😔 Emotions
hold back
break free
Fear holds you in place. Courage takes you beyond it.
↓ SCROLL TO EXPLORE
hold back
To restrain yourself from acting, expressing, or moving forward — often out of fear, self-doubt, or a learned habit of smallness.
💡 She had the talent and the vision, but something inside always held her back from taking the next step.
INFORMAL
break free
To escape from something that was limiting or controlling you — a fear, a pattern, a relationship, or a belief — and move forward on your own terms.
💡 After years of playing it safe, he finally broke free and took the risk he had been avoiding.
INFORMAL
🎯 QUIZ
Test your knowledge — read the sentence and choose the right phrasal verb. Click to answer.
QUESTION 1 OF 3
🎧 SHADOWING
Shadowing is one of the most powerful techniques for improving your English pronunciation and fluency. Listen → speak out loud → record yourself → compare.
Shadowing practice
Use your phone to record yourself repeating each sentence. Play it back and compare your pronunciation with the audio.
HOLD BACK
1 of 6
1
Listen to the audio
2
Repeat out loud — record yourself if you can
3
Write what you heard, then click Check to compare
🎙 RECORD YOUR PRONUNCIATION
✏ FILL THE BLANKS
One exercise for each verb — type your answer and click Check.
HOLD BACK ▶ FILL THE BLANK
She had the skills, she had the idea, she had the support — but every time the moment came, something her.
Hint: past tense of the phrasal verb meaning 'to prevent yourself or someone from acting or progressing'.
BREAK FREE ▶ FILL THE BLANK
For years she had stayed in the same routines, the same careful life — until one morning she packed a bag and from all of it.
Hint: past tense of the phrasal verb meaning 'to escape from something limiting and move forward freely'.
📖 NARRATIVE
STORY 1 OF 2 · HOLD BACK
hold back
Sofia had a list of reasons not to act. The timing was not right. She did not have enough experience. The idea was probably not as good as she thought. What she did not see was that all of these reasons were performing the same function — they were holding her back. Fear is a good writer. It produces very convincing material. Sofia had believed every word of it for three years.
👤 AUTHOR
