Phrasal Verbs, They Don`t Have to be Hard to learn! (Including Guaranteed Study Tips)

 

Most of the time, you don’t need to know a dictionary full of fancy phrases to communicate effectively, all that you need are a small, specific selection of the most important phrasal verbs. It’s a concept similar to learning a selection of the most common idioms and slang terms and then using them to make your conversations more natural and interesting. 

Generally speaking, most English learners hate phrasal verbs and you can understand why. Phrasal verbs are an intricate component of the English language, they are a part of every conversation, and writing and mastering them is never easy. So many English students get frustrated and lose hope because they just can’t figure out how to learn them. 

Below is a short story with phrasal verbs that shows how common it is to use them in everyday communications. Yes, all of these phrasal verbs can be replaced with general vocabulary, but normally speaking, that only happens in formal or academic writing. For native speakers, the use of phrasal verbs is a normal part of their lives.

When I set off for work this morning, my poor old car broke down, so I ended up taking the bus. As soon as I got off, I bumped into an old schoolmate, Julius. While we were talking, he brought up something I had already found out from some mutual friends- that he had come into some money and had set up his own business. He told me that there was a lot to sort out, and offered to take me on, but I turned him down straight away.

When I arrived at work and clocked in, my boss had a go at me, telling me off in front of everyone. When I got over the initial shock, I told her I’d make up for being late, but it turned out that she had blown up over a deal that had fallen through, after a client of mine had pulled out of a contract. She told me that I wouldn’t get away with it, that I’d let everybody down, and just went on and on….

Eventually, I ran out of patience and answered back– I said I was not going to put up with it anymore, and if she wanted to lay me off, she should go ahead. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I stormed out, phoned Mark’s secretary, who put me through to him. I told Mark I’d like to take him up on his offer. So, in the end, everything has worked out perfectly!

As you can see from this short story, phrasal verbs can and do form an important part of English.

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Why are phrasal verbs difficult to understand and use?

Phrasal verbs can cause problems for English language learners because there are no universal rules to learn or follow. They can also seem illogical sometimes going against the rules of grammar or even changing the meaning of the verb.

Another problem is that English has more phrasal verbs than other languages - simply because it has more words. Many verbs have multiple phrasal variations such as SET.

In the dictionary, SET means:

put, lay, or stand (something) in a specified place or position.

"Jose set the mug of tea down"

put or bring into a specified state.

"the hostages were set free"

Yet for phrasal verbs with SET, we have:

• Set about (start doing something)
• Set apart (distinguish between)
• Set aside (save for later)
• Set back (delay)
• Set in (take hold)
• Set off (start)
• Set on/upon (attack)
• Set out (begin a journey)
• Set up (assemble/install)

So, how do we make phrasal verbs easier to learn, remember and use? Below is a selection of tips that I successfully use with my students. I hope that they are helpful for you.

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1. Learning subliminally, just like a native.

Native speakers don't learn phrasal verbs by studying English books like second language learners do. Native speakers learn them subliminally by listening to conversations, watching movies, documentaries, or TV series, and also by reading.

If you are fortunate enough to be living in an English-speaking country or you have native speakers that you know, then meet people and have conversations, listen to them, try to identify the phrasal verbs, and understand how they fit into the conversation and what they mean in context.

Another excellent way to learn all forms of vocabulary including phrasal verbs is by watching television shows, movies, and documentaries. As you watch and listen to these shows, your brain will automatically absorb and remember subliminally all of the different aspects of what you hear.

In addition, reading a good book, whether it is a biography, a fiction novel or anything else will also allow your mind to absorb everything that you read, in context, ultimately allowing you to learn, remember and use.

With subliminal learning, the more you watch, listen, and read, the more your range of vocabulary will increase, your knowledge of context will develop and your ability to communicate fluently will improve. There is no better way to learn a language.

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2. Personalize the phrasal verbs

There is no point in getting a dictionary or making a long list of phrasal verbs to remember.  Some people may have some success with this method, but gereally speaking, most people will have difficulties using these expressions!

So, how can we better remember these words?

By personalizing them to your needs!

Let’s choose the phrasal verb get dressed

Make a few sentences using this phrasal verb in your own situation:

For example:

I get dressed at 7 a.m. every morning before breakfast.

I love to get dressed up when I go out to a restaurant on the weekends.

When you learn a new phrasal verb, make sentences about your life or about people and things you know because this way, you will make them a part of your life, and that will always make them easier to remember.

3. Don’t group them by verbs

The most common teaching/learning method that I have seen is to group the phrasal verbs by a particular verb. For example, you might have searched Google for a list of phrasal verbs with GET and found a list that looks like this:

• Get up

• Get over

• Get through

• Get back at

• Get away with

Not only is this an ineffective way to learn phrasal verbs, but it’s also a guaranteed way to make yourself hate them because you’re trying to memorize a bunch of words that all look the same but have completely different meanings.

There is absolutely no logical connection between these words, but our brains need connections to comprehend and absorb the information properly.

A better way to group them is by particles.

2. Group them by particle (up, off, out, away, etc.)

Instead of grouping them by the verb, organizing phrasal verbs by particle can help you to make relevant connections between them. That’s because the particles have tendencies, and if you understand these tendencies, it’ll make learning phrasal verbs a bit easier. 

So, you might be wondering: “What's a particle?” 

Each phrasal verb is composed of a verb and a particle. Let’s look at the phrasal verb sell out as an example:

        Verb    +    particle

        Sell        out

The particle out can signify a few things. For example, we tend to use it when there is no more of something. So if you go to the bakery and you find out that they sold all their bread, you can say,

“They sold out of bread.” or “They’re out of bread.”

Out can also imply that something stopped existing, ended, or disappeared. To illustrate, let’s look at a couple of examples with the phrasal verb go out:

“If you don’t add wood, the fire will go out.”

This means: If you don’t add wood, the fire will stop burning. 

“There was a storm last night, and the power went out in the whole city.”

This means: There was a storm last night, and the power stopped working in the whole city.

As you can see, understanding the particles and their possible meanings is extremely important and helpful? Learning these will take time and practice because verbs many different tendencies, but it’s definitely worth your time and effort. It will at least give you an idea of what the phrasal verb could mean. 

You can learn more about particles and their tendencies from a good phrasal verb dictionary.

This is a link to a great online phrasal verb dictionary.

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3. Group them by topic

Another great way to learn phrasal verbs is to organize them by subject. For example, you could create a phrasal verb list for expressing emotions, describing friends, travel, entertainment, food, or talking about relationships.

For example, if you are going out to dinner and then going to a movie afterward with friends before you go out, you can choose 3 or 4 different phrasal verbs that relate to restaurants, movies, cinemas, etc. and work them into the general conversation that you have with your friends.

1. There is always a link between the different verbs.

2. Organizing them by topic makes them more relatable, interesting to learn and comfortable to use.

3. You are learning how to use them in your everyday life and not just memorizing their abstract meanings

4. 

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4. Create flashcards

Creating flashcards is an excellent way to learn phrasal verbs. You can create them for all of the different phrasal verbs, or, as I prefer to do with my students, we make them for the particular phrasal verbs that they have problems remembering and using through subliminal learning.

If you are doing a particular activity, and there are phrasal verbs that relate to that (Subject), then select the relevant flashcards, keep them in your pocket and try to use them as part of any conversation that you have.

5. Use them in a story 

Another effective way to learn and practice phrasal verbs is to create a story with them. If you like writing fiction, you can create a short story using a few phrasal verbs. If not, then you can simply write a paragraph related to your life. This will help you create connections between the words and your experiences and as we mentioned earlier, it’ll help you immensely in remembering them. 

Here is an example.

“Yesterday, when I was in the city, I ran into an old friend from high school called Juliana. Since we left school, we have grown apart but I remember nothing could come between us when we were kids. We’ve never let each other down. She had always protected me and stuck up for me. I heard from Michael that she is still single and I thought that maybe I should try to fix her up with my cousin David.“

6. Music - Music is also a proven way to learn phrasal verbs. Have you ever heard of earworms, songs that you can’t help but sing throughout the day once you hear them in the morning?

Well, music will make phrasal worms out of phrasal verbs. Just open Google, type in a phrasal verb + “lyrics”, see the song that uses that phrasal verb, play it on YouTube, and that’s it!

What a fun way to learn phrasal verbs if you really love music.

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How many types of phrasal verbs are there?

When it comes to speaking about the different types of phrasal verbs, there are several different ways in which phrasal verbs differ. We’re going to try and present the four main categories commonly used to differentiate between various phrasal verbs.

1. Transitive vs. intransitive - Transitive phrasal verbs are those phrasal verbs that have to be followed by an object. 

• I gave up smoking two years ago.
• You have to fill out this form.
• Can you look after the kids today?    

Intransitive phrasal verbs, on the other hand, do not require an object, and you can freely use only them and still convey the meaning correctly.

• We broke up yesterday.
• He got angry and ran out.
• She simply passed out. 

2. Separable vs. inseparable - You can separate some phrasal verbs, while you cannot separate others. Additionally, some phrasal verbs you can separate, but you don’t have to. 

Some phrasal verbs can`t be separated:

• He will turn up soon. You can’t say “He will turn soon up.”
• My car broke down yesterday. Not “My car broke yesterday down.” 

Some phrasal verbs can be separated:

• You can turn my offer down. This is completely correct.
• Could you please chop the veggies up? Again, completely appropriate!

3. Multiple meanings - Now, there are some phrasal verbs that have more than one meaning, making them a nightmare for language learners. But, you should know they exist, even if they are a bit tricky to learn.

• Work out - It can either mean that something will transpire successfully (My plan worked out without a hitch.), or it can have to do with exercising (I am going to work out later today.)
• Take off - When you take some time off work, you go on holiday and stop working for a period of time. But, if you take off your shoes, you remove your shoes from your feet. Finally, if a business takes off, it becomes successful very quickly. 

4. Three words - Finally, there are phrasal verbs that consist of not two, but three words. Let us give you just a couple of examples:

• Look up to - When you look up to somebody, they are your role model and you want to become as they are.
• Catch up with - If you’re behind on work, for example, you need to catch up with it and bring all your affairs in order.
• Get away with - This means that you got off scot-free after doing something that would, otherwise, bring some consequences down upon you. 
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There is no magic method for learning phrasal verbs. It takes time, patience, and commitment. If you want to sound more natural when speaking English, you need to take the time to practice phrasal verbs and get more confident with using them.

Good luck and good teaching/learning.

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