Phrasal Verbs: Take your English To A Whole New Level!

It’s true. It’s amazing how few are those who know it though. Unfortunately, English learners seem to think of them as slang, so they avoid them. Since they think of them as slang, they do not make them a priority. They’d rather stick to…what was that word? Oh yeah “standard”! They want to learn “standard” English. The problem is “standard” means different things to different to people. “Standard” can mean “colloquial English”, “everyday English”, “news English”, “Queen English”, “formal English” etc et. Anyway, the point is that English learners do not and probably can not use phrasal verbs, so you hear them say “endure or stand something” instead of “put up with something”, “I like something” instead of “I’m into something”, “examine something” instead of “look into something” and the list goes on and on and on.

You have no idea what phrasal verbs would do for your English. They’ll most certainly take your English to a whole new level, especially if you learn how to use them and when to use them. That’s another reason that English learners avoid phrasal verbs, it’s because they have no clue when they should use them, in what context, in what situation, hence the preference for more “standard” English. Well, let me just save you some time. Phrasal verbs are standard. Listen to the everyday conversation of any two native speakers, and you’ll see that more than 50% of the verbs they use are phrasal verbs. “I got up at about 7 am, walked out the door at around 8:30, dropped my son off to school….” etc. So I say if you can’t use phrasal verbs, you’ll always sound un-natural, awkward and robotic.

One of my Skype 10-day pronunciation courses are just dedicated for common phrasal verbs. They’re a fluency booster! With phrasal verbs, you also get used to connecting the words with each other. For example, you link /k/ in [wake] with /ʌ/ in [up], so you end up saying something that sounds like [way cup] which would sound more natural and smooth than saying [wake] [up] separately. There are 10 sound patterns that I focus on when I teach those phrasal verbs and that’ll make a big difference with your English.