Phrasal Verbs and Idioms for English Speaking | Lesson 6 – Elementary Level

1. under the weather: not feeling well, sick

  • Ex: John stayed home from work because he was feeling under the weather.
  • Ex: When you cat cold, you feel under the weather.
2. to hang up: to place clothes on a hook or hanger ; to replace the receiver on the phone at the end of a conversation

  • Ex: Would you like me to hang up your coat for you in the closet?
  • Ex: The operator told me to hang the phone up and call the number again.
3. to count on: to trust someone in time of need (also: to depend on)

  • Ex: I can count on my parents to help me in an emergency.
  • Ex: Don’t depend on Frank to lend you any money; he doesn’t have any.
4. to make friends: to become friendly with others

  • Ex: Patricia is a shy girl and doesn’t make friends easily.
  • Ex: During the cruise Ronald made friends with almost everyone on the ship.
5. out of order: not in working condition

  • Ex: The elevator was out or order, so we had to walk to the tenth floor of the building.
  • Ex: We couldn’t use the soft drink machine because it was out of order.
6. few and far between: not frequent, unusual, rare

  • Ex: The times that our children get to stay up late are few and far between.
  • Ex: Airplane travel is very safe because accidents are few and far between.
 7. to look over: to examine, to inspect closely (also: to go over, to read over, to check over)

  • Ex: Go over is different from the other forms because it is not separable.
  • Ex: I want to look my homework over again before I give it to the teacher.
  • Ex: The politician went over his speech before the important presentation.
  • Ex: You should never sign any legal paper without checking it over first.
8. to have (time) off: to have free time, not to have to work (also: to take time off )

  • Ex: The related form to take time off is used when someone makes a decision to have free time, sometimes when others might not agree with the decision.
  • Ex: Every morning the company workers have time off for a coffee break.
  • Ex: Several workers took the afternoon off to go to a baseball game.
9. to go on: to happen; to resume, to continue (also: to keep on)

  • Ex: Many people gathered near the accident to see what was going on.
  • Ex: I didn’t mean to interrupt you. Please go on.
  • Ex: The speaker kept on talking even though most of the audience had left.
10. to put out: extinguish, to cause to stop functioning
Ex: To put out has the same meaning as to turn off (Lesson 1) for a light fixture.

  • Ex: No smoking is allowed in here. Please put out your cigarette.
  • Ex: The fire fighters worked hard to put the brush fire out.
  • Ex: Please put out the light before you leave. Okay, I’ll put it out.
11. all of a sudden: suddenly, without warning (also: all at once)

  • Ex: All of a sudden Ed appeared at the door. We weren’t expecting him to drop by.
  • Ex: All at once Millie got up and left the house without any explanation.