to touch on
87
3.4
- phrasal verb
- /tʌtʃ ɑn/
:
mencionar
- Two questions touch on racial policy preferences: aid to blacks and affirmative action.
- briefly touch on
- only touch on
- touch on a topic
And this book touches on some similar themes.
- And this book touches on some similar themes.
- All right, moving on, I want to touch on the EIDL.
- Well, I, I guess the one thing to touch on is perhaps AIDJ.
- And then, you know, we've touched on the affordability piece.
- So I just very briefly wanted to touch on these old guidelines.
- One of the films that we that we didn't touch on was antisocial.
- And last thing I want to touch on is what does the future hold for you?
- And then what were you when you were touching on pleasure as tension reduction?
- You have to, but let's touch on the positive side of life right now.
- Human beings, philosophy touches on the cosmos, the cosmos for who?
- The first thing that we should really touch on though, because, well, it's a classic.
Examples
-
Many leading minds throughout the history of human thought have touched on the ideal state of society.
Academic text (2008) -
I think you've touched on a really important point.
-
And last thing I want to touch on is what does the future hold for you?
-
And one of the other elements that they touch on is song.
-
You have to, but let's touch on the positive side of life right now.
-
And I will try to touch on these questions in my lecture.
-
The stuff is very well written and touches on all the right points.
Fiction book (1999) -
There is one question we touched on briefly that I'm thinking might merit a second look.
-
The following discussion touches on some of the major risks and problems associated with investing in Cuba.
Academic text (1997) -
In the meeting, we should touch on the upcoming changes to the policy.
Synonyms
∞
1.3
Speak with someone about a subject
∞
1.0
To briefly refer to someone or something in words
88
6.5
To mention something without saying it directly
6
3.6
To briefly say something about a person or thing
Antonyms
How Detailed
- US
675
3.2
868
2.5
∞
1.6
211
3.9
87
3.4
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'touch' (make contact or cause an emotional response) combined with 'on' (targeting) gives a sensible metaphor of lightly contacting a topic or affecting something, so learners can partially infer it relates to mentioning or slightly affecting a subject. However, the specific pragmatic sense (briefly mention vs slightly influence) and the particle-verb combinational meaning are somewhat metaphorical and variable, so a B1 learner who only knows the parts may not predict the exact usage without prior exposure.
Etymology
Touch on comes from the image of lightly touching things to point at them. If you only touch each item on a list and do not look closely, the action is brief, so the phrase means 'to mention or discuss something briefly'.