Cut Down and Give Up

'Cut down (on something)' means to use or eat or drink it less. 'Cut down' is either a type 1 phrasal verb (with no object) or a type 4 phrasal verb (with 'on + object').

• I'm going to cut down on chocolate (= instead of eating chocolate every day, I only eat it at the weekend. I still eat chocolate sometimes, but I eat it less often.)
• We cut down on coffee (= we used to drink three cups of coffee every day, but now we drink only one. We drink it just as often, but we drink less each time.)
• She wanted to smoke less so she cut down.

'Give something up' means to stop using or eating or drinking it completely. 'Give up' is a type 2 phrasal verb, so if the object is a pronoun, it must go before 'up'.

• I'm going to give up chocolate (= I'm never going to eat chocolate again).
• She stopped drinking coffee. She gave it up. (= She doesn't drink coffee now.)

Let's review!

Change the sentences so that they include 'give up' or 'cut down'.

1. I need to eat less red meat. _________________________________________________________________________
2. She stopped eating cake. __________________________________________________________________________
3. He doesn't drink alcohol any more. _________________________________________________________________
4. She works too many hours. She wants to work less. __________________________________________________
5. They want to stop smoking. ________________________________________________________________________
6. We stopped computer games. ______________________________________________________________________
7. We eat less sugar now. _____________________________________________________________________________
8. They want to drink less coffee. ______________________________________________________________________
9. I am going to stop work. ____________________________________________________________________________
10. I am going to watch less television. __________________________________________________________________