Common English Phrasal Verbs Used In Daily Conversation Part 1 (Useful Vocabulary!)

Yeah, call it off. Call off the meeting. I can’t get there today because I’ve got to film this YouTube video. Yep, okay, bye.  I just used a very common phrasal verb. What was it and what does it mean? Let’s find out. 

 

What is up guys? My name is Shane and today we are talking about phrasal verbs. Many students have problems with phrasal verbs but they are actually quite easy once you understand what they are and how to use them.

 

So let’s talk about what is a phrasal verb first.

 

A phrasal verb is a phrase which normally contains a verb and a preposition.

 

A verb is an action word, a doing word. For example: eat, drink, sleep. 

 

A preposition is a word which shows the relationship between two words. For example: under or on. 

 

And when we use phrasal verbs, we use them in the same way that we use other verbs. For example, when we use a phrasal verb, the sentence has to make sense.

 

Some phrasal verbs have the verb and preposition together. For example: fall down.

 

Other phrasal verbs have the verb, a noun and then the preposition.  For example: turn the tv off. 

 

And when you use phrasal verbs you still have to think about the tense – just the same way as when you use normal verbs.

 

For example, she turned the tv off. This is a past simple sentence so we need to use a past tense verb: turned. 

 

She turns the tv off. This is a present simple sentence so we have to use a present verb.

 

So today we are talking about 5 commonly used phrasal verbs and make sure you watch until the end of the video because there will be a quiz to test your understanding. Okay, let’s get started with the first phrasal verb today.

 

Phrasal verb #1

The first phrasal verb is bring up. Bring up. 

 

This phrasal verb normally has two common meanings. So let’s look at the first meaning. He always brings that up when he’s angry.  He always brings that up when he’s angry. And if you notice here, there is a word between bring and up. Brings that up.  So what do you think bring up means in this sentence?

 

Bring up in this sentence means to talk about.  To talk about a certain subject. So when this certain person is angry, he always talks about a certain subject. What does he bring up?  He brings that up. 

That’s why we have to have that in between bring and up.  Brings that up.  Brings it up. Brings her up. 

 

Let’s have a look at another example. She brought up her new job last night. When did this happen? In the past. How do we know? Because the verb has been changed to a past tense form. Bring becomes brought. 

 

And what did she do? She talked about her job last night. So just remember, one of the meanings of brought up means to talk about.

 

Okay let’s look at the second meaning. Mothers and fathers normally bring up their children. Mothers and fathers normally bring up their children. What do you think bring up means in this sentence? It means to look after. To raise. To teach. To help grow. 

 

This is a very common expression we use with parents and children. Parents bring up their children. It means they help them grow. They teach them, they look after them.

 

So just remember bring up has two main meanings. Number 1: to talk about something. Number 2: to raise, to teach, to help grow up. 

 

Phrasal verb #2

Do you remember in the intro, I said call off the meeting? Call of the meeting. What do you think that means? Call off means to cancel. So if I say call off the meeting, I decided that the meeting won’t happen.

 

Let’s look at another example. The football game has been called off. The football game has been called off. And if you look at the verb here, you can see that it’s been changed to called. Why? Because it’s a present perfect tense. We have the word has. And normally after the word has, we need a past participle.

 

So phrasal verbs are exactly the same as normal verbs. You always have to think about what tense is it.  So what do you think this sentence means? Did the game happen or it didn’t happen? It did not happen because it was cancelled.

 

So just remember, call off normally means to cancel something.

 

Phrasal verb #3

And the third phrasal verb for today is calm down. Calm down.  So what do you think calm down means?

 

What does calm mean? Calm means to relax, to not worry about something. And down means down right? To go down.

 

So calm down is something we say when we want someone to relax, to not worry about something.

 

So anyone you know who is excited, angry, upset, you can say to them: calm down. It means you want them to relax. You want them to not worry about anything.

 

Let’s have a look at an example of how we use it in a sentence. She calmed him down last night. When did this happen?  In the past. How do we know? Because the calm has been changed to calmed. Calmed.

 

And you can also see here that we have put him in between calm and down.  Calm him down. So what does this mean? Who was upset or angry or worried in the past? He was.

 

Who helped him to relax? She did, the woman did, the girl did.

 

So this is a very common phrase you can use if you want someone to relax. You can say calm down. 

 

Phrasal verb #4

Can you help me figure out the problem?  Can you help me figure out the problem?  

 

The next phrasal verb is figure out. Figure out. What do you think figure out? Can you help me figure out the problem?  Figure out means to understand or to solve the problem.

 

So if I say can you help me figure out the problem, that means can you help me understand the problem?

 

Can you help me solve the problem? Because now I can’t solve it. And now I don’t understand.

 

Okay let’s look at another example. He figured out the problem last night. He figured out the problem last night.

 

You can see again, that we have changed the tense of this phrasal verb from figure to figured. So we now we know this sentence happened in the past. What did he do? He solved the problem, he fixed the problem.  Now he understands the problem. 

 

So this is another very common phrasal verb you can use if you don’t understand something or you can’t solve a problem. You can say I can’t figure it out. 

 

Phrasal verb #5

And the last phrasal verb is keep on plus ing. Keep on plus ing. 

 

Let’s have a look at an example. He keeps on telling me that I need to learn English.  He keeps on telling me that I need to learn English.  What do you think it means? Is it past present or future? It looks like it’s a present simple sentence so it’s probably a habit. Something that happens all the time.

 

So what does keep on mean?  Keep on means doing something again and again and again. Doing something continuously many many times. So this sentence means he has told me many many times you need to learn English. He is doing it now and he still hasn’t finished.

 

Let’s look at another example. He kept on going to the beach.  You can see here that we change the tense again.  It’s not keep, it’s now kept. So this action is finished. We know it happened in the past.

 

So what does this sentence mean? It means in the past he went to the beach many many times. Again and again and again. He did it continuously many many times. Is he doing it now? No he isn’t. How do we know? Because we used the past tense. We said kept on going.

 

So just remember, when you’re using phrasal verbs, always think about what tense am I using?  Is it past? Is it present? Is it a perfect tense? and this will make using phrasal verbs much much easier.

 

And this is a very good phrasal verb to use when something keeps happening again and again. Keep on plus verb ing.

 

Quiz

And they are the 5 phrasal verbs for today. Now, we are going to have a little quiz to check the understanding of the meaning of these phrasal verbs. I will show you a sentence. And there will be possible answers as to the meaning. I want you to tell me – what is the correct meaning?

 

Let’s have a look at the first sentence. Why is he always bringing that up?  And the correct answer is C. this means: why is he always talking about that subject? Remember: bringing up means to talk about something.

 

Question 2: has the meeting been called off?  The correct answer is B. this means has the meeting been canceled? Has it been cancelled yet? And why do we use called instead of called?  Because we have a perfect sentence. We are using the word has. And normally after has, we need a past participle.

 

Okay let’s look at question number three. He just won’t calm down. He just won’t calm down.  And the correct is A. this means he will not relax. He is still worrying. He still has a problem with something.  He will not relax.

 

Question 4. You have to figure this out. You have to figure this out. And the correct answer is C. this means you have to understand the problem, you have to solve the problem or to fix the problem.

 

And the last question. I want you to comment down below and tell me what does this sentence mean. You have to keep on studying English. You have to keep on studying English. So comment down below and let me know what this sentence means.

 

And that is it for today. We have learned 5 new common phrasal verbs.  So make sure you practice these phrasal verbs and always think about what tense is it.  Remember, phrasal verbs are the same as verbs. You always need to think about what tense is it.  And if you’re interested in more lessons like this, check out this video right here. And make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss part 2 of this phrasal verb series. If you liked the video, please hit like and share this with your friends who are learning englihs. And for more English, follow my Instagram and I will see you in the next video.  So what does this sent? So what does this sentence mean? It means … so what does this sentence mean?