Learn English Phrasal Verbs - Most Common Phrasal Verbs in English

Today you're going to add the top 10 phrasal  verbs to your vocabulary. Now first I'll explain  

what the phrasal verb is how you can use it and  I'll give you some example sentences. And at the  

end of the lesson, you're going to complete a  quiz to make sure you really know how to use  

these phrasal verbs. 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 number 1, to  

ache for. This is a very nice romantic phrasal  verb. Now we really use this in the context of  

a romantic relationship. So make sure you use that  appropriately. And ache for something or someone  

is when you really really want that something or  someone. For example, he was lonely and aching for  

love. So this is perhaps a little more of a poetic  phrasal verb. You will probably hear it in novels,  

stories, movies, TV. He was aching for love. So  maybe you won't use that in your vocabulary, but  

you'll likely hear it in romance movies or romance  novels. Now you may be more likely to use ache for  

someone. Let's say your husband is overseas  on a business trip and he'll be gone for  

two or three weeks. You might say, I'm aching for  my husband. So if you're talking to your friends  

or family, even your colleagues, you can say oh,  I'm really aching for my husband. He's been gone  

for two weeks already. Number two, to beef up.  This is a fun one. When you beef something up,  

you make it stronger or more important. Now we do  use this in the context of bodybuilders, and they  

can beef themselves up, become more muscular.  So you can use that in a fitness context. But,  

we also use this in more of a business context,  perhaps surprisingly. Because you might say,  

I need to beef up my resume. I need to make my  resume stronger, or more important. I need to  

beef up my communication skills, for example.  Number three, to make up. And in this context,  

we're talking about to make up with someone,  with someone. To make up with someone is when you  

forgive someone after an argument or a dispute.  In a family context, young kids fight a lot,  

right, and older kids too. But you might say to  your son, your daughter, you need to make up with  

your sister. You need to make up with your  brother. You need to make up with more cousin,  

or a friend. And you list a specific person.  Which means you need to forgive that person,  

stop being angry at that person, stop fighting  with that person. So we definitely use this  

in a social context or family context. But you  can absolutely use this in a professional context.  

Coworkers fight as well. There are disagreements  in companies. So you might say to one coworker,  

Sally, you need to make up with Mark. You  work on the same team. You have to get along,  

you need to make up with each other.  Number four, to nail down. This is when you  

understand the exact details of something or  you get a firm decision on something. So let's  

say you're planning a conference and you have a  general idea of the conference. It will take place  

in summer. It will be on this general topic or  theme. But when is the exact date. What specific  

topics. Who specifically will be the keynote  speaker. Who specifically will be presenting. Who  

will you hire to cater the conference. You need  to nail down those details. So you need to either  

understand the exact details or you need to make  a firm decision on who is going to cater, when the  

conference will exactly take place. So that's a  very useful phrasal verb. And you can use it in a  

business context or a social context. Number five,  to open up. When you open up to someone, you talk  

very freely about your feelings or your emotions,  things that make you quite vulnerable. Things you  

probably don't share with everybody. For example,  after years, she finally opened up about his  

death. So for many years, there was this tragic  death perhaps, and she didn't really talk about  

it. She didn't talk about her feelings. About the  death. But then after a year, she opened up. She  

started talking freely about how she felt, the  circumstances, how she's dealing with it, those  

types of things, her inner feelings and emotions.  Now notice I didn't use 'to someone'. I could say,  

she opened up to her family about his death. So  you'll have 'about' and then the specific topic,  

and 'to' and the specific people. You'll  commonly hear people say, I've never opened up to  

anybody like this before. If someone says that  to you, they're basically saying they feel very  

comfortable around you. They feel like they can  share their inner thoughts, feelings, emotions.  

And that's a very positive thing. It shows  you're have a very close relationship.  

Number six, to slip into something. Now  this is when you quickly put on a piece of  

clothing. So this is a very specific phrasal verb.  It's only used with clothing. Now, for example,  

this shirt is quite pretty, isn't it? But let's  be honest, it's not the most comfortable shirt.  

So after I'm done recording this video, I'm  going to slip into a t shirt. I'm going to  

put on a t-shirt. Or if it's first thing in  the morning and you're in your housecoat,  

but then you hear your doorbell, you  might quickly slip into some sweatpants  

and answer the door. So it's simply another way to  say put on. Number seven, to stand by something.  

When you stand by something. It's used to show  that you still support or believe something.  

So I might say, we stand by our opinion  that interest rates need to increase. So  

that's my opinion. That's my belief. Interest  rates need to increase. And I stand by that.  

I still support that. I still believe that. So  you'll hear this a lot from people in power,  

politicians, executives in business, will have  an opinion, have a belief and then they'll state,  

I stand by that to let you know they still believe  that specific opinion. Do you stand by that?  

I stand by that? Yes, the reason simply  is that. We also use this with 'stand by  

someone'. When you stand by someone, it means  that you support someone, usually when something  

negative has happened. So let's say that your  coworker was accused of stealing from the company  

but you know your coworker didn't do it. You might  say, I stand by her. I stand by her, which means  

you're willing to support her in this difficult  time. Number eight, to wind down. To wind down.  

This is an excellent phrasal verb because it  means to relax after a busy or stressful day.  

So you might say, I always read at the end of  the day to wind down. To help me wind down,  

I always read at the end of the day. Or I  go for a walk after work to wind down. So  

it just means to relax. But it's another way of  saying it. And it implies that you were very busy  

or stressed out, to wind down. Number nine, to  zone out. This is when you stop paying attention  

for a short period of time. Now we've all done  this, especially when we were kids in school and  

your teachers are talking, and you just zone  out. Now generally people zone out because  

they don't have interest in a particular topic.  For example, whenever people talk about sports,  

I zone out. I just stopped listening. And  I started thinking about something else in  

my own head. And I'm not listening to the  conversation about sports. I zoned out. I  

stopped paying attention. But then when the  conversation changes, I'll pay attention again.  

So it's always for that short period of time.  Number 10, to turn in. This is a very useful  

phrasal verb because it simply means to go to  bed. It's another way of saying to go to bed,  

and it's very common. So of course you can say  I'm tired, I'm going to bed. But you can also say,  

I'm tired. I'm going to turn in. I'm going  to turn in. And it's really commonly used,  

so I'd suggest you use it. You can use it as  a suggestion. Hey, it's getting late and you  

have a job interview tomorrow. You should turn  in. You should go to bed. Or you can use it in  

question form as well. What time did you turn  in? What time did you go to bed? And now you have  

10 new phrasal verbs added to your vocabulary to  help you sound fluent and natural. And now it's  

time for your quiz. So here are the questions. Of  course, hit pause. Take as much time as you need  

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

How'd you do on that quiz? Well, let's find out.  Here are the answers. Go ahead and hit pause  

and figure out how you did. So how did you do  with the quiz? Make sure you share your score  

in the comments below. And if  you got any wrong, don't worry,  

that just means you need to practice those. So  do some example sentences in the comments below  

as well. 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!