30 Phrasal Verbs for your Night Routine

Vanessa: Hi, I'm Vanessa  

from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.  Let's talk about going to bed. 

It's time for bed, yes. So at the end  of the day, do I just get in my bed,  

do you just get in your bed? No, of course not.  We have a nighttime routine, a habit, or kind of  

almost a ritual before going to bed that helps us  to wind down, calm down our bodies and our minds,  

and today I would like to teach you 30  common phrasal verbs that you can use  

for your nighttime routine, plus four bonus  expressions that we often use about sleep,  

but you'll have to wait until the end  of the video to find out what those are. 

To help you remember all of these wonderful  phrasal verbs and integrate them into your  

conversations, I have created a free PDF worksheet  that you can download right now. You can print  

it out, put it under your pillow as you sleep,  and dream happy phrasal verb dreams in English.  

There is a link in the description and you can  download that free PDF worksheet today. All right,  

are you ready to join me on my nighttime routine?  Come with me and let's get ready for bed. 

Before I can get ready for bed, I need to get my  kids ready for bed. That includes taking a bath,  

reading a story, singing some songs, listening  to some nighttime music, and I will tuck them  

in. Tuck them in. That means that I put the  blanket around them and I make them feel all cozy  

and warm, I tuck them in. My youngest son, Freddy,  sleeps in a crib still, and he loves to snuggle up  

with his animals. He likes to snuggle up with his  animals. Some people call these stuffed animals,  

and some people call these stuffies. When I  was growing up, I called them stuffed animals,  

so that's what I call them with my kids. He likes  to snuggle up with his stuffed animals. I feel  

lucky that he usually dozes off really easily.  I know this is not the case for most kids, so I  

feel incredibly lucky that he dozes off easily.  And once he's asleep, I can go to the other room  

and start the rest of my nighttime routine,  calming down my body and my mind. Let's go. 

I tidy up the kitchen. I tidy up the kitchen.  I fill up my water bottle so I have water at  

bedtime. I fill up my water bottle. I turn on the  robovac if we forgot to do it earlier. I turn on  

the robovac if we forgot to do it earlier. Vanessa: 

Thanks. Dan brews up some herbal tea because he's  trying to cut out beer. Dan brews up some herbal  

tea because he's trying to cut out beer. Sometimes  Dan will rub my head while we chat about the day.  

Sometimes Dan will rub my head while  we chat about the day. Thanks, Dan. 

Dan: You're welcome. 

Vanessa: I lie down on the couch.  

I lie down on the couch and I read through  an interesting book about Colorado. I read  

through an interesting book about Colorado. If  my children make a noise in their bedrooms, I can  

check on them on the monitor to make sure they're  okay. I can check on them on the monitor. Then I  

finish off my tea and get ready to head to bed.  I finish off my tea and get ready to head to bed. 

Next, I tiptoe into the bedroom because my  two-year-old sleeps in his crib in my room.  

I tiptoe into the bedroom. In the bathroom I  wash off my makeup and I jump in the shower. I  

wash off my makeup and I jump in the shower. I'm  not actually jumping into the shower, but this is  

a common term we use when we're talking about  just doing something quickly, possibly without  

thinking. I'm going to jump in the shower, I'll  be back in a couple minutes. Jump in the shower. 

After my shower, I put on my pajamas. I put on my  pajamas, which you can also call pjs. That's what  

I called it growing up, but you could say pajamas  or pjs. And I throw today's clothes in the laundry  

basket. I throw today's clothes in the laundry  basket, or if I'm going to wear them again, I  

hang them up on a hanger. I hang them  up on a hanger. Next, I brush my teeth.  

And I spit out the toothpaste.  

I brush my teeth and I spit out the toothpaste.  I take a sip of water to wash out my mouth.  

I take a sip of water to wash out my mouth. I need to take care of my hair as well, so  

I brush through my hair, I brush through my  hair. And because I'm wearing contacts, I take  

out my contacts, I take out my contacts. But if  I were wearing my glasses, I would simply say,  

"I take off my glasses." I take off my glasses  because I don't need to wear them while I sleep.  

And just like that, it's  time to go to bed, let's go. 

I turn off the bathroom light before I get  into bed. I turn off the bathroom light  

before I get into bed. I get into  bed and curl up under the covers.  

I get into bed and curl up under the covers.  Sometimes Dan will nod off first, sometimes I  

will. Sometimes Dan will nod off first, sometimes  I will. Sometimes it takes me a while to drift off  

to sleep if my mind is really active. Sometimes it  takes me a while to drift off to sleep if my mind  

is really active, but if it's been a long, tiring  day, I pass out at bedtime. I pass out at bedtime. 

Now I'd like to share four bonus phrasal verbs  about sleep that you can use in daily life. The  

first one is this. When I was younger, I liked to  sleep over at my friend's house, to sleep over.  

I brought my sleeping bag and sometimes we watched  a movie, and bonus phrase number two, we stayed up  

late at sleepovers. I wonder, are sleepovers for  children or teenagers common in your country?  

I know in some countries, this is absolutely not  acceptable, but in the U.S., it's pretty common  

that birthday parties will be sleepover parties,  and all the kids will come and they'll bring their  

sleeping bags, and they'll spend the night and  watch a movie. They probably won't get much sleep  

because they'll be giggling and being silly  all night, but it's part of American culture. 

Bonus expression number three is when I have a big  decision to make, I like to sleep on it, to sleep  

on it. "It" here is the big decision. If I don't  feel comfortable making a decision right away,  

I say, "Okay, I'm going to sleep on it," and in  the morning, maybe I'll feel more certain about  

which one is the best thing to choose. So maybe  for you, if you are about to move to a new country  

or take a new job, you might say, "This is such a  big deal, I just need to sleep on it. I can't make  

a decision right now." This is, I think, a really  wise thing to do, and a beautiful phrasal verb. 

And bonus expression number four about  sleep is sometimes if you've had a bad day,  

you just need to sleep it off, sleep it off. And  we can kind of imagine this feeling of there's  

there's mud and dirtiness on you, and that's the  stress and bad things that happen during the day,  

and when you sleep, it all just washes off of  you. In the morning, you feel fresh. If there's  

going to be no solution to the problems that  night, you say, "I just need to sleep it off,"  

and in the morning, you'll feel fresh and renewed. All right, well there you have it,  

30 common phrasal verbs for your nighttime  routine, plus four bonus ones. And I have a  

question for you now, can you tell me about your  nighttime routine? Let me know in the comments,  

use some of these phrasal verbs, and don't forget  to download the free PDF worksheet so that you  

never forget any of these wonderful phrasal  verbs, and you can integrate them into your life.  

Click on the link in the description  so that you can download that today. 

Well, it's time for me to drift off to sleepland  and dream about teaching you English. I'll see  

you next Friday for a new lesson here on my  YouTube channel. Bye. The next step is to  

download the free PDF worksheet for this lesson.  With this free PDF, you will master today's lesson  

and never forget what you have learned. You  can be a confident English speaker. Don't  

forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel  for a free English lesson every Friday. Bye.