Video Transcript

Hi guys! My name’s Max.

In this video we are going to look at phrasal verbs.

Are you excited?

If you said yes, then you are probably lying.

I know, phrasal verbs are often considered rather difficult.

In fact, for many people learning English they are the bane of their existence.

But that doesn’t have to be the case!

Basically, you have to learn a bit of theory and then gradually learn them in context.

Now I’m doing this video because I recently received a request from Danny (hi Danny) to do a video on phrasal verbs.

But because it’s such a big topic, I’ve actually decided to do a series.

Yes, a series just on phrasal verbs.

Watch out Game of Thrones!

You might soon have a new competitor.

In this first video, I’m just going to give you a quick introduction.

So what is a phrasal verb?

A phrasal verb is simply a combination of a normal verb plus a preposition or an adverb.

For example: to carry on, to fill in, to tell off.

The words in red here are the prepositions or adverbs.

Sometimes it’s a verb with two other words, which are either prepositions or adverbs.

For example: to keep up with, to look forward to, to get away with.

So it’s a verb plus one other element, or two other elements.

Some teachers and grammar books like to call these elements (so the adverbs and the prepositions) particles.

I prefer not to use the word “particle” because most students tend to be more familiar with the words “adverb” and “preposition”, and if we start using the word “particle”, things will just get a bit more confusing.

The simplest way to think of it is like this:

A phrasal verb is a verb with one or two little words.

Little words such as: on, off, out, in, up, down, for, of, etc.

The important thing to remember is that a phrasal verb has a different meaning to the verb that is part of it.

So when you add a preposition or an adverb, the meaning changes.

Let’s look at these examples. I’m sure you all know what “put”, “eat” and “cut” mean.

“To put” usually means to place or position, but the main meaning of “put on” is to clothe oneself with an item of clothing.

For example: I put on my jacket.

“To eat” and “to eat out” are admittedly similar, because in both cases the consumption of food is involved, but if you say “eat out”, you are not eating at someone’s home.

You are eating at a restaurant.

“To cut down” means to strike and cause to fall.

For example: I cut down my neighbour’s tree.

You wouldn’t take your scissors and go and “cut” the neighbour’s tree.

“Cut down” can also mean reduce.

And often the prepositions or adverbs also lose their original meanings.

Firstly, let’s look at the phrasal verbs that we just had.

In “to put on”, “on” more or less retains its original meaning, because after you put on your jacket, you can say that your jacket is ON your body.

So it retains its prepositional meaning.

The case is similar with “to eat out”.

If you eat out, you are not eating in a house or in a home, and the opposite of “in” is “out”.

With “cut down” there is always an idea of something being lessened or reduced, or something falling to the ground, so there is always a DOWNwards movement.

So in these cases the words in red have a very similar meaning to when they stand alone, and can sometimes help us guess the meaning of the phrasal verb.

These phrasal verbs also have “on”, “out” and “down”, but here the words in red completely lose their original meanings.

So they are not really going to help you guess the meaning of the phrasal verb.

“To carry on” typically means to continue, the main meaning of “to work out” is to do exercise or physical activity, and “to let down” normally means to disappoint.

Now because the prepositions or adverbs often lose their original meanings, people sometimes like to call them particles.

But don’t worry too much about the grammar terminology.

Like I said, it’s easier if you just think: verb plus one or two other little words.

Another important thing to remember is that just because you put a preposition after a verb, that doesn’t necessarily make it a phrasal verb.

Sometimes you just need to put a preposition after a verb if you want to associate it with a noun.

Let’s look at the example of “to wait for”.

“Wait” still has the same meaning.

You just need to use “for” if you want to specify why you’re waiting.

So if you want to associate “wait” with another noun.

Let’s look at a little dialogue.

Person A says to Person B: What are you doing?

I’m waiting.

What are you waiting for?

I’m waiting for my beer.

Here we are associating “wait” with the noun “beer”.

Another example: to trip.

“To trip” means to stumble, but if you want to know what caused the person to stumble, you need “over”: to trip OVER something.

I tripped.

What did you trip over?

I tripped over my own feet.

Some more examples: to listen to, to think about, to care for.

These aren’t technically phrasal verbs because we’re only placing a preposition after the verb to connect it to a noun.

For example: I should have listened to my mother’s advice.

Or: I constantly think about chocolate.

Or (with “care for”): I don’t care for that boy very much.

When do we use phrasal verbs?

Contrary to what many people think, phrasal verbs are rarely used in formal language.

I’m not saying that they are slang expressions (they are not necessarily slang expressions), but they are used mainly in spoken language.

You might see them in books or articles that are written in a relatively colloquial way, but you will rarely see them in academic writing or formal letters.

The good news about all that is, many phrasal verbs, or most phrasal verbs even, have non-phrasal verb equivalents.

For example, for “carry on” you can say “continue”, for “let down” you can say “disappoint”, and for “tell off” you can just say ” to scold”.

It is, in fact, possible to speak English well hardly using any phrasal verbs at all.

You might sound a little bit formal, but it is always better to be too formal than too informal.

And I will do a video just on how to avoid phrasal verbs.

However, please don’t get too excited.

Unfortunately, even if you choose not to use phrasal verbs, native speakers in particular do tend to use them rather frequently, so you do need to at least understand a good number of them.

But if you keep watching this series, you will see that there is nothing to cry or be scared about.

This is not Game of Thrones.

So there we have a basic introduction.

In my next video I’m going to talk about the types of phrasal verbs and then that will be the end of the theory.

And then the fun will really begin.

If you liked this video, guys, please don’t forget to click on the thumbs up, subscribe, and also go check out my Facebook page.

I’ve put the link in the info box.

See ya later.