Hi everyone,

Today, I would like to share with you 6 tips to learn Phrasal Verbs in English quickly, this lesson was written by LINDSAY DOW

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Let’s get started!

I’ve been teaching English for close to a decade. It’s never long before students start asking “How can I sound more like a native speaker?”

I’ve realised that a big gap for English learners is phrasal verbs. Teaching phrasal verbs has enabled my students to feel more confident and comfortable using English. It’s also been a great help for me as a language learner.

That’s why I’ve decided to share with you my best tips for learning phrasal verbs in English. If you’re learning English, I’m sure you’ll love these. And if you’re a native English speaker, knowing about phrasal verbs can be a big help with your language learning.

What is a Phrasal Verb?

Firstly, let’s outline briefly what a phrasal verb actually is!

Have you ever noticed how when you sometimes add a seemingly tiny word like a preposition or an adverb after a verb, the meaning can completely change? Crazy, huh? That’s phrasal verbs. They’re a little bit wacky.

Read more: 

Look at some phrasal verbs in conversations below

Verb: Pick

“Pick” is just a normal verb, not a phrasal verb. Well, not yet at least. It can mean a few things. Let’s focus on one meaning for our example: to select or choose.

We need to pick which meal we’d like to eat.

But look what happens to ‘pick’ when we add the word ‘up’.

Phrasal Verb: Pick Up

Now, as if by some kind of wordplay magic, “pick” has become a phrasal verb. To ‘pick up’ can actually, mean many different things. We’ll look at just four of the possible meanings in this post: to improve, to collect someone or something, and to acquire knowledge.

Let’s look at an example for each of these:

• Improve: The weather is picking up lately, isn’t it?
• Collect someone: Can you pick up Jenny after football practice?
• Collect something: Can you pick up my parcel from the post office?
• Acquire knowledge: James picked up Spanish really quickly.

Phew! Who’d have thought that the addition of the tiny word ‘up’ could make such a difference?

Ready to learn some more? Here are my top tips to learn phrasal verbs in English.

1. Transitive or Intransitive

I hate to start by throwing these grammar words at you, but it helps a lot if you can understand the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs when learning phrasal verbs.

You may already be familiar with these words, but if not, here’s the jargon-free explanation:

• transitive = needs something or someone after the verb
• intransitive = stands alone

For example, the phrasal verb ‘bump into’ means “to meet someone unexpectedly” and always has to be followed by the person you weren’t expecting to meet. You can’t just say, “Yesterday, I bumped into. Haven’t seen her in years!” You have to say instead something like this: “Yesterday, I bumped into Sarah. Haven’t seen her in years!”

The exception to this would be if it were a statement that didn’t reveal ‘who’ you ‘bumped into’. For example, “I went to town yesterday. You’ll never guess who I bumped into.” Even here though, ‘who’ is the someone that you met unexpectedly. In the answer, this ‘who’ will change into someone’s name and be placed after ‘bumped into’; it just happens to appear earlier in the sentence.

However, some phrasal verbs are intransitive, which means they work fine on their own. For example, ’grow up’ means “to mature”. You never add an object. Here are a few examples of how this works.

• They grew up in England.
• Your daughter is growing up so fast!
• When I grow up, I want to be a popstar.

Something worth noting here is that some phrasal verbs can be either transitive or intransitive. For example, ‘wake up’, as I’m sure you know, means “to awaken”. If you want to say that you awaken, you simply say “I wake up”.

However, “I wake up Sarah” is an example of real English, but it means that you go into Sarah’s bedroom and shake her and blow an airhorn into her ear and throw water on her and scream until she opens her eyes. Or, you know, it just means that you gently tap her and say her name to ease her into the day. (If it’s the former, it’s fair to say Sarah needs to find new friends.)

2. Separable or Inseparable

As well as having to consider whether or not a phrasal verb is transitive or intransitive, we also have to become familiar with the idea of separable and inseparable.

Here’s a jargon-free explanation, as you asked so nicely:

• Separable = the verb and extra word(s) that make it a phrasal verb can be separated
• Inseparable = do not split the main verb from the other words in the phrasal verb. That’s just asking for trouble.

Let’s go back to poor old sleepy Sarah. When we’re talking about ‘waking someone else up’, the phrasal verb ‘wake up’ takes an object because we’ve added ‘someone else’. It is also separable because that ‘someone else’ can go between the verb ‘wake’ and the word ‘up’ and it still sounds ok, the meaning doesn’t change, and you won’t get any confused looks when you speak to native speakers. Hooray!

So as well as being able to say ‘I wake up Sarah’, we can also say ‘I wake Sarah up’, which means exactly the same thing. Pretty cool, huh?

Well, I hope you like that bit because not all phrasal verbs are that accommodating. Some are strictly separable and must be kept separate at all times like a pair of angry divorcees. For example, ‘keep something around’ means to keep something close to you. However, you can’t ‘keep around something’.

I always keep my phone around when I’m waiting for you to call.

Others are strictly inseparable. For example, ‘look up to someone’, which means to admire and respect someone. We can’t say ‘look someone up to’ or even ‘look up someone to’. Here’s an example of how it would work.

I really look up to my older sister.

Learning whether a phrasal verb is transitive/intransitive and separable/inseparable from the start will really help you to use it correctly as you go forward. I’d recommend writing a few example sentences showing off how it’s used to help you to remember. But where do you get these phrasal verbs from to begin with?

3. Context: A Simple Trick for Memorising Phrasal Verbs

It’s pretty easy to find list after list of phrasal verbs on the Internet and in grammar books, but that may not be the best way to learn them. Instead, try focusing on topics.

Imagine you’re watching a Formula One race. There are going to be lots of phrasal verbs you can use here involving ‘pull’ because many are to do with driving.

For example, Hamilton pulled up at the pit stop, Vettel is pulling away slowly, and Rosberg is pulling ahead. You can almost smell the petrol fumes.

Now think of an airport. There are as many phrasal verbs as suitcases here!

For example, we have to check in, the plane takes off in 10 minutes, don’t forget to look after your luggage.

A great way to do this would be to start with a list of phrasal verbs and a blank notebook. Write one topic or situation at the centre of a page in your notebook, for example, “in the classroom”. Now browse your list of phrasal verbs until you come across something that you might hear “in the classroom”. Add it to your list with an example and repeat. Oh yes, and don’t forget to note whether each is transitive or intransitive and separable or inseparable. It’s much easier to embed this in your memory as you learn each phrasal verb rather than struggle along later.

4. Use Stories to Lodge Phrasal Verbs in Your Memory

Once you’ve created your mind maps, you can take it one step further and create your own stories linked to a particular phrasal verb. Everyone loves a good story, right?

Stories make for more familiar, engaging, interesting, and memorable learning resources. If you’re creating them yourself, then even better.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t consider yourself a writer! Here are a few reasons why. Number one, no one has to read them if you don’t want them to. Number two, you don’t even have to write them down. Which skill is the most important for you to make stronger? Speaking? Why not try recording yourself saying your stories aloud as they come to you? Again, no one has to hear them if you don’t want to share. I promise I won’t tell.

5. Use Music to Discover How Phrasal Verbs are Used

Of course, there’s plenty of good advice about using music in language learning. Similarly to why stories are so great, music creates a memorable attachment and gives context.

To get started, try searching for the phrasal verb you’re learning in speech marks with the word ‘lyrics’ on YouTube. For example, [“carry on”] (http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/fun/carryon.html) lyrics. If you’re searching a separable phrasal verb, then you can perhaps try inserting pronouns too. For example, “wake me up” lyrics.

If you’ve got a huge list of phrasal verbs and don’t have time to do that for each one, I’ve put together this playlist to get you started. You’re welcome, friend!

6. Check Current Use of Phrasal Verbs by Reading the News

Once you’ve lost your voice from all the singing, head back to Google, but this time, instead of searching for lyrics, check out the news tab and try searching for your phrasal verbs.

I use this technique all the time with my students (and myself) when learning different languages. Not only does it give you a range of sources and therefore potentially a wide variety of language use, but it also brings you examples of current usage.

One thing you might spot from this exercise is how some phrasal verbs are used as nouns too. For example, when I searched ‘pick up’ for research for this post, this is what I got.

In the first example, the phrasal verb ‘pick up’ is being used to mean collect…

We’ve also got examples of it as a noun…

And as a noun with a different meaning…

Finally, check out this one…

Another verb, but with a different meaning. Here it means ‘to improve.

You don’t even have to go on to read all of these articles if you don’t want to. Google has given you exactly what you need on the first page. Thanks, Google.

By using these tips to take your phrasal verb knowledge further, you’ll not only enjoy the process more than simple rote learning, but you’ll also be creating longer-lasting memories of the words. Win-win.

Feeling inspired? I’ve recently released my first online course. Yay! It’s called Mastering English Phrasal Verbs Through Story and is perfect for you if you’re looking for something to give you exposure to over 500 phrasal verbs and a chance to create your own stories as part of the learning process. Find out more here.

Image credit: Rennett Stowe.

Source: LINDSAY DOW

Compare this idiom with to burn out in Lesson 12.

To burn out means that electrical equipment becomes hot from overuse and stops functioning.

To break down means that something stops functioning mechanically, whether from overuse or not.

• Ex: I just bought my new car yesterday and already it has broken down.
• Ex: The elevator broke down, so we walked all the way up to the top floor.

The noun form turnout derives from the second definition of the idiom.

• Ex: Most parents wonder how their children will turn out as adults.
• Ex: Hundreds of people came out for the demonstration against new taxes.
• Ex: What was the turnout for the public hearing on the education reforms?

Snow falls on the city of San Diego, California, once in a blue moon.

• Ex: Once in a blue moon my wife and I eat at a very expensive restaurant.

• Ex: I’m sure that you can accomplish this task. Don’t give up yet!
• Ex: If you give up smoking now, you can certainly live a longer life.
• Ex: The soldiers gave themselves up in the face of a stronger enemy forces.

• Ex: The teacher crossed out several incorrect words in Tanya’s composition.
• Ex: I crossed the last line out of my letter because it had the wrong tone to it.

A noun or pronoun often follows the verb take.

• Ex: John took his wife for granted until once when he was very sick and needed her constant attention for a week.
• Ex: He spoke English so well that I took it for granted he was an American.
• Ex: He took for granted that I wasn’t American because I spoke English so poorly!

Again, a noun or pronoun often follows the verb take.

• Ex: The judge took the prisoner’s young age into account before sentencing him to three months in jail.
• Ex: Educators should take into account the cultural backgrounds of students when planning a school curriculum

• Ex: Please make clear that he should never act so impolitely again.
• Ex: The supervisor made it clear to the workers that they had to increase their productivity.

• Ex: The president’s message was clear-cut: the company had to reduce personnel immediately. Ex: Professor Larsen is well known for his interesting and clear-cut presentations.

• Ex: How do you like the hat which Grace has on today?
• Ex: When Sally came into the room, I had nothing on except my shorts.

• Ex: At first they thought that the man was dead, but soon he came to.
• Ex: The bill for groceries at the supermarket came to fifty dollars.

• Ex: This cake recipe calls for some baking soda, but we don’t have any.
• Ex: The member of Congress called for new laws to regulate the banking industry

Hyphens (–) separate the parts of this idiom when it precedes a noun form, as in the third example. The verb to update derives from this idiom.

• Ex: The president insisted that the company bring its aging equipment up to date.
• Ex: This catalog is not up to date. It was published several years ago.
• Ex: The news program gave an up-to-date account of the nuclear accident. The newscaster said that he would update the news report every half hour.

• Ex: Many people buy new cars when their old cars become out of date.
• Ex: I don’t know why Gene likes to wear out-of-date cloth. His clothes are so outdated that even his girlfriend hesitates to be seen with him.
• Ex: This book can’t be ordered any more because it is out of date.

• Ex: Daddy, could you please blow up this balloon for me?
• Ex: When the airplane crashed into the ground, it blew up immediately.
• Ex: The military had to blow the missile up in midair when it started to go the wrong way.

• Ex: Don’t stand too close to the gas stove. Your clothes may catch fire.
• Ex: No one seems to know how the old building caught fire.

• Ex: There was a large amount of wax on the table where the candles had burned down.
• Ex: The fire spread so quickly that the fire fighters could not prevent the whole block of buildings from burning down.

To burn up and to burn down (previous idiom) share the same definition but also have different definitions.

• Ex: She didn’t want anyone to see the letter, so she burned it up and threw the ashes away.
• Ex: It really burns me up that he borrowed my car without asking me first.
• Ex: Mike got ticked off that his friends never offered to help him move to his new apartment. He had to do everything himself.

• Ex: This light bulb has burned out. Could you get another one?
• Ex: Studying all day for my final exams has really burned me out.

• Ex: He is a hard worker, and I’m sure that he will make good in that new job.
• Ex: Alma has always made good in everything that she has done.

This idiom is almost always used with the pronoun subject it and is followed by a that clause.

• Ex: It stands to reason that a person without experience.
• Ex: It stands to reason that he isn’t going to pass the course if he never studies.

• Ex: An epidemic of measles broke out in Chicago this past week.
• Ex: If a nuclear war ever breaks out, it is unlikely that many people will survive.
• Ex: The news says that a large fire has broken out in a huge chemical plant

• Ex: As for the money, we will simply have to borrow some more from the bank.
• Ex: There is no doubt as to her intelligence; she’s the smartest one in the class.

• Ex: Don’t you feel sorry for someone who has to work the night shift?
• Ex: I helped drive Pierre around when he broke his foot because I took pity on him.

• Ex: There was a large sign outside the door that said, “Danger! Keep out!”
• Ex: I’ve told you to keep the dog out of the house.

• Ex: Please be sure to keep the children away from the street!
• Ex: The signs on the burned-out house said, “Keep Away! Danger Zone.”
• Ex: It’s important for your health to stay away from dangerous drugs.

• Ex: It is very easy to find fault with the work of others, but more difficult to accept criticism of one’s own work.
• Ex: Mrs. Johnson is always finding fault with her children, but they really try to please their mother.

The second definition is most often used in a question as a form of greeting.

• Ex: I don’t care whether we go to the reception or not. It‘s up to you.
• Ex: Hi, George. I haven’t seen you in a while. What have you been up to?

• Ex: Speaking in front of a large audience makes many people feel ill at ease.
• Ex: My wife and I were ill at ease because our daughter was late coming home from a date

• Ex: A noun or pronoun must separate the two parts of this idiom.
• Ex: You’d better do the letter over because it is written so poorly.
  Ex: Jose made so many mistakes in his homework that the teacher made him do it over.

• Ex: The police are looking into the matter of the stolen computers.
• Ex: The congressional committee will check into the financial dealings of the government contractor

• Ex: You should take hold of the railing as you go down those steep stairs.
• Ex: The blind man took hold of my arm as I led him across the street.

This idiom is followed either by the –ing form of a verb (a gerund) or by the preposition with.

• Ex: I didn’t get through studying last night until almost eleven o’clock.
• Ex: At what time does your wife get through with work every day?

• Ex: Mr. Lee’s doctor told him to cut down on eating fatty foods from now on, or else he might suffer heart disease.
• Ex: I’m sorry that I dropped by at a bad time. From now on I’ll call you first.

• Ex: Steve keeps track of all the long-distance telephone calls related to his business that he makes from his house.
• Ex: With seven small children, how do the Wilsons keep track of all of them?

This idiom can also be used with get instead of be.

• Ex: Paula and Leanne were carried away by the sad movie that they saw together.
• Ex: James got carried away with anger when his roommate crashed his new car into a telephone pole.

• Ex: Please make sure that you turn off the radio before you go out.
• Ex: Could you make certain of the time? I don’t want to miss that TV show.

Both now and then and once in a while can be preceded by the adjective every. Another idiom with the same meaning and form is every so often.

• Ex:  I don’t see him very often, but (every) now and then we arrange to have lunch together.
• Ex: Gary gets a cold (every) once in a while even though he takes good care of himself.
• Ex: Every so often my brother and I get together for a camping trip.
• Ex: I like to sleep late in the morning from time to time.

• Ex: Jerry tried hard to get rid of the stain on his shirt, but he never succeeded.
• Ex: The stain was so bad that Jerry finally had to get rid of his shirt.

• Ex: I play tennis with my father every other Saturday, so I usually play twice a month.
• Ex: There were twenty problems in the exercise, but the teacher told us only to do every other one. Actually, doing ten problems was difficult enough.

For the first definition, adverbs such as well and poorly are often used.

• Ex: That striped shirt goes well with the gray pants, but the pants go poorly with those leather shoes.
• Ex: Eda went with Richard for about six months, but now she is going out with a new boyfriend.

• Ex: The food served in that four-star restaurant is truly first-rate.
• Ex: The Beverly Hills Hotel provides first-rate service to its guests.

This idiom is commonly used in discussion of one’s home town, state, or country.

• Ex: What country in South American does she come from? She comes from Peru.
• Ex: I just learned that he really comes from Florida, not Texas.
• Ex: Where did this package come from? The mail carrier brought it.

The adjective excellent can also be used.

• Ex: On our last trip, it rained the entire time, so we didn’t make good time.
• Ex: We made excellent time on our trip to Florida; it only took eighteen hours.

For the second definition, the passive forms to be mixed up or to get mixed up are often used.

• Ex: You should mix up the ingredients well before you put them in the pan
• Ex: The teacher’s poor explanation really mixed the students up.
• Ex: The students think it’s their fault that they are mixed up so often.

• Ex: Who is going to see about getting us a larger room for the meeting?
• Ex: I’ll see to arranging music for the wedding of you attend to the entertainment.

• Ex: Charlie didn’t make out very well on his final examinations. He may have to repeat one or more classes.
• Ex: How did Rachelle make out on her acting audition in Hollywood yesterday?

• Ex: He knows many passages form Shakespeare by heart.
• Ex: Do you know all the idioms you have studied in this book by heart?

Compare wake up and get up as used in the first example.

• Example: Marge woke up this morning very early, but she did not get up until about ten o’clock.
• Ex: My alarm clock wakes me up at the same time every day.

• Ex: Jane is in charge of the office while Mrs. Haig is a business trip.
• Ex: Who is in charge of arrangements for the dance next week?

• Ex: As soon as it started to snow, the children ran outside with big smiles on their faces.
• Ex: I’m busy now, but I’ll meet you as soon as I’ve finished this work.

• Ex: You can get in touch with him by calling the Burma Hotel.
• Ex: I’ve been trying all morning to get in touch with Miss Peters, but her phone is always busy.

• Ex: We all had a good time at the class reunion last night.
• Ex: Did you have a good time at the park? I really enjoyed it.

This idiom can be used with the idiom at all to add emphasis to the certainty of the statement.

• Ex: Mac said that he’d be ready to leave in no time.
• Ex: We thought that the meeting would take two hours, but it was over in no time at all.

• Ex: In order to lose weight, you have to cut down on your intake of sugar.
• Ex: The doctor told me to cut back on exercise until my back injury heals.

• Ex: Quite a few students were absent yesterday; in fact, more than half of them were not there.
• Ex: We did not expect many people to attend to affair, but quite a few of our friends actually came

This idiom is used to indicate a past situation, action, or habit that does not exist in the present. The idiom is always followed by a simple verb form.

• Ex: I used to live in New York, but I moved to California two years ago.
• Ex: Kim used to smoke cigarettes, but she stopped the habit last month.

This idiom refers to a situation, action, or habit that continues in the present.

The idiom is always followed by a noun or gerund phrase.

• Ex: He is used to this climate now, so the changes in temperature do not affect him much.
• Ex: I am used to studying in the library, so it’s difficult for me to study at home now.

This idiom describes the process of change that allows someone to be used to a situation, action, or habit.

• Ex: It took Yoshiko a long time to get used to the food that her American host family served her.
• Ex: Mark can’t seem to get used to wearing contact lenses; recently he’s been wearing his glasses a lot.

• Ex: The restless lion kept pacing back and forth along the front of its cage.
• Ex: Grandmother finds it relaxing to sit in her rocking chair and move back and forth.

This idiom is often sued with the adverb just.

• Ex: I was just about to leave when you telephoned.
• Ex: Oh, hi, John. We‘re just about to eat dinner.

• Ex: The man turned his car around and drove back the way he came.
• Ex: The company has been very successful since the new business manager was able to turn it around.

• Ex: During the trip, Darlene and I took turns driving so that neither of us would tire out.
• Ex: I have to make sure that my two sons take turns playing the video game.

• Ex: Please pay attention to me while I’m speaking to you!
• Ex: You’ll have to pay more attention in class if you want to get a good grade.

• Ex: Before I traveled to Mexico, I brushed up on my Spanish; I haven’t practiced it since high school.
• Ex: In order to take that advanced mathematics class, Sidney will have to brush up on his algebra.

• Ex: The actress studied her lines in the movie over and over until she knew them well.
• Ex: Children have difficulty remembering rules, so it’s often necessary to repeat them over and over again.
• Ex: Time and again I have to remind Bobby to put on his seatbelt in the car.

• Ex: When I wear out these shoes, I’ll have to buy some that last longer.
• Ex: What do you do with your clothes after you wear them out?

• Ex: I generally throw away my clothes when I wear them out.
• Ex: Don’t throw the magazines away; I haven’t read them yet.

This idiom is used with the expression at first sight to indicate a sudden interest in love.

• Ex: Ben and Sal fell in love in high school, and got married after graduation.
• Ex: Have you ever fallen in love at first sight?

• Ex: The lights went out all over the city because of an electrical problem.
• Ex: The campers didn’t have to put out the fire because it went out by itself.
• Ex: Gary isn’t here right now; he went out to the store for a moment.
• Ex: I have to step out of the office briefly to pick up a newspaper.

• Ex: Stephen told Deborah that it was out of the question for her to borrow his new car.
• Ex: Don’t expect me to do that again. It’s absolutely out of the question.

• Ex: Ralph insisted that he had nothing to do with breaking the window.
• Ex: What does your suggestion have to do with our problem?