phrasal verbs - what are they and how are they used?
What are phrasal verbs?
Phrasal verbs are verbs that consist of a verb and a particle (a preposition or adverb) or a
verb and two particles (an adverb and a preposition, as in get on with or look forward to).
They are identified by their grammar (more about that in Unit 2), but it is probably best to
think of them as individual vocabulary items, to be learnt in phrases or chunks. They often
– but not always – have a one-word equivalent. For example, you can come across a new
phrasal verb or you can encounter it. You can pick up a language or you can acquire it.
Come across and pick up sound less literary or formal than encounter or acquire.
Why are phrasal verbs important?
Phrasal verbs are extremely common in English. They are found in a wide variety of
contexts. You may have noticed them in songs, for example the Beatles’ I’ll get by with a
little help from my friends or Roll over Beethoven, Bob Marley’s Get up, stand up and Red
Hot Chili Peppers’ Knock me down. You find them in film titles such as The Empire Strikes
Back, Spirited Away, Along Came Polly or Cast Away. They are very frequent in newspaper
headlines. Here are just a few examples:
Cover-up raises fears over bird flu
Country’s misplaced pride holds back its democracy
Turner adds up likely cost of pensions
Cricket:England holds out for a draw
Match the headlines with the sentences from the stories.
1 BIG SHAKE-UP EXPECTED IN EDUCATION
2 MINISTER DENIES COVER-UP
3 LOCKOUT CONTINUES AT AVIATION PLANT
4 BREAKAWAY GROUP TO FORM NEW PARTY
5 POWER PLANT SHUTDOWN LEAVES 5,000 HOMES IN DARKNESS
a) The dispute is now in its fifth week.
b) Unity was no longer possible, a spokesperson said.
c) The event happened at 7.45 pm with no warning.
d) There will be major changes at all levels.
e) There was no attempt to hide the truth, claimed Pamela Harding
| Structure of phrasal verbs | ||
| A phrasal verb can be made up of: | a verb + adverb | throw away |
| a verb + adverb + preposition | put up with | |
Name some phrasal verbs that you are already familiar with and then try to do the exercise below
Instructions:
Each of the following sentences contains a phrasal verb.
Choose a suitable adverb to fill each gap and complete the phrasal verb.
To help you, a synonym for the phrasal verb is given in brackets at the end of each question.
Phrasal Verbs have a way of worming their way into our everyday English. Many have more than one meaning so they can be quite confusing.
In this exercise you must read the sentence and the clue in brackets and try to put an appropriate phrasal verb in the correct tense in the gaps. The missing phrasal verbs are popular.
1 – This is a pretty dress. Shall I ------ it ---? ( to see if something fits or looks good on you )
2 – The pasta has gone bad. I should --------- it ------. ( to put something in the rubbish bin )
3 – I know that learning English is difficult, but don't ------ ---. ( to stop doing something )
4 – We are going to miss our flight. -------- ---! (to move/do something quicker )
5 – She's on the other line, could you ------- --- a minute please? ( To wait a little )
6 – I gave you some money last week. Can you ---- me ----- please? (to give money to someone who lent it to you)
7 – Don't stop writing. -------- ---. (to continue doing something )
8 – Some agents came to my school, so I ------- them ----------. ( to take someone on a tour )
9 – Could you ----- your cigarette ---- please? ( to extinguish/switch something off )
10 – Please ------- --- this word in the dictionary. I don't know how it's spelt. ( to check the meaning/spelling of a word)
2 – The pasta has gone bad. I should --------- it ------. ( to put something in the rubbish bin )
3 – I know that learning English is difficult, but don't ------ ---. ( to stop doing something )
4 – We are going to miss our flight. -------- ---! (to move/do something quicker )
5 – She's on the other line, could you ------- --- a minute please? ( To wait a little )
6 – I gave you some money last week. Can you ---- me ----- please? (to give money to someone who lent it to you)
7 – Don't stop writing. -------- ---. (to continue doing something )
8 – Some agents came to my school, so I ------- them ----------. ( to take someone on a tour )
9 – Could you ----- your cigarette ---- please? ( to extinguish/switch something off )
10 – Please ------- --- this word in the dictionary. I don't know how it's spelt. ( to check the meaning/spelling of a word)
Phrasal Verbs
A – hurry up
B - go on
C – look up
D – put out
E – pay back
F – hold on
G – throw away
H – show / around
I – try on
J – give up
B - go on
C – look up
D – put out
E – pay back
F – hold on
G – throw away
H – show / around
I – try on
J – give up
Watch the following video and try to guess the 12 most useful phrasal verbs. Write them down as you guess them.
Tell your teacher about your morning routine step by step using phrasal verbs starting with when you wake up!
Read the following text and indicate all of the phrasal verbs that you see.
I was brought up in a small town in the countryside. Growing up in the countryside offered lots of advantages for young people. The only problem was that we often got into trouble as we made up stories that we acted out around town. I can remember one adventure in particular: One day as we were coming back from school, we came up with the brilliant idea to make out that we were pirates looking for treasure. My best friend Tom said that he made out an enemy ship in the distance. We all ran for cover and picked up a number of rocks to use for ammunition against the ship as we got ready to put together our plan of action. We were ready to set off on our attack, we slowly went along the path until we were face to face with our enemy - the postman's truck! The postman was dropping off a package at Mrs. Brown's house, so we got into his truck. At that point, we really didn't have any idea about what we were going to do next. The radio was playing so we turned down the volume to discuss what we would do next. Jack was all for switching on the motor and getting away with the stolen mail! Of course, we were just children, but the idea of actually making off with a truck was too much for us to believe. We all broke out in nervous laughter at the thought of us driving down the road in this stolen Postal Truck. Luckily for us, the postman came running towards us shouting, "What are you kids up to?!". Of course, we all got out of that truck as quickly as we could and took off down the road.
Write a similar story about your childhood using as many phrasal verbs as you can think of.
Below is a link to a handbook of phrasal verbs with exercises to do at your own leisure:-
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B82Fl6MNfXZLcEs1ZlFrdUc1N3M/edit?usp=sharing
Below is a list of 200 of the most commonly used phrasal verbs with meanings and examples.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B82Fl6MNfXZLY0lZNXNVZWhsSmM/edit?usp=sharing
Born, bread and buttered in Britain - Tuesday 29th July
What images do you associate with London?
Have you ever visited London?
What things did you see?
(1).jpg)
You are going to listen to an interview of a man from London talking about where he lives. How many of the places below are mentioned in the audio?
Islington
Regent’s Park
Bloomsbury
Kings Cross
Hampstead Heath
Tufnell Park
The Thames
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/ALLEN%20ROOME.mp3
Can you find the places he talks about on the following map?
http://tinyurl.com/24w4ljb
Now look at these statements.
1. There are too many foreigners here.
2. I’ve lived in a lot of different parts of London.
3. I think celebrities are great.
4. I’m young and like going out a lot
5. I’ve seen a lot of changes in my life.
6. I enjoy being rich.
7. Young people watch too much television.
8. I really enjoyed living in America.
Listen again to the audio. The speaker doesn't actually say any of these sentences so you will need to justify your answers. Answers are below.
1. There are too many foreigners here. (False. He describes the area where
he lives as ‘diverse’ so he probably feels positive about the different
peoples living in that area.)
2. I’ve lived in a lot of different parts of London. (True. He describes a
number of parts of London he has lived in.)
3. I think celebrities are great. (False. He says “I’m not into that sort of thing,
so that passes me by”.)
4. I’m young and like going out a lot. (False. He talks a lot about the past
and young people, so he is probably quite old.)
5. I’ve seen a lot of changes in my life. (True. He describes London in the
past.)
6. I enjoy being rich. (Probably false. He describes a time when he had no
washing machine.)
7. Young people watch too much television. (Probably true. He is critical of
the way young people speak and blames it on American films which he
describes as rubbish.)
8. I really enjoyed living in America. (False. He doesn’t mention living in
9. America and says he has always lived within a 7-mile area of London.)
'Used to'and ' didn't use to': Things that happened in the past that no longer happen: Complete the following sentences according to the audio:
You / buy / anything / Tufnell Park.
There / be / two dairies.
He / have / washing machine.
He / take washing home on the bus.
It / cost/ much money.
People / watch so many American films.
Answers:
You used to buy anything in Tufnell Park.
There used to be two dairies.
He didn’t use to have a washing machine.
He used to take the washing home on the bus.
It didn’t use to cost much money.
Tony Blair used to live in Islington.
People didn’t use to watch so many American films.
What things are different for you from 5 to 10 years ago. What things did you 'used to' do that you don't do now?
Transcript of interview
Allen Roome: Right, I come from London. I was born in the West End. I don’t
remember much about that because we moved on to Kings Cross then we
moved up to Tufnell Park where I spent most of my life. I did move back to the
West End when I was a bit of a younger man, you know – to see what was
going on down there, obviously. And then I moved back to Tufnell Park and now
I’m in Islington. I suppose in all those – I had moved within that area; I suppose,
you could say that it’s a seven-mile square area that I never moved out of.
Interviewer: Good heavens. And can you tell me about any changes in this
area of, perhaps Tufnell Park in London where you were living most of the time?
Allen Roome: Well, yeah the Tufnell Park area, where I lived was just off of
Tufnell Park. In your eyes what has changed greatly is the shops. There are all
different types of shops there. You could literally buy anything you needed in
general. Not furniture, but there’s a couple of dairies there, a pub, off-licence,
there was a laundrette – Westerns they were called. They was a big company
when I was younger and we used to get what we called our bag washed there
and I had to pick it up on a Thursday. Number ninety-seven was always wet; I
remember that, yes.
Interviewer: You went and collected the wet laundry?
Allen Roome: We took it on Monday and collected it on Thursday and I can’t
remember how much it was. It was only sort of, in those days, coppers. It wasn’t
a great deal of money at all. But it was the sort of period of time when people
never had washing machines and that was the ideal sort of thing to do.
Interviewer: Yeah. And would you say your area, perhaps the area that you’re
living in now – Islington; is that famous for anything?
Allen Roome: I don’t think it’s all that famous for anything. Not the part I live in
anyway. The ex-prime minister lived there, Tony Blair. I don’t know what you
make of that if that’s famous or not. But I did think on it and there are some little
areas in there where I think there’s a lot of, sort of, actors and actresses live.
But I’m not into that sort of thing, so that passes me by.
Interviewer: And just tell me something about how people speak in your area of
north London, would you say.
Allen Roome: Well, it’s such a diversity there that you couldn’t say anybody
speaks, it’s a general accent or a general theme. What I do notice is the young
people now, they have this type of speak where they use a lot of American
phrases and things like this. I remember a kid a week or so ago. He was
shouting out ‘oh that is wickedly evil, man’. Which, that sort of terminology
comes from the United States of America. And that’s ‘cause they watch this
rubbish television.
Interviewer: What does that mean ‘it’s wickedly evil, man’?
Allen Roome: I think it’s supposed to mean it’s good, which it means obviously
the opposite. But that’s what they do. They do speak like that, you know.
Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions
What is an idiom?
An idiom (full name is idiomatic expression) can be an expression, word, or phrase that only has a meaning to the native speaker. The meaning of an idiom is totally different from the literal meaning of the idiom's individual elements.
Idioms do not mean exactly what the words say. They have a hidden meaning.
Example of idioms with their literal meaning and idiomatic meaning
One of the more common idioms in the English language is, “break a leg”.
Before Peter went on the stage for the show, John told him to break a leg.
Literal meaning: I am telling you to break a bone in your leg and then you will probably have to go to the hospital afterwards to get a cast put on your leg.
Idiomatic meaning: Do your best and good luck . A lot of actors and actresses tell each other to “break a leg” as they are about to go on stage to perform. It is deemed to be good luck.
Watch the following video to learn some idiomatic expressions
Below is a list of just a few idiomatic expressions and their meanings with examples
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B82Fl6MNfXZLQTRsam9tVkZFaEk/edit?usp=sharing
This short story about an what it takes to be successful in a small company focuses on the use of idioms in context. Read the story and use the idiom notes below to help you learn new idioms in context.
Young and Free: Prerequisite for Success
Let's face it: In today's business world you need to be young and free of attachments to strike it rich. It's a dog eat dog world out there and you're going to have to work quite a lot. Of course, not only will you have to work quite a lot, you'll need to be flexible and ready to take advantage of anything. That's where the "free" part comes in.
I've got a young friend, he's only 25, but he fits the bill perfectly. He's single and he's hungry. He's willing to start from scratch and, best of all, he isn't afraid of putting his nose to the grindstone for those 80 hour weeks. He decided to take the bull by the horns by going starting up his own business. He found a software developer who knew the internet inside out. This young man was also very ambitious. He left his safe job at the drop of a hat. They were both reaching for pie in the sky, and they were ready.
They were also lucky. They founded a startup and got into the whole social networking business in 2002. In other words, they were early birds and they were willing to sink or swim. Probably the most important ingredient in their success, was that they were willing to play things by ear. They kept their ears to the ground, moved full steam ahead and drove hard bargains. Soon, their business was growing by leaps and bounds. Of course, they had some stumbling blocks along the way. Who doesn't? Still, they got the jump on the competition and by the year 2008 they were multi-millionaires. This sort of success for the young and free now has copycats around the world.
Idioms Used in the Story
at the drop of a hat = immediately
by leaps and bounds = very quickly (used with improvement)
copycat = someone or a company who tries to do things like another person or company
dog eat dog = very competitive
drive a hard bargain = to make a business deal that is very advantageous for you
early bird = someone who takes early advantage of a situation
fit the bill = to have the right characteristics for something
by leaps and bounds = very quickly (used with improvement)
copycat = someone or a company who tries to do things like another person or company
dog eat dog = very competitive
drive a hard bargain = to make a business deal that is very advantageous for you
early bird = someone who takes early advantage of a situation
fit the bill = to have the right characteristics for something
full steam ahead = to continue with full commitment
get the jump on someone = to get the advantage over someone by starting early
have one's ears to the ground = to pay attention to rumors, news, and industry insiders
know something inside out = to have expert knowledge about something
pie in the sky = something very hard to achieve, a dream
play something by ear = to improvise in a situation, react to a situation as it occurs
put one's nose to the grindstone = to work hard and put in many hours
sink or swim = succeed or fail
start from scratch = to start from the beginning
startup = a small company that begins to do business, usually in technology
strike it rich = to become rich, often by creating a new product or service successfully
stumbling block = a difficulty or hurdle that stands in the way of success
take the bull by the horns = to confront a problem and deal with it
know something inside out = to have expert knowledge about something
pie in the sky = something very hard to achieve, a dream
play something by ear = to improvise in a situation, react to a situation as it occurs
put one's nose to the grindstone = to work hard and put in many hours
sink or swim = succeed or fail
start from scratch = to start from the beginning
startup = a small company that begins to do business, usually in technology
strike it rich = to become rich, often by creating a new product or service successfully
stumbling block = a difficulty or hurdle that stands in the way of success
take the bull by the horns = to confront a problem and deal with it
It's important to learn and use idioms in context. Of course, idioms are not always easy to understand. There are idiom and expression resources that can help with definitions, but reading them in short stories can also provide context that make them come more alive. Try reading the story one time to understand the gist without using the idiom definitions. On your second reading, use the definitions to help you understand the text while learning new idioms.
More Idioms and Expressions in Context Stories
Party Animal
John's Keys to Success
An Unpleasant Colleague
My Cousin Crazy Eddy
Odd Man Out
Life of the Party
The Economy is Tough
The Inventor's Lesson
Young and Free
Advice from a Content Grandfather
A Very Difficult Boss
My Successful Friend
Missed Chance of a Lifetime
Take the following test to challenge your knowledge of idiomatic expressionsJohn's Keys to Success
An Unpleasant Colleague
My Cousin Crazy Eddy
Odd Man Out
Life of the Party
The Economy is Tough
The Inventor's Lesson
Young and Free
Advice from a Content Grandfather
A Very Difficult Boss
My Successful Friend
Missed Chance of a Lifetime
http://www.english-test.net/esl/learn/english/grammar/ie020/esl-test.php
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