Phrasal verbs can be tricky. Let’s look at some verbs which can be used with the preposition UP.
Match the verb with the PHRASAL VERB.
For more information about these verbs you can listen to the second part of this podcast.
Try to make your own sentences too.
We all know what a verb is, but what’s a phrasal verb ?
Well, it’s a verb with a particle, that can be a proposition or an adverb. For example, LOOK FOR, LOOK INTO, LOOK UP.
Phrasal verbs are everywhere in English, we use them hundreds of times a day but they are not always easy for learners to understand because the addition of the particle changes the meaning of the original verb completely.
Sometimes when the particle refers to a movement, the phrasal verb is easy to understand. For example, to look AROUND means to turn and look around you, but in many cases the addition of the particle can make no logical sense at all.
In this podcast we looked at the verb TAKE and added different particles to come up with many new words.
Before listening try this quiz to see how you do and then do the quiz again after listening to check your understanding. Not every verb will be useful to you so we recommend that you learn what’s important and useful to you, but keep your ears open to other phrasal verbs you may hear in conversation.
In this podcast we mention many other phrasal verbs with the preposition UP, you can go to the Grammar section to test your comprehension of our examples.
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For many learners using, or not using, “the” is a bit hit and miss !
There are some guidelines but to be honest the rules are not that clear ……. so you need some practice.
As a general rule we use “the” when we talk about a specific noun and no “the” when we are talking in general. The examples in the quiz will highlight this.
Also remember that countries do not generally have “the” in front of them except when the country is a plural noun. So watch out for “The United States” but America. Again you will see examples in the quiz.
We start the quiz with some easy questions and get more and more complex.
Do the quiz once to get the idea and then do it again and time yourself to go quicker and quicker.
Go for it !
THE or no THE ?
Knowing your nouns, verbs and adjectives is a key part to learning a new language and especially when taking a timed exam.
Practice your skills with this quick quiz.
Whenever you learn a new word check out if it has an association noun, verb or adjective. For example: to weigh (verb) , a weight (noun) , heavy or light (adjectives)
Know your nouns and verbs.
Tag questions are questions added to a short sentence, usually at the end, to engage the listener, check understanding or confirm that an action has heppened.
Tag questions are very common in natural English and they can also have distinct meaning according to the tone used with the tag, a rising tone and a descending tone can communicate very different meanings from the question asked as you will find out in this podcast.
Common tags include: Won’t you? Wasn’t it? Don’t you? Haven’t you? Wasn’t it? Wouldn’t you? Isn’t it? Isn’t there? etc.
Listen to the tag question examples we use in the podcast.
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It’s so nice to be polite isn’t it? When we ask direct questions, especially to people we do not know very well, we can come across as being too abrupt or even as rude, something we would like to avoid at all costs.
In this podcast we will explain how to easily change direct questions into more polite forms, very useful to avoid any sticky situations.
Polite questions are particularly useful when we need to ask for confidential or sensitive information, where a direct question would probably not elicit an answer, such as, ‘How old are you?’ or ‘How much do you weigh?’ etc.
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