on anddoing its job.
Your computer can be running, and an engine can berunning too.
You might hear, please do not leave the enginerunning.
That means do not leave it operating.
It does not mean the engine has legs.
And be careful with a natural question.
Is the washing machine running?
Yes, it is still washing the clothes.
Now for the third life.
My sister runs a small cafe.
Here, runs means manages or is responsible for thecafe.
She makes decisions, organizes the work, and helpsthe business operate.
You can run a business, a shop, or a project.
For example, they run a family restaurant.
Or he runs a project for local schools.
Running a cafe does not mean running around thecafe all day.
Although some cafe owners probably do that too.
Let us put the three lives side by side.
A person can run to move quickly.
A machine can run when it is operating.
And a person can run a business when they manageit.
The words around run help you find the meaning.
Someone who runs a cafe is responsible for makingit work.
That person might own the cafe, but the verb rundoes not tell us that by itself.
Maya owns the cafe, but her brother runs it.
He manages the daily work, even though Maya is theowner.
03:01
Now compare a machine and a person in one shortstory.
Sam runs to the kitchen because the washingmachine is still running.
Sam moves quickly on foot while the machine isoperating.
The same word describes two different actions inthat sentence.
And if Sam runs a laundry business, we meet ourthird meaning too.
Sam manages the business, but the business doesnot have legs.
These three meanings can help you understand manyeveryday conversations.
Imagine another conversation in a small familyshop.
Who runs this shop?
My aunt runs it during the week, and I help her onSaturdays.
Does that mean your aunt owns the shop?
Not necessarily, because runs only tells us thatshe manages it.
Now suppose the lights go out and a customer asksabout the printer.
Is the printer still running?
No, it has stopped, because there is noelectricity.
Here again, run means operate.
These short situations show why the words around averb are such useful clues.
Now listen to three new examples.
First, the printer is running.
Is it exercising, operating, or managing abusiness?
It is operating.
Next, she runs a bookshop.
She manages the bookshop.
Finally, they ran to the bus stop.
They moved quickly on their feet.
On our website, you can revisit the examples
and practice choosing the meaning from context.
Find the episode link in the description.
Thank you for learning with your English Toolbox.
See you next time!
