student asking question

Is it okay to put "leave" instead of "left"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

No, it would not be correct to replace "left" with "leave" here. Although "left" in this case is the past tense form of "leave", it is a part of the phrasal verb "left with". To be "left with" means that something causes someone to end up with something. In the case of the video here, "left with" refers to ending up with having nothing to say. Ex: The fire burned down the whole house and now we're left with nothing. Ex: He couldn't help me so now I'm left with no idea of what to do.

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