Phrasal Verbs

How Phrasal Verbs Work and How to Learn Them

Phrasal verbs aren’t random. However, often English course books present them in a completely random way which makes them very difficult to learn.  Don’t try to learn “Phrasal verbs with take” or “Phrasal verbs with get” or “Phrasal verbs with go”. I used to teach them like this. It’s a waste of time!

To understand phrasal verbs you have to understand the little words – we call them particles. The most frequently used are up/down, in/out, on/off and back/away.

Very Different and Useful Phrasal Verb Study Method

A Phrasal Story

When I set off for work this morning, my car broke down, so I ended up taking the bus. As soon as I got off, I bumped into an old schoolmate, Mark. While we were talking, he brought up something I had already found out from some mutual friends- that he’d 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 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 wasn’t 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 II’d like to take him up on his offer. So, in the end, everything’s worked out perfectly!