Use These To Sound More Native and Natural!

by Buffi
14 maart 2017
Blog

I wanted to talk to you about the gorgeousness known as Phrasal Verbs. Say what, mama? Yes. Phrasal Verbs. This is what native English speakers use all the time. It is usually an informal way of saying something without using too many words. Just a verb and a preposition, and you’re good to go! Have you used one lately? Let me give you a list to get you started.

These are some common phrasal verbs with the verb ‘to go’. How many have you used lately?

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	date	Jesse has been going out with Luke since they met last winter.
go over	review	Please go over your answers before you submit your test.
go over	visit sby nearby	I haven’t seen Tina for a long time. I think I’ll go over for an hour or two.
go without	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 into	grow big enough to fit	This bike is too big for him now, but he should grow into it by next year.
grow out of	get too big for	Elizabeth needs a new pair of shoes because she has grown out of her old ones.
grow up	become an adult	When Jack grows up he wants to be a fireman.

But watch out – if you use the wrong phrasal verb, you could give your English coach a heart attack! Once a client, when asked what his weekend plans were, told me “I’m going to look for my children. I’ve been looking for them for 2 days now.” I was so upset – I grabbed my phone and wanted to call the police, and was wondering why this guy (who seemed so kind and so nice) was sitting here calmly working on his English when his kids were kidnapped! OMG.

After a few moments of watching me fight back tears, he realised that he made a mistake. He told me that he meant ‘looking after’ his kids (which means ‘to take care of’) – not ‘looking for’ them. Please don’t kill your English coach. I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

If you’d like to check your knowledge of phrasal verbs, try this test – let me know how well you did!

We’ll be working on this and so much more in my Communicate Better In English Masterclass Series – we have only 8 tickets left! Good news travels fast!

Thanks again for reading, Buffi, and I hope you get back to me soon! I’ll always back you up as a coach. I never want you to back down when it comes to facing your fear of English. Don’t back out of doing your homework. It’s my job to get you back on track. Now, let’s get back to business! (See what I did there?)

XXX Buffi