S05 - 5 Phrasal Verbs

Native English speakers answer questions with phrasal verbs from previous B2, C1, C2 and IELTS exam papers.

Everyone loves phrasal verbs, right??? Perfect, because this episode has lots of them, plus a bunch of nice idioms and expressions. We have speakers from Canada, Wales, Australia, England and Ireland. Enjoy!

For classes or transcripts go to https://realexamenglish.com/podcast/

Music: Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5050-wholesome
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Thanks to all of the contributors, including Emma, Mike, Noel, Konner, Jen, Dan from the Roar and Score Trivia Podcast and the girls from the Butt Stuff Podcast.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the Real Exam English podcast. Today’s episode is about phrasal verbs. We did actually have a phrasal verbs episode way back in season 1 but it is such a rich area I thought it would be good to tackle it again. As usual we have a super mix of accents, Australian, Canadian, Welsh, English and Irish. And there really is a lot of nice vocabulary and useful idioms and expressions in this episode. For that reason, I highly recommend getting a copy of the transcript over on the Real Exam English website, the link is in the show notes, that really is the best way to get the most out of these episodes and improve your English. 

So, without further ado, here we go with the first question:

Who do you get on best with in your family? 

I have a massive family, so I actually get on with all of them. We're all very, very similar. We're all very competitive. We all like a beer. I guess if anyone, it would probably be my brother. Me and him get on like a house on fire. He lives over the other side of the country, but I still see him fairly regularly. Whenever we get together it's a bit dangerous. 

Tell me something about the place where you grew up. How has it affected you? 

So I grew up in Canberra and Canberra's like it's the capital of Australia, if you didn't know and it's basically the perfect cross for me between a city and a small town. Like it's big enough that we have events on, we've got clubs, we've got restaurants and things like that, but it's not so massive that I'm waiting in rush hour traffic for hours every time I go to work. So I guess it's affected me….How has Canberra affected me? I think…it's a really political place actually now that I think about it, and most people in Canberra, it's where all the politicians come, most people in Canberra know, just you know, more than…more than the rest of Australia about politics and just a little bit more into it. So I think that's definitely had an effect on me. I'm a bit of a political dude. So yeah, I think that's how Canberra has affected me.

Top answers there to start us off, from the capital of Australia. The first question was who do get on best with in your family, meaning who you have the best relationship with, who are you most friendly with, and he actually gets on with all of them but he and his brother get on like a house on fire. This is a great idiom, but it sometimes confuses people. So to get on like a house on fire means you get on really well with someone. Ok it sounds a bit negative, being on fire, but the meaning is a positive one, you get on great together. Similarly, he said when they get together it’s a bit dangerous. This means they probably have a lot of fun together, drinking a lot or partying, being a bit reckless. 

In the second answer he was talking about Canberra and said it’s the perfect cross between a city and a small town. I like that, the perfect cross, it’s a lovely alternative to saying a mix, or a mixture. He then had a couple of nice clauses with adjectives, it’s big enough that we have events on and it’s not so massive that I’m waiting in rush hour traffic. Ok, you should be comfortable using these types of clauses in speaking and writing, we have big enough that, which is adjective enough that, like it's hot enough that I need a fan, or it’s far enough that you need to drive. And then we have so massive that, which is so adjective that, like the exam was so hard that I started to cry, or it was so easy that I finished in half the time.  

In the middle of this answer then he was kind of reflecting on the question and he said I guess it’s affected me….how has Canberra affected me? I think it’s a really political place, actually now that I think about it. This is really handy language for an exam, a lot of the time in long answers people get a little bit lost and veer away from the original question so this kind of language is perfect for getting back on track. Firstly, he repeats the question to give himself a bit of time to think and then he says it’s a really political place actually now that I think about it, like he’s just realized this for the first time. Another example would be, Trevor are you busy these days? ahm, not really, well, I work 12 hour shifts for the next 6 days and at the weekend I have to look after my grandparents, so I guess I’m really busy now that I think about it. Other similar expressions would be come to think of it, or on reflection, which are other pretty handy expressions, come to think of it.

Do you usually drop off quickly at night?

So I drop off to sleep quickly. Yes, I go to sleep very quickly. I trained myself to do it. I didn't used to. I used to be up all night, but I realised that lack of sleep was a big thing. I'd be like------I've been working since I've been 16 years old. So, you know, getting up at six, seven, eight would be the latest. So if I didn't sleep, if I didn't drop off quickly, I would be up thinking in mind noise, I call it mind noise. But what I did is I trained myself. I realised that it was a problem, that it was affecting my day-to-day, so I thought, OK, well, I need to go to sleep obviously. Sleep is really important. So I think training yourself or learning to drop off to sleep is important and I did it and now….my wife is jealous. She hates me because it's just…I'm out like a light.

I’m out like a light, lovely idiom. That means he falls asleep straight away, or to use the phrasal verb from the question he drops off straight away. Other alternatives would be to nod off or to doze off. Like after eating a big lunch I sometimes nod off on the sofa,

This answer had a wide variety of verb tenses, which as we mentioned before impresses examiners. He had present simple, I go to sleep quickly, past simple, I trained myself to do it, past continuous, it was affecting me, for talking about habits in the past he has used to, and didn’t use to and I would be up thinking, then he had present perfect,  I’ve been working since I’ve been 16 years old, also a conditional, If I didn´t drop off quickly, I would be up thinking. And lastly, the best of the lot is a cleft sentence, what I did is I trained myself, using a what emphasis, as we mentioned in the last episode actually, now that I think about it. 

So top notch answer there in terms of grammatical variety. 

Who do you get on best with in your family?

Hopefully my husband. Well, aside from my husband, who's technically my best friend, I'm quite close to my brother. My brother's four years younger and he lives in England and he visits once a month and hangs out with my kid who's 7 so, as a as a family, we're quite close. Generally I get on well with my in laws, so I get on well with my own parents. You know, we're we're all quite friendly with each other.

Awesome. Great. OK. So as someone who's moved around a little bit in their adult life, which do you think prepares us best for adult life? Growing up in the country or in the city.

Ohh, now that's an interesting one because I come from Glossop. So, you had Manchester in One Direction and the Peak District countryside in the other direction. My brother chose the city. I chose the countryside at 18, so I came to Bangor Uni because of the lack of nightlife. There was a nightlife, don't get me wrong, but I came for the quieter life. And as an anxious person, I didn't cope in the city. I don't like crowded spaces even now, but it also means I'm out in the sticks, far away from everyone. So, it's like because I'm connected through the Nintendo stuff. I get to feel like I'm missing out of the city stuff sometimes, but I'm also happy with my pace of life in the living everyday sense up here.

Choosing a university because of the lack of nightlife, so unusual, it’s normally the opposite! She clarifies this very well by saying – there was a nightlife, don’t get me wrong, but I came for the quieter life. This idiom don’t get me wrong is another that’s listed as C2 level in the Cambridge dictionary so a nice one to use when you think someone may not understand what you say or they might get upset by it. For instance, if you said to your friend that the dinner they cooked was spicy and you thought they might get offended you could say, don’t get me wrong, it’s delicious, just a little spicy for me. Or in my English classes I might say, don’t get me wrong, your answer was great, it just needs to be a bit longer. 

She said that she lives in the sticks, which means the countryside, far away from a town or a city. She mentioned that because she lives in the sticks she misses out on the city stuff sometimes, this phrasal verb to miss out on meaning not getting the chance to do something good. Like, I missed out on the Massive Attack concert recently, I hope they come back again soon. 

Ok it’s time for a language break, I hope you’re ready for a massive attack of questions. This time we are gonna focus on phrasal verbs. I’ll give you a definition and a verb and you have to add a particle to the verb to complete the phrasal verb. So for example, I will say rise from bed after sleeping – get , and you say up, get up. Ok, as usual I’ll ask you 10 questions, let’s see how you do. 

Spend time relaxing with friends – hang – out. 

Discover – find – out 

Find by chance – come – across 

Disappoint – let – down 

Postpone – put – off 

Establish a business – set – up 

Meet someone by chance – bump - into

Start to become popular – catch – on 

Pay a bill – settle – up 

Think carefully about something – mull – over 

Alrighty, that’s all ten. Some challenging ones there for sure, let me know how you did by adding a comment on Spotify, Apple podcasts or wherever you normally listen.

Do you think eating together helps families get along well?

Does eating together help them get along well and uh, yes, it helps them to, to bond and to get to know each other a bit better. Yeah. I also think eating together helps you lose it more with your children. But, yeah, I think it allows you to get together and get to know each other a bit better, yes.

How do you usually keep in touch with people who live far away from you?

How do I keep in touch? Uff, I'd say badly. I'm terrible at keeping in touch, but obviously using WhatsApp and…has helped a lot. So mobile phones, social media helps me to stay in contact with friends and family who are abroad. I occasionally write letters. I tried to go back to the handwritten postcard letters and then I forget to post them. It breaks the communication down a little bit when you forget to actually send them. But for friends and family, mostly, I would say social media or video calls and things like that, and with acquaintances, maybe e-mail and then just random posts on social media.

Ok, the first question was about getting along well with families, which is the same as getting on well, that we heard earlier. In her answer she also used get to know each other and get together, which is another phrasal verb, meaning to gather socially or to cooperate. Like hey let’s get together for a drink at the weekend, or a few of us got together to study English. This phrasal verb can also be used in a romantic sense actually, like did you hear Pablo and Maria got together? And it can also be used as a noun, we’re having a get-together this Saturday if you wanna come along. 

Other nice vocabulary from the first answer was to bond with your family, which is to build a close relationship with them and then to lose it which is to lose control of your emotions or your temper. An example would be my neighbour loses it when someone parks in their space. Or my dad loses it when the referee gives a bad decision against his team. 

There was plenty of communications vocabulary in the second answer, mobiles, emails, video calls, random posts on social media, even handwritten letters. But as she said the communication often breaks down as she doesn’t send the letters. If something breaks down then it stops working, we often used this phrasal verb for machines, like my car broke down, or my computer broke down and also for relationships, like the talks between the two countries broke down because of political differences.  

What signs tell you that you might be coming down with a cold? 

I get really tired and I get all really achy all over the body. That's my first sign and then I just get really, like, shivery. 

Yeah. And your skin hurts. Feels really sensitive. You don't want to go in the bath. Well, actually, you know it will help. And your throat's sore and your mouth is dry. And you just feel tired and achy and sorry for yourself, like your eyes are already about to cry. 

Yeah, 

Yea, very sad state of events. 

A very sad state of events, nice, that is used to describe something kind of pathetic or unfortunate, you more commonly hear it as a sad state of affairs. For instance, it’s a sad state of affairs when young women don’t feel safe enough to walk home alone at night. 

The phrasal verb in the question was coming down with a cold, meaning starting to suffer from a cold. We usually just use this for a cold or a flu, not for anything more serious. They said then that they feel achy, which comes from the work ache, so achy is with pain in your body, and they also said shivery, which is when you kind of shake when you feel cold, you shiver. 

How do you decide where to eat out?

Definitely depends where I am and what's happening in life and at the moment where in in Vietnam where you know it's very affordable to eat out, it's a very eating out culture. I probably on a busy day when I'm working, I'll go to one of my favourites nearby on a day like today I'm not actually working today and I'm going out later to meet with a friend. We'll go somewhere a little bit special in Australia where the cost of living is insane and I am a student and have to be far more worried about money. Definitely the ratio of size and deliciousness and filling to dollar is much more important, I would say.

Awesome. Cool. I imagine the food is great there, right in Vietnam.

Ah, I mean, I think like, I feel like Mexican food and Vietnamese food, everybody on earth, and Italian food. I feel like those three everyone on Earth loves them. It's just it's so good. It's it's, it's great. Like, it's amazing, it's affordable, it's accessible. It's a thing that I feel like when you travel, sometimes they may have great food, but it's hard to find or it's hard to get involved with. Here it's like every corner you can just take a little seat, spend a couple of dollars and have something different to the other corner. It's very easy to get and it's fantastic. I absolutely love it as one of the reasons I wanted to come here, yeah.

Well, do you enjoy keeping up with the news?

Good question, I used to almost be like addicted to the news. I would say I had this thing in my head that I think a lot of people have in their heads where you know, you want to be an up-to-date person, you know, you want to be, you don't want to be selfish and you want to know what's happening in the world. So I was really making a point of reading the news, but it can affect your mental health. And that….sort of how you're feeling on a day-to-day, all the terrible things happening. And nowadays, I effectively almost never read it. I read a lot of books, I read a lot of things. If something big happens, it usually finds its way to you anyway, right? You've seen it outside, or it's on a movie, or you've read something about or it even just pops up on the Internet someplace, but I genuinely don't really read the news at all anymore, and I feel much better for it, sadly.

Great answers there. The first one had so many adjectives, I love the one where he said the cost of living is insane, meaning it is outrageous or really shocking. Like, that guy’s English is insane, he must read dictionaries day and night! In order to create some emphasis, he used some repetition, about Vietnamese food he said it’s so good, it’s great, like it’s amazing, it’s affordable, it’s accessible. He said in some places good food is hard to find but in Vietnam it’s easy to get and it´s fantastic, nice use of opposites there too, hard to find and easy to get.

In the second answer he said he was making a point of reading the news, meaning he always made sure that he read it and he made an effort to do it. Another example would be he makes a point of writing down every single new word he comes across, or the teacher makes a point of greeting everyone at the door every day. 

Another phrasal verb came up too, which was the news pops up on the internet someplace. Ok I think everyone is familiar with pop-ups on the internet unfortunately. So things can pop up on the internet but also in other situations, like around 5 years ago all of these vape shops started popping up in my town, or lots of weeds started popping up in my garden. 

Lastly, he said that he stopped reading the news and he feels better for it. This is the kind of thing a native English speaker says that rarely comes up in textbooks and you rarely hear non-native speakers using. So here is your chance guys! To sound like a native, say something like, I quit cigarettes last month and I feel better for it. Or I got a good night’s sleep for the first time in ages, and I feel much better for it.  Or I listened to a whole podcast in English about phrasal verbs, and I feel much better for it!!! 

Right! Hopefully, you do feel much better for it, and you did find that useful. That is all we have time for today. So much language today, an insane amount of language. 

Phrasal verbs can be quite hard to remember, you have to see them a few times before they start to stick. So have a listen to this episode again in another few weeks to see if you can remember them and it’s a great idea to make yourself a list of common phrasal verbs and try to implement them when you are speaking or writing.

Ok guys, catch you next time!

Trevor