Hi guys! I'm your teacher Luke. Many of my students ask me how to speak more
naturally in English and one of the things I tell them is to use more
phrasal verbs. This is because phrasal verbs are really common in everyday
spoken English, but many learners probably like you don't use them. But not
anymore because in this video I'm gonna show you five phrasal verbs you can use
to talk about your job and show you how to use them correctly! But before we
start please hit that like button and subscribe to this channel if you're new
here. Okay let's get started okay so the first phrasal verb is 'get ahead' 'get
ahead'. Here's an example; "if you want to get ahead in a job like mine you have to
work long hours." So the phrasal verb 'get ahead' means to be successful in your job.
To be ahead of others. Have a look at this example, "It's difficult for women to
get ahead in politics." This means that it is difficult for women to be successful
in politics. Okay good. Now you know what this phrasal verb means, let's take a
look at how to use it correctly. So to get ahead is what we call an
intransitive phrasal verb. That means you don't need to use an object with it. So, I
can just say, "I want to get ahead." That is a complete sentence. But, if you want
to add more information, you can by using the preposition 'in'. Just like this, "I want
to get ahead in my career." "That's not the way to get ahead in life." "Son if you want to get ahead in this world." The
next one is 'knock off' 'knock off'. For example, "I usually knock off work early
on Fridays." So, to knock off means to stopor finish work usually at the end of a
work day so at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. This is an informal phrasal verb so don't use it
with your boss or your manager instead use it with your colleagues or your
friends. Now, let's take a look at how to use 'knock off' correctly. So firstly you
should know that this is a transitive phrasal verb that means we must use an
object with it for example, "I knocked off work
early." In this sentence 'work' is the object. The second thing you need to know
is that this is a non-separable phrasal verb, so it's always, "I knocked off work."
Not "I knocked work off", that's incorrect. "Because I've got a knock off work to
come here and the commute is killing me." The third one on this list is 'snowed
under' 'snowed under' here's a quick example, "I can't make it to the party
tonight because I'm snowed under at work." So to be snowed under means to be really
busy with a lot of work and you feel overwhelmed or stressed by it. Okay, so
how do we use this phrasal verb correctly? Wel,l it's mostly used with the
prepositions 'with' and 'at'. For example, "I'm snowed under with work at the moment" or
"I'm snowed under at the office." Another good phrasal verb you can use at work is
to 'stick at something' 'stick at something'.So, here's a quick example, "Even though
I'm finding this new project really difficult, I'm gonna stick at it." So, to
stick at something means to continue to work hard at something even though you
find it really difficult. Another common example is, "If you stick at it, I'm sure
it'll get a lot easier." What this means, basically, is don't quit, continue working
hard even though you find it difficult. Right now okay, again how do we use this
correctly. Well stick at is again a transitive phrasal verb that's why we
always say stick at something it needs an object and that something is the
object. You should also know that this is a non separable phrasal verb so the
object always comes after the phrasal verb. Like this, "Stick at your job." "Stick
at your work." "You just have to stick at it and you will!" And the last phrasal
verb is a really common one and it is 'pile up' 'pile up'. Here's an example, "My
work keeps piling up. It never ends." So we use pile up when something becomes
more and more usually in a negative way. For
example like, work. paperwork, meetings, problems, this kind of thing. Here's
another example, "The problems in my office keep piling up." Ok and of course
let's take a look at how to use pile up correctly. So to pile up is an
intransitive phrasal verb that means you don't need an object with it, so you can
just say something piles up. "My problems pile up." "My work piles up." If you want to
add more information you can add an adverb after the phrasal verb just like
this, "My work piles up quickly." In this sentence 'quickly' is the adverb and it
adds more information to your sentence. "Paperwork's piling up." Ok that's it for
this video. If you liked it, please give it a like and subscribe to this channel
if you haven't already. Also, do you have any recommendations for future videos. If
you have something you want me to teach you, write it in the comments below and
I'll make a video just for that. Ok see you guys.