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Meaning trap

carry over

transfer influence

to cause an attitude, effect, or behaviour from one situation or context to persist or have an impact in another, often unrelated, context.

phrasal verbC1occasional

Don't mix these meanings

Same phrase, different job.

transfer influence

to cause an attitude, effect, or behaviour from one situation or context to persist or have an impact in another, often unrelated, context.

carry over (continue into another time)

'carry over' also has the more basic meaning 'continue into another time'; this is the advanced sense.

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Hear it in context

Notice where the phrase sounds natural.

  • The stress he experienced at work often carried over into his personal life, affecting his relationships.psychology
  • It is important for teachers to ensure that positive classroom behaviours carry over into students' interactions outside of school.IELTS speaking

Fix the pattern

Pattern: carry over (from sth) (into/to/onto sth)

WrongDon't let work stress carry over your home life.

RightDon't let work stress carry over into your home life.

'Carry over INTO' another situation — don't drop 'into'.

Patterncarry over (from sth) (into/to/onto sth)

Use it right

Choose the version that sounds natural in speech.

Stiff The confidence from his win persisted and affected his later performances.

Natural The confidence from his win carried over into his next games.

'Carry over into' is the natural way to say an effect persists into another context; the paraphrase is wordy.

Build natural chunks

Words that usually travel with it.

  • carry over into
    intofromthe momentumold habits

Don't confuse it

Unlike the B2 sense, which refers to moving unfinished things to a later time, this sense is about the transfer of influence, behaviour, or effect from one context or situation to another, not just across time.

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