What’s So Special About Phrasal Verbs Anyway?

I was once teaching a face to face class with which was going really well. The learner was enjoying himself in the class with the ing exercises. We were working through a dialogue of a question and answer sequence and I was explaining a point to him and mentioned a phrase that confused him:

‘Come across’. He didn’t understand how it fitted in the sentence I used.

‘Haven’t you heard about phrasal verbs before?’ I asked.

‘Huh?’

His face went from relaxed smile to confusion and then horrible shock, when he recognized what I was talking about.

‘Oh no, not this again!’

Phrasal verbs are, at best, an irritation to many English students.
They can be a nightmare for someone trying to find rules or a system for using them.

Questions that you might ask when learning Phrasal verbs include:

1.Why do I need to learn this exactly? And why are there are no clear rules?
2.Ok I get it theoretically, but how does this information help me use them?
3.And is this necessary for me to say if I’m speaking with a non native speaker?

Why do I need to learn this exactly?

This is a topic that an intermediate level or above learner needs no introduction. You’ve heard of these kind of phrases and probably tried to use some of them before.

Phrasal verbs are created from adding a verb with a particle(which is usually a preposition or adverb) together,
and the meaning changing depending on the context or situation you are talking about.They are useful for the native speaker because they provide imagery in the mind or can be an idiomatic way to express a point.They are also shorter way of expressing ideas that the listener understands quickly without using long formed words or phrases.

The problem for you is that there are NO CLEAR rules on how and when to use them, so it can feel very UNCOMFORTABLE and can be a nightmare to use in conversation (or even other forms of communication like on email.)

Here are of several reasons for this:
1) It’s not an official way of speaking because it originates from normal native speakers trying to express and articulate feelings,situations and definitions in a more natural way.

2) You cannot understand the phrase by breaking down each word and analyzing it separately.

3) Usually a Phrasal verb can have more than one meaning.Sometimes it depends on CONTEXT of the situation.

So how does know this information help you? 

Let me introduce a way to learning phrasal verbs faster.

First things first.

Relax!

You are not expected to learn ALL of them at first( there are no real rules remember). That would be crazy. And unproductive.
I suggest you learn a small list of examples to get a general idea and the after you focus on them ONE AT A TIME.

There’s two ways you can experience them one at a time:

1) trying it yourself
2) observing a situation that you are not participating in.

If you want to be able to learn without being stressed or confused about it( and keep your sanity at the same time) then listen: you need to only study a basic list to have an idea of how native speakers use it,

For a basic simple list to start with I’m going to give you a list of 10 Verbs and 10 prepositions you can use here:

Verbs                               Prepositions

1.Come                            1. Up
2.Go                                 2. over
3.Take                             3. out
4.Give                              4.  in
5.Call                               5. at
6.Bring                            6. off
7.Look                             7. into
8.Make                            8. away
9.Hand                            9. on
10.Get                              10.back

 

Your mission is to take any verb and add a preposition combination then google it to find out what it means. Then try finding any sentence examples online too. This list will give you enough combinations to be able to start to understand how phrasal are formed. Don’t forget each Phrasal verb could have more than one meaning!

…and then after this you learn *live* in your interactions with other people and natives. It means you must tune your listening skill and pay attention to when they speak. Then you stop and make a note to remember by asking the speaker to repeat again what they said and explain to you what the phrase means.

The reason is you can only learn a phrasal verb experiencing it in a live interaction or when you engage with someone like this (includes on emails,)it’s not an intellectual learning activity but more like an experience.

Finally Phrasal verbs are probably not useful if you are speaking to a non-native speaker or speakers unless they also have a high level of speaking. However it is a very interesting way to express yourself in any situation.It does also indicate to this speaker that you have a very good level, which promotes greater engagement and communication between you both.

For a situation you are not participating or actively involved in, try using your observation skills instead like

1.Conversations ( e.g. Meetings where other people are speaking not you)
2.Radio
3.Films
4. Watching Online content (especially YouTube )

5) Listening to English speaking songs.

 

In all these situations you need to use your listening skills and observation skills again very well. When you find a phrase you never heard of you can either ask for clarification or make a note of it to check up on afterwards. One of the most overlooked things in communication is that you can always ask people to repeat their sentences.It isn’t rude to do so, most people are just embarrassed ! Try it once and see.
When Listen to the radio or in films you can just make a note of a phrase  and search for it afterwards.
YouTube however is a bit more interesting because you can find many many videos that explain each new phrasal verbs with examples. It’s a great way to add new phrases to your vocabulary!

Don’t forget the most important way to learn more phrases is to always be curious about the new phrase and having fun learning them!

For more on this you can go to my video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u5cqdxxyqg