Phrasal Verbs: Teaching and Learning

Speaking in a general way, English is by no means an easy language to learn for many reasons including phrasal verbs. Some beginners are sometimes in a state of euphoria on that score. Then, in the course of studying students have to cross the bridge between basic knowledge and mastery, which takes a lot of time, energy and effort. If you are ready to overcome the obstacles, there is no time like the present.

In many respects, the quality of teaching and studying the English language is determined by the degree to which students are acquainted with phrasal verbs. Many people who have been studying English for years and reached fluency in speech experience difficulty in listening comprehension. There are some strong grounds for supposition that incomprehension or misunderstanding takes place because of phrasal verbs, which are mainly used in spoken English. As a result, some students delude themselves into believing that just the phrasal verbs, when taken in isolation; make an insoluble problem of more or less successful studying English.

Taking the afore mentioned remarks into consideration this teaching aid concentrates on one particular aspect of the grammar and vocabulary of English: phrasal verbs.

FORMATION

Phrasal verbs are common verbs which, being combined with different prepositions or adverbs, acquire new meanings, which may be unguessable. The most common kind of phrasal verb is a verb which is followed by an adverb such as about, along, around, away, back, down, over and so on. If an adverb is a part of a phrasal verb this adverb is called a particle.

For example:

Verb + Particle = Phrasal verb

put + forward = put forward

A phrasal verb can also be followed by a preposition which either changes the meaning of a verb or adds to its meaning.

For example:

He looked round for a chair and, since there wasn’t one, sat on the floor.

I am quite looking forward to seeing you again.

A phrasal verb may be a two-word verb or a three-word verb. The basic combinations of verb, adverbial particle and preposition are the following:

Verb + particle

Verb + preposition

Verb + particle + preposition

Watch out! One should remember that there are a lot of verbs followed by ordinary prepositions, which don’t change the meanings of verbs.

Some Approaches to Teaching and Learning Phrasal Verbs

It is common knowledge that phrasal verbs are more appropriate to spoken English rather than written. But if you are in the habit of trying to substitute a phrasal verb with a single-word synonym you may run the risk of sounding too unnatural. It is a common but false assumption that phrasal verbs are easily avoidable. What’s more, an alternative is not always possible. For example, there is no substitute for take off when talking about planes taking off or taking off clothes.

Let’s devote our time to some approaches to the subject matter, that is to say, to teaching and learning phrasal verbs. The choice of the best approach depends on the most comfortable way for your students’ to learn.

A. Supposing your students are capable of remembering exactly every detail of something they have seen once. In other words, they have a photographic memory. In this case the best approach to teaching English to them is to use visual aids such as diagrams, pictures, tables and so on.

For example, here is diagram 1.

In common with a lot of other teachers I think that the most effective way to illustrate how to use phrasal verbs is in context. So any diagram should be followed by exercises that show the meaning of the phrasal verbs in a clear, easily understandable way and help students to keep remembering the phrasal verbs from the diagram.

For example:

Study these examples of using the phrasal verbs from diagram 1 in context and their meanings:

1. Does your husband accept that he ought to be looking after the baby?

2. I’d like Doctor Wells to look at my swollen ankle.

3. They are arrogant and aggressive people. They look down on us.

4. Detectives are still looking for the prisoner who escaped a week ago.

5. I looked forward to leaving school.

6. I think I’ll look in on my parents on the way home from work.

7. The causes of these misunderstandings and anxieties should be looked into.

8. His parents looked on with a triumphant smile as he collected his prize.

9. I’ve always looked up to Bill for his courage and determination.

10. We are looking to you to advise us how to proceed.

Exercise 1. Complete each of the sentences with the appropriate preposition from the diagram 1.

1. They looked ____ the government for additional support.

2. Only one man tried to help us, the rest just looked ____ in silence.

3. My mother says she is looking __ __ meeting you.

4. He has not been looked ____ at all.

5. The priest has found the book he was looking _____.

6. He looks ___ __ anyone who hasn’t had a college education.

7. Can you look ____ my car. There is a strange noise coming from the front wheel.

8. I promised to look ____ on Dad to see if he is feeling any better.

9. Police are looking ____ the disappearance of two children.

10. The students look ____ ____ you and admire you.

B. Another approach to dealing with phrasal verbs is to put a preposition in the center of a diagram.

For example, here is diagram 2.

Like the first diagram this one will be particularly useful if accompanied by illustrations of the meanings of the phrasal verbs by means of a set of some appropriate sentences with a subsequent exercise.

Study these examples of using the phrasal verbs from diagram 2 in context and there meanings:

1. Please let me know if anything crops up while I’m away.

2. He has taken up pottery.

3. Jane should take up his offer to decorate the house.

4. Let me know when you fill it up to the brim.

5. I’ll never be able to give up smoking.

6. They arrived too late because they were held up in traffic.

7. I’ll have to look up her telephone number in the directory.

8. He held them up at the point of a gun.

9. I think they made the whole story up.

10. Have you made up with Patty yet?

11. They had a quarrel but later Mary wanted to make it up.

12. You need to wash, change that dress and apply make up.

13. He stooped down to pick up two pebbles.

14. The rain stopped as we pulled up to the hotel.

15. It is far better to cry than to bottle up your feelings.

Exercise 2. Complete each of the sentences with the appropriate verb from diagram 2.

1. Because of the delay, the whole thing was ____ up about half an hour.

2. He kept ___ up everyone’s glasses with champagne.

3. He was about to leave work when a problem ___ up.

4. The air was full of flying objects, ____ up by the tearing winds.

5. If you don’t know what the word means, ____ it up in a dictionary.

6. Are you going to ____ up the challenge of lasting a whole month without arguing?

7. The frightened clerk was ____ up at gunpoint.

8. We even ____ up a rude song about it.

9. She searched for the purse for a while, but eventually ____ up and went home.

10. I want you to ____ up with her.

11. If you are in deep trouble it is better to share your feelings with someone rather than to ___ them up.

12. They ____ him up as an old man for the play.

13. She ____ up her first teaching posts in 1970.

14. A car ____ up outside my house.

We’ll never get skill in using of phrasal verbs down to a fine art if we don’t try to look at the issue from different angles. Phrasal verbs are not something irrelevant to our everyday life. On the contrary, they are all part and parcel of it.

Let’s imagine them being living creatures that follow us wherever we go or stay and are with us whatever we do or make. More often than not they help us to express our feelings and thoughts in a highly sophisticated way. To prove the point let’s move on to some examples.

We are in the kitchen.

The following pairs of the underlined sentences or parts of the sentences have the same or nearly the same meanings while only one sentence in each of the pairs contains a phrasal verb.

turn smth down

1. A: Turn the heat down.

B: Reduce the amount of heat being produced.

boil over

2. A: The milk is boiling over.

B: The milk is rising and flowing over the edge of the pot.

chop up

3. A: Chop the meat up into small pieces.

B: Cut the meat into small pieces.

dish (food) up

4. A: I’ll go and dish up the main course.

B: I’ll go and put the main course into serving dishes or onto plates.

cut down on smth

5. A: Cut down on fried food if you don’t want to put on weight.

B: Reduce the amount of fried food.

cut smth out

6. A: The doctor advised Tom to cut fatty foods out of his diet.

B: The doctor advised Tom to stop eating fatty foods.

dig in (slang)

7. A: Dig in! There is plenty for everyone.

B: Start eating!

dish (food) out

8. A: Will you help me to dish the rice out to all our guests?

B: Will you help me to give a serving of the rice to each of our guests?

eat in

9. A: Let’s eat in tonight, shall we?

B: Let’s have a meal at home tonight.

eat out

10. A: Do you eat out a lot in London?

B: Do you often have a meal at a restaurant?

get through (food, etc.)

11. A: Do you think we can get through all this food?

B: Can we eat all the food?

rustle (a meal, etc.) up

12. A: We could rustle up an omelette.

B: We could cook an omelette quickly.

serve up

13. A: Are you ready to eat? Can I serve the food up now?

B: Can I give you the food now?

tuck in

14. A: “Tuck in, boys,” he said, when the meal was ready.

B: “Start eating, boys,” he said.

wolf (food) down

15. A: You should eat slowly. You always wolf everything down.

B: You always eat everything very quickly.

pour smth into

16. A: Kim poured some water into a glass.

B: Kim made some water flow into a glass.

take sth out

17. A: He opened the fridge and took a bottle of milk out of it.

B: He removed a bottle of milk from the fridge.

put smth in

18. A: If you pour hot water into a glass, put a spoon in first to absorb the heat.

B: Place a spoon first in the hot water.

jump up

19. A: “Mabel!” he cried, jumping up from his chair.

B: He got up suddenly from his chair.

Exercise 3. Complete the paragraph, using a suitable phrasal verb from the list above.

When I dropped in to see Joe, he asked me to stay for a meal. “I’ll soon (1)______ something ______ for us,” he said. I was about to sit down when he said, “Before you sit down, could you (2)______ _____ a saucepan and (3)______ about two litres of water?”After he had put the water on the cooker, he sat down and began to tell me about all the dishes he could make. Suddenly he (4)_____ _____ and ran to the cooker.”Oh dear! he cried. “You’ve let the water (5)____ ____!”The next moment he turned to me again.“Can you see a packet of hot sour mix?” he asked. I pointed to a small packet under his nose. He took the lid off the saucepan, (6)____ ____ the hot sour mix and began to stir vigorously. “If you (7)____ ___ some chicken, I can add them to the soup,” he said, handing me a knife. After the soup had been cooking for twenty minutes or so, Joe then asked me to wash some lettuce and (8)____ it ____. “Now (9)____ ___ the soup in those small bowls and serve it with chopped lettuce,” he told me.“Then (10)___ ___ and enjoy the soup I’ve made!”

Exercise 4. Complete the conversation, using phrasal verbs from the same list above. Use a different verb in each gap.

A: Shall we (1)________ _____ tonight?

B: No, let’s (2)____ ____. I just feel like staying at home.

A: But have we got enough food for a meal?

B: Yes, I can (3)________ _______ something you like. Why don’t you watch TV while I do the cooking?

30 minutes later.

B: It’s ready. Shall I (4)__________ it ______ now?

A: Yes, please. This programme’s almost over.

B: Good. Here it is. (5)___ ___. It’s chicken, your favourite.

A: You’ve given me too many potatoes. I don’t think I can (6)_____ _______ them all. Take some off my plate and have them yourself.

B: No, thanks. I’m trying to 7_____ _____ _____ potatoes. I’ve got to lose weight. Anyway, I’m sure you can eat it all. You usually 8____ ____ everything on your plate.

A: Yes, but it’s different tonight. I ate some chocolates while you were cooking!

Phrasal verbs are always at your service. If you spare no effort to get more initiated into the mystery of phrasal verbs they will make your speech much more expressive. But that’s another story.

ANSWER KEY:

EX. 1: 1. to; 2. on; 3. forward to; 4. after; 5. for; 6. down on; 7. at; 8. in; 9. into; 10. up to

EX. 2: 1. held; 2. filling; 3. cropped or came; 4. picked or whipped; 5. look; 6. take; 7. held; 8. made; 9. gave; 10. make or catch; 11. bottle; 12. made; 13. took; 14. pulled

EX. 3: 1. rustle up; 2. take out; 3. pour into; 4. jumped up; 5. boil over; 6. put in; 7. chop up; 8. chop up; 9. dish up/out; 10. tuck in

EX. 4: 1. eat out; 2. eat in; 3. rustle up; 4. serve up; 5. dig in; 6. get through; 7. cut down on; 8. wolf down

Source:

1. Colins Cobuild. Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. – HarperCollins Publisher, First published, 1989.

2. Brian Heaton. Practise Your Phrasal Verbs. – Longman

3. Michael McCarthy, Felicity O’Dell. English Vocabulary in Use Advanced. – Cambridge University Press