Words for Operations

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BE - has no special uses which are not clear from its normal behavior as a connection between whatever is talked about and what is said about it (he is a cook, he is good, he is across the street, he is here). There is in statements like there is enough is listed under there. In this last example the idea of existence is more marked. In addition, see let.

COME - is the opposite of go from the point of view of anyone at a fixed place, but it is not quite so widely used for motion generally. Things may come in all the directions, but whenever come is not clearly needed, there is a tendency to make use of go. From our point of view, then, thoughts come into the mind in the same way in which smells come into the house. A statement may come out of a book, a new star may come into existence, flowers may come from bulbs, or a meeting may come to an end. Two uses frequently needed, because hearing and hoping are very common, are it came to his ears (that), and this did not come up to my hopes, which is like the water not coming up to our necks in a bath, or the sea not coming up to some fixed mark. When the thing to which anything comes is not named, it is because everyone will be able to make the necessary addition in his mind. So the sea comes in (to the land), money comes in (to a business), the sun comes up, flowers come up, prices come down, buttons come off, and so on. There are 5 special uses of come.

DO - is most frequently used with the name of some act, or of what is produced by some act. We do a kind act, do the right thing, or do the cleaning; or we may do a picture, and when learning music, we do music. Do by itself, in the sense of do what is necessary, be enough, is used in I will make this do, or this will do (the work, what is necessary). In addition, it may be put in the place of some other operation-word which has come earlier in the statement : He put his hands up and the others did the same. There are 2 special uses of do. In addition, see good.

GET - When anything is our property, it may have been given to us, or we may have taken it, or it may have come to us in some other way. Get is the most general word for all these processes, in relation to everything which may be talked about. We get money for a living, and we get a living by making money. So we get control, experience, help, support; or we get an answer, a light, a shock. When things have to be moved, we get them up, down, and so on-in all the directions of space. We get a tree up (by the roots), or down (by cutting), or down a mountain; we get a bridge across a river, or food into the house, or an idea into a person's head, or liquid out of a bottle, or a secret out of a person. Among the commonest things which get moved about in this way are our bodies. In fact, moving our bodies is so common that we generally say nothing about it, and simply get up (from a seat, or from bed in the morning). So get may be used in the same way as go and come, as in get to the office early. But it is more frequently used when the way in which the act is done is not a simple form of motion like walking, or a normal one like taking a train. He went out of the house (by walking out), or 'he went into the country (by the morning train). But he got out of the house (through the window, by a trick, secretly), or he got into the country (by running, after some trouble, in the end). So we get off a ship, or away from danger, or over a wall, or down a tree, or through a test ; and by a natural expansion we may get through work or get over a disease. In the same way get is used with an 'adjective' for all changes of condition caused by any act. We get the food ready, or get our fingers sticky, or get the work started. And we ourselves get married, get old, get near the end, and get ready for the future. There are 5 special uses of get. In addition, see nerve and good.

GIVE - As we have seen, the natural direction of the act of giving is to, so that the milk is given to the cat; and in the same way we give an answer, a reward, a name, a look, a touch, a push, or a kick to whoever gets them. 1 We give time or attention to our work ; experience gives value to our opinions ; attention to details gives a sense of knowledge; knowledge of facts gives support to our statements. At a meeting we give a talk; the papers give news of what is said ; false news gives trouble. There are other ways in which it is possible for things to be given, in addition to the natural direction to. We may give out stores, give away money or a secret, or give back a book ; the waiters may give food round (to everyone at table) ; the water may give off steam or gas, the sun gives out light. All these are probably clear to anyone who will give a little thought to the sense of the words. 2 There are 5 special uses of give, of which the two last are in need of special notes. Give up has first the sense of giving to someone over us in power or authority ('up'), so we give up our tickets, and in war the side which is overcome gives up its arms. From this, frequently colored by the suggestion of putting up One's hands as a sign that one is not going on with the fight, comes the use of give up by itself as 'let oneself be overcome,' or simply 'not keep on.' So, by a short further step, we give up hope, smoking, or our rights. Given to has the sense of 'with a tendency to' -- given to saying foolish things, given to sport, pleasure, drink -- generally with the suggestion that the tendency is not a good one.

GO - Whenever anything is in motion, or is put in motion, or puts itself in motion, it goes. Machines go smoothly, the moon goes round the Earth, men go to and from places. But in the root sense go is the natural opposite of come. As we have seen, we generally come here and go there; here being the place where we now are, and there being some other place to which we are going.3 So, the natural direction of go is away. But because it is the most general word for all sorts of motion, it may be used freely in every sort of direction and expansion. If, for example, you are able to take a dog to a house, or for a swim, or about, or back, you may say that it goes to a house, for a swim, or about, or back. If it is a well-trained dog, it goes after a rat -- and gets it. When a number of possible directions seem possible for an operation, all of them may be right. So we may go into the accounts, over the accounts, or through the accounts. We may go against authority, against the government, against good taste against the rules, or against public opinion. In the same way, it is possible to go to any thing or place to business, to work, or even to one's death. Sometimes a little common sense may be necessary to take into account the conditions in which something is said. When will the food not go round? -- When there is not enough to go round the table. When do two things go together ? -- When they are parts of one thing, such as a machine, or have some connection in fact or thought. When do we go on? -- When on is used in the sense of forward. And so on. In addition, go is used with 'adjectives' like wrong, bad, solid as in everything went wrong today, the food went bad, the jelly went solid. There are 5 special uses of go. In addition, see without.

1 Sometimes the name of what is given is put after that of the getter and the to dropped. This is the normal form when what is given is not material (I gave the ball a kick), and is common when the getter is named by a 'pronoun' (I gave him food). But if the thing given is itself named by a 'pronoun,' that has to come first (Give It (to) me).

2 Though put is the opposite of take, and get of give, put and get, give and take are opposite in the sense of being the opposite acts which make a complete operation. For example, we would generally say:

The servants put water on the plants. The plants get water. Plants give fruit (to men). Men take the fruit.

3 When we are going to see a friend we take his point of view in such a statement as "I will come to see you in the morning."

HAVE - The things which we have in the most natural sense are the things of which we are the owners -- our houses, our money, and our land. These things are our property. But there is a wider sense in which have is very generally used. The things which are most like our property, and which we have in the wider sense, are our bodies. We have arms and legs, a head, a throat, muscles, a brain, a mind. In the same way we have a pain, a thought, a desire, a feeling, a disease, or a religion. A man may have a good voice, a poor digestion, a sense of humor, or respect for others. We may say of a machine that it has had no oil, or no attention, or a smash; and of an opinion that it has no arguments against it ; or, after getting the arguments ready, that we have them ready. Very different things may in some way, or at some time, be talked about as being in this special relation to us ; and it is clear that whenever we get or are given anything we then have it. There are 5 special uses of have. In addition, see face, mind, name.

KEEP - When we have anything for some time, or go on having it, we keep it for a certain time ; and when it is our property, we simply keep it. We say: I "will keep the book for a week," and "May I keep the book which you gave me?" We keep things in some position or condition which they would not be in if we let them go. If I put a ball on the end of my nose, it is hard to keep it there, or to keep it balanced there. It is sometimes equally hard to keep a secret, or to keep a person from doing wrong. As with get, it may be ourselves or our bodies which we keep in this way, so we keep off the grass, to the right side of the road, or simply on, in the sense of keep going forward (see on). So we see signs in public places such as

"off the grass." "to the right." In the same way we may keep (ourselves) ready, or keep young, or keep doing (something), or keep where we are, or keep our money safe. We keep the fire burning in the fire-place, and we keep the glasses in the cupboard; and everything which may be put away (sad thoughts), or together (threads, ideas), may be kept away or kept together. There are 5 special uses of keep. In addition see eye and word.

LET - The opposite of keeping something is letting it go. But in addition to letting things come and go, and letting our friends put and take, make and have, seem and be whatever is desired, we may let anything in or out (or in any other direction), or let a gun (go) off. When we let the dog loose, it will probably be clear that we let it be loose, free, unchained, and so on. Let has in addition a use as an 'auxiliary' with 'us,' to make a request or suggestion for some other person or persons to do something with the person talking: Let us go to see her. It is a sort of order, given to the person talking himself, as well as to others. There are 5 special uses of let.

MAKE - The simplest act of making takes place when some new - physical thing is caused to come into existence, by the maker. Sheep have wool on their backs ; men make cloth with the wool. In a more general sense, most things of which we are the cause may be said to be made by us, such as a law, a decision, a statement, or a religion. Important events are said to make history. We go into business so as to make money. it is true that the money is not new money, but the process of making it seems to the businessman quite as much an art as that of the man who makes cloth or pictures ; he puts it in the bank with a feeling of having made an addition to the income of his family or his country. Clearly he does not get it from his father, or take it by force from those in competition with him. And if he makes use of his money in the right way, it will not be hard for him to make a great number of friends. If the condition of things or persons is changed by our acts, we make them different. We may make a statement clear, make a talk interesting, or make a friend happy. Hope seems to make all things possible, and a bad cold makes one meal as uninteresting as another. Make goes in the same way with all the operation-words ; so that we may make a person do any act, or make him come, go, put, take, and so on. There are 5 special uses of make. In addition, see certain, face, love, much, and of.

PUT - is the natural word for the operation by which a bottle is caused to get into a box. But the same sort of act which puts the bottle into a box puts it on the table, or puts it down, or puts it away. So, by an expansion, we may put our troubles or doubts away, or out of our minds; or we may put a person down, in the sense that we get ourselves into a position where we may be said to be on top and he will give us no more trouble. Or we may put an idea before a person, in much the same way as we put food before him. We may put a question to a friend, and he may put his answer into words. If things are on record, it is because someone has put them on record; and we may be put in the wrong, or put out of doubt, in the same way in which we are put, physically, in (a) prison or out of a room; but because the more important things are generally put before others on a list, one thing is said to be put before another when it is given greater value. There is no limit to the number of things which may be talked of as if they were places or spaces, and for all such purposes putting is the natural operation. There are 5 special uses of put. In addition, see mind, off, stop, and up.

SAY - When we put an idea into words, we say the words; but even if our words are not clear we say something. We say things, much as we (are said to) do them or make them, and when we make any statement we may say it in a number of different ways (to ourselves, through the nose, and so on). We may (make it clear or) say that we have a cold in the same way as we may say (do and so on) what is needed. These different uses are a natural outcome of the account of to, what, and that.

SEE - Whenever we make use of our eyes we see things : but by an expansion common in most languages we see the point of a statement when we get its sense. We see through glass or through a keyhole, and when anyone makes a false statement or comes to us with some trick, we may say that we see through him, or see through the trick. But it is our hope and belief that it will give no trouble even to the oldest reader.

SEEM - is generally used with to be or one of the other operation-words : He seems to have (do, say, see, and so on) nothing. He seems to be angry. To be, however, may sometimes be dropped and seem used by itself in the sense of 'seem to be' ; He seems angry. But this is never possible with the name of a quality ending in -ing : He seems to be waiting (living, hanging). When there is any doubt, it is never wrong to put in to be.

SEND - Things may be sent or made to go in all directions in which they go. So we send a parcel by post, and at the other end of its journey someone may send it forward. In sport, a ball is sent through the air, or across the field, and so on.

TAKE - The word take will give us a good idea of the step from the natural use to the expansions of sense which are possible for the operation-words. We take what is put for us (generally with our hands), and when we have taken it we ourselves may have it, put it, or give it. When, for example, there are different drinks which have been put out, the question is What will you take? A great number of things which are put for us are given ; so take will go with most of the things which are said. to be given to us, such as food, a name, an order, a chance, a cold, a position, a suggestion. The chief thing which almost everyone is ready to take, if it is given freely or in payment, is money. In the same way (when it is offered to us, or is not in use) we may take a seat, by seating ourselves. In exchange for money we get a number of things of which we become the owners, and of which, for this reason, we have or take control. So we take a house, or a box at the theater, or a ticket. Whenever we take something into our body we simply take it ; so we take a drink, or a breath, or even a smell. We make an attempt, a decision, a sign, a statement, or a protest, because by such acts something new seems to come into existence ; but we take a look (at), take an interest or pleasure (in), because these things are looked on as waiting for us to take them. Another use of the same sort is taking a part (in a play). If we make trouble, it is frequently because we do not take trouble or take care; and the trouble we make is there for others to see and put right. When we go for a walk we are sometimes said to take a walk (a run, a journey); and as in walking we take a step (forward) to get somewhere, so we take steps to get something, or to get it done. When we come to the directions in which things may be taken there is little chance of serious error. If you have got over any doubts about the division between take and put by making the motions yourself, it will be clear to you that you take hope from a person. You do not put hope from him, because you do not put coal from a box. In the same way in which a cart takes away dusts, sleep may take away pain. We take off our clothing, take forward designs, and take back statements when facts make it clear that they are false. Amusements take our minds off work.

In the same way as we take in food (into the mouth), we may be said to take in details. As we take work which is offered to us in the sense of making it our business to do it, so by a little stretch we take care of something when we make the care of it our business ; and as we take down a book (from the shelf), so, by a not unnatural expansion, we take down words (from the mouth, on a writing-machine). We take a part of anything (away) from it, and we take a small number from a greater one, as when we take 3 from 5.

There are 5 special uses of take. In addition, see hand, note, part, place, root, and side.

Names of Directions

ABOUT - When we are among things, the things are about us; but round now generally takes the place of about in statements like he had a number of friends round him. We still say there was no one about when the crime took place; but about is more commonly used in expansions such as a book (talk, discussion) about religion ; he is clear (right) about the facts ; he has no doubts about it, or he is making trouble about it. There is 1 special use of about. In addition, see come.

ACROSS - As we may go across the road, so one line may be across another. See come and put.

AFTER - Though after still sometimes has the sense at the back of, in the same way as before may be used for in front of, it is generally used as the opposite of before in statements about time. So something may be a long time after an event, or after my coming or after I came. There are 2 special uses of after.

AGAINST- From the simple use of against in talking of a spade against a wall we get sailing against wind and working against change.

AMONG - A thing which is in a group with others is said to be among them; so I am among my friends, or a fork is among the knives. In the same way, a man may be among his books; and among other things he may do work among the poor and make a distribution of food among his boys. If the distribution is unequal, there may be a fight among them.

AT - is used for marking position in space or time. We may make a start or a stop at any point on a line, or at the end. In the same way we may be at Tokyo, on our journey, or get to the hotel at four on a certain day. If the door is the point at which we come in, we may be said to come in at the door (though generally we come in through doors and windows). A man may be at the top of a tree, or at the head of the government, or at a meeting. The water may be at a high level, goods may be at a low price, or at any price (levels and prices being taken as measured on a scale). We may take our meals at any time, or at regular hours. Points of time are marked by an event ; so we may go away at the request of a friend, and a gun may go off at a touch. There are 10 special uses of at. In addition, see all, angle, hand, loss, present, rate, school.

BEFORE - Though before is generally used of time, it still has its earlier sense of 'in front of when we come before a judge, or put the facts before him. On the line of time, we come across some things before others; one event is before another event, or I will see him before coming. And from this it is a natural step to the use of before as a joining word between statements -- I will see him before I come. We generally do first the things which are most pleasing to us ; and so the sense is clear if I say, "I will go to prison before I will let my friend down."

BETWEEN - Whenever only two things are in question, between is used in the place of among. They have a space or a distance or a material between them ; time comes between events, and there is music between the acts of a play. There is a connection between, or a relation between, any two things between which we make a comparison. When one or other of two parcels is offered to us, we have to make a selection between them; when two boys are given one cake, they have to make a division of it between them, and the end will probably be a fight between them.

BY - When a tree is near a river it is by it. In the same way, I may take a walk by the river, and if I go by something on my way somewhere, I generally go past it, so the two senses are united in the train went by (me). From I go to Leeds by London, it is a simple expansion to say that 1 go to town by a different way or do a thing by daylight. One further step gives us it was done by a trick or he did it by a new process, which makes by a pointer to the 'way' in which any effect is produced, and so to the cause, doer, or maker of anything. So we may have a picture by Rubens which is covered by our insurance, or be troubled by ants, ruled by the authorities, or given punishment by death. There are 10 special uses of by. In addition, see side, surprise, and word.

DOWN - Even those who are clear that the sun comes up in the morning and goes down at night, and that they go up to the top of a mountain or go down to a lower level, are sometimes troubled by the fact that they go down a street. Why down?

If the end of the street is at a lower level the answer is simple, and if the numbers of the houses go up from 1 to 100, that is another reason for going up or down. But if the street is flat, and the houses are not numbered, it is only a question of feeling, so this gives us one of the 2 special uses. In addition, see let.

FOR - When we have come to an end of all the names of directions in which we do things with our arms and legs, and all the expansions for the directions of time and of thought, we are still at a loss for ways of talking freely about purpose. Our purpose is the direction in which our desires and thoughts go. When a friend is late we may be kept waiting for him. When food is in our minds, we have a desire for food, we have a need for food, we go for food ( = to get food). So there are places for food, rooms for dancing or used for dancing. We send in our names for a position, put up our goods for offers, go into business for profit; we are given food for thought, when we do not get enough for our needs from what we do for a living; and we have time for it when there is no work for us to do. When we give support to a person or a suggestion we are for them. It is a very short step from the idea of purpose to the idea of exchange, as is clear from the fact that what we do for a living or for money is done in exchange for a living or for money. We do not get money for nothing; we make payment for goods. If we are acting for another (for his purposes), we get credit for our care and trouble, or punishment for being foolish. We give a check for a certain amount, because that amount will be given in exchange for it. Some statements about purpose are made by using the word to with an operation-word for gives us another way of getting round most of these:

I am ready for food ( = to have food). This is timed for tomorrow ( = to take place tomorrow). There is no need for noise ( = to make a noise).

There are 10 special uses of for. In addition, see as, bad, exchange, eye, name, take.

FROM - The natural opposite of to is from. We go from a place, in the same way as we go to it, and the use of away, as in he was going away from the meeting, makes the sense of direction stronger. So we put food (away) from us. If we get away from the point, we make an attempt to get back to it ; and if we have got away from danger, we are free or safe from it. When we take anything out of a box we equally take it from the box ; so we are said to get profit from a business, or goods from a store. In much the same way, it is clear from the history of language that one word frequently comes from another. The chief expansion of from is as a general word for 'starting from,' and so (frequently) 'caused by.' We may say that from this time forward (or on) the weather was bad, or that a mark on our skin was from a blow.

There are 2 special uses of from.

IN - One of the words with the greatest number of uses is in. From the physical use (in the pot, in the water, in the room, in the road, in the field, in space) there is a ready expansion to whatever is talked about as if it was a space (in the year, in flames), or a solid or liquid thing (in the light, in trouble), or a vessel (in the mind). So we get : Be in business, in comfort, in danger, in doubt, in error, in fear, in need; or (of spaces of time), in the week, in (the) summer, in (the) winter, or again (of the mind), in thought. So a person may be in a hat (that is to say, his head is in a hat), or in shoes, or in chains, or all in black. He may be foolish in company, experienced in crime, or in the dark about what the government is doing. Sometimes an 'adjective' is necessary to give the right sense : in bad condition, in some degree, in my opinion, in my hearing, or in such a form (that) -- which is not far from in the hope (that). A little harder are in so far (as), in relation (to), in comparison (with), in connection (with); but no language, old or new, has any better way of getting these complex ideas across, so that in takes a very high place among words, because of the great amount of work which it is able to do for us. There are 10 special uses of in. In addition, see addition, belief, bit, common, detail, end, fertile, front, hand, interest, knot, memory, mind, order, part, question, request, step, store, support, take, taste, time, touch, turn, view, voice, way.

OF - The expansion of of from a bit of the cake, through a day of the month, to a sort of box, is so very natural that no account of it is necessary. Let us put down some other simple uses of this sort : a group of friends, a store of apples, a bucket of great size; or again, the property of the owner, a copy of an old picture, the invention of radio ; a representative of the government and memories of the past. It would probably be a waste of time to give any more examples of such natural developments of 'of.' Everyone has the power of making more with any of the words in the list. There are 10 special uses of of. In addition, see front, get, good, make, memory, mind, note, support, tired, touch, view, way, word.

OFF - There is very little to say about off which would not be clear to anyone who has taken the skin off an apple. There is no doubt, for example, about the sense of he put me off doing it or what you say is off the point. A bit of wood off a table may be cut off or broken off, the light may be turned off, and one part of a room may be curtained off. There are 2 special uses of off. In addition, see go, let, put.

ON - Most of the uses of on are very near to the physical sense. On the top, on one side, on the same side, on the right side, are all - quite natural. We may be on our feet, on land, or on the water, a coat may be on a hook, a name on a list. Not far from these are the words on one's lips, the trouble on one's mind, the song on one's brain, rules and knowledge based on facts, or the goods on the market. Music may be on the piano or all on one note and our hair may be on end. An event may take place at 5 on a certain day in a certain week, month, or year. Living on one's income is specially hard when there is a tax on goods. There are 10 special uses of on, the last of which is the use with go and keep with different operation-words or with, as in go on doing, keep on going, go on with the work, and so on. In addition, see act, approval, attack, condition credit, dependent, design, effect, eye, foot, get, hand, hard, impulse, keep, look, nerve, put, record, side, so, watch, work.

OUT - Though out as a simple direction is the opposite of in, it is not possible to say : "I am in the room and you are 'out it.'" The opposite of being in (or coming into) a place is being (or going) out of it. So we get out of as the opposite of all those uses of in with physical things or places, among which we may put for this purpose, mind; and with these are to be grouped out of control, out of danger, out of hearing, out of touch, out of work A small number of fixed uses like he went out (of the house or room), or the light (fire) went out (of existence) will be clear enough in the statements in which we come across them. There are 2 special uses of out. In addition, see get, go, let, make.

OVER - As the natural opposite of under, oven is equally simple and limited in all its chief uses. Some things which are over others may be much farther away from them than the cover which is over the meat, or the fat which is over (or on) the bone. A window may be over a door, or an airplane may be over a house, so that over becomes a more general way of saying 'on top of' or 'higher than' ; and by a simple further development we go over a wall and oven the side of a ship, or a road goes over a mountain. A very common expansion gives us authority or power over a person; and a number on any scale which is more than another may be said to be over it, so that a person 22 years old is over 21. There are 3 special uses of over.

THROUGH - When we go through the air, or take breath through the nose, our going and our breathing are made possible by the air and our noses -- much as the hole through which the rat goes is the cause of its getting away. So through comes to have the expansion, as an effect of: he got his position through you, or he made a friend through being ill.

TO - The chief expansions of the simple use of to give very little trouble, and are common in most languages. There are great numbers of words which give us a feeling that to is needed after them. Attention to details is as natural as an addition to the family, an answer to a question, or a right to property. Another very frequent use of to is for the idea of in relation to. For example, we generally say this line is parallel to that line (though with would be equally possible here), or this amount is equal to that amount. We say this is lined to that, near to that, special to that, or a danger to that; again, a man may be in debt to, or married to, a woman. The behavior of a girl to her lover may be a blow to his self-respect, and if she was kind to him at the start a wound to his feelings will be very much harder for him to put up with. The connection between to and for in a desire for food has been made clear under for. There are 10 special uses of to, the last of which -- able to (do) -- is in need of a separate note. It will probably become clear if we say first that to is used before an operation-word whenever there is a desire or purpose to do or have something:

He is ready to go. He is making an attempt to get away. He has a desire to go up the mountain. I sent (took, got) him to have some food.

Generally, whenever 'for the purpose of' might be used, to may be put before the operation-word:

He has enough trouble to make him angry. He has authority to get the baby back. This is a place to be in for a long time. It is time to go.

In the same way we say he is able enough to do this; or more frequently and simply, he is able to do this. And from such uses it is not hard to get the expansion he is said (an 'adjective') to be doing this, or he is said to be able to do this. For he has to do this, see have.

To is the only name of a direction which has this sort of special use with the simple form of the 'verb,' which is named the 'infinitive' in books on language. In addition, see about, addition, angle, as, bit, come, credit, face, from, get, give, go, have, in, let, make, mind, of, put, scale, seed, so, stop, that, way, word.

UNDER - The idea of being under something is very simple and limited. In all languages its possible expansions are almost all quite straightforward. The position of authority or control is clearly the same as that of the dog which is on top in a fight ; and so we are under a ruler, or under his power, or authority. In the same way we are under the control or direction of a manager, or do our work under him. The sense of going under, or being under a cloud, or under a person's thumb is not hard to make out, even when seen for the first time ; but we might equally well make use of some other comparison such as being overcome by hard conditions, or with public opinion against one, or under a person's power. There are 2 special uses of under.

UP - Most of the uses of up do not get far away from the physical direction which is given by going from some point or place to another at a higher level. Water has to come down a slope of some sort to get to the sea, so we go up a river as we go up a mountain. And in the same way we go up and down a scale or a list. If we take a bit of paper or cloth, or the collar of a coat, and give the edge a turn, it will be turned up or down. By going one step farther materials or bedding may be rolled up. Up is very freely used where it is not truly necessary, in examples like building up a business. So it frequently has the sense of ' up to the top,' or ' up to some complete form,' or ' up to some natural limit.' There are 10 special uses of up. In addition, see get, give, keep, make, put, take.

WITH - From the use of with = 'together with,' it is a very natural step in most languages to the sense of 'having' or 'making use of.' What we have is with us. So we say a man with a hat, or with wide interests; sand may get mixed with salt; a story with a purpose may be about a person with authority. In all forms of agreement, comparison, connection, and competition, the fact that the two sides are said to be in agreement (comparison, connection, or competition), and so, in a sense, are together in that agreement, makes with the right joining word -- even when they are having a fight (an argument, a discussion, angry words) with one another. So we may be in business with anyone ; or when we make use of books we may be rough with them, because the idea of having them (in the hands) and doing something with them is stronger than the sense of to which would make good sense (as in kind to); but in quick with his fingers ( = in the use of his fingers) there is no feeling of to, so with is the most natural connection. In the same way we give a person a blow with the hand, or with a stick, because hands and sticks are what we have with us and make use of. But frequently by is equally possible, as in a table covered by (with) a cloth. There are 2 special uses of with. In addition, see get, go, have, keep, step, touch, up, young.

But we say that we go by steamer (train, automobile), and by land (sea).

There is a small number of fixed uses with common things -- in bed, In church, in prison, in town.

The key to the right direction-word in connection with time is "at a point, on a line, In a circle." (But take note of the special use at night)

There is a small number of fixed uses of to with common things -- we go to bed (church, prison, school, sea, work).

But I let (made, saw) him go, as is made clear in the account of let.