How to use phrasal verbs like a native English speaker

Hey!

Hello!

How's it going?

Good!

So, I'm excited to be here with you, Stephanie.

Thank you.

I'm excited, too.

And I'm Gabby if you didn't know.

Welcome to Go Natural English.

We're here to help you today.

We have a very special question.

Before I say the question though, I want to make sure that I properly introduce you.

Thank you.

So, Stephanie has over ten years of experience teaching English language learners, as do

I, so we have here twenty years of experience.

Al ot of experience together, yeah!

And we both have our Masters degrees in teaching English to speakers of other languages.

And Stephanie also has a Masters degree in African Studies.

So we have Masters degrees on Masters degrees!

Smart Lady.

Thank you.

And here to help you with English.

So we were talking... we got really excited talking about phrasal verbs.

English teachers get excited about these things.

So, we have a question about how to study and use phrasal verbs like a native speaker.

It's a good question.

What's a phrasal verb anyway?

A phrasal verb is a verb, a regular verb, plus a preposition.

It looks like a preposition.

It means something to tally different.

Yeah.

Exactly.

So we're going to share an example and show you how to use it and how not to use it.

And this will help you with all phrasal verbs.

So, just before we do that, I want to tell you that you can get a free sample course

from Go Natural English at gonaturalenglish.com/7steps.

It's a great way to see what Go Natural English is all about, to learn how to learn English,

and then you might want to join a premium members course, where you can get feedback

on your phrasal verb use.

It's a really good.

You can interact with native speakers.

You can be Facebook members.

And also through speaking recording.

There's a lot of features you can use to get feedback.

So, it's pretty awesome.

So, about phrasal verbs: Okay, we were talking about this because we noticed that some English

learners try to use phrasal verbs in different situations and it just kind of is weird.

It doesn't work.

It doesn't work.

So what was the example?

Let's start with with "break out".

"Break out".

Yeah.

"Break"...like breath something.

The word "break" by itself is very different, the meaning of that word is very different,

than "break out".

Now you put it together, it has a totally different meaning.

But that's what a phrasal verb is.

It's a good example.

Right?

So "break out".

How would we use this?

You were giving some examples before.

Yeah, so for example, we would say that sometimes we might have a skin allergic reaction.

So our skin "breaks out".

Right here.

Don't look!

So, sometimes we get red, you know, something like that happens, when you're in a different

environment.

So you could use it: "I broke out".

We also use it when we are celebrating something and we "break out: the champagne!"

And then...

Jail.

"Break out of jail".

Yeah.

Like a prisoner who is a criminal, they "break out" of jail.

And maybe a musician.

Oh yeah.

A musician has a "break out" career.

So that it starts, you know, quickly, like overnight, and they become really famous.

A surprise.

Surprise.

Oh wow, there's a lot of ways to use "break out".

I think those are the four Those are the four main ones though.

I was trying to think if there were other ones and I was having a really hard time.

No, those are good.

Those are really good.

So when we see an English learner use break out in a different way, you might think, okay

break out, means the same thing as to, like, for example, "break out champagne".

Like, to "get" the champagne or to "open" the champagne.

Or to like "to celebrate".

"To start" maybe something quickly.

To start something yeah like to start your musical career, to break out.

But then if you try to transfer that to other situations...

It doesn't work You give examples like the teacher broke out

the test.

We're not celebrating the test.

That's why it sounds strange.

And we're not like the prisoner example, we're not breaking out of something, so that wouldn't

work either.

Or like a skin rash you're not breaking out.

So, really the key point here is, when you learn a phrasal verb, you have to know the

context in which we use the phrasal verb.

And you can't be creative, unfortunately.

With these phrasal verbs, the context is really crucial.

It's like, you are going to sound strange if you try to take it outside of that context.

I like that though, because it's almost easier.

You just copy exactly what you hear.

Like, "Okay, let's celebrate.

Let's break out champagne!"

Or like for any of the examples you gave, I don't want to repeat all of them, just use

exactly what you hear.

And if you're learning phrasal verbs, if you have a list of phrasal verbs, take time.

I like to use Google.

I like to go and search for the phrasal verbs.

You can find a lot of good examples online for how to use them.

So don't be creative!

Not with phrasal verbs!

You can be creative with other things but not with phrasal verb.

Not with phrasal verbs.

That's great advice though.

That'll simplify it for everyone.

I hope you enjoyed this advice.

I think it makes it easier to use phrasal verbs.

Just copy and paste them into your own conversations.

And memorize the pronunciation too.

Because phrasal verbs have these sounds that run together.

"Break out".

And out is strong right.

"Break out".

Exactly.

"Break out".

Is that a song?

I think so.

Maybe.

Alright.

We're getting silly.

I hope that was helpful.

Remember to come to gonaturalenglish.com/7steps.

It's awesome And we'll see you there.

Bye!