Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English with Jennifer.
Do you ever think about something you did and say, "Yeah, I could have done that better"?
I'd be surprised if you said no. I think we can all admit that some of our past choices
weren't the best ones. The difference is whether we look back with regret or look back to learn.
If I could go back in time, I might change what videos I made and how I made them. But
then again, every single video I ever made was a learning experience for me.
All of my experiments taught me something. I didn't wake up one morning in 2007 and say,
"I'm going to start a YouTube channel, and I know exactly how to do it."
No. I didn't know. I knew so little, but I had ideas. I made plans, and then I carried them out
to the best of my ability -- while raising two kids and running a household. I'm learning not
to be so hard on myself and to be less critical when I look back. And I guess that's what I want
to tell you too. No one will ever wake up and be perfect. You can only face the day and do your
best with what you have and who you are today. When you carry out your plans, have hope and have
the best intentions. That way when you look back at the end of the day, you won't have any regrets.
In this lesson, we'll practice using three common phrasal verbs: look back, wake up, carry out.
In another lesson, I covered the many uses of "back" to talk about the past. I included
phrasal verbs like "look back." "Look back" is an intransitive phrasal verb. No object.
It means to think and consider the past. We can use prepositional phrases to be more specific.
We can look back at, on, or to something.
When we look back on this decade, how will we remember it? We may not have the answer yet.
When you look back at your childhood, is there anything you miss? I miss having
someone cook for me. If you'd like, you can tell me your answer to the question in the comments.
If you look back to the 1940s, do you have any positive associations?
I think of big band music. Jazz in general was really popular in the U.S. in the first half of
the 20th century. Did you know that I really enjoyed big band music and jazz ballads? I
certainly didn't experience the 1940s, but I like the music from that era. In fact, I bought tickets
to a concert later this month, so a friend and I are going to hear live big band music.
Here are two expressions with this phrasal verb that you can use in conversation.
The first: looking back on it. This means, "When I think about it..."
I could also shorten that to "looking back." Looking back, I realized that listening to the
music that my parents and grandparents liked exposed me to a wide range of music styles.
Looking back now, I feel like our lives changed because they had to. The second
expression is "never look back." It means when you make a decision or make a change, you don't
have regrets. It's especially appropriate when one phase of your life ends and another begins.
Jessie quit her office job and started her own online store. She's never looked back.
Will moved to the West Coast and never looked back. In fact,
he's never returned to New York for a visit.
A variation is "no looking back." You can say it all by itself and it means,
"Don't think about the past. Move on."
No regrets. No looking back. Hey! If you like the lesson so far, please subscribe. If you're
already a subscriber, consider becoming a YouTube member. Learning opportunities are a click away.
"Wake up" can be intransitive or transitive. When we stop sleeping, we wake up.
If we need someone else to stop sleeping, we say, "Wake up!" Wake up, honey. Wake up. Wake up.
In the movie clip, the daughter is trying to wake up her mother,
but she's having trouble. You can wake up all by yourself, but if you're in a deep sleep,
then someone or something can wake you up. As a transitive phrasal verb, "wake up" is separable.
We put a pronoun object in between the verb and the particle: wake her up. This movie
is called Freaky Friday, and the mother and daughter actually switch bodies, so the mother
is actually like a teenager who doesn't want to wake up early and go to school. And the daughter,
who inside is actually a middle-aged woman, is trying to wake up her mother. It's a funny comedy,
and it stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan. I recommend it. Can you wake up on your own in
the morning or do you need an alarm to wake you up? Maybe you need two alarms to wake you up.
You can let me know in the comments. Another way we use "wake up" is to get someone's attention
we think they've failed to realize or notice something important. They don't see the true
situation, so we tell them wake up. A common expression is, "Wake up and smell the coffee."
Wake up and smell the coffee. Rose, wake up and smell the coffee.
We can also wake up to something. Literally, we can wake up to a beautiful morning. Figuratively,
we can wake up to the fact that the world has changed. Something is different now.
"Carry out" is a transitive phrasal verb, and it's separable.
When you carry something out, you do it. You perform it or execute it. What can you carry out?
Carry out a plan. Carry out an experiment.
An army can carry out an attack. Scientists carry out research.
The verbs "perform" and "execute" are academic equivalents of "carry out."
So is "conduct." Scientists can conduct an experiment;
they can carry it out. An army can execute a maneuver; they can carry it out.
Carrying something out can also be about performing your duty or fulfilling a promise.
When you sign a contract, you promise to carry out your duties.
When a superior gives you instructions, you're expected to carry them out. Please carry out my
instructions. I need you to stay on board and carry out my instructions. We can use "carry
out" in the passive voice. How would you change these verbs from active to passive?
The orders were carried out. A series of tests will be carried out.
By the way, some people use "carryout" to
refer to the food that you buy at a restaurant and then take home to eat.
Personally, I think "takeout" is a lot more common in American English for that context.
If you're ordering pizza at a pizza place, they may ask you, "Is that for here or take out?" So,
when we talk about "carry out," let's stick to the meaning of perform, execute, or conduct.
We've covered three of the most common phrasal verbs in English. Do you remember any others?
If you've watched my earlier lessons, then a few dozen phrasal verbs should be familiar
to you by now. Let's review a little. One. Match the phrasal verbs to their meanings.
Two. Which phrasal verbs are physical motions?
Three. Use the phrasal verbs to complete the text.
At first, I didn't know what was going on, but I knew Kaylee was stressed.
She didn't complain, but I found out that she had a new part-time job.
She showed up to school really tired. Kaylee finally admitted that she had taken on too much,
but she needed the extra money right now. I told her to please take care of herself.
Four. Match the phrasal verbs to their meanings.
Five. Match the phrasal verbs to their objects.
Six. Use the phrasal verbs to complete the phrases.
Seven. Use the correct preposition or adverb.
Eight. Use the phrasal verbs to complete the ideas.
Nine. Match the phrasal verbs to their meanings.
Ten. Use the correct particles to complete the phrasal verbs.
Bonus! What is the expression with this phrasal verb?
Wake up and smell the coffee!
We'll end here. Remember you can't learn all the phrasal verbs in English in a single day
or a month. It takes time. Make a realistic plan and then carry it out. Wake up to each new day
with the optimism that you can learn something new. Study and review regularly. That way,
when you look back, you'll know that you've done your best to make progress.
Please remember to like and share this video if you found the lesson
useful. As always, thanks for watching and happy studies!
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Why not join me on Patreon?
And don't forget to subscribe on YouTube!