How do you spell your name? If you didn’t hear that phrase, you should have already! After all, spell , “spell,” is a very useful verb in a number of situations where you need to enter your name. Try trying to retrieve your credit card password with an Indian on the other end of the phone, talking at a high speed, without knowing this vital phrase. I’m a big fan of the Indians ( Vishwanathan Anand , anyone?), But their accent doesn’t make it easy …
But well, if you already know spell , it is very easy to learn the derived phrasal verb , spell out. Essentially, it has two meanings.
First, spell out can mean “write in full”, as when asked to write 1/16 in full: “one sixteenth grandparent”… (and then the broker asks you if you didn’t want to say “sixteen grandparents”. No, thanks , no need). In addition, and still with practically the same meaning, spell out is synonymous with spell (“spell out”). Only here there is a certain difference in emphasis, as we shall see.
Second, spell out means “explain clearly” or “clarify well” or “explain tintin by tintin”! Does anyone still talk like that?
This second sense may seem a little distant from the original, but if you pay attention you will see that the two are close relatives. After all, when you spell something it is because you are explaining everything correctly, making everything clear. Hence this second meaning.
Let’s see how it looks in the examples? If your favorite way to review is like ours, open your Anki there and let’s go!
1 – First, spell out in the most literal sense. “Write in full” or “spell”. Remember that we said that there is a nuance here, a difference between the tone of spell (“spell”) and spell out (“spell”)? So we explain: when you add the preposition out here, it puts an emphasis on “spelling” instead of something else. Look at that.
Can you spell out your middle name instead of just giving the initial?
Can you spell your middle name instead of just giving the initial?
(Here, out emphasizes the contrast between spelling the middle name or not.)
We had to spell out our names for the police officer.
We had to spell our names for the policeman.
(And here the out emphasizes that it was even necessary to spell the names – perhaps the policeman was not so smart.)
These numbers are to be spelled out .
These numbers must be written in full .
Please spell your name out for me.
Please spell your name for me.
(Note that this is a separable phrasal verb, meaning you can place the phrase object between the two parts of the phrasal verb – the verb and the preposition.)
He can’t spell out a sentence, let alone read a book.
He can’t spell a sentence, much less read a book.
2 – Now let’s see the meaning derived from spell out : “explain (clearly)”, “clarify (right)”, etc.
It’s frustrating when you have to spell everything out for them.
It’s frustrating when you have to explain everything right to them.
I had to spell out exactly how to do his job for him.
I had to explain to him exactly how to do his job.
She spelled out the orders in detail.
She explained the orders in detail.
Be assertive and spell out exactly how you feel.
Be assertive and explain exactly how you feel.
How many times do I have to spell it out ?
How many times do I have to explain this ?
Let me spell out the implications.
Let me clarify the implications well .
You should spell out your demands.
You should clearly explain your requirements.
As you can see, spell out is a verb that has its usefulness, it does not carry a suitcase full of thousands of meanings and it is easy to stick to memory!
