Phrasal verbs

– Hello, boys and girls!

– Welcome to our lesson!

– We are happy to see you.

– Today we are going to start our lesson with the following five sentences…

The book first came out in 1997.

The plane took off an hour late.

The lecture went on till 6 o’clock.

It’s difficult to make out what she’s saying.

We need to sort the problem out.

Now I would like to draw your attention to the words in bold. What are these words?

The answer is simple:

These words are phrasal verbs.

What is a phrasal verb? What phrasal verbs are there in the English language?

You’ll find the answers to these questions in this lesson.

So, today in the lesson we will:

● learn the definition of the term “a phrasal verb”;

● talk about some phrasal verbs in the English language;

And

● put the knowledge into practice.

First, let’s answer the question:

What is a phrasal verb?

A phrasal verb is a verb followed by a preposition or an adverb; the combination creates a meaning different from the original verb.

Look at the following examples and compare them.

Jason is my child. I want to take him home.

Or

Jane takes after her mother. They have the same blue eyes and blond hair.

(As you can see, in the first sentence we’ve used the original meaning of the verb “to take”. And in the second sentence the meaning of this verb has changed since we added the preposition “after” to it. The phrasal verb “to take after” means to have a similar appearance or personality.)

Phrasal verbs can be divided into two groups in the English language. They can be…

Transitive

(These phrasal verbs require an object to complete their meaning.)

For example:

Alex, please, take off your shoes before entering my house!

Intransitive

(These phrasal verbs cannot have a direct object after them.)

For instance:

Paige and Steven broke up four weeks ago.

Now we will talk about some phrasal verbs in English.

First, let’s talk about phrasal verbs, which we can get from the verb “sign”.

Sign in

It means:

to write your name on a list to indicate the day and time you arrived at a certain place, to open a computer program that requires a name and password.

Sign out means…

to sign your name in a book when you leave a building such as an office or factory, to close a computer program that requires a name and password

Sign off means…

to end a conversation, a letter or a broadcast on television or radio, to stop doing something, to give someone a medical certificate saying that they are too ill to work

Sign up means…

to join a group or organization, to agree to do something, to put someone’s name on an official list for something

Sign on means…

to open a claim for unemployment benefit, to agree to participate in something, to employ somebody to do a job

Now…

Read the sentences and fill in the necessary prepositions!

Let’s check the right answers!

1. The doctor has signed her off for another month.

2. Our boss has signed on three new workers.

3. Don’t forget to sign out before you leave.

4. You will need your username and password to sign in.

5. She’s decided to sign up for evening classes.

Now let’s talk about phrasal verbs, which we can get from the verb “put”.

Put on means…

to get dressed, to become fatter, to organize an event, to pretend to have a particular feeling

Put off means…

to make someone dislike something or someone, to discourage someone from doing something, to delay an event or activity

Put up means…

to build something, to increase the value of something, to let someone stay in your house, to give money

Put down means…

to place something on a surface, to insult somebody, to criticize yourself, to write something on a piece of paper

Put up with means…

to accept someone or something unpleasant in a patient way

Put away means…

to put something in the place where it cannot be seen, to save an amount of money, to put someone in a prison, to eat or drink a lot of something

Now…

Match the phrasal verbs with their meanings!

Let’s check the right answers!

Put down means…

to place something on a surface

Put off means…

to delay an event or activity

Put up with means…

to accept something unpleasant in a patient way

Put away means…

to save an amount of money

Put on means…

to organize an event

Put up means…

to let someone stay in your house

Now let’s talk about phrasal verbs, which we can get from the verb “keep”.

Keep from means…

to prevent someone from doing something, to not tell someone about something

Keep away means…

to avoid someone or something, to prevent someone from going somewhere

Keep down means…

to make sound, music or noise less loud, to prevent something from increasing in size or number

Keep up with means…

to move or learn at the same speed as someone or something

Keep on means…

to continue doing something, to continue to employ someone

Now let’s talk about phrasal verbs, which we can get from the verb “go”.

Go into means…

to talk about something in detail, to start working in a particular type of job or business

Go back means…

to return to a person, place, time, subject or activity

Go away means…

to move or travel from one place to another place, to leave your home for a period of time

Go on means…

to continue doing something, to happen, to talk too much, to go to another place after going somewhere

Go through means…

to experience something difficult or unpleasant, to examine or search something very carefully

Now…

Match the phrasal verbs with their synonyms!

The phrasal verbs are:

Keep away

Go through

Keep down

Go back

Keep on/go on

Go into

Keep up with

Go away

Keep from

Let’s check the right answers!

The synonyms are:

Avoid someone or something

Experience something

Stop or reduce a sound

Return

Continue

Talk in detail

Keep pace with

Leave

Prevent someone from doing something

Now let’s talk about phrasal verbs, which we can get from the verb “come”.

Come across means…

to meet someone or to find something by chance

Come out means…

to become known, to be noticed, to leave a place, building or room

Come in means…

to arrive somewhere, to go to work, to become involved, to enter a place or building

Come from means…

to have your home or to be born in a particular place, to have something as an origin

Come over means…

to visit someone, to react in a particular way

Come down means…

to move down to the ground or to a lower level, to agree to ask for or pay a lower price

Now let’s talk about phrasal verbs, which we can get from the verb “take”.

Take after means…

to resemble somebody in appearance or character

Take back means…

to return something or someone, to remind someone of something in the past

Take out means…

to remove something from an area, place or container, to pay for somebody to go somewhere with you, to get money from a bank account

Take up means…

to start doing something regularly, to accept an offer or a challenge, to fill a particular amount of space or time

Take off means…

to leave the ground and start flying, to become successful, to spend time away from your work, to remove or get rid of something

Take on means…

to employ someone, to accept job or responsibility, to decide to do something

Now let’s talk about phrasal verbs, which we can get from the verb “cut”.

Cut down means…

to reduce the size or amount of something, to destroy something or someone, to remake something in order to make a smaller one

Cut off means…

to remove something by cutting it, to interrupt someone, to stop somebody from going somewhere, to switch off or turn off an electrical device

Cut out means…

to stop doing or saying something annoying, to extract something small from something big by cutting

Cut up means…

to cut something into smaller pieces, to upset somebody, to behave in a very noisy and silly way in order to make people laugh, to injure somebody badly

Now…

Match the phrasal verbs with the pictures.

Let’s check the right answers!

1. Take after

2. Cut off

3. Come in

4. Take back

5. Come over

6. Take out

7. Come across

8. Take off

9. Come down

10. Cut up

Now…

Correct the mistakes in the following sentences!

Let’s check the right answers!

1. It eventually came out that she was already married.

2. I’ll try not to take up too much of your time.

3. How can you cut down the risk of cancer?

4. My grandparents came from New Zealand.

5. She cut out his picture from the magazine.

6. We’re not taking on any new staff at the moment.

That’s all for today! In conclusion, I would like to say that phrasal verbs play an important role in the English language. Learning phrasal verbs is a challenging process, but it is possible to learn how to use them correctly. All you need to do is practising a lot. Good luck!