Phrasal Verbs: Add “OUT” to change the meaning of these 8 verbs

In this lesson, you'll have a chance to learn and use eight common phrasal verbs.

Now, what's special about this lesson and what's going to make it a little bit easier

for you to learn these verbs is that we're going to look at the regular verb first, and

then we're going to look at how it changes when it becomes a phrasal verb, okay?

So, what is a phrasal verb anyway?

So, basically, it's a regular verb, but we add something to it, usually a preposition

or sometimes an adverb, and when we do that, it changes the meaning.

And that's what can make it a little bit more challenging to learn, but not in this lesson

because we're going to go through them very carefully and step by step so you'll know

exactly what the regular verb means, which you probably already know, and then what the

new phrasal verb means, okay?

So, let's get started.

So, we have eight of them here.

Let's go through them one by one.

So, the regular verb, "look", alright?

I'm sure you know the meaning of this verb.

What does it mean?

To look at something?

To see it, right?

To view it.

So, right now, I'm looking in this direction.

You're looking at me, okay?

But what happens when we made it - when we add "out" and make it into a phrasal verb?

The verb "look out" is something different from just "look".

To look out is to be careful.

If I say to someone, "Look out, the car is coming", it means be careful, okay?

Be aware, pay attention, but mostly, be careful, okay?

So, we could say, "Look out, the car is coming", "Look out, the tree is falling", alright?

So, "look out" is very often used by itself, like just "look out", and when you hear that,

you should know that you have to be careful of something, but sometimes, it might be followed

by "Look out, the car is coming" or "The tree is falling" or whatever, okay?

So, that's the basic way in which this phrasal verb, "look out", is used, to mean be careful.

Sometimes, it can also mean to look out for someone, so for example, if you go to a concert

and you're going to meet your friend there, and you say, "Okay, I'll look out for you",

means I'll pay attention to try to find you, but the idea is still to pay attention, right?

So, that's another meaning of "look out", but very often, it's used in that other way

as a kind of warning, "Look out, be careful", okay?

Alright.

The next verb, regular verb, is "stay".

What does "stay" mean?

Does "stay" mean to remain in one place, okay?

I could stay in my room, I could stay in a hotel, alright?

Stay in my office, but what does it mean when we add "out"?

What does the phrasal verb "stay out" mean?

It means to remain out for a long time.

Usually, we will use it like this, "He stayed out late at night", okay?

"He stayed out late", or "She stayed out all night", okay?

This is the normal way in which we hear this phrasal verb being used.

So, if we say, "She stayed out", it usually means all night, or sometimes we'll add "late".

"He stayed out", "We stayed out late last night, so we're really tired", okay?

So, that's "stay out", which is different from just "stay".

Alright.

Here's another regular verb, "point".

What does it mean when I point to something, like this?

I can point to someone, I can point to something, I could say to someone, "I want that one",

okay?

And then you use your finger and you point, alright?

That's what it - that's the regular meaning of "point".

But what does it mean to point out something?

To point out something means to draw your attention to something.

For example, let's suppose I'm checking somebody's resume and I say to them, "I just want to

point out that you have a few mistakes in your resume, so make sure you correct them

before you send them to apply for a job", okay?

Or, let's say right now, I'm pointing out to you, I'm drawing your attention to the

differences between the regular verbs and the phrasal verbs, okay?

So, that's to point out, to draw someone's attention to something, alright?

Next, "work".

Now, we all know what it means to work, right?

To put your time and effort into something.

But this one, this phrasal verb, "work out", means something completely different.

It just - it means actually to exercise.

If you say, "I'm working out tonight", it means I'm going to exercise, I'm going to

the gym, or I'm going to do something to work out with weights or whatever, okay?

I'm going to work out, alright?

So, "work out" usually means exercise.

It can also mean to solve something.

For example, two plus two equals four.

So, what did I do?

I worked out the answer, okay?

It means I solved the problem.

I need to work it out.

I'm not sure what to do.

I need to work it out, means I need to solve something.

But very often, we'll hear it being used as the first one, as I am exercising, okay?

Alright.

So, just to review those, "look out" means be careful.

He stayed out late or stayed out all night.

I want to point out that there's a difference between this word and that word.

And would you like to work out with us tonight?

We're going to the gym, okay?

So, that means to exercise.

Let's look at four more.

So, the regular verb "wear".

So, to wear means to put something on.

For example, your clothes, or your shoes, or a hat, or your watch, or something, right?

To wear something.

But, what does it mean to wear out something?

Well, let's suppose I have some shoes that I bought, and I love these shoes, I'm so comfortable

in them, I don't want to ever throw them away.

But what happens after a while, if I keep wearing those shoes for a few years, they're

going to be worn out.

So, when something is worn out, you can't use it anymore.

It's no longer usable, it's no longer effective.

It's worn out, it's old, it's maybe torn, or whatever, okay?

You can't use it, it's not usable anymore.

So, your shoes can get worn out, okay, or let's say you have a favorite t-shirt and

you love to wear it, and you wore it for years, but after a while, it really gets worn out,

okay?

So, to wear out something means to make it unusable.

Now, there is another meaning of "wear out".

So, sometimes you can say, "I'm worn out today, I'm so tired, I've been working since 5 o'clock

in the morning with no break."

So, worn out in this sense, when you apply it to a person, it means really tired.

Just like, in a way, your shoes are sort of like tired, but we don't usually ascribe that

to shoes.

But you can say that a person feels worn out means they're very, very exhausted and tired,

okay?

"I'm worn out" means I'm exhausted, okay?

So, that's to wear out, which is quite different from just to wear.

Next, the verb "to rule".

We don't hear this word too much.

It's usually used to mean to govern a country or a place or a people, and it's usually used

to describe people like kings or dictators.

Not really so much a president or something, but more like a king or a dictator rules over

a particular country or people.

But that is very different from the phrasal verb, which we do use very often, which means

to rule out.

Now, rule out something, when you rule out something, you eliminate the possibility,

okay?

So, for example, let's suppose there are three universities that you could apply to, but

you don't want to apply to C and you don't want to apply to B, so you rule them out.

You eliminate them from the possibilities, okay?

So, you could rule out certain possibilities, or it could be universities, it could be certain

jobs, it could be which city you want to move to, okay?

Which friends you want to have, you rule them out.

Or if you're going to hire someone, you have many candidates, let's say you have five candidates,

but you rule out some of them, so you're left with just one candidate.

You ruled out or eliminated the other possibilities, okay?

Similarly, on tests, right?

If you have a multiple choice test and you have three answers, or five answers, and you

need to choose, sometimes you know the answer, right, and then you just choose that one,

but sometimes you're not so sure.

So, one technique that you can use when you're doing a multiple choice test is to say, "Well,

this is clearly not right.

That's wrong for sure.

So, this way, by eliminating certain answers or ruling out certain answers, you zero in

on what is likely to be the right answer.

So, again, you're ruling out, in this case, the incorrect possibilities, okay?

Got it?

Good.

Next, the regular verb "stand".

What am I doing right now?

I'm standing.

You might be sitting as you're watching this video, okay?

Right?

Stand.

Alright?

That's a regular verb, which you know, but what does it mean to stand out?

To stand out means to be noticeable.

For example, in an audience, imagine everyone is sitting, but one person suddenly stands

up, and that person is going to be much more noticeable than everybody else who's sitting

down, right?

So, that person is not just standing, in this case, that person stands out, because they

are standing.

Alright?

So, you can imagine that, that a person who's standing up in an audience of people who are

sitting down is going to be more noticeable, is going to stand out.

Also, certain colors, okay, are more - stand out more.

Red and yellow, you know, they're bright colors, are much - they stand out much more than black

or blue, okay?

So, that's another way to see how something stands out.

Alright.

The last regular verb is "find", okay?

What does it mean to find something?

It's the opposite of losing something.

So, usually we use it in a negative way, for example, "I can't find my keys" or "I can't

find my cell phone.

Have you seen it?"

Right?

So, that's the regular meaning of "find", but what does it mean to find out?

So, right now, for example, you are finding out the meaning of these phrasal verbs.

You are learning, you are discovering, okay?

That's what it means to find out.

I don't know the answer, I'm going to find out the answer, okay?

So, usually you're going to find out the meaning of something, the answer to something, the

solution to something, or you could also find out information.

Hey, I need to find out when the next bus leaves.

I need to find out what time the train leaves.

I need to find out what time his flight arrives, okay?

So, in that case, you're finding out information.

You could also find out a secret that someone has, alright?

So, let's look over those.

To wear out something means to use it so that it can't be used anymore, make it unusable.

To rule out means to what?

Eliminate the possibility.

To stand out is to be noticeable, like one person standing up in an audience of people

who are sitting.

And to find out means to learn or discover the meaning of something or information about

something, okay?

So, I told you at the beginning that you would learn and use these phrasal verbs by the end

of the lesson.

So, this is the second part where you're going to use those phrasal verbs which we just learned,

okay?

Now, I'm going to go through these together with you.

There are eight sentences, and in each sentence, there is one part where you could replace

those words with a phrasal verb, alright?

So, what you might want to do, you can either do it with me, step-by-step, or right now,

I'm moving out of the way, if you like, you can pause the video, alright?

Go through them by yourself, take your time, and each of these, in each of these, you have

to replace what is underlined with a phrasal verb.

And I've written them for you here, of course, the phrasal verb is going to be followed by

"out".

So, it would be "look out", "point out", "wear out", etc., okay?

So, if you want to pause it, pause now, and if not, let's begin, okay?

Alright.

So, number one.

Your red sports car is very noticeable.

So, which phrasal verb could we use to express that idea?

Your red sports car really - it's very noticeable.

It stands out, okay?

This one here.

Your red sports car stands out, good.

Number two.

I exercise three times a week.

Which phrasal verb could you use there?

I work out, okay?

I work out three times a week.

It means I exercise three times a week, good.

Number three.

The teacher drew attention to my pronunciation errors.

To draw attention to, which phrasal verb could you use?

The teacher pointed out my pronunciation errors, good.

Are you with me?

Yes.

Number four.

Be careful of the ice on the road.

Which phrasal verb could we use to give that idea of "be careful"?

Remember?

This one.

Look out - in this case, we have to change the preposition if we're using it in a sentence.

Look out for the ice on the road, okay?

Look out means be careful.

Alright.

Number five.

I was exhausted after the flight.

Which one could we use?

I was - remember, sometimes you have to change the form of the verb a little bit.

I was, because it's in the past tense.

I was worn out, okay?

I was worn out.

I was so tired.

I was exhausted, remember?

We said a person can be exhausted, your shoes could be worn out, okay?

So, you could be worn out or your shoes could be worn out.

That's a good way to remember it.

Okay.

Number six.

Did you learn what time the bus leaves?

We won't usually say "Did you learn", we usually use this phrasal verb.

Did you?

Find out.

Good.

Did you find out what time the bus leaves?

Okay?

Good.

Number seven.

I've decided against living in a small town.

That means I've ruled out that possibility.

Maybe other possibilities, but I've ruled out that one, right?

Rule out.

I've ruled out living in a small town, okay?

Good.

And number eight.

He didn't come home all night.

What's another way to say that with a phrasal verb?

He - he what?

Good.

He stayed out all night, okay?

So, now, what you need to do to really master these, I think you did a really good job here,

especially if you got them right, and especially if the right words were coming to you, but

in order to really remember them, we need to repeat, okay?

The more practice you can do, the better.

So, there are many ways to practice.

One, go to our website at www.engvid.com, and there you can do a quiz on these, okay?

And that way, you'll have a chance to reinforce what you've learned.

Number two, leave a comment below.

Use one of these expressions, one of these phrasal verbs that you weren't so sure of

before, or more than one, and give me your own example, give me your own sentence, okay?

Apply it to something that's happening in your life today, or something that applied

to your life yesterday, okay?

Use that, okay?

And the third thing is keep learning more phrasal verbs and more English by subscribing

to my YouTube channel, alright?

And if you like the video, share it with your friends, okay?

Maybe it'll help them as well.

And then, you can practice these phrasal verbs with other people, which is always a great

thing to do, not only in writing, but also while speaking.

You can sort of, like, practice with your friends, and it's a great way to really reinforce

what you've learned, and in a natural way, okay?

You can challenge yourself, you can make a game of it.

Alright?

So, I wish you all the best with your English.

Thanks very much for watching.

Bye for now.