📚Story time! 7 phrasal verbs for Business English

- This week, I have a story for you

to help you to learn seven phrasal verbs

that you can use at work and in everyday life.

Hi, I'm your English coach, Christina,

and welcome to "Speak English With Christina,"

where you get the confidence you need for better English,

better business, and a better you.

If you're like most of my students,

you have this kind of love-hate relationship

with phrasal verbs.

Like you love them because they're fun to use,

they make you sound more advanced and more natural,

but at the same time, you also kind of hate them

because there's just so many of them.

They're confusing, they're difficult to understand,

to remember and to use.

So hopefully I'll help you to love them a little more

after this episode.

Now, phrasal verbs are perfect to learn

if you use English at work.

We use them all the time in small talk

and casual conversations, in serious meetings

and discussions, but also outside of work

in everyday conversations with friends, family,

or just the person at the supermarket.

Sometimes, maybe in the past,

you've tried learning phrasal verbs with lists,

but you found that difficult to remember,

and it's totally normal, because to remember something,

your brain really needs some context,

like something to attach that phrasal verb to,

to make it more memorable, to make it more meaningful.

And you also of course need repetition

because repetition leads to remembering.

So that's the brain science

behind this business English lesson

and in my entire 30-Day Phrasal Verb Challenge.

And if you want more information about that,

the link is down below the video.

All right, so let me tell you a story

so that you can have something memorable

to help you to learn these seven phrasal verbs.

And as I tell you the story,

first, just try to identify

and to catch those seven phrasal verbs.

But if you miss some of them, that's okay too,

because after the story,

I will explain each phrasal verb one by one,

give you the opportunity to practice

so that they become part of your active vocabulary.

Because in English, like with anything,

if you don't use it, you lose it.

Okay, now it's story time.

Phrasal verb story time with Christina.

Sophie set up her business a few years ago.

For the first few years, things were pretty good

and despite the COVID crisis of 2020, she managed to get by.

But even if she pulled through, it wasn't easy

and her business suffered a little bit.

But Sophie decided that she would not let that get her down.

At the start of the new year,

she decided to go over her objectives

for the next 12 months.

This year, she really wants to come up with a plan

to have a great year.

She decided that this year she will finally get around

to something she always wanted to do,

become better at English.

All right, I hope you enjoyed the story.

Now let's look at the definition of each one

so that you can be sure to understand what each one means.

Sophie set up her business a few years ago.

So in this context "Set up" means to create a business,

an institution or an organization.

So you can talk about, you know, when, you know,

I set up my business in 2015, for example,

or, you know, next year I want to set up a business.

Despite the COVID crisis of 2020, she managed to get by.

So "To get by," it means to be able to manage a situation,

but often with some difficulty.

And usually that difficulty is due to the lack of money

or, you know, some other kind of resources.

So if somewhat, for example, someone asked like,

"Hey, how's business doing?"

You can say, "Oh, you know, we're getting by."

It means we're managing, but it's not so easy.

But even if she pulled through, it wasn't easy

and her business suffered a little bit.

Here, the phrasal verb it's "To pull through"

and it means to survive an illness

or another dangerous or difficult situation.

For example, I think we can say, you know,

fortunately, a lot of people who had COVID,

they pulled through, they got better

and they managed to survive.

But Sophie decided that that would not get her down.

Here, the phrasal verb it's to get her down

or to get someone down.

And that means to depress or to demoralize someone.

So for example, I could say, you know,

like right now in France, it's really hot.

Like this heat is really just like getting me down. (scoffs)

At the start of the new year,

she decided to go over her objectives

for the next 12 months.

"To go over" is the phrasal verb

and it means like to examine or to look at something

in a careful or a detailed way.

For example, at the start of a meeting,

you might say, "Let's go over the agenda before we start."

So, let's detail point by point,

the things that we're going to discuss in the meeting.

This year, she really wants to come up

with a plan to have a great year.

Here, the phrasal verb is "To come up with."

So you've got come up and with there

and they do go together, so be sure to put them together

when you use this phrasal verb.

And to come up with something,

it means to suggest or to think of,

or to create an idea or a plan.

So we come up with something that's not tangible.

You know, I said create like set up your business

to create your business,

but come up with your business plan, for example.

And she decided that this year she will finally get around

to something she always wanted to do,

become better at English.

So again, another phrasal verb that's got three parts,

"Get around to," and it means to finally do something

after wanting to do it for a long time.

Trying to think of something I recently got around to doing.

Oh, I recently got around to replacing

a piece of furniture in my house actually,

I have a friend who's going to build some bookshelves.

So I finally got around to discussing that project with her

and you'll see it in some future videos

when it's ready and done, but not immediately.

Okay, anyway, so like I always say,

if you don't use it, you lose it.

So here's how you can use what you learned today.

Tell me your favorite phrasal verb from today's lesson

and share that with me in the comments

and then use it in an example sentence

that you could use in your life or your work.

This way, you really attach it

to something that's concrete and meaningful for you.

And it's the perfect opportunity to practice,

to make sure that you use it correctly

and you add it to your active vocabulary.

And if this lesson was helpful for you,

I would love to know.

And there are three simple ways that you can tell me,

give this lesson a thumbs up on YouTube and of course,

subscribe to my channel so that you never miss

any other business English lessons.

You can go over to my website

to get your free English Habits Kit

so that I can help you build solid English habits

for lifelong learning.

And of course watch the next lesson,

which is all about some more expressions with get,

which is another thing that students

have a love-hate relationship with.

All right, thanks so much for improving your English

and yourself with "Speak English With Christina,"

and I look forward to seeing you next time.