TOP 10 PHRASAL VERBS IN ENGLISH - Most Common Phrasal Verbs

Hello and welcome to this lesson. Today you're  going to add the top 10 phrasal verbs to your  

vocabulary. Of course I'm Jennifer from JForrest  English.com. And this channel is dedicated to  

helping you feel confident speaking English in  public so you can take your career and your life  

to the next level. Now, before we go any further,  make sure you subscribe and hit that bell icon  

so you're notified every time I post a new  lesson. Now, let's get started with this lesson.  

Are you ready to add the top 10 phrasal verbs to  your vocabulary? Now make sure you watch right  

on the end because you're going to complete  a quiz to make sure you know how to use these  

new phrasal verbs. Let's get started with phrasal  verb number one. Number one: to abide by. This is  

more of a formal phrasal verb because it's used  when you accept or follow a rule or regulation.  

So we use it mainly with government rules,  court rules, even business rules as well.  

For example, as a tourist you have to abide by  the rules of the country you're visiting. So if  

you see a sign that says no parking, you have to  abide by that rule. You have to follow that rule.  

Now remember, we also use this to say you accept,  you accept, but then you follow it. For example,  

let's say you go to court because of a dispute,  and the court doesn't rule in your favor. You  

still have to abide by that decision. You have to  accept it and then follow it. So this is a more  

formal phrasal verb, but it's very useful because  we all have to abide by many different rules,  

regulations and policies. Number two: to dawn on.  This is an excellent phrasal verb to add to your  

daily vocabulary. To dawn on is when you finally  realize or understand something. For example,  

one day it just dawned on me that I need to  change careers. So one day I just realized I  

need to change careers. So you can absolutely say  realize, we're just using the phrasal verb dawn on  

and it's extremely common. Now notice the  sentence structure here. It dawned on me.  

Something dawns on someone. So that 'it' is the  realization. It dawned on me that I need to change  

careers. So just keep that in mind because  the sentence structure is commonly used with  

'it dawned' on and then 'someone'. Number three:  to pull off. This is also a must know phrasal  

verb. When you pull something off, you're  able to do something that is difficult or  

unlikely to do. For example, let's say you're  a wedding planner, and a couple comes to you  

and tells you they want to have this huge 300  person wedding in three weeks. And they want you  

to plan everything. That's really difficult. And  it might even be unlikely that you're able to plan  

a 300-person wedding in three weeks. So you could  say, I don't know if I can pull that off. I don't  

know if I can do that because it's very difficult.  I don't know if I can pull that off. The 'that'  

being planning the 300-person wedding. Now  let's say you do successfully plan the wedding.  

After you could say, I can't believe I pulled  that off. I can't believe I pulled off planning  

a 300-person wedding in only three weeks.  Number four: to back out of. This is an  

excellent business phrasal verb. It's used when  you fail to keep a commitment or a promise.  

Now in a business context, a commitment could be  something you agreed to or arranged to. It can  

be formal and you have a contract in place or it  could be more informal and you just agreed to it  

verbally. So if you don't keep that commitment,  then you back out of it. For example, I can't  

believe the client backed out at the last minute.  Now notice here I just said backed out. I didn't  

use the 'of'. We only use 'of' when you specify  the noun, the something. I can't believe the  

client backed out of the agreement, the project,  the plan, the proposal at the last minute. Number  

five: to clam up. This is an excellent phrasal  verb for all of you or anyone that does public  

speaking because when you clam up, you're unable  to speak, usually because of fear or nervousness.  

But this can also be used if you simply refuse  to speak, for whatever reason. For example,  

I always clam up when I'm public speaking. When  I'm public speaking, I become unable to get the  

words out. You clam up. Now my advice to you  is, if you feel like you're going to clam up,  

just take a deep breath. Number seven: to  mull over. When you mull something over,  

you think about it or you consider it. And  the something you're mulling over is simply  

an idea, a proposal, a suggestion and you mull  it over. You think about it, you consider it.  

So let's say you're in a meeting and a client or  colleague suggests a new tool to use and you need  

to think about it. So you could say, give me a  few days to mull it over and I'll get back to you.  

To mull it over. That 'it' being using the tool,  purchasing the tool, whatever you're going to do.  

Give me a few days to mull it over. Now, you  can also specify the noun and you can say,  

I need some mull the deal over before I  commit. Number seven: to pan out. This is  

an extremely common phrasal verb. To pan out  simply talks about how a situation develops.  

For example, I'm not sure how this merger will  pan out. So the situation here is the merger  

and we're talking about how well the merger is  going to go. How's it going to develop. Will it  

be positive? Will it be negative? Will there be  challenges or difficulties, benefits? That's how  

the situation develops. So here I'm saying I'm not  sure. I'm not sure how the merger will pan out.  

Now let's say the merger had some difficulties  or challenges. You could say, the merger didn't  

pan out, didn't develop, the merger didn't  pan out as we had expected. Number eight:  

to ramble on. This is an excellent one for  all you public speakers. Because when you  

ramble on, you talk at length without getting  to the point. So let's say I rambled on  

for five minutes trying to explain the definition  of ramble on and at the end, you didn't understand  

it at all and you're confused, you're a  little annoyed because I wasted your time.  

I rambled on. So this is used as a negative,  and it's used when you're communicating an idea.  

So we generally use this as a complaint.  The speaker rambled on for 20 minutes.  

Number nine: to nod off. This is when you fall  asleep, but it's when you fall asleep usually  

for a very short period of time, and usually when  you're not supposed to. So this isn't when you  

go to bed at the end of the night. Okay, so  let's say you're in a meeting at work and your  

colleague is rambling on and the topic is  very boring, and you start doing this...that's  

nodding off. And this motion of your head,  what I'm doing, this is the verb 'to nod',  

nod your head. So when you fall asleep, what  do you do? You nod your head? So that's where  

this phrasal verb, to nod off, comes from. And  remember we use this for short periods of time,  

usually when you're not supposed to fall asleep.  For example, when you're driving! So I might say,  

I always listen to loud music when I'm driving at  night so I don't nod off. And number 10: I love  

this phrasal verb, to luck out. When you luck  out, you're very lucky in a specific situation.  

So let's say there's this major sale on the new  iPhone model and they're selling for 50% off. And  

you go to the store and you get the very last one.  You could say, I can't believe I lucked out and  

got the new iPhone for 50% off. You lucked out.  You were very lucky in this specific situation.  

Or let's say you're driving during rush hour  and you're going to an appointment and you get  

a parking spot right in front of the office in  rush hour downtown. You can say, I can't believe  

I lucked out and got such an amazing parking spot.  Or if you're telling that story to a friend, I got  

this parking spot right in front of the building  downtown during rush hour. They could say,  

wow, you really lucked out. You really  lucked out by getting that parking spot.  

So now you have 10 new phrasal  verbs added to your vocabulary.  

So are you ready for your quiz? Here are the  questions. Hit pause and complete the quiz now.  

So how was that quiz, easy,  difficult? How did you do?  

Let's find out. Here are the answers. Hit pause  and compare your answers to the correct answers.  

All right. So how did you do?  Make sure you share your score  

in the comments below. And make sure you  practice some of these new phrasal verbs,  

do some example sentences so you feel really  confident with them. And if you found this  

video helpful, please hit the like button, share  it with your friends and of course subscribe.  

And before you go make sure you head on  over to my website JForrestEnglish.com  

and download your free speaking guide. In  this guide, I share six tips on how to speak  

English fluently and confidently, so you don't  clam up! And until next time, Happy Studying!