PHRASAL VERBS-1

Good morning and happy October! Today we begin a series of 3 or 4 Daily Vitamins about phrasal verbs. First we are going to give you some tips on how to learn phrasal verbs. We will then look at the grammar of phrasal verbs. Finally, we will look at a phrasal verb word group, including a suggestion from one of our Daily Vitamin readers. Remember that a phrasal verb (for example look up) is a verb made up of two parts: a verb (look) and an adverbial particle (up). You may recall that previous Daily Vitamins have dealt with some different phrasal verbs (Phrasal Verbs with GET – November 11th, 2003, for example). Many English students feel frustrated or overwhelmed by phrasal verbs. This is understandable because there are many different phrasal verbs and they often look very similar, or one phrasal verb can have many different meanings. This can make it difficult to remember what they mean. However, if you apply some of the learning strategies and study ideas that we have seen in other Daily Vitamins when you learn phrasal verbs, you will see that these verbs are not so difficult after all! Following are some ideas to help you begin learning phrasal verbs more effectively: 1) Phrasal verbs have a meaning. Try to associate the verb with its meaning. For example: put on, try on and take off are all phrasal verbs associated with clothes. Write or say sentences related to clothes using these phrasal verbs: -I put on my clothes in the morning -She tried on a new dress in the shop. -I take off my shoes when I get home. 2) Learn groups of phrasal verbs related to a topic or meaning. For example, there are phrasal verbs related to telephoning, to clothes (see 1 above), to inviting people, to airport travel, to name just a few word groups. When you are learning new phrasal verbs, try to group them around a topic. In Future Daily Vitamins will look at some possible phrasal verb word groups. Many of the strategies for learning vocabulary from last week's Daily Vitamins can be used to help you remember phrasal verbs too. We hope that these phrasal verb Daily Vitamin inspire you to take up learning them. If you have any questions about today's Daily Vitamin please feel free to contact me. Enjoy the rest of your day and have a great weekend!