What you need to know about Phrasal Verbs!

Phrasal verbs can be one of the most annoying and frightening aspects of the English language.?

What is a phrasal verb anyway?

1. A phrasal verb consists of a verb plus a particle (preposition or adverb), for example in, about around, off, on etc
2. You need to learn the phrasal verb as a unit.?

Example:

Look means to use your eyes and up means the opposite of down, but the phrasal verb look up can have several different meanings:

• Look the word up in a dictionary [look up = search for information in a book or computer]?
• I'll look you up next time I'm in London [look up = visit someone you have not seen for a long time]
• Things are looking up. [look up = improve]

Is it necessary to learn phrasal verbs?

Native speakers use them all the time and most don’t even know they’re using them.

So if you want to understand native speakers, it’s a good idea to learn some common phrasal verbs used in your work environment. However, if you mostly communicate with non-native speakers it may not be necessary to learn that many.

There are thousands of phrasal verbs and the thought of learning them all can be quite daunting. So I suggest that you only learn and, more importantly, practise those that are meaningful to you and that you will hear on a regular basis.

So in this article we will look at how and when they are used and you can decide whether they would be useful to you and how many you should use.

Phrasal verbs are used A LOT between native speakers

So the questions here to ask yourself are:

• How much do you communicate with clients and colleagues that are native speakers??
• Do your colleagues use them amongst each other?

If yes then you may need to try to build a vocabulary of common phrasal verbs.

Phrasal verbs are used much more in informal spoken than in formal written communication

• How often do you use informal spoken English?

If you mainly do formal writing for your job, you probably don’t need to learn that many; just the most commonly used ones that are acceptable in formal writing.

Phrasal verbs can make communication quicker, easier and more relaxed

Look at these two sentences:

• She learned some Spanish by practising it rather than being taught it during her holiday in Madrid.
• She picked up some Spanish during her holiday in Madrid.

?The second sentence is more to the point and what a native level speaker would say.

?Phrasal verbs may have a literal and / or an idiomatic meaning

Perhaps the most difficult thing about phrasal verbs is that a single phrasal verb can have different meanings depending on context.

What does the phrasal verb ‘pick up’ mean in these sentences?

1. She picked up the pen from the floor.
2. He picked her up from the airport.
3. She picked up a little Italian during her holiday in Madrid.

Sentence 1 is quite easy to understand. She takes the pen from a down position to an up position. In other words, it refers to a vertical movement.

Sentence 2 is more difficult but many of you would have a good chance of understanding that he takes her from the airport to another place. Again, this use refers to a physical movement.

Sentence 3 is almost impossible to guess. The meaning of pick in this sentence is not clear. Up is not used in a physical sense here.

This example shows that indeed some phrasal verbs can be guessed from context and others are impossible.

So the questions to ask yourself here are:

• Do you need to spend time learning phrasal verbs that you can “guess” from the context?

Learning lists of phrasal verbs is not very effective

As mentioned above, it is important to learn phrasal verbs that are important to you as an accountant and you feel comfortable using.

I suggest you start a “Phrasal Verb” vocabulary book. In this you can record the verbs that you want to remember.?Remember to include meaningful example sentences. Then review them regularly and challenge yourself to use as many as you can.

In conclusion when you study phrasal verbs, you should think about these 3 questions:

1. Is it necessary for you to learn hundreds of phrasal verbs?
2. Do the strategies you use for learning and remembering phrasal verbs actually work for you?
3. What learning strategies might help you improve your ability to learn phrasal verbs?

I have compiled a list of phrasal verbs and idioms that I think you will find useful in the workplace. Click here to get your free idioms and phrasal verbs bundle.