ENGLISH
REFERENCE

block in

phr. v..
B1 Intermediate Oxford

phr. v.. to park your car so close to another car that it cannot move or leave.

phr. v.. to obstruct a vehicle's path of egress by parking another vehicle in front of or behind it; transitive and often used in the passive voice.


SIMPLE

I can't leave because a blue van has blocked me in.

CONTEXTUAL

Someone blocked in my car this morning, so I had to take the bus to work.

COMPLEX

The narrow driveway was so crowded that several guests found themselves blocked in by the late arrivals, necessitating a complex reshuffling of vehicles.

Particles
in
Separability
optional
Pattern
block + object + in
Usage

usually used with a person or a vehicle as the direct object.

Teaching tip

this is a great example of a separable phrasal verb where the object (the person or car) is 'trapped' between the verb and the particle, mirroring the physical situation.

Pitfall

He blocked in me.He blocked me in.when the object is a pronoun like 'me' or 'him', it must go between the verb and the particle.

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