Prepositions and phrasal verbs
I hate them you hate them
but there is a super easy way to learn lots of phrasal verbs in, like, a second
if you understand how the preposition works
then you'll understand millions of phrasal verbs
Ok maybe not millions but, you know, a lot
First: what's a phrasal verb? it's a verb with one or two particles, prepositions
which isn't usually easy to understand so everyone hates them
but again learn the common meanings of that preposition and it's super easy
"UP" is a really interesting preposition it's so useful
Of course sometimes a verb with up is obvious
It's a direction of movement, for example:
Surprise! Surprise!
Happy birthday!
Look up! I make that sign! I made it!
"Look up", "Look down", basically any verb which gives movement and "UP"
implies movement in that direction
the second common meaning of "UP" is also quite easy quite obvious
if you want to say something "Increased"
"This year, our sales INCREASED"
You might use the preposition "UP", for example:
"This year our sales WENT UP"
"Sales went up" they increased
Change that verb to add more meaning
let's imagine that the sales went up very fast
we want to say increase so the preposition is UP
but which verb implies movement in that direction very fast?
We could have "Jump", "Leap", "Rocket"
So you could say "The sales jumped up / leapt up / rocketed up"
and if you're going to take the IELTS exam
those phrasal verbs are very useful
particularly for the writing section
and the reading too.
speaking too
listening too
all of it
Oh and of course you know "Turn up"
"To turn up the volume" = To increase the volume
If it's cold I might want to turn up the heat
to increase the heat
See! Your phrasal verb vocabulary is going up loads already
We also use a verb with up to add emphasis to say:
I completely finished something, I did it to completion
What do I mean?
Here's an example:
If I say "I cleaned" it might mean I cleaned everything
It might mean I cleaned a little bit here and there
But, if I say "I cleaned UP"
this now sounds like yeah I cleaned everything
again it just adds emphasis to say you've finished something it's completed it's done, everything!
Let's use it in other situations for example there's pizza in the kitchen
Well there was pizza in the kitchen but
You ate ALL of the pizza, how might you say this?
of course you could say:
"I ate it all" that's fine, but if you add UP "I ate it all up"
You're adding emphasis to mean EVERYTHING!
and in this case you could remove "all"
So: "Yeah, I ate it up! What?!"
"Don't judge me! I like pizza!"
So let's look at that in other verbs, for example:
You're in a pub, it's time to leave
but you still have your drink
this looks like pee
Your friends say "Come on, we have to leave, FINISH your drink"
What will they say to you?
Come on we have to go!
Drink UP!
if you go to your friend's house and you want to use their milk
you might ask "Can I use your milk?"
but what if you finish the milk?
What will you tell your friend?
To add that emphasis to say "I FINISHED your milk"
"I used up your milk."
"Sorry I used up your milk"
It just adds emphasis
The exception however
If you watched all of Walking Dead you completed it
You would NOT say "I watched up all of Walking Dead"
We don't say that this way
for some verbs we just don't use them
if you said it, we would understand from the preposition from the context
but it's the style we just we don't say that
My rule of thumb is if you hear someone using a verb with up in that context
Then you can use it. It means it's in common use
Another meaning of UP means to approach someone or something
and this phrasal verb is usually "UP TO someone"/ "UP TO something"
For example:
I was in a bar and this guy came up to me
and asked for a fight
in other words he approached me
he came near to me, he came close to me
He came UP TO me
Change the verb, make it interesting
How can you approach someone?
You can walk up to someone
You could run up to someone
or, why not, I saw a cute girl and I danced up to her
In a car, you can drive up to the entrance of a building
So in this way, the preposition UP has this "arrive" feeling to it
Like in those last examples
and one very useful phrasal verb to remember is "Show up" or "Turn up"
they mean "arrive in a strange or unexpected way"
For example: You can turn up to work two hours late
Show up to work five hours early
not just late or early
something is strange or different about how you arrived
For example, if I die and at my funeral this happens...
Aly's dead
Seriously? You showed up in a banana suit!?
Are you mental?
okay, actually if I die one day I insist
I'm saying it here officially
At my funeral everyone must be in banana suits
otherwise you're not invited
Now you know the common meanings of UP,
you can adapt that so many many different verbs
That is how we native speakers know and understand phrasal verbs
through the preposition
okay next, in these phrasal verbs
the preposition up doesn't follow the logic of what we just learned
the meanings are completely random
But they're the most useful, common phrasal verbs that I can give you
Let's go!
End up / Wind up
You're telling a story
Lots of things happen in the story
but you want to say how the story ends
how the situation finishes
use END UP or WIND UP for example:
Oh man I went drinking last Friday, I ended up in France the next morning!
it just means the end of a story
Make up
there are two meanings of this phrasal verb
one of them means to invent a lie, make a story
You lie, basically
Yeah can I have a regular latte, please?
Hi
Hi!
You know, I work for... Bitcoin
Oh really?
No, that's a lie, I'm sorry. I made it up
Uh huh
However another meaning of make up
or make up with someone
this means you had a friendship or a relationship
You stopped that friendship in a bad way, you're not friends, you don't like each other
but then you become friends again
You "make up" or "make up with each other"
For example:
- I hate you - I hate YOU!
- Aww I love you let's be friends again! - Okay
- Aww! - They made up!
"Come up"
When something unexpected happens, maybe a problem
something "CAME UP" for example:
Oh I'm so sorry I have to leave,
something's just come up but I'll call you later
This is very useful when you want to cancel a meeting but not give details about why
"Something came up! I have to not do the thing!"
"Come up with"
this time you need to improvise
create an idea story a plan
then you COME UP WITH something
For example:
What are you doing for Valentine's Day?
Noooo! That's tomorrow, isn't it?!
I'll buy flowers or something
I'll come up with something!
"Hurry up!" You want someone to move faster, you say "Hurry up!"
Example:
Ugh! Hurry up, I want my coffee!
"Break up" when a relationship ends
Use "break up" or "split up", example:
Why are we breaking up? Is this because I fart in bed?
Yeah it's exactly that
Look something up
You want to find information to Google something, for example:
You want to find an address, a phone number, some information
You LOOK it UP
You find that information, for example:
Excuse me, mmm where does the Queen live?
I don't know actually, I'll look it up
"To throw up" it means to vomit, sometimes it happens to everyone
Lucy!
Are you okay?
Well don't throw up! This is a clean shirt!
Urgh!
Wait you're not gonna - No! No! No! No!
Gross!
Oh I'm so sorry!
and finally when something explodes it "Blows up"
Whoa! Oh my god did you see that? The car just blew up!
And if you want more practice with phrasal verbs with the preposition "UP"
I made some lesson notes, a worksheet
the link to that is in the description
Thanks for watching! if you learned something today please share this video
It really helps me
and if you do, I will love you, and only you, forever