The Magic of Commonly Used Phrasal Verbs & How to Learn Them

- I sent out an email recently.

If you want to join the To Fluency email list,

download the book below

and you'll be part of that email list

but I sent an email out recently asking

about what videos you want to see me make next.

And a lot of people said phrasal verbs,

so people want to be able to learn phrasal verbs.

And there is a good reason to learn phrasal verbs

because they are commonly used

in everyday English.

Now, I was meeting with some people today

and sometimes when I meet people,

I analyze the type of language

that they are using and I noticed again,

people use phrasal verbs all the time.

It's very commonplace.

So, in order to express yourself properly

and maybe more importantly,

in order to understand everyday English,

it is a good idea to learn phrasal verbs.

If you're new to the To Fluency channel,

then know that we are interested in effective learning.

Meaning learning high-frequency verbs,

high-frequency phrases

so that you are not wasting your time learning things

you don't need to know

and you can be more efficient in the way

that you learn I recommend that you do this

for phrasal verbs too.

Now, there are two ways to go about, to go about learning

new phrasal verbs.

Firstly, you can look up commonly used phrasal verbs.

So, after this video is finished,

just do a search for the top 100 phrasal verbs in English

or if you want to get specific to your area of English,

the top 25 business English phrasal verbs

and just change business English for whatever area

of English you are learning.

So, that's number one.

That's the first way we can do it,

look up commonly used phrasal verbs.

Number two is to learn phrasal verbs

as you come across them,

to come across,

to just see something, to find something by chance.

You are not purposefully looking

for something but instead

you come across it.

For example, let's say you are reading a new book,

and you love the book

and you come across a new phrasal verb.

You think okay, this is new.

Let's look this up, to look up a phrasal verb

and find out the definition, find out what this means.

And what you're doing here

is you are learning as you go.

You are not focusing specifically on phrasal verbs

but instead learning them as you come across new ones.

So, both of these ways are great.

So, firstly, find the most frequently used ones,

secondly learn them as you come across them.

It's good to know some of the basics

of phrasal verbs,

the basics of grammar

but if you learn phrasal verbs through sentences,

then you will internalize the type of structures

and the way that we use phrasal verbs.

So, for example, some phrasal verbs are separable,

some are inseparable.

Some have two words, two extra words,

some have one extra word after the verb.

So, knowing some of the basics can help you

but in order to be able to use them properly,

what you need to do is to learn them through sentences.

So, going back to method one,

where you get a list of phrasal verbs

and what you can do here

is download the list

and use some type of method,

I advise the To Fluency method

in order to internalize them.

So, take sentences, look up new sentences

and then use the Grammarly app to practice writing

so that it can correct you when you make mistakes.

So, let's say, for example,

you learn the phrasal verb to look up

and you say okay, I'm going to practice a sentence here.

I look up it.

Grammarly will tell you no, no,

I look it up.

So, you learn that the pronoun goes in between look and up.

So, practicing using Grammarly

will give you feedback on the mistakes that you make.

So, this is a great way for you to actually be able

to use phrasal verbs.

Secondly, use them in conversations too.

So, the next time you have a conversation with somebody,

try and use them if possible.

So, obviously you're not just using it

for the sake of it,

but use them if you can

in order to get that practice.

And then if you are learning through sentences,

look up more sentences using the same phrasal verb

so you get a good variety.

Use them in different tenses.

Somebody got in touch with me recently,

somebody sent me an email saying

what I do is I take a sentence

and then I modify it into different tenses.

So, that's what you could do too.

I look it up, I looked it up,

I'm going to look it up later.

I've already looked it up.

And this just gives you more practice

and more flexibility

for when you get to use these phrasal verbs.

Another thing about phrasal verbs

is to treat them just like you would

any other type of vocabulary,

like you would when you're learning different phrases,

maybe idioms, verbs, nouns, et cetera.

It's just another type of vocabulary

that you can use when you're speaking English

and what I want you to do

is to try and notice how often people use phrasal verbs.

So, the next time you're reading a book

or listening to a podcast

or watching a video like this,

notice how often we use phrasal verbs in English.

It is common.

So, like I said before, it's a good idea

to learn more about them.

So, to help you with this,

I'm going to link to a playlist below

where I have I think about 20 lessons

on various phrasal verbs.

There are probably around 50 phrasal verbs in total

because some lessons have two or more in them

and go through these lessons

and write these phrasal verbs down.

And then try to create more sentences

using the phrasal verbs that you have learned

and also, if you a To Fluency Program Member,

then know that I am currently recording a new lesson

and creating fluency phrases and memory cards based

on these lessons.

So, if you're not a member,

go into the description below

to learn more about the To Fluency program

and the method and how you can get access to it.

A few phrasal verbs that we have used in this lesson

are to come across, and to look up.

I just want to give you a quick lesson

on the difference between come across and run into.

You come across something by chance.

I came across this new article the other day

while I was browsing Facebook.

So, you weren't actively searching for it

but you found it online and it caught your attention.

But to run into someone

means that you found somebody or you saw somebody by chance.

You didn't actively want to meet this person

but you ran into them in the supermarket,

or you ran into them while you were downtown.

So, I love it when I run into people

when I'm out shopping

or when my family and I go and do something out in nature.

I love running into people.

It's a great way just to feel part of the community

where you live.

Check out the description

for the phrasal verb lessons

and more information on the program.

And then leave some comments below telling me

your favorite phrasal verbs

or some common phrasal verbs

that some people watching this should learn.

Thank you so much for spending this time with me today

and learning English with me

and if you enjoyed it,

then please like and share this lesson.

Bye bye.

(upbeat music)