20 Phrasal Verbs to Help You Speak More Naturally [570]

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In this episode, we cover 20 commonly used English phrasal verbs that native speakers use in everyday conversations. You will hear clear explanations and practical examples that show how these phrasal verbs work in real spoken English. The focus is on meaning, context, and natural usage, so you can understand them easily and use them with confidence.

This lesson is ideal for English learners at intermediate and upper-intermediate level who want to improve speaking fluency, listening comprehension, and vocabulary for daily English. It is also useful for learners preparing for IELTS, TOEFL, and Cambridge English exams, where phrasal verbs are common in both speaking and listening tasks.

By the end of the episode, you will feel more confident recognising and using phrasal verbs naturally, helping you sound more fluent and more like a native speaker in real-life English situations.

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Transcript

0:09

Hi there, this is Harry. Welcome back to Advanced English Lessons with Harry, where I try to help you to get a better understanding of the English language, to help you with your conversational skills, your business English skills, interview skills, whatever your goals are, we're here to help. Okay, let's get back to today's lesson, an advanced English lesson, looking at phrasal verbs, 20 in total. So I'll go through them one by one. Number one, put off. Put off. To put off means to postpone or to delay something, to put off a meeting, to put off an engagement, to put off, to postpone or delay something. So examples. I had to put off my trip to London because of the pandemic. I had to put off my trip to London because of the pandemic. Don't put off doing your homework until the last minute. Do it when you come home. Don't put off doing your homework until the last minute. Do it when you come home. Number two, look forward to something. To anticipate something with pleasure or excitement usually. So to look forward to something means to anticipate something with pleasure or excitement. I'm really looking forward to the trip to Hawaii next month. I've never been. I'm really looking forward to the trip to Hawaii next month. I've never been. He's looking forward to starting his new job next week. Okay. So he's looking forward to starting his new job next week. When we're looking, just as an give you a little bit of a tip here, when you're using looking forward to, the to is a preposition. And after the preposition, the verb that follows is always in ing. So here, he's looking forward to starting, not looking forward to start. He's looking forward to starting his new job next week. All right. Number three, to bring up. To bring up means to introduce a topic into a conversation. She brought up the issue of climate change during our meeting. She brought up the issue of climate change during our meeting. He brought up his concerns about the company's finances at the board meeting. He brought up his concerns about the company's finances at or in the board meeting. Number four, to get along with means to have a good relationship with someone or somebody. I get along with my co-workers very well. I get along with my co-workers very well. I'm not sure if my dog will get along with yours or I'm not sure my dog will get along with the new kitten. I'm not sure they'll get along, meaning they'll not get along with each other. They'll fight or they'll have an argument. Number five, to take after. Take after means to resemble someone in appearance or perhaps in the personality. So often to do with family members. So she takes after her mother in terms of her looks. She takes after her mother in terms of her looks. He takes after his father in his love of sport. He takes after his father in his love of or for sport or sports. Okay, so to take after, to resemble someone either in looks or personality or appearance. Number six, make up, make up. And make up means to reconcile or to create a story, to make up a story, to reconcile when there's been an argument. We made up after our argument and apologized to each other. We made up after our argument and apologized to each other to make up. She made up a story why she was late for work. She made up a story why she was late for work. And for those of you and your friends or family who want one-to-one lessons, well, you know what to do. Just get in touch, www.englishlessonviaskype.com and you can apply for a free trial lesson and we'll be very happy to hear from you and very happy to help you. Number seven, set up. And set up means to establish something or to arrange something. Okay, so we set up a meeting with the client to discuss the project in detail. We set up a meeting with the client to discuss the project in detail. He set up his own business after working for the company for many years. He set up his own business after working for the company for many years to set up, to establish. Number eight, now, number eight, run into, to run into. Run into means to meet somebody unexpectedly. I ran into my old friend from college in the grocery store. I ran into my old friend in college or from college in or at the grocery store. We ran into some traffic on our way home and we were delayed. We ran into some traffic on our way home and we were delayed. Okay, so to run into is to meet someone or something unexpectedly, either a person you ran into in the grocery shop or the traffic. We ran into some traffic on our way home or on our way to the airport and we were delayed. They ran into some problems with the project. They ran into some problems with the project. So if you're trying to get a project off the ground and you came across some difficulties with marketing or something, they ran into some problems with the project or you ran into, meaning you met your old boss in the street the other day. So to run into means to meet someone unexpectedly or something. Number nine, to bring about. To bring about means to cause or have reason to cause something to happen, to bring about. The new policies brought about positive changes in the company. So to bring about change. So the new policies brought about positive changes in the company. The invention of the smartphone brought about a revolution in communication, as indeed it did. So the invention of the smartphone brought about a revolution in communication. So we all use smartphones. And then number 10, to look into, look into means either to investigate or to examine something, to investigate or examine something. We need to look into the issue about customer complaints. So we need to look into the issue of customer complaints. The police are looking into the matter of the missing person. The police are looking into the matter of the missing person. So they are investigating, they're looking into it. Whereas we need to look into the issue of customer complaints. We need to examine that in a little bit of detail. Okay, so we're moving now on to number 11. And just in case you forgot or you need a little bit of a reminder, what we're talking about, this is an advanced English lesson looking at some really important phrasal verbs for everyday use. So number 11, to come across, come across, and it means to meet or find or discover something by chance, okay, to come across. So wasn't planned, in other words. I came across an old friend in the supermarket. I came across an old friend that I hadn't seen for many, many years. He came across some interesting information while doing his research. He came across some interesting information while doing his research. So he found something of interest to come across. Number 12, take up, take up. And take up means to start a new hobby, for example, or a new activity, to take up. I've decided to take up tennis. I've decided to take up tennis. She took up photography as her latest hobby. She took up photography as her latest hobby. So when you take up something, you start, and it's usually a new hobby or a new activity. Why don't you take up something interesting? Okay, to take up or to start something. Number 13, to put up with, put up with, and it means to tolerate or to endure something usually unpleasant or not so nice. Yeah, so to put up with, to tolerate or endure something unpleasant. I don't know how he puts up with his noisy neighbors. I don't know how he puts up with his noisy neighbors. I can't put up with this heat anymore. I have to move to another country. I can't put up with this heat anymore. Okay, so when you put up with something, it means you tolerate. Or you just simply use the expression, I'm not going to put up with that anymore. So you often hear that. I just refuse. I'm not going to put up with that anymore. I just cannot tolerate the constant interruptions, the constant arguing or fighting. Number 15, to settle down. To settle down. To settle down means to establish a life, but a stable life, just to settle down. He wants to settle down and start a family. He wants to settle down and start a family. And after years of traveling, she finally settled down in a small town on the coast. So after years of traveling, she finally settled down in a small town on the coast. Number 16, to turn down. Turn down means to reject or refuse something. So you can reject or refuse an offer or a request. Okay, so I had to turn down the job offer. Okay, so this will be a good opportunity to use it. I had to turn down the job offer because of the low salary. I had to turn down the job offer because of the low salary. She turned down the invitation to go out on a date. She turned down the invitation to go out on a date. So I had to turn down the job offer because the salary was too low, or she turned down the invitation to go out on a date because she didn't really fancy the guy. Okay. All right. Let's move on to number 17. Okay. And 17 is breakdown. Okay. Still using that preposition down. So 17 breakdown. And breakdown means to something that stops functioning, stops working. Or you want to divide something into smaller parts. So let me give you a couple of examples of that. My car broke down on the way to work. My car broke down. So it stopped functioning. It stopped working. It broke down on the way to work. Or if we talk about breaking down into smaller parts, let's break down the problem into smaller, more manageable pieces. Let's break down the problem into smaller, more manageable parts or pieces. So everybody takes a bit of the problem and we resolve it together. So to break something down into smaller parts. So number 17, break down. Number 18 is to give up. Okay, give up usually means to stop trying, okay, or to concede some ground or to concede defeat. Okay, so I refuse to give up on my dreams. So whatever your dream is, you want to be a professional footballer or you want to work in the city. So I refuse to give up on my dreams. I'm not going to stop dreaming or thinking that I can do that or achieve it. And after two hours of searching, the police gave up looking for the criminals. After two hours of searching, the police gave up looking for the criminals. They stopped the search for that time, not perhaps permanently, but they conceded that they weren't able to find them. They had disappeared. So to give up, to stop searching or to concede defeat, to give in. Number 19, carry on, carry on. And that means to continue doing whatever you were doing, to continue doing something. So despite the rain, we decided to carry on with our picnic. Despite the rain, we decided to carry on with our picnic. The teacher told the students to carry on with their schoolwork while she stepped out of the classroom for a minute. So the teacher told them to carry on with the schoolwork while she stepped out of the room for a minute or a few minutes. Okay, so to carry on. And number 20, the last one of our 20 phrasal verbs, number 20 is to cut off. Cut off means to either disconnect or to end or to stop communication. So the phone cut off in the middle of our conversation. The phone suddenly cut off in the middle of our conversation. We lost power. During the storm, the power was cut off and we had no electricity for many hours. So during the storm, the power was cut off and we had no electricity for many hours. Okay, so there you've got 20 really good phrasal verbs that you can use in any particular situation. I've given you examples of each of them. So what I want you to do is practice them, but don't just practice the examples that I've given you. Come up with some of your own ideas and see do they work. They might not always work, but just try to use them and make sure when you're using a phrasal verb that the verb has the same tenses as any ordinary verb and use the preposition that's appropriate with the particular verb and that will give you your phrasal verb. Practice them. If you have any problems, come back to me and I'll happily give you some more suggestions, ideas and practical, workable examples. Okay, this is Harry, thanking you for listening. As always, don't forget to come back and join me for the next lesson.