🔍️ Identifying phrasal verbs: So, what are phrasal verbs anyway?

🎯 Objective: What you will learn today!

This lesson will help you identify and understand phrasal verbs in sentences.

📘 Definition: This is important!

A phrasal verb is a verb that is made up of a main verb and an adverb or a preposition, or both. The meaning of the phrasal verb is often different from the meaning of its individual parts.

🤣 A little humor

Phrasal verbs can be quite tricky to understand, but don’t worry, I’ll break them down for you! It’s like trying to solve a puzzle, except the pieces are words and the puzzle is trying to figure out what the heck it means!

💬 Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field (and also because he’s stuffed with phrasal verbs)! 😄 🌾 🎉

✍️ Examples to clarify things

break up, put off, take on, give up, look after, turn on

👩‍🏫 Explanation

The previous words are all examples of phrasal verbs. Let’s break them down:

break up - The main verb is break and the adverb is up. Together, they create the phrasal verb break up. The meaning of break up is “to end a relationship” or “to separate into smaller pieces”.

put off - The main verb is put and the particle (preposition or adverb) is off. When used together, they form the phrasal verb put off, which means “to postpone” or “to delay”.

take on - The main verb is take and the preposition is on. Together, they make up the phrasal verb take on, which means “to accept or assume a responsibility or task”.

And so on for the other examples.

Remember, the meaning of a phrasal verb is often idiomatic and different from the individual words that make it up. So, it’s important to learn the meaning of phrasal verbs as a whole.

💪 Practice 1: You got this!

Think of three verbs. Write them down. (Seriously, write them down. We will need them in the next part of the exercise.)

Now, turn those verbs into phrasal verbs by adding an adverb or a preposition (or both) to create a new meaning.

Let’s do these verbs together:

• run, take, break, bring, put

💪 Practice 2: Let’s take it up a notch!

So, you just wrote three phrasal verbs (hopefully). Use those words, as phrasal verbs of course, in three sentences–one word for each sentence. Important! Be sure to use the words as phrasal verbs and not as separate words.

💪 Practice 3: Challenge yourself!

Let’s practice what you have learned so far.

Look at the following sentences and identify all the phrasal verbs you see in them.

• I need to catch up on my sleep after staying up late last night.
• Could you please turn down the music? It’s too loud.
• They have to put off their vacation because of a work emergency.
• Don’t give up on your dreams, keep pushing forward.
• The babysitter will look after the kids while we’re out.
• I always take off my shoes when entering someone’s home. It’s a sign of respect.
• We need to clean up the kitchen before we can cook dinner.
• Can you help me figure out this math problem? I’m stuck.
• The boss is looking for someone to fill in for a coworker who is on vacation.
• He came across some old photographs while cleaning out his attic.

❓️ Self-evaluation

How did you do? Did you identify all the phrasal verbs correctly? What did you learn from this lesson? What do you think you need to review or practice more?