3 More Tips to Master English Phrasal Verbs

Some time ago, we discussed 3 powerful tips to learn English phrasal verbs. Today, we’re presenting 3 more tips that will help you mastering English phrasal verbs. Trust me, after putting into practice all these 6 tips, you’ll notice the improvement in your level of English! Following three tips are numbered from 4 to 6 as they should be used in combination with previous 3 tips already discussed.

Tip #4. Don’t translate phrasal verbs into your language when writing them into your pocket dictionary! Use other English words to explain them!

If you learn new phrasal verbs through your native language, you won’t get out of the translation mode when speaking English. It’s when you build a sentence in your native language in your head first, and then translate it into English. This advice is actually relevant when learning any new English words, so once you’ve acquired the basic English vocabulary, you’d better stop using your native language as reference.

You can always explain a new phrasal verb using very simple, basic English words and that way you’ll facilitate thinking in English which is crucial for your English fluency.

For example, a phrasal verb you’re learning is ‘to keep up’. Write it into your dictionary as part of a phrase ‘keep up with me’ and explain it using simple English – ‘to stay at the same level as me when walking or doing something.’

Tip #5. To choose which phrasal verbs to learn, you can simply start with a list of most commonly used ones. You can also look out for phrasal verbs in textbooks or other English texts you read and you’ll also definitely hear them in English songs, films and of course – newspapers. If you come across the same phrasal verb a number of times, it’s a pretty good indicator that it’s often used and therefore worth memorizing.

Also – when choosing in what context to learn a particular phrasal verb, go for a phrase you’ve heard in real life or read in newspaper. So for instance, if you hear someone saying: “Look who’s decided to turn up!”, you can learn the phrasal verb ‘to turn up’ in exactly this context because this phrase is usually used as a friendly joke when someone arrives later than expected.

Tip #6. Don’t start learning all phrasal verbs that are formed using a particular verb at once!

You’ll realize that every simple English verb can form plenty of phrasal verbs like ‘to get ahead’, ‘to get along’, ‘to get at’, ‘to get by’, ‘and to get down to’. If you try to learn them all one after another, you’ll definitely start mixing them up!

Although it may seem as a pretty good idea to learn all related phrasal verbs together, in reality it doesn’t work.

Instead go for phrasal verb selection based on what you hear in real life. And if you choose them from a list, pick random ones that aren’t grouped together by the main verb!

If you follow these tips and learn at least a couple of dozen of the most commonly used English phrasal verbs, you’ll definitely notice a significant increase of your spoken English fluency. That in turn will provide you with additional motivation to add even more of these multi-word verbs to your active English vocabulary!

Guest post from English learning enthusiast Robby Kukurs. Robby writes about improving spoken English on his blog EnglishHarmony.com. He also regularly posts videos about improving English fluency on his YouTube channel.

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