Just for fun

cheapest

slowest

most uncomfortable

most interesting

alone

with a friend

• Many verbs in English are made of two, or sometimes three, words. Even if you know the meaning of each word, you cannot guess the meaning of the words together.

drop = fall or let fall drop in = visit

• These are called phrasal verbs. They are made with a verb and one or more particles (words like prepositions):

put + up/down/on

• Phrasal verbs are very common in spoken English. It is impossible to speak or to understand English if you do not know the more common ones. Your English will improve a lot if you try to learn them. You need to learn the verb-particle combinations as if they were single words in your vocabulary. It is quite easy to guess the meaning of some phrasal verbs.

The car broke down. stopped and wouldn’t start

Sorry. I slept in. woke up too late

• But it is almost impossible to guess the meaning of others. You have to learn them:

Can you put us up? give us a bed for the night

Have I let you down? disappointed

• There are two ways to learn phrasal verbs:

• You can take a basic verb and learn all the meanings with different particles.

I got up at 7 o’clock. out of bed

We got off at the station. off the bus

She got in at 11. arrived

What did you get up to? do

Etc.

• You can learn the particle and all the basic verbs which go with it, for example, all the up verbs:

We brought you up to be polite. educate at home

I’ve given up! stopped trying

Look it up in a dictionary. refer to

Please remember to turn up. come

Etc.

It is best to try both ways. Making diagrams like this may help you.

off look

up in bring put

GET UP