Objective: First Certificate (FCE)

Here’s a good explanation of the grammar of phrasal verbs. Learn phrasal verbs properly!

But remember there is no quick and easy way to learn them. It is a question of practice and USAGE!

Then, try to understand the logic of each particle: meaning associated to “up” “down” “off”… and then group phrasal verbs around topics (media, relatioships, doctors, etc). For instance, listen to these audios (I stumbled upon this great great site on phrasal verbs, kudos to phrasalverbdemon.com!) and try to group all verbs+particles you hear around several different topics.

Check out also the other posts I have published on phrasal verbs.

Boy! The things we do to help you understand phrasal verbs…

1. A teacher on the floor:

2. A guy talking to a spoon:

And so, what’s the most difficult for you?

‘Get up, because it’s very difficult for me to get up in the morning’…LOL…

You have to choose the correct particle for the phrasal verb.

It’s said to be for intermediate students…Easy as pie

A multiple-choice online activity on the phrasal verb ‘cut‘.

As I told you in class, phrasal verbs can be separable or not, i.e., that the preposition/particle can be separated from the verb and you can place the object (noun) in between (the verb and the particle).

E.g.

I brought the children up, I brought up the children = separable

On Fridays, I have to look after my nephews (never *I have to look my nephews after*) = inseparable

Unfortunately, and once again, there are no rules/indicators whether a phrasal verb and its particle are separable or inseparable. It basically depends on the strength of their relationship…yep, bad joke. Nevermind. I found this site with a partial list of separable and inseparable phrasal verbs (please: no rote learning, just practise).

with more than 2,500 phrasal verbs used in everyday English. If you’re up for putting your knowledge to test, try taking the phrasal verb quizzes…

Take a look at the following text in which you’ll find lots of combinations with the phrasal verb “to look”.