How to teach phrasal verbs
How to teach phrasal verbs
How to Teach Phrasal Verbs
Nine out of ten ESL students will tell you the hardest English vocabulary to learn are phrasal verbs, those sneaky little verbs that mean one thing when paired with one preposition and a completely different thing when paired with another.
And since it’s so hard for students to learn them effectively on their own, it’s up to us to help them. Now, if you’re in doubt as to which is the best way to teach phrasal verbs, here are some steps that might help you put them across:
How to Proceed
Choose a selection of 5 to 10 phrasal verbs
It is not entirely uncommon for students to receive long laundry lists of phrasal verbs to study, particularly for examinations like the TOEFL, but this is hardly the best way for them to really incorporate them into their vocabulary. So, put away the lists and choose a small selection (no more than ten) that falls into a logical group, either because they are paired with the same preposition or they fit into the same topic. Some examples:
Introduce in context
You may be tempted to present each with a synonym or definition, but this may not give students a clear understanding of how each is used. For example, say you want to teach Business phrasal verbs. To present a phrasal verb like “take over”, try the following:
T: Did you hear about XYZ Company? This past week they bought the much smaller ABC Company. XYZ took over ABC.
If you supply real company names and real examples, so much the better, particularly if you’re teaching Business English students. They’ll really appreciate the examples and will easily understand the phrasal verb and how it’s used. Confirm by asking them the meaning of “take over”, in this case. Can they supply other examples of companies that were taken over recently?
Do the same with “go under”. Supply an example of a company that has filed for bankruptcy. Have any of your students heard about another company has gone under recently?
Make them figure out. Help them guess. Give them lots of examples. Use real companies, people and places. But above all, help them understand the phrasal verb, beyond the mere memorization of a definition.
Don’t forget this essential clarification: students must understand that phrasal verbs are more informal and are thus used more often in spoken rather than written English, although they may be used in informal written communication like emails to family or friends.
Students practice the new words
There are a number of ways in which students can practice their new phrasal verbs.
Students perform or produce with the new words
The goal, here, is to help students go from very controlled activities or exercises to using the new phrasal verbs on their own. To this end, you may ask them to:
Did you know we have our very own Phrasal Verbs section with almost 100 worksheets? Feel free to download some and put them to good use. And if you design some of your own, don’t forget to add them to our collection so that together we can reach that 100-worksheet marker!
Did you notice that in this article we used several phrasals of the same verb with different prepositions? See how many you can find and comment below! Hint: the first is in the title…
Answers: put off (twice, once in title, once in text) – put something across – put away – put something down – put on – put something to good use.
How to Teach Phrasal Verbs
Do your students love phrasal verbs? Probably not, right?
Phrasal verbs are tricky. They’re difficult for students, and therefore difficult for teachers.
Teaching phrasal verbs doesn’t have to be painful, though. Follow these 13 tips to make teaching phrasal verbs a bit more manageable.
1. Group phrasal verbs by particle and teach the tendencies in meaning
Phrasal verbs are idiomatic, but this doesn’t mean the particles were chosen at random. There are some tendencies in meaning you can teach your students. Once students understand these tendencies, phrasal verbs become less confusing.
on often communicates to continue.
keep on – to continue doing something
move on – to continue with the next thing in a series, agenda, etc.
dwell on – to continue thinking about something
drag on – to continue for far too long
up often communicates to finish
use something up – to finish the supply of something
wrap something up – to finish something and bring it to a conclusion
drink up – to finish one’s drink
eat up – to finish one’s food
around often communicates many different (with many different people, in many different places, etc.)
shop around – to compare prices at many different stores
run around – to run in many different directions
ask around – to ask many people the same question
Dave Nicholls has a phenomenal series of videos on these tendencies. I’ve embedded two of the videos below and included links to the rest of the series. There is an accompanying quiz for each video (links provided in the video description).
Quiz
Quiz
Some additional comments on the videos:
Dave is British and uses some phrasal verbs that are uncommon in American English. If you’re teaching American English, you’ll need to explain this to your students.
To use these videos as part of a complete lesson, have students:
1. Watch the video.
2. Take the quiz.
3. Use the phrasal verbs in a small group discussion or game/activity (see these phrasal verb game and activities for ideas).
2. Group phrasal verbs by topic and teach them alongside other vocabulary terms
This does three things: (1) it shows students that phrasal verbs are a normal part of English, (2) it ensures students don’t get overwhelmed by too many phrasal verbs at once, and (3) it gives students practice using phrasal verbs in the correct context.
3. Only group phrasal verbs by verb (phrasal verbs with get, go, take, etc.) when the phrasal verbs are similar in meaning
Not similar in meaning (shouldn’t be grouped together):
get away with, get around to, get down, get off, get by
come across, come back, come down with, come down to, come up with
count down, count on, count out, count off
make out, make up, make away, make up for
Similar in meaning (could be grouped together):
get in, get out, get off, get on, get up, get down
look down on, look up to, look forward to
go after, go before, go back, go forward, go through, go towards, go under
put aside, put forward, put away, put down, put together
Don’t make phrasal verbs harder than they have to be. Group phrasal verbs in ways that make sense.
4. Teach that phrasal verbs are unavoidable
Some students believe they can always use a non-phrasal verb instead of a phrasal verb. This is not the case. For example, the sentences below are either A) incorrect, B) too formal, or C) awkward because a non-phrasal verb is used instead of a phrasal verb.
I approached John’s desk and asked to borrow a pen.
This is too formal. A better choice would be I walked up to John’s desk, I went up to John’s desk, or I went over to John’s desk.
Don’t surrender.
Unless we’re talking about a battle or a war, this is awkward phrasing. Don’t give up or Don’t back down are better choices.
I filled the forms.
We fill out forms. Fill forms in incorrect.
Our company eliminated the English program.
This sounds awkward. Our company did away with the English program sounds more natural.
5. Teach phrasal verb collocations
Students need to know both the meanings and the collocations of phrasal verbs. This ensures students aren’t overusing phrasal verbs.
For example, make up can mean to create or invent, but it doesn’t collocate with many nouns. We can make up a lie, reason, excuse, or story, but we can’t make up a method, way, idea, or product.
To find phrasal verb collocations, you can use the phrasal verb dictionary from Phrasal Verb Demon (the collocations are in orange text).
6. Do quick conversation questions to practice phrasal verbs students have recently learned
After a break or at the end of class, you can do some quick conversation questions to practice the phrasal verbs students have recently learned.
For example, if students have just learned catch up, let down, run into, and cut down on, you could ask questions like the ones below.
Is there anything you need to catch up on this week?
Has anyone let you down recently? How?
Did anyone run into an old friend or coworker last week?
Is there anything you’re trying to cut down on now? How’s it going?
7. Use Anki to help students remember phrasal verbs
The digital flashcard program Anki is a powerful tool for learning vocabulary, including phrasal verbs.
See the Anki manual and these videos to learn how to get started with Anki.
Here is an example of an Anki card one of my students made for the phrasal verb go over. The text and photo above the horizontal line is the front of the card. The text below the horizontal line is the back of the card. This is a good Anki card because it A) forces the student to produce something (the missing word), B) is something real the student can relate to, and C) includes a picture.
8. Teach that phrasal verbs often have multiple meanings
With advanced students, you can use this phrasal verbs with multiple meanings practice exercise. With intermediate students, you can teach the most common phrasal verbs with multiple meanings (make out, turn down, check out, take out). Or, if students are using English at work, you can teach the phrasal verbs with multiple meanings that students are likely to encounter at their particular jobs.
Also, it’s a good idea to constantly remind students that many English words (including phrasal verbs) have multiple meanings.
9. Don’t make students memorize which phrasal verbs are separable and which ones aren’t
It’s perfectly fine to teach students about separable and inseparable verbs. But having students memorize a list of separable and inseparable verbs doesn’t work. A better approach is to give examples of how to use each phrasal verb and then have students give similar examples. If a student makes a mistake, follow these steps:
10. Teach that many phrasal verbs are informal
This is particularly important if you teach business English. You don’t want your students to use phrasal verbs like freak out or screw up in a formal meeting.
Examples of “informal” phrasal verbs:
cut out, dumb down, freak out, hang around, hang on, hang out, head out, hold on, jack up, kick around, kick back, knock off, mess up, play up, tick off, screw up, shut up
11. Play games to practice phrasal verbs
Try these phrasal verb games and activities with your students. You can use the games as they are or adapt them to fit your students’ needs.
12. Regularly use phrasal verbs in your classes
This seems like obvious advice, but a lot of teachers avoid using phrasal verbs with their students. The problem is that if you never use phrasal verbs in your class, then neither will your students (and we don’t want that).
Some ideas for regularly using phrasal verbs in your classes:
13. Encourage students to learn phrasal verbs on their own
Students can learn phrasal verbs on their own by:
Conclusion
In conclusion, we should: group phrasal verbs in ways that make sense, give our students lots of exposure to phrasal verbs, teach phrasal verb collocations, ensure our students know which phrasal verbs are inappropriate for formal settings, and not ask students to memorize lists of separable and inseparable phrasal verbs.
What about you? Do you have any additional tips for teaching phrasal verbs? If so, please share them in the comments section below.
How to teach teens to use phrasal verbs
Phrasal verbs are considered to be an indispensable part of the English vocabulary. But its learning may be a tough thing for teenagers. Nowadays there are a bunch of ways to teach phrasal verbs. Benjamin Franklin said: “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn”. Therefore, the best way to work with phrasal verbs is not just to give a list of them to remember but to involve students in games, use realia from their lives etc.
Games with phrasal verbs
Vlogs and songs with phrasal verbs
A key to success in learning a foreign language is the motivation. It is a general fact that teenagers are fond of the Internet. And with the help of vlogs on YouTube, we can make them get motivated to learn even phrasal verbs. We have already written about famous vloggers who motivate to learn English. There are separate videos on phrasal verbs as well.
English with Lucy has a short but an informative video on food phrasal verbs, where she not only explains them but also shows how to use them in a context.
VenyaPakTV has recorded a video on the most useful phrasal verbs, where he gives their definitions and makes sentences.
English lessons with Adam has released some videos on phrasal verbs as well. He introduces a verb with different prepositions and explains the meaning. For example the verb ‘to take’ with ‘after’, ‘out’, ‘in’, ‘over’.
Ask students with visual memory and visual intelligence to create mindmaps and funny pictures (ask to draw a funny association with a phrasal verb)
Learning English is not only about separate words, and also about phrasal verbs, the acquisition of which is a must as well.
How do you work with phrasal verbs?
What are phrasal verbs?
A phrasal verb is a phrase with two or more words, usually involving a verb and a preposition. (This is how most grammar books present it, and it is easiest for students to understand if you explain it in this way. Technically speaking, though, some phrasal verbs involve a verb + adverb combination. See my post Preposition or Adverb? for more information.)
A regular verb + preposition combination has two meanings whereas a phrasal verb has one meaning. For example, the verb look means to use your eyes to see something and the preposition up means the direction above, as in look up at the sky. This is very different from the phrasal verb look up, which means to check, as in look up a word in the dictionary.
Make sure your students (and you!) always write phrasal verbs as two separate words. Phrasal verbs are never hyphenated or combined into one word, though their noun or adjective forms often are.
How do you teach phrasal verbs?
The following methods are some that I’ve tried over the years. The third method is my favorite because my students seem to catch on and retain phrasal verbs better with it.
1. From a list
A lot of textbooks/classes will have a list of phrasal verbs that are relevant to the course, such as Business English, TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS, etc. A long list like this can be overwhelming to students, so consider presenting five phrasal verbs a day or using fun vocabulary activities such as cutting up the phrasal verbs and their definitions and having students match them up. See my posts 4 Ways to Teach New Vocabulary and 4 Activities for Reviewing Vocabulary for more ideas.
2. In context
A fun way to teach phrasal verbs is in the context of a story. Seeing the phrasal verb in context helps students grasp and retain the meaning. I’ve seen some textbooks dedicated to idioms that are grouped into themes, and a lot of them include phrasal verbs. At ESL Library, we have three sections (a detective series, a love story, and a story about college life) that make learning phrasal verbs and idioms fun and relevant. Try our Detective Series – The Case of the Missing Ring, Everyday Idioms, and Everyday Idioms (Part 2) lessons. Everyday Idioms (Part 3) is coming soon, too!
3. As groupings
Grouping phrasal verbs into categories based on the same verb is another way to go. This is my preferred method because it presents phrasal verbs in small, logical, and manageable groups. I think students remember the phrasal verbs more easily this way. Here are some common groupings to try with your students:
Phrasal verbs with “look”
| look after | take care of |
|---|---|
| look down on | think less of |
| look into | investigate, find more information |
| look out | be careful |
| look over | review, examine |
| look up | check, find |
| look up to | admire |
Phrasal verbs with “take”
| take after | resemble |
|---|---|
| take away (from) | learn |
| take off | leave |
| take on | start |
| take out | take on a date |
| take over | replace |
Phrasal verbs with “get”
| get along (with) | have a good relationship |
|---|---|
| get away | go on vacation |
| get away with | not get caught while doing something bad |
| get out of | no longer have to do something |
| get over | recover, overcome |
| get through | suvive, bear |
Separable or Inseparable?
Which phrasal verbs can have an object between the verb and preposition, and which can’t? For example, you can say I called on my cousin yesterday but you can’t say I called my cousin on yesterday, so call on is inseparable. You can say I picked my cousin up at the airport or I picked up my cousin at the airport, so pick up is separable. (Remind students that while noun objects can go between or after the phrasal verb, a pronoun object can only go between the phrasal verb. E.g., I picked her up is correct. I picked up her is incorrect.)
Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to tell which phrasal verbs are separable and which aren’t. Giving students a list can help. Good lists are available at English Club and the University of Victoria.
5 Fun & Innovative Ways To Teach Phrasal Verbs
This post may contain affiliate links.
Do you teach phrasal verbs to your English students, and wonder if there’s a more fun way to have the lesson? Are you tired of textbooks with Phrasal Verb worksheets that are dry and boring, or lists of verbs students find impossible to memorize?
I hear you! Today’s post is to help you tackle this difficult grammar topic with your students.
Here’s what usually happens you say “Phrasal Verbs”:
First, your students groan, complain, or have an otherwise displeased look on their faces. That’s to be expected! If their native language is something like French or Spanish, for example, phrasal verbs are a complete mystery.
Second, they become stressed at the sheer number of phrasal verbs out there, and the multiple meanings for so many of them. Especially when students are studying for standardized exams, like the First Certificate or TOEFL, they tend to worry about that grammar beast: phrasal verbs.
Now, you can actually get your students to have fun while learning, even if you’re trying to teach phrasal verbs – I promise! Actually, one of my very first posts on this blog about a new Phrasal Verbs Game I created was about exactly that. However, two of the topics I get asked about the most are phrasal verbs, and exam preparation (TOEFL, FCE, etc). So, I thought a longer post about different methods was in order.
5 Fun & Innovative Ways To Teach Phrasal Verbs
1. The Phrasal Verb Game
The Ultimate Phrasal Verbs Game, as I like to call it, is quite simple. After noticing how much my tutoring students struggled with putting phrasal verbs in context, I created cut-out cards with phrasal verbs on them. Then, I had them draw out of a bag and blindly choose 10 phrasal verbs. Next, they create a story using those verbs. Of course, we learn them first if they are new!
For a challenge, have students use the cards in the order they draw them.
This game has worked wonders for teens, adults, university students, private tutoring sessions and large classes.
You have access to my Free Printables Library, right? That’s where I keep all the goodies you can download for free and use in your ESL lessons! The Phrasal Verb game is in there, as are many Phrasal Verb worksheets. I update the library every month, so it’s always growing 🙂
2. Create A (Personally Relevant!) Story
My first rule of tutoring sessions is to get to know the student. Once you know their likes, dislikes, hobbies and what makes them happy, it is so much easier to plan lessons for them. For example, I recently discovered that one of my adult ESL students loves architecture and wine. I just so happen to subscribe to Architectural Digest, and love finding out more about wine. So, our lesson plans have been on vocabulary surrounding those topics, using phrasal verbs where possible!
If you’re stuck for an idea, or pressed for time you can always use BBC English’s Phrasal Verbs episodes for a short cartoon story. Sometimes just seeing phrasal verbs in action can help students remember them better.
3. Memory or Matching Game
Memory or matching card games where you choose one card and must then use the other can be a lot of fun. You know, that memory card game you played with shapes and colours when you were a child? Adapt it for your ESL kids and adults. For example, you could draw a verb, and come up with a phrasal verb, or draw a preposition and come up with a verb. There are at least 3 phrasal verbs worksheets in my free library – so go ahead and check them out!
4. Role Play Scenario
Is this one just for kids? Not in my books! Again, find out what your student’s goals are (here’s how) and create a role play scenario they can actually use. For example, I often create business meeting scenarios for business English students, or make mock interviews or conferences.
Sometimes, students are worried about speaking English on an upcoming trip, so we role play hotel, restaurant and asking for direction conversations. Be creative!
5. Watch Series or Episodes To Teach Phrasal Verbs
This one is new for me! I discovered this when working on listening skills with a student of mine who wanted to watch Friends but found some of the vocabulary difficult.
After 15 minutes of watching with her, I realized why. There were so many phrasal verbs! So, her homework for the next week was to watch the next 15 minutes and write down all the phrasal verbs and how they were used.
3 More Ways To Make Grammar Fun
Well, okay, you say – but what if I’m teaching some other kind of grammar? Students often struggle with speaking in the conditional, learning to use past tenses correctly, or other language challenges.
I’ve got you covered!
Here are 3 ideas:
1. Teach With Songs
Now, I know this one is not for everyone, but if you missed my post on Teaching English with Songs it may be an idea to check out. You may think that only children want to listen to songs, but remember you can use any song your students like! That makes it fun for everyone.
You can use Beyonce’s “If I Were A Boy” to teach the conditional, and a whole bunch of songs to teach the past tenses. Even if they use the present tense in the song, teach phrasal verbs, expressions and new vocabulary first – then ask students to re-tell the story in the past.
Actually, I have a free La La Land lesson plan for you, in case you missed that post.
2. Let Students Choose The Topic
Can you hear the echo? 😉 Yes, I’m aware that I may be repeating myself, but getting to know your students is key. If you make the topics personally relevant or simply allow them to choose the topic, your lessons will go that much more smoothly.
3. Be Flexible
Actually, I think that this is one of my main tips as a teacher – be flexible! Remember that learning grammar can take a lot of concentration, and you may not be able to go as fast as you think you can with every student. Sometimes, you’ll have to split a grammar lesson into two sessions. Other times, when your private tutoring students are exhausted, you’ll have to move a new grammar concept to a different day. If you want to teach phrasal verbs, be sure your students are alert and refreshed!
By the way, given the wonderful responses from those who let me know what they’d like to see in the printables library (you can, too), I’m thinking of making a phrasal verbs online course to help ESL students. If that’s something you’re interested in, please comment below and let me know 🙂
What is your favourite way to teach phrasal verbs? I’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments section below!