GUÍA ÚTIL DE PHRASAL VERBS

para presumir de nivel de inglés

Ya tienes en tus manos una herramienta que te va a permitir presumir de nivel de inglés.

Saber utilizar los phrasal verbs es una buena manera de demostrar tus conocimientos y marcar la diferencia cuando hablas y escribes.

¿LOS DESCUBRIMOS YA?

PHRASAL VERBS

• Phrasal verbs are usually considered informal and colloquial. Using single-word latinate alternatives or other expressions is considered more appropriate in formal contexts.

• Phrasal verbs are grouped by categories: A Verb + adverb particle (non-separable)B Verb + object + adverb particle (optionally separable)C Verb + adverb particle + preposition + object (non-separable)D Verb + preposition + object (non-separable)

In B (separable verbs), when the object is a pronoun, it has to go between the verb and the particle:

I will back up your proposal. / I will back your proposal up.

BUT: I will back it up.

PHRASAL VERBSA · Verb + adverb particle (non-separable)

blow up: explodeThe water heater blew up and caused a flood in the basement.

break down: malfunctionMy car broke down on the motorway today.

break out: startWorld War II broke out in 1939.

break up: end a relationshipKaren and Bob broke up last week.

come apart: separateThe two pieces are coming apart.

fall apart: break into piecesOh no! My shoes are falling apart.

give up: surrenderThe terrorists finally gave up and set the hostages free.

PHRASAL VERBSB · Verb + object + adverb particle (optionally separable)

back sth / sb up: supportEveryone backed Joe up on his proposal to work four days instead of five.

blow sth up: inflate, cause to explodeThe tyres need to be blown up before the plane can take off.

bring sb down: depressThe high rate of unemployment is starting to bring many people down.

bring sb up: raise, educateJames was brought up in Liverpool but now lives in London.

call sth off: cancelThe referee called the match off due to the weather.

check sth out: try, investigateThe police are checking out the man’s credentials to make sure that everything is in order.

cross sth out: delete, eliminateNancy crossed the wrong answers out.

figure sth out: understand, solveIt took the government two days to figure out what was going on in the stock market.

give sth away: revealMarines are trained not to give away any secrets if they are caught by the enemy.

put sth off: postponeThe meeting has been put off until tomorrow.

put sth out: extinguishThe firefighters put out the fire in two hours.

put sth together: assembleThey put together the table in record time.

set sth up: arrange, organiseThey are setting up a whole new department to take care of image issues.

sort sth out: organise, solve (a problem)The receptionist sorted out the problems with the booking and we had a very pleasant stay.

throw sth away: dispose ofPlease throw the empty bag away when you are finished.

work sth out: calculateI am 34 years old: you can work out the year I was born in.

turn sth / sb down: reject, refuseI turned down the job because the pay wasn’t what I had expected.

PHRASAL VERBSC · Verb + adverb particle + preposition + object (non-separable)

break out of sth: escape fromThe prisoner broke out of his cell through the air duct.

cut back on sth: consume lessThe doctor told me that I needed to cut back on caffeine.

cut down on sth: consume lessMy father needs to cut down on cigarettes.

do away with sth: eliminate, discardThe government has done away with the restrictions on petrol consumption.

keep on with sth: continuePaul is going to keep on with his yoga class although he doesn’t enjoy it much.

put up with sth / sb: tolerateI’m not going to put up with anyone’s bad behaviour.

PHRASAL VERBSD · Verb + preposition + object (non-separable)

count on sb: trustYou can count on me to help you with that problem.

get over sth: overcome, recoverIt is taking Sarah a long time to get over the flu.

go over sth: reviewWe recommend going over your exam paper before giving it to the teacher.

look into sth: investigateThe police are looking into the murder as we speak.

PHRASAL VERBSActivities

ACTIVITY 1 Match the phrasal verbs (1-6) to the meanings (a-f).1. count on a. shock

2. look into b. meet

3. take aback c. stop

4. get together d. understand

5. give up e. depend / rely on

6. work out f. investigate

ACTIVITY 2 Complete the sentences with the correct form of the phrasal verbs from activity 1.1. How does other people’s rude

behaviour make you feel: are you ...?

2. Are you good at ... what other people are feeling?

3. Would you be interested in ... your family history?

4. What’s your favourite way of ... with friends?

5. Have you ever ... a sport or hobby? If so, why?

6. Who do you ... when you need help?

ACTIVITY 3 Complete the sentences with the words from the box.

1. How was the meeting? Did you bring ... the issue of late arrivals, or wasn’t there time to mention it?

2. I think he’ll get a shock when he sees the results. I was certainly taken ... by them.

3. Call me any time. You know you can count ... me if you have any difficulties.

4. Before you make a decision you should look ... all other possibilities.

5. I’m hopeless at maths. I can never work ... the answer to the questions.

6. We must get ... after the holidays. It’s been such a long time since we had a chat.

7. I hate my course. I’m thinking of giving it ... at the end of the year.

8. My washing machine has broken ... so I’ll have to call the technician.

Answer key:Activity 1: 1 e, 2 f, 3 a, 4 b, 5 c, 6 d.

Activity 2: 1 taken aback / 2 working out / 3 looking into / 4 getting together / 5 given up / 6 count onActivity 3: 1 up / 2 aback / 3 on / 4 into / 5 out / 6 together / 7 up / 8 down

aback • down • into • on • out • together • up • up

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