Top 10 Phrasal Verbs in English - Most Common Phrasal Verbs

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

verbs in English. 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 learn the top 10 phrasal verbs  in English? Now make sure you watch right to the  

end because at the end, I'm going to quiz you to  make sure you know how to add all of these to your  

vocabulary. Now let's go with number one. Number  one: to take up. This means to occupy or to fill.  

Now we use this specifically with two  different nouns. You can take up time  

and you can take up space. And they're both  very commonly used. For example, I could say  

this meeting took up my whole morning. So it  occupied or filled the amount of time. Now  

we can also use this with space. For example,  I need a new couch because my couch takes up  

too much space. So it occupies or fills space.  So remember, you can use this with both time and  

space and they're both very commonly used.  Number two is to branch out. Now this means  

to expand and we use a specifically in a business  context. So let's say you're in a meeting and  

you're discussing how to increase your profits,  you might suggest branching out into new markets.  

So if you only sell in North America, you can  branch out, expand, and sell in Europe or in Asia,  

Africa, for example. We need to branch out into  new markets. Number three, this is a fun one,  

to jot down. Now you would probably understand  this from context. In the meeting I jotted down  

a few notes. I jotted down a few notes. So it's  the exact same thing as write down. I wrote down a  

few notes. But it's very commonly used. So someone  might ask you, maybe your boss or a colleague even  

might say, Hey, can you jot this down. And then  they might give you a number or a date or a  

location and you write it down. Now, of course not  many people use pen and paper anymore, right? We  

take electronic notes, but if your colleague asked  you to jot something down, you can absolutely  

take out your phone and make a note in your phone.  Jot it down in your phone. Write it down in your  

phone. So this still applies even though we  don't really use pen and paper much. Number four,  

to carry out. This means to perform or to conduct.  And we use this specifically in a business  

content. For example, next week we're carrying  out our customer surveys, our student surveys.  

We're carrying out our surveys. We're conducting  them, we're performing them, So I'm just going to  

do this survey. That's the simplest way to say it.  Next week we're doing the surveys. We're carrying  

out the surveys. Number five, this is an important  one so make sure you jot it down. Number five,  

to keep up with something. This means to make  sufficient progress on. Let's say that you have  

this many orders and it's your job to  fulfill those orders. If you fulfill this  

many, you've kept up with the orders. You've made  sufficient progress. But if you fulfill this many,  

or this many, or this many, or anything less than  the total number of orders, then you haven't kept  

up with the orders. You haven't made sufficient  progress on. Now of course you can use this with  

many things other than orders. You can use it with  your studies, your reading list, your chores, your  

performance reports, your filing, your scheduling.  You can use it with many, many, many other tasks.  

Number six, to fill out or to fill in a form. Now  this is one that confuses a lot of students and  

they ask me, do I fill out a form or do I fill  in the form? What's the difference? The reality  

is there is no difference, specifically when  we're talking about a form. Now when you have to  

fill out an application, you could also fill in  an application. Fill out your passport renewal,  

you can fill in your passport renewal. In this  specific context, there's no difference. Number  

seven, to drop in. This is a great phrasal verb  because you can use it both in a business context  

or a social context. Now to drop in simply means  to visit. So if you're talking to a friend and  

you're planning to visit that friend, you can say,  how about I drop in Saturday morning? How about I  

visit Saturday morning. Now in a business context  you might have a client that wants to drop in,  

that wants to visit. Or you might drop in on  a client just to say hello and to keep that  

relationship going. So you can use this in both  a social and a business context. Number eight,  

to push back. This means to delay or  postpone in the context of a scheduled event.  

So a scheduled event, like a meeting. Let's  say the meeting was scheduled for Monday, but  

everyone is really busy on Monday. Well  then push the meeting back until Wednesday,  

postpone it until Wednesday. Now you can use this  in a social context. So you might be planning your  

wedding anniversary and it's your 10-year wedding  anniversary. And the actual date is March 30. But  

everyone is busy, so you might push it back until  the middle of April so more people can attend.  

Well, everyone's busy so let's push back the  party until next week, until two weeks from now,  

so you can push back a scheduled event which means  to delay or postpone. Number nine is to call off.  

Now this means to cancel a scheduled  event. So remember in our last one,  

to push back, you delay or postpone. But the other  alternative is simply to cancel it. But generally  

when you call something off, it's because there  were some problems or issues associated with it.  

But the problem or issue could be a scheduling  conflict and just people couldn't attend. So let's  

say you were planning a conference for the summer,  but nobody registered because everyone's really  

busy in the summer. So you might discuss it with  your team and say, let's call off the conference.  

Attendance is too low. So let's call it off.  Let's cancel it. Now, you can also use this  

in a social context. You might call off your  wedding. But if you canceled your wedding, then  

most likely there was a problem, an issue, a big  one, right. So in that context, in a social event,  

most people will wonder what happened. Why  did they call off their wedding? Why did they  

call off their anniversary? They're going to  assume that something is wrong. And number 10,  

to sort out. This means to organize or to fix,  if there's a problem. For example, I need to  

sort out my travel plans. So it could mean I  just need to organize them. So I need to decide  

when I'm going to travel, what airline I'm going  to use, what hotel I'm going to use. I need to  

sort out my travel plans. But I can also use it if  there's some sort of problem and I need to fix it.  

For example, my flight was canceled so I need  to sort out my travel plans. I need to fix this  

problem with my plans. So to sort something  out, you can organize it or you can fix it  

if there's a problem. And now you have 10 new  phrasal verbs added to your vocabulary. So it's  

time for your quiz. Now feel free to go back and  watch the video again to make sure you're really  

comfortable with all these phrasal verbs before  you take the quiz. But if you feel you're ready,  

well then let's start the quiz now. So I'm going  to show you 10 questions and you need to decide  

which phrasal verb best completes the sentence.  So I'll show you the questions. Make sure you hit  

pause because I'll only show you for about five  seconds. And then once you complete it, you can  

hit play and you can see the answers. So here are  the questions, hit pause and complete a quiz now.  

Welcome back. Now I'm going to show you  the answers. I'll only show them for five  

seconds. So again, hit pause, compare these  answers to your own. So here are the answers.  

So how did you do with the quiz? Put your score  in the comments below. And also I want you to take  

three of these phrasal verbs and practice  them with some practice sentences  

in the comments below, so you feel really  comfortable adding them to your vocabulary.  

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!