DAKLAK DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
BUON MA THUOT HIGH SCHOOL
---------------o0o---------------

TEACHING INITIATIVE
Title: TEACHING PHRASAL VERBS THROUGH ENGLISH
SONGS AT BUON MA THUOT UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL

Institution: Buon Ma Thuot High School
Teacher

: Huynh Anh Hong

Subject

: English

BUON MA THUOT, 2015
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. RATIONALE …………………………………………………………..…….1
II. CONTENTS OF THE TEACHING INITIATIVE …………………..…….3
1. Theoretical Background …………………………………………..……...3
2. Research Method and Data Collection .…………………………...……...5
3. Realities……………….. …………………………………………..……...6
4. Procedures and Findings ………………………………………..………..7
a. Procedures ……………………………………………………..……. 7
b. Findings …………………………………………………………. .. 12
5. Solutions………………… ………………………………………………13

a. Commonly used phrasal verbs ………………………………… .… 13
b. Kinds of Exercises .......................................................................................20
 Gap-filling …………………………………………….……….20
 Multiple Choice …………………………………………...…..22
 Sentence Completion ………………………………….………22
 Synonyms ……………………………………………….……..23
 Matching ………………………………………………….… 24
 Sentence Transformation …………………………...………...25
III. CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………… 25
APPENDIX …………………………………………………………………27
REFERENCE BOOKS …………………………………………………… 28

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TEACHING PHRASAL VERBS THROUGH ENGLISH SONGS AT BUON MA
THUOT UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL
I. RATIONALE
Special attention is always paid to education by the Communist Party of
Vietnam and the Vietnamese government because education can give us a chance
to get access to the civilizations of human races and the understanding of the
world. In addition, it helps improve the quality of life and brings various benefits
to individuals, collectives and the society. Via many sessions, the Communist
Party of Vietnam stated: “We need to continue enhancing the total quality of
education, innovating the

contents and methods of teaching and learning,

renewing the system of schools and classes and the system of educational
management;


implementing

the

standardization,

modernization

and

socialization.”. With the tendency of globalization and world integration, English
is regarded as an extremely important means of communication to make all the
people throughout the world get closer and understand one another regardless of
geographical distances, politics, religions and races. It plays an indispensable part
in almost every aspect of the society: politics, commerce, diplomacy, tourism,
economy, culture and education. What’s more, the year 2015 is the first year when
the general certificate of secondary education examination and the university
entrance examination are combined and mixed into the national general certificate
of secondary education examination (GCSE Examination). English is picked out
as one of the three compulsory subjects

for the provinces which meet the

requirements of learning and teaching English in a good condition. It is these
changes that have made a wide range of notable challenges to high schools,
especially teaching staff in equipping the learners with the language skills in order
to meet the higher and higher demands of the society. Hence, the teachers of
foreign languages in general and the teachers of English in particular can’t cease
improving their qualifications, innovating the methods of teaching and applying

more modern teaching method of foreign languages in the communicative
approach with a view to improving the language proficiency and communicative
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competence of students. In order to meet the tendency and needs of the society,
the teachers of English are required to come up with creative and impressive
teaching methods. Since then, the students can understand the lessons deeply and
apply them into their real-life conversations naturally.
The Ministry of Education and Training has had many sets of textbooks composed
in the communicative approach so that the learners can improve and develop their
language skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing. Of the four
language skills, each skill is of a specific and equivalent importance. The four
skills have a close and reciprocal relationship and they help learners master their
target language. Thus, if the learner is not good at any skill, he/she will have to
cope with some obstacles in the process of using the language. After many years
of teaching English, I realize that the students find it very difficult to remember
English phrasal verbs. They often ask me to show some ways to remember the
phrasal verbs in different contexts. More interestingly, the phrasal verbs often
have quite distinct meanings when they are combined with different prepositions
e,g: look up, look after, look for, look into, look at.
Such difficult questions raised by the students make me think of the topic:
“Teaching phrasal verbs through English songs at Buon Ma Thuot upper secondary
school”. One of the most striking trends of the students nowadays, especially students at
Buon Ma Thuot high school is that they are absorbed in listening to music very much.
Let me illustrate an example extracted from a song to help students understand the
meanings of the phrasal verbs.
“Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.
Now it looks as though they’re here to stay
Oh I believe in yesterday

Suddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be
There’s a shadow hanging over me
……
Why she had to go I don’t know, she wouldn’t say
I said something wrong now I long for yesterday.
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Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh I believe in yesterday
……..
(extracted from the song YESTERDAY by the Beatles)
Thanks to music, they can remember the meanings of the phrasal verbs included in the
lyrics. From the reality, it is very hard for students to remember and apply the phrasal
verbs into real-life conversations; therefore, I decided to write this teaching initiative
with the purpose of not only stimulating the students’ learning English but also
improving their vocabulary. Additionally, students can use these phrasal verbs flexibly
in different contexts and situations and , more importantly, they can do written tests well.
II. CONTENTS OF THE TEACHING INITIATIVE
1. Theoretical Background
There exist a variety of definitions of phrasal verbs which are given in
different sources as follows:
A phrasal verb is the combination of a standard verb such as make or put
with one or two particles. In some cases the particle is an adverb such as away,
together; in others it is a preposition such as through, in. Here are a few
examples of the many hundreds of English phrasal verbs: pass away, pull
together, fall through, make do with, put down to.
A phrasal verb is a phrase (as take off or look down on) that combines a
verb with a preposition or adverb or both and that functions as a verb whose

meaning is different from the combined meanings of the individual words.
A phrasal verb is a verb followed by a preposition or an adverb; the
combination creates a meaning different from the original verb alone.
Example :
To get = to obtain
To get together = to meet

I need to get a new battery for my camera.
Why don’t we all get together for lunch one day?

Phrasal verbs are part of a large group of verbs called “multi-part” or "multiword” verbs. The preposition or adverb that follows the verb is sometimes called a
particle.
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Phrasal verbs and other multi-word verbs are an important part of the English
language.
However, they are mainly used in spoken English and informal texts. They should
be avoided in academic writing where it is preferable to use a formal verb such as
“to postpone” rather than “to put off”.
Since the Ministry of Education and Training brought out the English
textbook sets written in the communicative approach, many English teachers have
made several investigations and some teaching initiatives into the difficulties and
solutions in teaching and learning this subject so that students can understand the
lessons better and improve their abilities. Meanwhile, they hope that their creative
methods of teaching can motivate and arouse learners’ enthusiasm and passion for
English in particular as well as for foreign languages in general. Besides the
changes from traditional methods of teaching into learner-centered methods of
teaching, the experienced teachers are required to find out the difficulties of the
learners so that the learners will feel more absorbed in the subject and overcome

their difficulties in the process of study.
After nearly fifteen years of teaching English, I have partly known the
interests and psychology of high school students. It seems to me that what makes
them really excited can help them remember for so long. A survey has been
conducted to get to know what they often do in their free time. Most of the
students reply that they like listening to music when they have spare time and they
add that music helps relieve their stress and take it easy after hard days of study.
Being fully aware of the role music can play in entering the mind of the students, I
make full use of the most effective way to aid the memory of the students by
accompanying some phrasal verbs with the song.
It can be denied that phrasal verbs are really a big obstacle for high school
students. Students often have difficulty in making up their mind which answer is
the best one when they do multiple-choice tests. Therefore, I have come up with a
new idea as to how to help students remember the meanings of phrasal verbs
easily and deeply. I have chosen the English songs which contain phrasal verbs.
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When I play the songs, I put a stop to the sentences with the phrasal verbs and
then ask them to guess their meanings in the contexts. Moreover, in the curriculum
of the twelfth grade textbooks, phrasal verbs are in Language Focus of Units 14
and 15.
E.g: Remember to ……… your shoes when you are in a Japanese house.
A. take out

B. take after

C. take off

D. take over


It proves that phrasal verbs play an extremely important part in English
language. Once students know how to use them effectively and flexibly, their
writing style can move to a higher level of writing.
In recent years, it is obvious that most of the written tests contain a variety of
phrasal verbs in various exercise forms. This has made the learners, especially
those who are going to take part in the important exams fall into trouble.
Up to now many English teachers have written a big circle of research
papers which are mainly related to the language practice skills. In few research
papers is the method of teaching phrasal verbs via English songs employed. This
initiative is expected to create a more interesting and more impressive learning
atmosphere. It is this teaching method that gives students a great pleasure and
helps them memorize as many phrasal verbs as possible.
2. Research Method and Data Collection
Two research methods applied to conduct this study are quantitative and
qualitative.
The objects for this research are the twelfth graders at Buon Ma Thuot high
school because phrasal verbs are included in Language Focus of Units 14 and 15
and their needs are getting greater and greater when they have to take the national
GCSE examination.
Let me illustrate the steps of this research paper.
Firstly, I have read hundreds of English songs, categorized and picked up the
songs containing phrasal verbs.

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Secondly, I have had these English songs recorded in the high quality disk
and played the tape recorder for the students.
Finally, the sentences with phrasal verbs are picked out and analysed the

meanings of the phrasal verbs in pragmatic contexts. In addition, some kinds of
exercises and tests are suitably designed in order to check whether they
understand and remember the meanings of these phrasal verbs or not.
Different sorts of questions including information and yes/no questions related to
the contents of the topic have been delivered to more than 100 twelfth graders so
as to find out how effective this teaching method is. Since then, more efforts need
to be made to improve it.
3. Realities
Based on several sources of information such as test results and feedback
from students, it is a fact that students often cope with too much difficulty in
doing the tests with phrasal verbs. They say that phrasal verbs are confusing and
they can’t distinguish their meanings.
What are phrasal verbs? Why are phrasal verbs one of the most difficult aspects
for the learners of the English language?
It is the thought-provoking questions that make English teachers think a lot to find
out more creative and more effective teaching methods. Phrasal verbs are difficult
for learners of the English language for the following reasons:
The first reason is that in many cases the meaning of the phrasal verb can’t be
deduced from their elements. It means that is used idiomatically; therefore,
learners have difficulty in understanding the sentence. Let me show an example.
Ex: The teacher ticked off the student for being late, in which the phrasal verb to
tick off means to reprimand or to express disapproval.
The second reason is that many phrasal verbs are polysemous; i.e., they have
more than one meaning. The phrasal verb to put down has the literal meaning of
putting something down on the table or floor. But it also has the idiomatic
meanings:
6


o


to make someone feel small, to criticize and humiliate them

o

to kill as in the sentence I had to have my cat put down.

o

to stop, quash, put an end to as in the sentence The police put down
the riots with unnecessary brutality.

In order to meet the requirements of the current English teaching and
learning, teachers of English have to find out the most effective teaching methods
to apply them into the lessons and lectures flexibly and creatively so that their
students can understand the contents of the lessons profoundly. As the
communicative goal is presently an integral part of teaching and learning foreign
languages at school, it is very necessary for the students in general and for the
twelfth graders in particular to master both grammatical points and language
competence in different contexts and situations.
From the realities and the difficulties of the students in general and the
twelfth students in particular when they are on the point of facing plenty of
important exams in their life, something should be done to help them overcome
these difficulties. A survey has been conducted to collect more reliable and
veridical information from the students. After a list of questions has been
distributed to more than 100 twelfth students, the results are sorted and analysed
to get to know the reasons why they have chosen wrong answers when doing
multiple choice tests containing phrasal verbs.
4. Procedures and Findings
a. Procedures

More than one hundred English songs which contain phrasal verbs are
selected and then analyzed to give suitable meanings for each phrasal verb
according to pragmatic contexts and situations. I would really like to illustrate
how to teach phrasal verbs through the five English songs: Yesterday Once More,
Last Thing On My Mind, If We Hold On Together, We Are The World and
Papa.

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To begin with, the song Yesterday Once More written by the Carpenters is
played twice and the teacher asks his/her students to identify which phrasal verbs
are used in this song.
When I was young, I’d listen to the radio
Waiting for my favourite songs
When they played I’d sing along, it made me smile
Those were such happy times and not so long ago
How I wondered where they’d gone
But they’re back again just like a long lost friend
All the songs, I love well
…………..
Looking back on how it was in years gone by
And the times that I had
Make today seem rather sad, so much has changed
It was the songs of love that I would sing to them
…..
As they melt the years away
……
All my best memories come back clearly to me
….

From the song, we can see some phrasal verbs such as listen to, wait for, look
back on, go by, melt away, come back to. The teacher provides students with the
meanings and the usage of these phrasal verbs. In addition, the teacher also asks
the students to make sentences with these phrasal verbs
Listen to sth/sb = try to hear sth/ sb; pay attention
Ex: You are not listening to what I am saying!
Wait for sth/sb = stay where one is, delay acting, etc for a specified time or until
sb or sth comes or until sth happens
Ex: We are waiting for the rain to stop.

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Look back on sth = think about (sth in) one’s past: look back on one’s childhood,
past, life.
Ex: When I look back on those days, I realize that I was desperately
unhappy.
Go by (of time) = pass, elapse
Ex: As time goes by, my memory seems to get worse.
In Last Thing On My Mind by Steps, there exist some phrasal verbs such as go
away, look into, work out, plan for.
…….
I thought we had it made, I thought you’d never go away
……
When I looked into your eyes
There was something you weren’t telling me
But in my confusion, I just couldn’t see
If there was any doubt, I thought we would work it out
…….
Of all the things I was ever planning for

This was the last thing on my mind
In this song, the phrasal verbs can be explained as follows:
Go away = leave a place
Ex: We are going away for a few days
Look into = turn one’s eyes in a particular direction in this situation
However, “look into” also means “investigate, examine”
Ex: His disappearance is being looked into by the police.
Work out = find the answer to sth; solve sth
Ex: Can you work out what these squiggles mean?
Plan for sth = make preparations: plan for the future, one’s retirement, etc
Ex: Has your father planned for his retirement?

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In If We Hold On Together, the phrasal verbs like throw away, hold on, roll by,
seek out, wash away, dream about are mentioned respectively. Let me show their
order in the lyrics.
Don’t lose your way, with each passing day
You’ve come so far, don’t throw it away
Live believing, dreams are for weaving
……..
If we hold on together
I know our dreams will never die
Dreams see us through to forever
Where clouds roll by for you and I
Souls and the wind must learn how to bend
Seek out a star, hold on to the end
Valley, mountain, there’s a fountain
Washes our tears all away

…….
When we are out there in the dark
We’ll dream about the sun
In the dark we’ll feel the light
From this song, the phrasal verbs contain the following meanings:
Throw away = discard sth as useless or unwanted
Ex: That’s rubbish – you can throw it away.
hold on (to sb/sth) = keep grasping or gripping sb/ sth; not let go of sb/ sth
Ex: When the horse jumped over the fence, I held on as hard as I could
Roll by = make (sth) or be made into the shape of a ball or cylinder
Seek sb/sth out = look for and find sth/sb
Ex: She sought out and acquired all his early paintings.
Wash sb/sth away (of water) = remove or carry sb/sth away to another place
Ex: The cliffs are being gradually washed away by the sea.
Dream about sth = experience sth in a dream
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Ex: I dreamt about flying last night.
The next song I would like to describe is considered one of the meaningful and
well-known songs all over the globe. That is the song We Are The World in which
there are some phrasal verbs such as come together, go on.
There comes time when we heed a certain call
when the world must come together as one
There are people dying, oh and it’s time to lend
a hand to life the greatest gift of all.
We can’t go on pretending day by day that someone,
Somewhere will soon make a change
………..
As we can see from this song, the phrasal verbs come together and go on imply

the following meanings:
Come together (as one) = unite
Go on = continue
Ex: The party went on until dawn.
The last song which is used to teach phrasal verbs is Papa by Paul Anka. There
are some phrasal verbs appearing in this song.
……
After all the prays were said
Growing up with him was easy
Time just flew on by, the years began to fly
He aged and so did I
……
I could tell that mama wasn’t well
Papa knew and deep down so did she, so did she
When she died, papa broke down and cried
……
Your children live through you
They’ll grow and need you too
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In this song, the phrasal verbs can be understood as follows:
Grow up = reach the stage of full development; become adult or mature
Ex: She is growing up fast
Fly on by = pass, go by
Break down = lose control of one’s feeling
Ex: Tom breaks down whenever he thinks of the tragedy
Or He broke down and swept when he heard the news.
Live through = experience a difficult situation or event
Ex: It was hard to describe the nightmare she had lived through.

By applying this teaching method into the lecture, it seems to me that the
students will memorize more and more phrasal verbs. Additionally, this method
gives them a pleasure in studying English.
b. Findings
After teaching phrasal verbs through English songs are taken into considerations, I
have conducted a survey to check how effective this method is. Meanwhile, I
have made a comparison between the traditional method and the new one.
Based on the results of the survey for over 100 twelfth students at Buon Ma
Thuot High School, via many written texts such as fifteen-minute tests and oneperiod tests in three classes. and some interviews on the English teachers of the
school, the findings are collected as follows:
The majority of the students (72%) state that they can do their test better.
The number of phrasal verbs that they have in their mind is bigger and bigger.
Furthermore, I come to realize that they become interested in learning phrasal
verbs by listening to the English songs. They say that the more songs with phrasal
verbs they listen to, the more phrasal verbs they can remember.
However, the small percentage of students (28%) state that they are still
confused with so many phrasal verbs. They can’t distinguish and know how to use
them easily. Therefore, I come up with a new idea that this teaching method is still
applied to stimulate their learning of English and a list of phrasal verbs should be

12


sorted alphabetically. More importantly, the students will practice a variety of
exercises in different forms with the motto “Practice makes perfect”
4. Solutions
From the problems and realities illustrated above, the researcher puts forward
some suggestions below:
Firstly, the teachers of English pick out the arousing English songs which
contain phrasal verbs. Thanks to music, the students become more interested in

learning English and stimulate them to get to know the meaning of the lyrics in the
song. The more songs they listen to, the more phrasal verbs they remember.
Secondly, the teachers of English should give clear explanations for each
phrasal verb in different contexts so that the students can apply them into language
practice. In addition, the teacher should provide the students with different kinds
of exercises in order that they can avoid making mistakes and use phrasal verbs
flexibly and correctly. What’s more, I enclose a glossary of phrasal verbs and
example sentences to help students look them up if necessary.
a. Commonly used phrasal verbs
PHRASAL VERB

MEANING

EXAMPLE SENTENCE

ask someone out

invite on a date

Brian asked Judy out to dinner and a movie.

ask around

ask many people the same
question

I asked around but nobody has seen my wallet.

add up to something


equal

Your purchases add up to $200.

back something up

reverse

You'll have to back up your car so that I can get out.

back someone up

support

My wife backed me up over my decision to quit my
job.

blow up

explode

The racing car blew up after it crashed into the fence.

blow something up

add air

We have to blow 50 balloons up for the party.

break down


stop functioning (vehicle,
machine)

Our car broke down at the side of the highway in the
snowstorm.

break down

get upset

The woman broke down when the police told her that
her son had died.

break something down

divide into smaller parts

Our teacher broke the final project down into three
separate parts.

break in

force entry to a building

Somebody broke in last night and stole our stereo.

break into something

enter forcibly


The firemen had to break into the room to rescue the
children.

break something in

wear something a few times so
that it doesn't look/feel new

I need to break these shoes in before we run next week.

break in

interrupt

The TV station broke in to report the news of the president's

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PHRASAL VERB

MEANING

EXAMPLE SENTENCE
death.

break up

end a relationship


My boyfriend and I broke up before I moved to
America.

break up

start laughing (informal)

The kids just broke up as soon as the clown started
talking.

break out

escape

The prisoners broke out of jail when the guards weren't
looking.

break out in something

develop a skin condition

I broke out in a rash after our camping trip.

bring someone down

make unhappy

This sad music is bringing me down.


bring someone up

raise a child

My grandparents brought me up after my parents died.

bring something up

start talking about a subject

My mother walks out of the room when my father
brings up sports.

bring something up

vomit

He drank so much that he brought his dinner up in the
toilet.

call around

phone many different
places/people

We called around but we weren't able to find the car
part we needed.

call someone back


return a phone call

I called the company back but the offices were closed
for the weekend.

call something off

cancel

Jason called the wedding off because he wasn't in love
with his fiancé.

call on someone

ask for an answer or opinion

The professor called on me for question 1.

call on someone

visit someone

We called on you last night but you weren't home.

call someone up

phone

Give me your phone number and I will call you up
when we are in town.


calm down

relax after being angry

You are still mad. You need to calm down before you
drive the car.

not care for
someone/something

not like (formal)

I don't care for his behaviour.

catch up

get to the same point as someone
else

You'll have to run faster than that if you want to catch
up with Marty.

check in

arrive and register at a hotel or
airport

We will get the hotel keys when we check in.


check out

leave a hotel

You have to check out of the hotel before 11:00 AM.

check someone/something out look at carefully, investigate

The company checks out all new employees.

check out someone/something look at (informal)

Check out the crazy hair on that guy!

cheer up

become happier

She cheered up when she heard the good news.

cheer someone up

make happier

I brought you some flowers to cheer you up.

chip in

help


If everyone chips in we can get the kitchen painted by
noon.

clean something up

tidy, clean

Please clean up your bedroom before you go outside.

come across something

find unexpectedly

I came across these old photos when I was tidying the
closet.

come apart

separate

The top and bottom come apart if you pull hard
enough.

come down with something

become sick

My nephew came down with chicken pox this
weekend.


come forward

volunteer for a task or to give
evidence

The woman came forward with her husband's finger
prints.

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PHRASAL VERB
come from somewhere

MEANING

EXAMPLE SENTENCE

originate in

The art of origami comes from Asia.

count on someone/something rely on

I am counting on you to make dinner while I am out.

cross something out

draw a line through


Please cross out your old address and write your new
one.

cut back on something

consume less

My doctor wants me to cut back on sweets and fatty
foods.

cut something down

make something fall to the ground We had to cut the old tree in our yard down after the
storm.

cut in

interrupt

Your father cut in while I was dancing with your uncle.

cut in

pull in too closely in front of
another vehicle

The bus driver got angry when that car cut in.

cut in


start operating (of an engine or
electrical device)

The air conditioner cuts in when the temperature gets
to 22°C.

cut something off

remove with something sharp

The doctors cut off his leg because it was severely
injured.

cut something off

stop providing

The phone company cut off our phone because we
didn't pay the bill.

cut someone off

take out of a will

My grandparents cut my father off when he remarried.

cut something out

remove part of something (usually I cut this ad out of the newspaper.
with scissors and paper)


do someone/something over

beat up, ransack (BrE, informal)

He's lucky to be alive. His shop was done over by a
street gang.

do something over

do again (AmE)

My teacher wants me to do my essay over because she
doesn't like my topic.

do away with something

discard

It's time to do away with all of these old tax records.

do something up

fasten, close

Do your coat up before you go outside. It's snowing!

dress up

wear nice clothing


It's a fancy restaurant so we have to dress up.

drop back

move back in a position/group

Andrea dropped back to third place when she fell off
her bike.

drop in/by/over

come without an appointment

I might drop in/by/over for tea sometime this week.

drop someone/something off

take someone/something
I have to drop my sister off at work before I come over.
somewhere and leave them/it there

drop out

quit a class, school etc

I dropped out of Science because it was too difficult.

eat out


eat at a restaurant

I don't feel like cooking tonight. Let's eat out.

end up

eventually reach/do/decide

We ended up renting a movie instead of going to the
theatre.

fall apart

break into pieces

My new dress fell apart in the washing machine.

fall down

fall to the ground

The picture that you hung up last night fell down this
morning.

fall out

separate from an interior

The money must have fallen out of my pocket.


fall out

(of hair, teeth) become loose and
unattached

His hair started to fall out when he was only 35.

figure something out

understand, find the answer

I need to figure out how to fit the piano and the
bookshelf in this room.

fill something in

to write information in blanks, as
on a form (BrE)

Please fill in the form with your name, address, and
phone number.

fill something out

to write information in blanks, as
on a form (AmE)

The form must be filled out in capital letters.

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PHRASAL VERB

MEANING

EXAMPLE SENTENCE

fill something up

fill to the top

I always fill the water jug up when it is empty.

find out

discover

We don't know where he lives. How can we find out?

find something out

discover

We tried to keep the time of the party a secret, but
Samantha found it out.

get something across/over

communicate, make

understandable

I tried to get my point across/over to the judge but she
wouldn't listen.

get along/on

like each other

I was surprised how well my new girlfriend and my
sister got along/on.

get around

have mobility

My grandfather can get around fine in his new
wheelchair.

get away

go on a vacation

We worked so hard this year that we had to get away
for a week.

get away with something

do without being noticed or
punished


Jason always gets away with cheating in his maths
tests.

get back

return

We got back from our vacation last week.

get something back

receive something you had before Liz finally got her Science notes back from my roommate.

get back at someone

retaliate, take revenge

My sister got back at me for stealing her shoes. She
stole my favourite hat.

get back into something

become interested in something
again

I finally got back into my novel and finished it.

get on something


step onto a vehicle

We're going to freeze out here if you don't let us get on
the bus.

get over something

recover from an illness, loss,
difficulty

I just got over the flu and now my sister has it.

get over something

overcome a problem

The company will have to close if it can't get over the
new regulations.

get round to something

finally find time to do (AmE: get
around to something)

I don't know when I am going to get round to writing
the thank you cards.

get together

meet (usually for social reasons)


Let's get together for a BBQ this weekend.

get up

get out of bed

I got up early today to study for my exam.

get up

stand

You should get up and give the elderly man your seat.

give someone away

reveal hidden information about
someone

His wife gave him away to the police.

give someone away

take the bride to the altar

My father gave me away at my wedding.

give something away


ruin a secret

My little sister gave the surprise party away by
accident.

give something away

give something to someone for
free

The library was giving away old books on Friday.

give something back

return a borrowed item

I have to give these skates back to Franz before his
hockey game.

give in

reluctantly stop fighting or
arguing

My boyfriend didn't want to go to the ballet, but he
finally gave in.

give something out

give to many people (usually at no They were giving out free perfume samples at the

cost)
department store.

give something up

quit a habit

I am giving up smoking as of January 1st.

give up

stop trying

My maths homework was too difficult so I gave up.

go after someone

follow someone

My brother tried to go after the thief in his car.

16


PHRASAL VERB

MEANING

EXAMPLE SENTENCE


go after something

try to achieve something

I went after my dream and now I am a published
writer.

go against someone

compete, oppose

We are going against the best soccer team in the city
tonight.

go ahead

start, proceed

Please go ahead and eat before the food gets cold.

go back

return to a place

I have to go back home and get my lunch.

go out

leave home to go on a social event We're going out for dinner tonight.


go out with someone

date

Jesse has been going out with Luke since they met last
winter.

go over something

review

Please go over your answers before you submit your
test.

go over

visit someone nearby

I haven't seen Tina for a long time. I think I'll go over
for an hour or two.

go without something

suffer lack or deprivation

When I was young, we went without winter boots.

grow apart

stop being friends over time


My best friend and I grew apart after she changed
schools.

grow back

regrow

My roses grew back this summer.

grow up

become an adult

When Jack grows up he wants to be a fireman.

grow out of something

get too big for

Elizabeth needs a new pair of shoes because she has
grown out of her old ones.

grow into something

grow big enough to fit

This bike is too big for him now, but he should grow
into it by next year.


hand something down

give something used to someone
else

I handed my old comic books down to my little cousin.

hand something in

submit

I have to hand in my essay by Friday.

hand something out

to distribute to a group of people

We will hand out the invitations at the door.

hand something over

give (usually unwillingly)

The police asked the man to hand over his wallet and
his weapons.

hang in

stay positive (informal)


Hang in there. I'm sure you'll find a job very soon.

hang on

wait a short time (informal)

Hang on while I grab my coat and shoes!

hang out

spend time relaxing (informal)

Instead of going to the party we are just going to hang
out at my place.

hang up

end a phone call

He didn't say goodbye before he hung up.

hold someone/something
back

prevent from doing/going

I had to hold my dog back because there was a cat in
the park.

hold something back


hide an emotion

Jamie held back his tears at his grandfather's funeral.

hold on

wait a short time

Please hold on while I transfer you to the Sales
Department.

hold onto someone/something hold firmly using your hands or
arms

Hold onto your hat because it's very windy outside.

hold someone/somethingup

rob

A man in a black mask held the bank up this morning.

keep on doing something

continue doing

Keep on stirring until the liquid comes to a boil.

keep something from

someone

not tell

We kept our relationship from our parents for two
years.

keep someone/something out stop from entering

Try to keep the wet dog out of the living room.

keep something up

If you keep those results up you will get into a great
college.

continue at the same rate

17


PHRASAL VERB

MEANING

EXAMPLE SENTENCE

let someone down

fail to support or help, disappoint


I need you to be on time. Don't let me down this time.

let someone in

allow to enter

Can you let the cat in before you go to school?

log in (or on)

sign in (to a website, database etc) I can't log in to Facebook because I've forgotten my
password.

log out (or off)

sign out (of a website, database
etc)

If you don't log off somebody could get into your
account.

look after someone/something take care of

I have to look after my sick grandmother.

look down on someone

think less of, consider inferior


Ever since we stole that chocolate bar your dad has
looked down on me.

look for someone/something

try to find

I'm looking for a red dress for the wedding.

look forward to something

be excited about the future

I'm looking forward to the Christmas break.

look into something

investigate

We are going to look into the price of snowboards
today.

look out

be careful, vigilant, and take
notice

Look out! That car's going to hit you!

look out for

someone/something

be especially vigilant for

Don't forget to look out for snakes on the hiking trail.

look something over

check, examine

Can you look over my essay for spelling mistakes?

look something up

search and find information in a
reference book or database

We can look her phone number up on the Internet.

look up to someone

have a lot of respect for

My little sister has always looked up to me.

make something up

invent, lie about something

Josie made up a story about why we were late.


make up

forgive each other

We were angry last night, but we made up at breakfast.

make someone up

apply cosmetics to

My sisters made me up for my graduation party.

mix something up

confuse two or more things

I mixed up the twins' names again!

pass away

die

His uncle passed away last night after a long illness.

pass out

faint

It was so hot in the church that an elderly lady passed

out.

pass something out

give the same thing to many
people

The professor passed the textbooks out before class.

pass something up

decline (usually something good)

I passed up the job because I am afraid of change.

pay someone back

return owed money

Thanks for buying my ticket. I'll pay you back on
Friday.

pay for something

be punished for doing something
bad

That bully will pay for being mean to my little brother.

pick something out


choose

I picked out three sweaters for you to try on.

point someone/something out indicate with your finger

I'll point my boyfriend out when he runs by.

put something down

put what you are holding on a
surface or floor

You can put the groceries down on the kitchen counter.

put someone down

insult, make someone feel stupid

The students put the substitute teacher down because
his pants were too short.

put something off

postpone

We are putting off our trip until January because of the
hurricane.


put something out

extinguish

The neighbours put the fire out before the firemen
arrived.

put something together

assemble

I have to put the crib together before the baby arrives.

put up with

tolerate

I don't think I can put up with three small children in

18


PHRASAL VERB

MEANING

EXAMPLE SENTENCE

someone/something


the car.

put something on

put clothing/accessories on your
body

Don't forget to put on your new earrings for the party.

run into someone/something

meet unexpectedly

I ran into an old school-friend at the mall.

run over someone/something

drive a vehicle over a person or
thing

I accidentally ran over your bicycle in the driveway.

run over/through something

rehearse, review

Let's run over/through these lines one more time
before the show.

run away


leave unexpectedly, escape

The child ran away from home and has been missing
for three days.

run out

have none left

We ran out of shampoo so I had to wash my hair with
soap.

send something back

return (usually by mail)

My letter got sent back to me because I used the wrong
stamp.

set something up

arrange, organize

Our boss set a meeting up with the president of the
company.

set someone up

trick, trap


The police set up the car thief by using a hidden
camera.

shop around

compare prices

I want to shop around a little before I decide on these
boots.

show off

act extra special for people
watching (usually boastfully)

He always shows off on his skateboard

sleep over

stay somewhere for the night
(informal)

You should sleep over tonight if the weather is too bad
to drive home.

sort something out

organize, resolve a problem


We need to sort the bills out before the first of the
month.

stick to something

continue doing something, limit
yourself to one particular thing

You will lose weight if you stick to the diet.

switch something off

stop the energy flow, turn off

The light's too bright. Could you switch it off.

switch something on

start the energy flow, turn on

We heard the news as soon as we switched on the car
radio.

take after someone

resemble a family member

I take after my mother. We are both impatient.

take something apart


purposely break into pieces

He took the car brakes apart and found the problem.

take something back

return an item

I have to take our new TV back because it doesn't
work.

take off

start to fly

My plane takes off in five minutes.

take something off

remove something (usually
clothing)

Take off your socks and shoes and come in the lake!

take something out

remove from a place or thing

Can you take the garbage out to the street for me?


take someone out

pay for someone to go somewhere My grandparents took us out for dinner and a movie.
with you

tear something up

rip into pieces

I tore up my ex-boyfriend's letters and gave them back
to him.

think back

remember (often + to, sometimes
+ on)

When I think back on my youth, I wish I had studied
harder.

think something over

consider

I'll have to think this job offer over before I make my
final decision.

throw something away


dispose of

We threw our old furniture away when we won the

19


PHRASAL VERB

MEANING

EXAMPLE SENTENCE
lottery.

turn something down

decrease the volume or strength
(heat, light etc)

Please turn the TV down while the guests are here.

turn something down

refuse

I turned the job down because I don't want to move.

turn something off

stop the energy flow, switch off


Your mother wants you to turn the TV off and come
for dinner.

turn something on

start the energy, switch on

It's too dark in here. Let's turn some lights on.

turn something up

increase the volume or strength
(heat, light etc)

Can you turn the music up? This is my favourite song.

turn up

appear suddenly

Our cat turned up after we put posters up all over the
neighbourhood.

try something on

sample clothing

I'm going to try these jeans on, but I don't think they
will fit.


try something out

test

I am going to try this new brand of detergent out.

use something up

finish the supply

The kids used all of the toothpaste up so we need to
buy some more.

wake up

stop sleeping

We have to wake up early for work on Monday.

warm someone/something up increase the temperature

You can warm your feet up in front of the fireplace.

warm up

prepare body for exercise

I always warm up by doing sit-ups before I go for a
run.


wear off

fade away

Most of my make-up wore off before I got to the party.

work out

exercise

I work out at the gym three times a week.

work out

be successful

Our plan worked out fine.

work something out

make a calculation

We have to work out the total cost before we buy the
house.

b. Kinds of Exercises
Apart from the glossary of phrasal verbs and example sentences, students are
asked to do different sorts of exercises so that they can consolidate what they have
learnt in the lessons. Only by practice the exercises can they memorize the lessons

well.
Suggested task types are made up of gap-filling, multiple choice, sentence
completion, synonyms, matching and sentence transformation.
I would like to introduce some task types commonly used to assess students’
perceptions and application competence.
 Gap-filling

Fill in each gap, either with one of the verbs or one of the particles. Put the
verbs in the correct form.
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VERBS

bring give put
turn

fall

PARTICLES

try

break

look(2)
take

pick


out
off

back
after

on
down

away
round

up
across

1. Put ______ your warm coat. It’s rather cold today.
2. I’m _____ for yesterday’s newspaper. Did you throw it ______?
3. Could I ______ on that dress in that window?
4. Oh, dear! The lights have gone _____ . I can’t see anything.
5. She told me her computer ______ down, so she couldn’t do the work.
6. You must remember to take the book ____ to the library.
7. I live in Bristol now, but I grew ____ in Leicester.
8. It was my first flight. I was nervous as the plane _____ off.
9. I’m ______ forward to meeting her very much.
10.Don’t worry about the baby. I’ll look ______ her while you’re out.
11.Well, I’ll ______ you up at 8.00 and we can go to the cinema together.
12.I heard someone running behind me. I turned ____ and saw a girl in a track
suit.
13. She ____ off the horse and her wrist.
14. You can _____ the television off. Nobody is watching it.

15. Look ____! The glass is going to fall. Oh! Too late!
16.Please turn ______ the music. It’s too loud!
17.Did you ____ up biting your nails?
18.Each month she _____ some money aside for her retirement.
19.She ____ up three children on her own.
20.Yesterday I came ____ the book I had lost, completely by chance.
Answer key
1.on

5.broke

9.looking

13.fell

17.give

2.looking-away

6.back

10.after

14.turn

18.puts

3.try

7.up


11.pick

15.out

19.brought

4.out/off

8.took

12.round

16.down

20.across

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 Multiple choice
Choose the word or phrase (A,B,C or D) that best fits the blank space in
each sentence or substitutes for the underlined words or phrases.
1. His mother told him ... for pulling his sister's hair.
A. off
B. out
C. on
D. in
2. I cleared ... the mess from the kids in the back garden
A. over

B. out
C. up
D. off
3. I love children, get ... famously with them, and my grandchildren are one of the
great joys of my life.
A. over
B. out
C. on
D. up
4. I urge parents to think twice before splashing ... on expensive computer games
for their kids.
A. in
B. out
C. on
D. over
5. The little girl said that when she ... up, she wanted to be a flight attendant.
A. grows
B. grow
C. grew
D. growing
6. They dressed the child ... in her best clothes and took her to the celebration.
A. in
B. on
C. up
D. over
7. It was time to play with my daughter, give her a quick bath and pack her ...to
bed.
A. in
B. out
C. up

D. off
8. Times have changed. Nowadays people think beating ... children is wrong.
A. in
B. out
C. up
D. on
9. She's been married three times and has brought ... four children.
A. in
B. out
C. up
D. on
10.Kids are more likely to stay ... of trouble if they get a good education.
A. off
B. out
C. away
D. on
Answer key
1. A 2.C 3.C 4.B

5.C

6.C 7.D 8.C

9.C

10.B

 Sentence completion
Complete the sentences, using one of these phrasal verbs in the correct
form.

turn down

wear out

break into

put off

put out

blow up

cross out

cut down

see off
come across

1. Sue was offered a job as a translator but she _____ it _______.
2. Kathy is going to Australia tomorrow. I am going to the airport to _____ her
____.
22


3. It took firefighters three hours to ______ the blaze.
4. Terrorists had threatened to ______ the embassy.
5. Can you imagine who I ______ while I was in Paris?
6. A house in our neighbor was ______ last night.
7. The doctor advised him to _____ his working hours.

8. If you make a mistake on the form, just ______ it _____.
9. His shoes are quite ______. He’ll have to get a new pair.
10.They have had to ______ the football match _____ because of snow.
Answer key
1. turned ...down
2. see ….off
3. put out
4. blow up
5. came across
6. broken into
7. cut down
8. cross …out
9. worn out
10.put …off
 Synonyms
Rewrite the sentences, using the correct synonym of the underlined phrasal
verbs.
appear

resemble

consider

demolish

discover

discuss

display


occupy

reject

return

1. I must think that matter over carefully before I answer you.
2. The two girls take after their mother very much in appearance.
3. Mr. Lam’s job seems to take up all of his spare time.
4. They are going to pull that building down.
5. That woman certainly tried hard to show off her abilities.
6. I suggest that you talk the matter over with your boss first of all.
7. Is the committee going to turn down his application for admission.
23