25 Phrasal Verbs for Super Bowl Sunday 🏈 English Grammar with Jennifer

If you haven't heard, then let me tell you that Super Bowl Sunday is coming up

on February 2nd. This is the biggest game of the season. Remember this isn't soccer.

This is American football, and the two best teams from the two divisions will

be competing to become the champion of the National Football League. Who will

that be? Either the San Francisco 49ers or the Kansas City Chiefs.

Hi. I'm Jennifer from English with Jennifer, and this is a

special lesson combining sports and grammar. Subscribe and get more of my

American English lessons. This year Super Bowl Sunday happens to be on Groundhog

Day. The importance of this sports event is going to overshadow the official

holiday. I'll still wait to hear whether the groundhog predicted more winter or

an early spring, but most Americans are going to gear up for the big game

later that day. In this lesson, I'm going to share 25 phrasal verbs as I tell you

about Super Bowl LIV (54). Some of it will be a review, but hopefully everyone will get

something new out of this lesson.

I already used three phrasal verbs. Come up. It means that something will happen

soon. It's intransitive, no object. Super Bowl Sunday is coming up.

Gear up. It means to prepare for something.

It's intransitive, no object. Americans are going to gear up for the big game.

Note how you can mention what you're preparing for. You can gear up for

something. You can gear up to do something. Get something out of something.

It means you receive enjoyment from something or you learn something from an

experience. It's transitive. It takes an object.

In fact, it takes two objects: get something out of something. For example, you'll get

new phrasal verbs out of this lesson.

Americans get together with friends and family on Super Bowl Sunday.

They have Super Bowl parties. Such parties were popular in past years here

in New England, but sadly the New England Patriots didn't make it to the Super

Bowl this year, so there won't be any big Super Bowl parties in my town. Some

people will still gather around the TV and tune in to watch the big game.

Miami, Florida is hosting the Super Bowl this year. The city is gearing up to receive

thousands of visitors. The game kicks off at about 6:30 p.m. East Coast time. Make

sure the TV is on a little early if you want to catch the singing of the

national anthem. It's always a big honor to sing at the Super Bowl. This year

Demi Lovato will perform the American national anthem. I always love it when a

good singer belts out the high notes. It gives me goose bumps.

After the anthem, we'll have the coin toss. This is an official and fair way to

decide which team gets the ball first and which direction each team will be going in.

Get together. This means to meet and spend time together.

It's intransitive, no object. We can say, "Americans get together on Super Bowl Sunday."

"Americans get together with friends and family on Super Bowl Sunday."

Tune in. This means to watch a TV show or a special TV event or listen to a radio

broadcast. It's intransitive, no object. You can tune in to watch the game. But we

can use the preposition "to" to name the event: Let's tune in to the game.

Kick off. It means to start. We use it for big events or important periods of time.

It can also be transitive. It can take an object. For example, I sometimes kick off

the year with a new playlist. "Kickoff" is a sports term. In American football,

there's always a kickoff at the start of each half. One team kicks the ball for

the other team to receive. Belt out. This means to sing loudly. We can also use it

with instruments, and then it means to play loudly. A performer can belt out the

notes or belt out the lyrics, so it's transitive. Good singers belt out the

high notes. Do you know how much people are paying to go to the Super Bowl this

year? It's crazy. They have to shell out no less than four thousand dollars a

ticket. That's the cheapest you'll find. The average ticket is eight thousand dollars.

Of course, prices go up even more if you want VIP tickets. If you really want to

be treated like a very important person and get better seats, better food, avoid

the crowds, you better be prepared to pay about forty thousand dollars. For $40K,

a driver will pick you up in a private car, take you to the game, and then after

the game, you get to go on the field and be part of the celebration. Shell out.

This means to pay a lot of money. It's transitive. It takes an object. Fans

have to shell out no less than four thousand dollars a ticket. Go up. This

means to increase. It's intransitive, no object. Prices go up even more for VIP

tickets. Pick up. This means to get someone by car and take them somewhere.

It's transitive. You need an object. A driver will pick you up in a private car

and take you to the game. Forty thousand dollars already makes me wince, but I'll

tell you another price that will make your head spin. Company owners may treat

their top executives or special clients to a private suite that some have

compared to a yacht. This level of luxury can set someone back about four hundred

thousand dollars. You have to be a big football fan to pay that kind of money.

Right? Well, even for those who aren't millionaires, you'll have to scrape up

enough money for a local hotel, which I heard will be about five hundred dollars

a night. Yes, the local hotels will be jacking up

their rates for the weekend of the Super Bowl. Set someone back. This means to

cost someone a lot of money. It's transitive. It takes an object.

A luxury suite at the Super Bowl will set you back about

$400,000. Note how we add the sum of money after the phrasal verb. It will set

you back about $400,000. It will set you back at least $300,000. It will set you

back well over a hundred thousand dollars. Scrape something up. This means

to find or save enough money to pay for something. It's transitive. It takes an

object. We had to scrape up enough money for the hotel room. We can also use

"scrape together" with the same meaning. We couldn't scrape together enough money

for the tickets. Jack something up. This means to raise the price by a lot.

It's transitive. It takes an object. You're raising the

price. So local hotels are jacking up their rates before the Super Bowl. So the

big game starts around 6:30 p.m. Halftime is longer than usual, so the

Super Bowl can go quite late, especially with the postgame celebration. It's kind

of bad that the game is on a Sunday. Millions of Americans stay up late, and

then it's hard to get up the next morning. Some people end up calling in

sick the next day or just taking Monday off. Stay up.

This means to go to bed later than usual. It's intransitive, no object. Millions of

Americans stay up till the end of the Super Bowl. Millions of Americans stay up

late. Get up. This means to get out of bed. It's intransitive, no object. After only

six hours of sleep, it was hard to get up the next day. End up. This means to be in

a situation you didn't plan or expect to be in.

It's intransitive, no object, but you do need to name the situation that you're in:

end up in trouble, for example, end up winning the game, end up the winner. Some people

end up not going to work the next day.

Call in. This means to call by phone to report something, like being sick. "Call in

sick" is a set phrase. It's intransitive, but you need to explain why you're

calling. You need to state the purpose of the call. People call in sick the morning

after the Super Bowl. People call in to say they're not coming to work.

Take something off. This means to take time away from something. You can take the day off,

the afternoon off, the night off. You can take time off from work.

Some fans watch the Super Bowl and then take the following Monday off, especially

if they were up all night celebrating with friends. So the Super Bowl is the

biggest game of the year, but did you know that the TV commercials are also

part of the entertainment? Fans aren't the only ones who spend a lot of money.

Advertisers also pay a lot of money for airtime. Super Bowl ads are often like

mini movies -- high budget movies. You don't want to run to the bathroom during the

commercials. You want to stay and watch these million-dollar ads. Some ads are

funny. Others are more serious. They might make political or social statements, so

they stir up some controversy.

All the commercials aim to be memorable. Every advertiser wants their Super Bowl

ad to be the ad that everyone is talking about the next day. Then there's the

halftime show. This has become one of the biggest entertainment platforms in the

U.S. Past performers include Madonna, Lady Gaga,

Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, and others. Millions of Americans watch the

Super Bowl, and everyone looks forward to the halftime show. This year we're going

to see Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. Apparently J.Lo is promising to blow us

away with the best halftime show ever.

Stir something or someone up. This means to make trouble happen or to create

excitement of some kind. This phrasal verb is transitive.

It takes an object. You can stir up trouble, stir up controversy. You can stir

things up. Some Super Bowl ads stir up controversy with social or political

statements. Look forward to. This means to anticipate, so you feel excited about

something that is going to happen soon. It's transitive. You need an object.

Everyone looks forward to the halftime show.

Blow someone away. This means to impress someone to a great extent.

It's transitive, takes an object. Jennifer Lopez promises to blow us away with her

halftime show. The Super Bowl is a big event and it lasts about four hours.

Sometimes you already know in the first half who's going to win, but other years

the game is really tight. This means that both teams play really well. It can also

be very exciting when one team is down by, say, two touchdowns and then they come back.

Sports fans love comeback stories.

Some games can be heartbreaking when fans see their favorite team start out strong and

then fall apart on the field. They end up losing the lead and losing the game.

However things turn out, there can be only one winner. The Super Bowl champion

wins the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Individual players receive a Super Bowl

ring. And as in other sports, there's an MVP. The most valuable player receives

his own trophy. Come back. This means to return to a place. In sports, it means to

return from a losing position. In one Super Bowl, the New England Patriots were

down by, I think, 25 points and then they came back to win. It's intransitive, no

object. They came back in the second half and won the game. Start out. This is a

conversational way to say "start." We use it to talk about how something begins.

It's intransitive. The team started out strong. The team started out with strong

defense. Fall apart. This means to lose control and not be able to function.

You're no longer successful. It's intransitive. A team can start out strong

and then fall apart. Turn out. This means to happen in a certain way. We use this

to describe the end of a situation.

It's intransitive. Things turned out well. He turned out to

be a good player.

Don't confuse "turn out" and "end up." Both phrasal verbs have to do with an outcome.

We often use "end up" with a verb in the -ing form: end up winning, end up losing.

And we say who did this: They ended up winning. They ended up losing. We often

use "turn out" with an adverb or an infinitive: turn out well, turn out to be

a complete domination. And we say this about the situation: It turned out well.

It turned out to be a complete domination. So did you learn something

new about Super Bowl Sunday? I'm not a football expert, and I bet there are some

of you who could teach me about the game. But I hope I gave you a good list of

phrasal verbs to study and practice. Let's review the 25 phrasal verbs.

I'll read each phrasal verb and you recall the definitions. Come up, as in, the

Super Bowl is coming up.

Get together. Let's get together for the Super Bowl. Gear up. We're gearing up for

the game. Tune in. Let's tune in to the game. Get something out of something.

You'll get some vocabulary out of this lesson.

Kick off. The event kicks off at 6:30. Go up. Prices go up for VIP tickets. Shell

out something. You'll have to shell out $4,000 for that ticket. Belt something

out. She belt out the high notes. Pick someone up. A driver will pick you up in

a private car.

Stay up. We stayed up late. Get up. It was hard to get up the next morning. Set

someone back. A private suite will set you back about four hundred thousand

dollars. Scrape something up. We couldn't scrape up enough money for

the tickets. Jack something up. The hotels are jacking up their rates this weekend.

End up. Which team will end up winning?

Call in. Some people will call in sick on Monday. Take something off.

Some people may take Monday off. Stir something or someone up, like Super Bowl

ads can stir up controversy with social or political statements.

Look forward to something. I look forward to the halftime show.

Come back, as in, the team was losing, and then they came back in the second half.

Start out. They didn't start out well, but then they got better. Fall apart. A team

has to stay strong. They can't fall apart.

Turn out. Things will turn out great for one team. Blow someone away. The halftime

show will blow you away. If you'd like to study phrasal verbs with me some more,

you have a few options. First you can book a private lesson through my website,

and we can study one-on-one. You can also join me on Hallo. This is a new platform

I'm using. I have public live streams and invite students to hop on camera with me

for a few minutes of live practice. You can also become a member of my YouTube

channel. I have three levels of membership. Super and Truly Marvelous Members

can attend a monthly live stream. It's a structured lesson with

interactive tasks, and I always ask my members what topic they want to focus on.

We do interactive exercises, and I can answer questions through the live text chat.

And don't forget about my app. The English with Jennifer Alarm Clock &

Reminder App. I'm sure that phrasal verbs will be a future topic for an audio lesson.

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