IMPORTANT Phrasal verbs related to communication | C1 English phrasal verbs

Hi there everybody and welcome back to advanced  English lessons with Harry. Yep, that's me,  

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Okay, so what's the lesson today?  So today we're going to talk about  

phrasal verbs. And the phrasal verbs linked or  connected to communication. So phrasal verbs  

related to communication. As always, I'm going  to go through them one by one. So I'll give them  

give you the list and I'm going to give you some  examples of how you can use them and what they  

mean. So I've got 14 of them, okay, I've counted  them well, so there are 14. So let's start, blurt  

out number one blurt out. Number two to catch  on. So to understand the meaning. Catch on.  

Come out, there's a few meanings to come out.  Number four, dry up. Number five, get across.  

Six, get round or get around. Seven, get  through. Eight, to let on. Nine, to pass on.  

Ten, put across. Eleven, to  shout down. Twelve, to speak out.  

Thirteen, talk over. And fourteen and last,  talk round. Okay, so let's go through them  

one by one. And we'll give you some examples that,  hopefully, you'll be able to understand and then  

you try and put them into practice yourself. So to blurt out, this is very informal. So when  

somebody blurts out something they usually  say something quickly without thinking,  

and usually something that they weren't supposed  to say, okay. So they're trying to say, keep a  

secret, and then they suddenly blurted it out. Oh,  boy, you know what Michael did yesterday? Oh, you  

said you wouldn't tell. So to blurt out something.  Or if somebody says something inappropriate at a  

meeting, they just blurt it out. So they, they...  and everybody started laughing and giggling. Yes.  

Okay, so so to blurt out means to say something  quickly, unexpectedly but usually something that  

was supposed to be a secret or shouldn't  have been said at all. But somebody was  

under pressure from other people. And he is, No,  I can't tell you, can't tell you and then it's,  

Oh, look, okay. Okay, again, and they just blurt  out. Yeah, but, you know, I promised I wouldn't  

tell. Please don't say it was me who said it,  so to blurt out the information. Okay, good.  

So second one is to catch on. And when we catch  on, it means we understand the meaning. Ah yeah,  

I can see you'll... you've... you catch on very  quickly, you lot. So the teacher could say to  

the classroom that, you know, if they're bright  and intelligent, that they'll pick up things very  

easily and very quickly. So she's going through  certain issues about history and explaining  

some event that happened many decades ago. And the  kids pick up on it, and they understand and they  

ask some intelligent questions and she says,  Ah, yeah, you're, you're quick to catch on.  

Meaning quick to understand. Okay, oh, somebody  might say at the beginning of the meeting, Look,  

we don't have much time. And I really  need to get to a lot here. So hopefully,  

I'll continue and you'll catch on to what I'm  saying quite quickly. But if you've got any  

questions, just hold on and ask me at the end and  I'll cover them if we've got time. But hopefully,  

you'll catch on to the main meaning of this,  and everybody will understand it. So to catch  

onto something to understand the meaning. Number three, come out. Now, this has a couple  

of different meanings. It could literally mean  something has been introduced to the market.  

The producers of the Esquire magazine have come  out with a new magazine. So to come out with means  

they've introduced to the market. Or all of the  car companies are now coming out with their own  

EVs or electric vehicle. So no longer will it be  possible to buy the diesel or the petrol car. And  

all of these car companies are moving into the  space of EVs, electric vehicles. So they're all  

coming out with the latest model and model, this,  that and the other. So their other meanings have  

to come out and usually to come out with a  particular product. But something can come  

out wrong. Okay, so somebody can hear something  in a different way. So you're making a statement,  

or you're making a presentation on... In fact,  you're just talking to your friends, and it comes  

out all wrong. You meant to say something, but  they pick up a different meaning. Oh, no, look,  

don't, forget that. That's come out all wrong. I  didn't mean to say that. What I meant to say was  

x, y, and z. So when something can come  out, and it's has a totally different  

meaning that you had intended. Next dry up. Well, when we're talking about  

communication, and these are all phrasal verbs  connected with communication, to dry up means  

you forget your lines, okay. So the worst thing in  the world for an actor or an actress on the stage,  

you know, particularly in the stage because they  don't have any chance to cut it. They are on  

the stage, and they suddenly forget what they  were supposed to say. So they dry up, meaning  

the words don't come out, it can happen. Also,  when you're trying to make a presentation in  

an office environment. And you might be feeling a  little bit nervous, your mouth literally gets dry,  

and the words don't come out, or you just have  a blank in your, in your mind. And you're like,  

Oh my god, what am I going to say next? When  you... you dry up, it means you stop working.  

That mouth doesn't work, or the mind doesn't work  or they're not connected. So whatever you want to  

say, it just doesn't come out. Okay. So we think  of dry up in the sense of a place where there's  

no water, and there hasn't been any rain for days  and days, and weeks and weeks, or even months and  

months well, and everything, of course dries  up. So if you're in that situation where you  

can't think about exactly what you wanted to  say, or you can't remember the lines, then yet,  

you got a problem, everything will dry up. Now,  some people use this expression dry up as a way  

of telling somebody to stop talking. Ah, look,  would you just dry up! I've been listening to you  

for hours, or it seems like I've been listening  to you for hours. So would you just please dry  

up. So that's a not so polite way of telling  somebody to zip it or to shut up, dry up. Okay.  

Next to get across. Well, if you want to make  or hope that people will understand what you're  

talking about, you try to get your point across.  Meaning you try to explain something. You could  

be a politician speaking in the local hall, trying  to get across to the people why they should vote  

for you in the next council elections or the  next major country, parliament elections. So you  

want to get your point across, or you want to get  across to the other side, that you're in favour of  

everything that's going to help the environment.  So you try to get the point across to the audience  

that you are a guy who's really interested  in the environment. Okay, so to get across,  

where we can't get our point across to people,  it's usually because we don't understand ourselves  

what we're trying to explain, or we explain it  in a little bit of a difficult messed up way,  

or we're just not very good at explaining and  which case, then people will be scratching their  

head wondering, what was he talking about. So  when you're trying to get your point across,  

make sure it's clear, and you understand. So keep  the English very, very simple. To get across.  

Next to get around something. Well, when we  want to get around something we want to usually  

avoid. It could be very simple. It could be a big  problem in the centre of the city because of some  

roadworks or some building works or something's  happening. So we won... we want to know how we're  

going to get around that particular problem.  That could be a problem at home. That could be  

a problem in the school for one of your... your  kids. How do they get around that particular  

problem? Or indeed if as the kids they've come and  they've dropped the problem on your table and they  

say okay, Dad, what do I do? And dad or mum has  to think of a way to get around. So to get around  

something means to find a way to circumvent,  find a way to avoid, or find a way to deal with  

the particular problem. So how we're going to  get around that? Yeah, okay. I don't know.  

Next to get through. So when we want to get  through it's usually we want to get through  

to somebody. Now, it might be just the general  audience. How am I going to get through to them  

that I really need their help and support? How  am I going to get through to the kids in the  

classroom, that they really have to put their  heads down and work really hard, and study for  

the next few weeks before the exams, otherwise,  they're going to be some disappointed kids,  

and some very disappointed parents. So to get  through means to get through to somebody, and we  

want to make somebody understand a particular  meaning. Okay, so we usually get through to  

somebody by explaining it in detail. The exams  are in two months time, and unless you guys start  

working a little bit harder and that means doing  some extra work outside of school lessons. And  

unless I see some improvement in the schoolwork  that you produce, some of you are going to be  

really, really disappointed now. Do I make  myself clear? Am I getting through to you?  

Do you understand the severity of the situation,  because there's no second chance. I want to get  

through to you today. The message, you have to  work a little bit harder. So when we try to get  

through to somebody, then we try to explain it  in detail so that they understand. Excellent.  

Okay to let on. And again, remember, we're talking  here about communication. So to let on means to  

let somebody know that you... you understand.  You can let on that you know what's happening. So  

there may be a friend that celebrating a special  birthday, perhaps in a couple of weeks. And  

you know, you want everybody to take part and  planning the... the party. So it's going to be  

a real surprise, but you tell everybody don't let  on to David that there's a surprise party. Meaning  

don't break the secret. Please don't let on. So  here we use it in that sort of negative don't let  

on to David, that we're planning a holiday. Don't  let on to your mum that I know what she's planning  

for my birthday. Yeah. Okay. Don't let on to the  kids that we're going to take them to Disney Land  

in the summer. Yes, because we want it to be a  real surprise. So all of the time we are using  

let on as a way of trying to express that there is  a secret, but other people are not to know. Okay,  

so we talk about something that is intended to  be a secret. Okay. All right. So to let on.  

Pass on. Okay. So we pass on information that  we've heard from somebody else, we pass on a  

message from one person to another. Yeah, we pass  on documents. So all the time pass on is all about  

making something available to other people that  we have, or we have come into possession of.  

Okay, so we can give something to someone. Okay, I  can pass on the message, the message I have I give  

to you. So I pass on the message. When John comes  back in after his lunch, will you tell them that  

Mr. Smith rang? And he called tomorrow to collect  the documents? Can you pass on the message? Yes,  

certainly. I'll pass it on to him as soon as I see  him. So I'm giving a message that you've left. And  

I'm going to pass it on to John, when he comes  back from his lunch. Okay. Next, what do we have?  

To put across. Okay to... When we want  to put across something, we're trying to  

explain some idea or some meaning of some idea.  Yeah, so I want to put across this plan, I want  

to put across the... the idea that I've been  working on so that people can understand it. So we  

want to explain the idea, we want to explain the  whole notion and the whole concept there. Okay.  

So, but it could also be apart from an idea to  put across, it could be a belief. It could be  

your understanding or belief about being a vegan  or a vegetarian. So you'd like to put across your  

ideas as to why eating meat, or chicken or dairy  products is not something that we should do. So  

you try to put across in a meaningful way. And  an understandable way, your views, your beliefs.  

So it's always important when you're putting  across your message that is easy to understand.  

The fundamental basis of good communication, put  across your idea, put it across in such a way that  

it is easy to understand to explain. Put across,  explain, set it out clearly, succinctly. Okay.  

So the next phrasal verb communication shout down.  Shout down is the next one. So when we shout down  

somebody or somebody shouts us down, when we make  it very difficult or it is made very difficult  

to hear what somebody is saying, or  to hear what somebody is trying to  

say. So if everybody starts shouting  down, and this is when we get into these  

situations where people are having arguments, and  somebody is trying to make the point and before  

they get halfway through the points, and you say,  Ah, no, I don't agree on that at that. And then  

somebody starts at, Well, if you just give me  it now... No, no, no, no. Look, I really like  

to finish my point what I was trying to say...  No, no, no, we've had enough of that yet. So  

this is shouting somebody down. We don't give them  the opportunity to finish what they're saying,  

we don't get the opportunity to speak.  Indeed, we don't give them the opportunity  

to make a clear point, every time you try to say  something, then somebody jumps in ahead of you,  

jumps on top of you, speaks above you or raises  their voice. So that's to shout someone down.  

Okay, next to speak out. Now, when we speak out,  it means we talk about something that we really  

feel passionate about. So we have to speak out  about the problems with the environment. So we  

can't keep it inside we speak out, we let people  know that we are worried about the environment,  

we let people know that we should change our...  the way we live, we should change our habits so  

that the world and the environment and nature  can benefit from it. So to speak out means to  

let people know your concerns, let people  know that you're worried rather than  

keeping it to yourself, okay? Sometimes it gets  confused with 'speak up.' Speak up means to raise  

your voice. So somebody says, you know, I'd like  to talk... Well, sorry, could you speak up a bit,  

I can't hear you. So you have to raise your  voice. When you put... when you speak out, you  

make a point of telling people let people know  how you feel about something. To speak out.  

So we can speak out on behalf of a friend who's  had a difficult situation and he needs some  

support. So you speak out to support him. Yeah,  okay. We speak out about what's happening in our  

neighbourhood. So we don't like this development  that's going to take place. So we let people  

know that we're not comfortable with it. So  speak out, let people know how you feel.  

To talk over what took over can be simply  having a conversation with a friend. Look,  

let's meet next week, and we'll talk over the  plans for the holiday. Very, very simple. Yeah.  

Let's meet next week. And let's talk over what  we're going to do we got to do something about  

dad, he's not getting any better. You know, he's  been sick for a while, he needs some attention,  

perhaps we need to talk about getting somebody  in to look after him on a day-to-day basis. So  

let's meet and let's talk it over. So it's just  discussing things between a couple of people  

where there's a common interest, and they  want to find out the best approach. Okay, now,  

you can talk over somebody in the same way, as I  mentioned before, to shout down. So when you talk  

over somebody, you try to block out what they are  saying, yeah. So please don't talk over me when  

I'm trying to speak. Yeah. So you want to make  your point, you want to get people to understand  

you. So if you keep talking over me, nobody's  going to hear my point. And it's all going to be  

confused. So you try to get people to stop talking  over what you're saying. So two meanings, talk  

over between yourselves to decide what to be done.  Or when somebody talks over you where they try to  

keep you down so that you can't be heard,  or you can't make your particular point.  

And then finally, we've got talk round.  Well, if somebody tries to talk you round  

means they try to get you to change your  opinion to their view or their opinion.  

Yeah. Do you think you're going to be able to talk  Mike around to given us those extra couple of days  

holidays at the end? When I explain to him what's  the situation, he'll come around to our way of  

thinking. So yeah, I think I'd be able to talk him  around. So to talk somebody round, persuade them  

to come around to your way of thinking, to agree  with you to do what you want them to do.  

Okay, so there's that long, long lesson. So these  are all phrasal verbs, all connected or related  

to communication. So let me give them to you one  more time. Blurt out, catch on, come out, dry up,  

get across, get around, get through, to let on,  to pass on, put across, shout down, speak out,  

talk over and finally talk around. Okay, well, there are phrasal verbs related  

to communication. And communication is really  really so important and those phrasal verbs,  

there's a lot of them there, fourteen.  Try to to use a couple of them,  

see how you get on. If you have any problems,  come back to me and I'll try to give you some  

more explanations and examples. As always,  join me again soon. Thanks for listening.