TOP 10 PHRASAL VERBS IN ENGLISH - Most Common Phrasal Verbs

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

vocabulary. Of course, I'm Jennifer from  JForrestEnglish.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  

to the end because I'm going to quiz you to make  sure you really understand these phrasal verbs.  

Alright, let's get started with phrasal verb  number one. Number one: to rip off. We use  

this when someone is selling something or buying  something and the buyer feels that the price  

is too high compared to the value of whatever  they're buying. For example, I can't believe I  

paid $200 for that! She ripped me off! Now notice  the sentence structure. You rip someone off. She  

ripped me off. Another example. She told everyone  that I ripped her off, but it was a fair price. So  

just because someone claims you ripped them off,  it doesn't necessarily mean it's true. Number two:  

to wear out. We use this when something  is damaged or weakened because of age,  

it's old, or because of use, you use it a lot. For  example, I wore out my tennis shoes last summer.  

If someone said that to me, I would assume  they played a lot of tennis last summer.  

They played so much tennis that they wore  out their shoes. They became damaged from  

use, from continually playing tennis. We  also use this in an adjective form: to  

be worn out. So it'd be very common to say, I need  to buy new tennis shoes because mine are worn out.  

So of course 'are' because 'shoes' is plural and  we need the plural form of the verb 'to be'. Mine,  

my tennis shoes, are worn out. So both forms are  very common. Number three, to draw up. We use this  

when you need to prepare paperwork. And generally  that paperwork is for a contract, an agreement,  

a proposal. Generally something that two people  need to sign or agree on to make it official. For  

example, I asked my lawyer to draw up the papers.  Whenever you're dealing with a lawyer, the papers  

are going to be official. So this is a perfect  time to use 'to draw up'. Or you could say,  

we're waiting for our bank to draw up the mortgage  agreement. So that's another very official  

document that you need to sign and you can use the  phrasal verb to draw up. Number four, to burn out.  

This is a phrasal verb that has gotten a lot of  attention recently, especially with the pandemic  

because, to burn out, this is when you feel  exhausted, mentally or physically, from prolonged  

stress. Stress of work, stress of a situation like  a pandemic, stress of a family situation like a  

divorce or an illness, something like that. But  a prolonged period. You can be stressed out for a  

day, but when you burn out, it means you have that  stress for a long period of time, several weeks,  

several months or even several years. For example,  I burned out at my last job. So perhaps I was  

working so much that I went through this period of  prolonged stress. I burned out. Another example,  

I burned out after caring for my aging parents.  So caregivers often experience burnout. So you can  

use this in a work situation or you can use it in  a personal situation as well. Number five, to look  

up to someone. So notice we have two prepositions  'look up to' and then someone. We use this when  

you admire someone or you respect someone. So  I could say, I looked up to him like a father.  

So of course I admire and respect my father.  And I'm comparing the situation to someone else.  

I looked up to him. I admired him like a father.  Another example, I really look up to my boss. So  

you admire your boss and you respect your  boss, you hold your boss in high regard.  

So you can use this in a work situation. You can  look up to people and you can use this in a social  

situation or a family situation. You can have many  different people in your life that you look up to  

for different reasons. Number six, to step up.  Now that's the phrasal verb, but we most commonly  

use 'it' in the expression 'to step it up'.  Notice that it's very important 'to step it up',  

'to step it up'. This simply means to work harder,  or to try harder. Now you can say, we need to step  

it up if we're going to meet the deadline. So you  have this deadline and you need to work harder.  

So it's the same as saying we need to work harder  if we're going to meet the deadline. Step it  

up. Now what is this 'it' in the expression?  Well, the 'it' would represent work  

or effort. We need to step up our work, we need to  step up our effort. Step it up. I encourage you to  

use it that way, step it up, because you'll sound  like a native speaker. We have a really common  

expression with this 'step it up 'and then you  add the two words 'a notch'. Step it up a notch.  

If you look at a dial, 'up a notch' is one move on  the dial. So it represents a little bit, a small  

amount. Step it up on notch. It's just like saying  'step it up a little bit'. So that's just a common  

expression. You need to step it up a notch, if you  want to meet the deadline. So you can use it with  

'a notch', it's very common. Or you can use  it without. Number seven, to hone in on.  

This is another two preposition phrasal verb. We  have hone 'in on'. Hone in on something. And this  

means to really focus on something. To put all  your attention on something specific. For example,  

if we want to get more customers, we should really  hone in on small business owners. So maybe right  

now you're not being very specific, and you're  looking at all customers, but you want to hone in  

on one specific segment of the population, small  business owners, you're going to focus on them.  

You're going to hone in on them. Another example,  for the presentation, we should really hone in on  

South America. So maybe you're a global company  and you have branches all over the world. But  

for this specific presentation, you're going  to hone in on one specific part of the world,  

South America. Now many native speakers, native  speakers, not students, many native speakers  

mistakenly say 'home in on'. We need to 'home  in on'. And that's because in pronunciation,  

they're very similar. Hone in, home in. Hone in?  What's that? It's not really used very much but  

everybody knows the word 'home'. But  this isn't correct. The expression is  

not 'home in on'. The expression is 'hone in on'.  So make sure you get that both in pronunciation,  

hone, and in spelling as well. And if you  hear a native speaker saying 'home in on',  

they're incorrect. Number eight, this is a must  know phrasal verb, to bring up. And this is when  

you begin a discussion on a specific topic. For  example, if you're in a staff meeting, it would  

be very common for the boss or whoever's leading  the meeting to say 'before we end the meeting,  

does anyone have anything to bring up?' Does  anyone have a specific topic they want to discuss?  

Does anyone have anything to bring up? Or after  the meeting, you might tell another colleague,  

I didn't have a chance to bring up the marketing  proposal. So you didn't have a chance to discuss  

this specific topic. The marketing proposal.  Maybe you ran out of time. Number nine,  

to talk into. And the sentence structure is 'to  talk someone into something' and this means to  

convince someone to do something. For example, she  talked me into helping her move. She convinced me  

to help her move. So when someone uses this,  oh, she talked me into helping her move.  

It gives you the impression that the person didn't  really want to do the activity, but somebody  

convinced them. But please, I really need your  help, I'll buy pizza. Or maybe you could say,  

my team talked me into bringing up the bonus at  the staff meeting. So notice I used 'bring up',  

discuss a specific topic, the bonus. My  team talked me into bringing up the bonus.  

Now because maybe discussing the bonus is a little  bit of a sensitive issue, and nobody wants to do  

it, but your team convinced you. Lucky you! So  they talked you into it. And number 10, to stick  

around. This is a must use phrasal verb. You  can use it in a social setting or a professional  

setting. To stick around means to stay in a  location for a period of time. So let's say you're  

at this beautiful park with a friend. And after an  hour or so your friend has to leave and they say,  

do you want to share an Uber? And you say no,  I'm going to stick around a little bit longer.  

So you're going to stay in a specific location,  the park, for a period of time. It's unknown how  

long you'll stay but it doesn't really matter.  It's just the fact you're going to stay. I'm  

going to stick around a little bit longer. It's  such a beautiful day. I'm going to stick around.  

Now you can also use this in the negative. I can't  stick around very long because I have a meeting.  

Although it's a beautiful day, I can't stick  around very long. I have a meeting to get back to.  

So now you have 10 new phrasal verbs added to your  vocabulary. So it's time for your quiz. So here's  

how the quiz will work. First I'll show you the  questions. You need to choose which phrasal verb  

best completes the sentence. Here are the  questions, hit pause now, complete the  

quiz and whenever you're ready, hit play and I'll  share the answers. So go ahead and hit pause now.  

Welcome back. So how did you do on this  quiz? Let's find out. Here are the answers.  

So hit pause, review the answers and whenever  you're ready, hit play and come back to the video.  

So how did you do? Let us know in the comments.  Share your score in the comments below. And if  

you got any wrong don't feel bad. Just do some  practice sentences with your new phrasal verbs  

in the comments below. 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. And until next time, Happy Studying!