A. Grammar background
1. Form of phrasal verbs
Phrasal verbs have two parts: a verb and one or more prepositions (particles). For instance, the verb pick can be combined with the preposition up to make the phrasal verb pick up. The verb put can be combined with the preposition down to make the phrasal verb put down. Some other phrasal verbs are:
- I fell down and hurt myself.
- Can you throw that away, please?
- I don’t know how you put up with him!
There are four types of phrasal verbs.
a. Intransitive phrasal verbs
These phrasal verbs don’t have an object, so the verb and particle always stay together.
- The car is slowing down.
- My friends seem to show off a lot.
Note: A lot of phrasal verbs can be used in a transitive or intransitive way.
- The car is slowing down. ←Intransitive
- We are slowing the car down. ←Transitive
b. (Optionally) separable phrasal verbs
With these verbs, the object can appear either in between the verb and the preposition or after the preposition. Both are ok.
- I looked a word up in the dictionary.
- I looked up a word in the dictionary.
With these verbs, if the object is a pronoun, it must appear between the verb and the preposition.
- I looked it up
- I looked up it. ←Error!!
c. Inseparable phrasal verbs
With these verbs, the object must appear after the preposition. It can’t appear between the verb and the preposition.
- I ran into a good friend at the coffee shop.
- I ran a good friend into at the coffee shop. ←Error!!
d. Phrasal verbs that must be separated
With these verbs the object must appear in between the verb and the preposition.
- Rainy days get my son down. (This means: Rainy days make my son unhappy.)
- Rainy days get down my son. ←Error!!
2. Meaning of phrasal verbs
It can be difficult to learn the meaning of all the phrasal verbs in English.
For some phrasal verbs, it’s easy to guess the meaning. For instance, you could probably guess the meaning of lift up, because it combines the meaning of lift (raise) and up. But it’s hard to guess the meaning of a verb such as look up in the sentence below:
- I looked up a word in the dictionary.
Some phrasal verbs have many different meanings. For instance, put down can have many different meanings. This can make it hard to learn.
- I put the phone down on the table. = I lay the phone on the table.
- I didn’t mean to put you down. = I didn’t mean to insult you.
- I put the baby down for his nap. = I lay the baby in his crib to go to sleep.
Another thing that can make the meanings of phrasal verbs hard to learn is that the same preposition can be used with many different verbs, for instance:
- pick up
- put up
- run up
- jump up
- give up
- do up
- tie up
- hold up
- eat up
Similarly, the same verb can be used with many different prepositions, for instance:
- Run up
- run into
- run through
- run over
- run down
3. Use of phrasal verbs
Phrasal verbs are used a lot in English. Sometimes you may want to use a one-word verb with the same meaning, because phrasal verbs are difficult, but you should practice them as much as you can.
- I extinguished the fire. ←ok
- I put out the fire. ←usually better!
This song is about all the ways that friends can help each other and have fun together.
- First, listen to the song once. In your own words, what is this song about?
- Now listen again. Fill in the blanks in the lyrics below. Do you know what each one means?
- Finally, can you underline the rest of the phrasal verbs in the lyrics?
You Help Me Out
Every time I call you up, you always try to ________________ me ________________
You help me out, you help me out, you help me out
When a problem ________________ me ________________, you always turn my mood around
There isn’t a doubt, there isn’t a doubt, there isn’t a doubt
Oh, oh, you help me out. Oh, oh, there isn’t a doubt
We ________________ and you can see that you bring out the best in me
You make me laugh, you make me laugh, you make me laugh
When my world is crashing down, you always help to calm me down
Then I relax, then I relax, then I relax
Oh, oh, you make me laugh. Oh, oh, then I relax.
You’ll come over to watch a movie, and I’ll cook up a couple snacks;
We can ________________ all night just to chat
And I’ll be there to help you too; I always will ________________ you
I’ll see it through; forever I will see it through
And every day when I ________________, and pour the coffee in my cup,
I’ll think of you; forever I will think of you
Oh, oh, I’ll see it through. Oh, oh, I’ll think of you.
I’ll ________________ you on Fifth Avenue; the two of us can just hang out
Everyone can see the good thing we’ve found
C. After you Listen
1. Practicing forms
a. Adjective clauses
Look at the phrasal verbs in the song. Can you categorize each phrasal verb as intransitive, separable, inseparable, or must be separated?
2. Practicing meaning
- ___ call someone up
- ___ cheer someone up
- ___ help someone out
- ___ get someone down
- ___ turn something around
- ___ get along
- ___ bring something out
- ___ crash down
- ___ calm someone down
- ___ come over
- ___ cook something up
- ___ stay up
- ___ look after someone
- ___ see something through
- ___ get up
- ___ run into someone
- ___ hang out
- make someone feel more relaxed
- spend time, usually in a relaxed way
- go to someone’s house or apartment
- see someone you know, usually unexpectedly
- cook something (informal)
- be awake past your usual bedtime
- have a good relationship with someone
- call someone on the phone
- help someone (informal)
- get out of bed
- stay with a project until it is finished
- change the result of something (usually positive)
- make someone feel happier
- find something that is hidden and make it seen
- go very badly
- take care of someone
- make someone feel sad
3. Practicing use
a. Writing
Think about one or more people who are special to you. In what ways do they help you out? Write a paragraph in which you discuss how this person/these people are helpful to you. Try to use a few phrasal verbs.
b. With a friend
With a friend, come up with a number of responses to the following questions.
- Who or what cheers you up the most?
- Who or what gets you down the most?
- Who do you get along with well?
- Who or what calms you down the most when you are stressed?
- Where do you most like to hang out?
- Do you ever stay up late? When?
- When do you usually get up in the morning?
- Do you look after any pets? Explain.
Lyrics to "You Help Me Out"
(Don’t look until you’ve completed the activities!)
Phrasal Verbs are underlined
Every time I call you up, you always try to cheer me up
You help me out, you help me out, you help me out
When a problem gets me down, you always turn my mood around
There isn’t a doubt, there isn’t a doubt, there isn’t a doubt
Oh, oh, you help me out. Oh, oh, there isn’t a doubt
We get along and you can see that you bring out the best in me
You make me laugh, you make me laugh, you make me laugh
When my world is crashing down, you always help to calm me down
Then I relax, then I relax, then I relax
Oh, oh, you make me laugh. Oh, oh, then I relax.
You’ll come over to watch a movie, and I’ll cook up a couple snacks;
We can stay up all night just to chat
And I’ll be there to help you too; I always will look after you
I’ll see it through; forever I will see it through
And every day when I get up, and pour the coffee in my cup,
I’ll think of you; forever I will think of you
Oh, oh, I’ll see it through. Oh, oh, I’ll think of you.
I’ll run into you on Fifth Avenue; the two of us can just hang out
Everyone can see the good thing we’ve found
Answers to "You Help Me Out" exercises
1. Practicing forms
Look at the phrasal verbs in the song. Can you categorize each phrasal verb as intransitive, separable, inseparable, or must be separated?
- call up: optionally separable
- cheer up: optionally separable
- help out: optionally separable
- get down: must be separated
- turn around: optionally separable
- get along: intransitive
- bring out: optionally separable
- crash down: intransitive
- calm down: optionally separable
- come over: intransitive
- cook up: optionally separable
- stay up: intransitive
- look after: inseparable
- see through: must be separated
- get up: intransitive
- run into: inseparable
- hang out: intransitive
2. Practicing meaning
- H: call someone up
- M: cheer someone up
- I: help someone out
- Q: get someone down
- L: turn something around
- G: get along
- N: bring something out
- O: crash down
- A: calm someone down
- C: come over
- E: cook something up
- F: stay up
- P: look after someone
- K: See something through
- J: get up
- D: run into someone
- B: hang out
