Learn English Phrasal Verbs - MUST KNOW Phrasal Verbs in English

Welcome back to JForrestEnglish training, your  place to become a fluent and confident English  

speaker. Of course, I'm Jennifer and in this  lesson you're going to add the top 10 phrasal  

verbs to your vocabulary. And make sure you  watch right to the end because I'm going to  

quiz you to make sure you know how to use  these new phrasal verbs. Let's get started.  

Phrasal verb number one, to act on.  This simply means to take action,  

so to act. But you act on specific information,  advice or recommendations that you've received.  

For example, the manager acted on the findings  of the report. So of course in this report,  

there's lots of information and advice and if you  act on that information. The manager acted on the  

findings of the report. Or in a meeting you might  suggest to your coworkers, we need to act on the  

recommendations. We need to take action. Outside  of the workplace, you might say, we need to act on  

the advice from our financial analysts. So  they gave you some advice, you need to act  

on it. Number two, bargain for. To bargain for,  this is when you expect something to happen, but  

that something is usually negative. So you  expect something negative to happen. Now,  

notice the sentence structure here because we most  commonly use this phrasal verb in the negative  

form. We hadn't bargained for such a high interest  rate. So we didn't expect. Or you could say,  

we hadn't bargained for so many people at the  conference. So this is a great expression that you  

can use. But I recommend using it in the negative.  Number three, opt in. When you opt into something,  

it means you become a member of something. So if  you're a new employee at the company, they might  

have certain things that are membership based,  such as the pension plan, their health care plan,  

or other insurance plans, maybe even some  committees. And if you want to be a member,  

you need to opt in. For example, as a new  employee, you need to opt into the insurance  

plan. Now the opposite of 'in', is 'out'. So if  you don't want to be a member, you can opt out. So  

for example, new employees are automatically added  to the insurance policy. If you don't want to be  

a member, you need to opt out. You need to opt  out. Number four, to play down. This is a great  

phrasal verb. It means to make something seem  less important or less serious than it really is.  

For example, the government tried to play down  the scandal. So they had the scandal and they want  

to make it seem less important or less serious.  They tried to play it down. Or I could say, the  

documentary played down his divorce. So there's  this documentary on this person who got divorced,  

and they're trying to make it seem less serious  or less important than it really was in reality.  

And that's what you need to keep in mind.  In reality, the situation was more serious,  

but the documentary played it down. It wasn't  that big of a deal. Number five, to drop out.  

When you drop out, this is specifically used  when you quit a course or you quit an entire  

program, a school program. So if you're pursuing  a degree and you quit, then you drop out. Now  

interestingly, Bill Gates dropped out of college  to start Microsoft. And we know how successful  

that was. So although it might seem negative that  you drop out, you quit, maybe not always the case.  

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook,  also dropped out of college to start Facebook.  

I'm not encouraging you to drop out, but it's  not always a negative. And you can also use this  

for a specific course. For example, I think  I'm going to drop out of calculus, it's too  

difficult. I'm going to quit calculus. Number  six, to cut back. This is when you spend less,  

you do less or you use less of something. This is  very commonly used by governments or companies.  

The government has announced plans to cut back on  defense spending by 10%. Now notice I said on. If  

you specify the something, defense spending, you  need to use the preposition ON. Cut back on. Cut  

back on defense spending. I could also just say,  the government announced plans to cut back. In  

that sense, it's just reduce, reduce spending,  spend less. And then you have to clarify, well,  

cut back on what? Now we frequently use this  as advice to someone. Let's say you told me,  

Jennifer, I drink 10 sodas a day. I would say,  whoa, you should cut back. You should consume  

less. That's too much soda. You should cut back.  Number seven, to sit in on. This is a great  

business phrasal verb. It's used specifically in  the context of a meeting. And when you sit in on  

a meeting, it means you attend a meeting, but  you only attend that meeting as an observer. So  

you're not going to participate. You're not going  to present. You're not going to ask questions.  

You're just going to attend as an observer. So  if there's a really interesting meeting at work,  

but you are not directly related to the subject  matter, you might ask the organizer, is it okay  

if I sit in on the meeting today? And that means  you're just going to attend to listen, to receive  

information. You're not going to participate. Or  if you're planning a sales meeting, you might say,  

it would be useful to have someone  from accounting sit in on the meeting.  

So someone from accounting is just going to be  there to absorb the information, but you don't  

expect them to participate or present anything.  So very useful phrasal verb in a business context.  

Number eight. This is a fun one, to whip up.  To whip up. This is very specific because it's  

used with food. And it's used when you make food  quickly. So you make yourself breakfast, lunch,  

dinner, a snack, it doesn't matter. You make any  type of food, but you do it really quickly. So  

you might say, oh no, I'm running late. I need to  whip up my breakfast. I need to make my breakfast  

really quickly. Or let's say you have some guests  come over unexpectedly. And you want to serve them  

something, you might say to your husband, give  me a few minutes to whip up some appetizers.  

I'm going to make some appetizers really quickly.  So it's a great phrasal verb that you can add to  

your daily vocabulary. Number nine, to dress up.  I love this phrasal verb. To dress up is when you  

wear more professional or formal clothing, usually  for a specific occasion. So if you're going out  

for a nice dinner, maybe it's someone's birthday  or an anniversary, you would dress up. You would  

wear more formal or professional clothing than you  normally would. Or let's say you have some really  

important guests coming into your office, some  VIP guests, well you might dress up. If you  

normally wear just a t shirt, well you might put  on a dress shirt, maybe even a suit with a tie.  

Or if you're going to a wedding, of course that's  a great opportunity to dress up. To wear more  

formal clothing. Now we often use this in question  form. If you're invited to a dinner or a party,  

you might ask, do I need to dress up? Do I need  to wear more formal clothing? And they can reply  

back and say no, it's informal. There's no need  to dress up. And number 10, to get at something.  

When someone is getting at something, they're  trying to explain or express something specific.  

We commonly use this in question form.  Let's say your coworker is talking to you  

and they're talking about a meeting that you have,  but you're not really sure what they're trying to  

express to you, what they're  trying to explain. You could 

say, I'm not sure what you're getting at. I'm  not sure what you mean. I'm not sure what you're  

trying to explain. I'm not sure what you're  getting at. Now we also use this when we're  

trying to explain something and the explanation  isn't going too well. And then we can say,  

what I'm trying to get at is, we need to cut back.  What I'm trying to get at is, and then you state  

what you mean. What you're trying to explain.  So now you have 10 new phrasal verbs that you  

can add to your vocabulary. Are you ready for  your quiz? Here are the questions. Hit pause,  

take as much time as you need, and when you're  ready, you can hit play and see the answers.  

So how do you do with that quiz? Was it  easy? Was it difficult? Well, let's find  

out! Here are the answers. Hit pause and you can  compare your answers to see how well you did.  

So how'd you do on that quiz? Make sure you  share your score in the comments below. And  

if you got any wrong, don't worry, you're  still learning. Do some example sentences  

in the comments below. And if you found this  video helpful, please hit the like button,  

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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.