(someone) is in trouble

To be "in trouble" means that someone is angry at you and is going to punish you. So you can be "in trouble with" your parents, teachers, boss, customers, spouse, or other people who have the ability to punish you:

I'm in a bit of trouble with my wife for staying out late without calling last night.

Use "for ___" to explain why a person is in trouble.

You can also use the phrase "get in trouble" to talk about being in trouble as a single event in time. Use this when you're talking about trouble in the past or the future:

Once when I was a teenager, I got in trouble for drinking some of my dad's vodka and trying to fill it back up with water.

Aren't you going to get in trouble for that?

This phrase appears in these lessons: