Hello and welcome to this lesson. Today you're going to add the top 10 phrasal verbs to your
vocabulary. Of course I'm Jennifer from JForrest English.com. And this channel is dedicated to
helping you feel confident speaking English in public so you can take your career and your life
to the next level. Now, before we go any further, make sure you subscribe and hit that bell icon
so you're notified every time I post a new lesson. Now, let's get started with this lesson.
Are you ready to add the top 10 phrasal verbs to your vocabulary? Now make sure you watch right
on the end because you're going to complete a quiz to make sure you know how to use these
new phrasal verbs. Let's get started with phrasal verb number one. Number one: to abide by. This is
more of a formal phrasal verb because it's used when you accept or follow a rule or regulation.
So we use it mainly with government rules, court rules, even business rules as well.
For example, as a tourist you have to abide by the rules of the country you're visiting. So if
you see a sign that says no parking, you have to abide by that rule. You have to follow that rule.
Now remember, we also use this to say you accept, you accept, but then you follow it. For example,
let's say you go to court because of a dispute, and the court doesn't rule in your favor. You
still have to abide by that decision. You have to accept it and then follow it. So this is a more
formal phrasal verb, but it's very useful because we all have to abide by many different rules,
regulations and policies. Number two: to dawn on. This is an excellent phrasal verb to add to your
daily vocabulary. To dawn on is when you finally realize or understand something. For example,
one day it just dawned on me that I need to change careers. So one day I just realized I
need to change careers. So you can absolutely say realize, we're just using the phrasal verb dawn on
and it's extremely common. Now notice the sentence structure here. It dawned on me.
Something dawns on someone. So that 'it' is the realization. It dawned on me that I need to change
careers. So just keep that in mind because the sentence structure is commonly used with
'it dawned' on and then 'someone'. Number three: to pull off. This is also a must know phrasal
verb. When you pull something off, you're able to do something that is difficult or
unlikely to do. For example, let's say you're a wedding planner, and a couple comes to you
and tells you they want to have this huge 300 person wedding in three weeks. And they want you
to plan everything. That's really difficult. And it might even be unlikely that you're able to plan
a 300-person wedding in three weeks. So you could say, I don't know if I can pull that off. I don't
know if I can do that because it's very difficult. I don't know if I can pull that off. The 'that'
being planning the 300-person wedding. Now let's say you do successfully plan the wedding.
After you could say, I can't believe I pulled that off. I can't believe I pulled off planning
a 300-person wedding in only three weeks. Number four: to back out of. This is an
excellent business phrasal verb. It's used when you fail to keep a commitment or a promise.
Now in a business context, a commitment could be something you agreed to or arranged to. It can
be formal and you have a contract in place or it could be more informal and you just agreed to it
verbally. So if you don't keep that commitment, then you back out of it. For example, I can't
believe the client backed out at the last minute. Now notice here I just said backed out. I didn't
use the 'of'. We only use 'of' when you specify the noun, the something. I can't believe the
client backed out of the agreement, the project, the plan, the proposal at the last minute. Number
five: to clam up. This is an excellent phrasal verb for all of you or anyone that does public
speaking because when you clam up, you're unable to speak, usually because of fear or nervousness.
But this can also be used if you simply refuse to speak, for whatever reason. For example,
I always clam up when I'm public speaking. When I'm public speaking, I become unable to get the
words out. You clam up. Now my advice to you is, if you feel like you're going to clam up,
just take a deep breath. Number seven: to mull over. When you mull something over,
you think about it or you consider it. And the something you're mulling over is simply
an idea, a proposal, a suggestion and you mull it over. You think about it, you consider it.
So let's say you're in a meeting and a client or colleague suggests a new tool to use and you need
to think about it. So you could say, give me a few days to mull it over and I'll get back to you.
To mull it over. That 'it' being using the tool, purchasing the tool, whatever you're going to do.
Give me a few days to mull it over. Now, you can also specify the noun and you can say,
I need some mull the deal over before I commit. Number seven: to pan out. This is
an extremely common phrasal verb. To pan out simply talks about how a situation develops.
For example, I'm not sure how this merger will pan out. So the situation here is the merger
and we're talking about how well the merger is going to go. How's it going to develop. Will it
be positive? Will it be negative? Will there be challenges or difficulties, benefits? That's how
the situation develops. So here I'm saying I'm not sure. I'm not sure how the merger will pan out.
Now let's say the merger had some difficulties or challenges. You could say, the merger didn't
pan out, didn't develop, the merger didn't pan out as we had expected. Number eight:
to ramble on. This is an excellent one for all you public speakers. Because when you
ramble on, you talk at length without getting to the point. So let's say I rambled on
for five minutes trying to explain the definition of ramble on and at the end, you didn't understand
it at all and you're confused, you're a little annoyed because I wasted your time.
I rambled on. So this is used as a negative, and it's used when you're communicating an idea.
So we generally use this as a complaint. The speaker rambled on for 20 minutes.
Number nine: to nod off. This is when you fall asleep, but it's when you fall asleep usually
for a very short period of time, and usually when you're not supposed to. So this isn't when you
go to bed at the end of the night. Okay, so let's say you're in a meeting at work and your
colleague is rambling on and the topic is very boring, and you start doing this...that's
nodding off. And this motion of your head, what I'm doing, this is the verb 'to nod',
nod your head. So when you fall asleep, what do you do? You nod your head? So that's where
this phrasal verb, to nod off, comes from. And remember we use this for short periods of time,
usually when you're not supposed to fall asleep. For example, when you're driving! So I might say,
I always listen to loud music when I'm driving at night so I don't nod off. And number 10: I love
this phrasal verb, to luck out. When you luck out, you're very lucky in a specific situation.
So let's say there's this major sale on the new iPhone model and they're selling for 50% off. And
you go to the store and you get the very last one. You could say, I can't believe I lucked out and
got the new iPhone for 50% off. You lucked out. You were very lucky in this specific situation.
Or let's say you're driving during rush hour and you're going to an appointment and you get
a parking spot right in front of the office in rush hour downtown. You can say, I can't believe
I lucked out and got such an amazing parking spot. Or if you're telling that story to a friend, I got
this parking spot right in front of the building downtown during rush hour. They could say,
wow, you really lucked out. You really lucked out by getting that parking spot.
So now you have 10 new phrasal verbs added to your vocabulary.
So are you ready for your quiz? Here are the questions. Hit pause and complete the quiz now.
So how was that quiz, easy, difficult? How did you do?
Let's find out. Here are the answers. Hit pause and compare your answers to the correct answers.
All right. So how did you do? Make sure you share your score
in the comments below. And make sure you practice some of these new phrasal verbs,
do some example sentences so you feel really confident with them. And if you found this
video helpful, please hit the like button, share it with your friends and of course subscribe.
And before you go make sure you head on over to my website JForrestEnglish.com
and download your free speaking guide. In this guide, I share six tips on how to speak
English fluently and confidently, so you don't clam up! And until next time, Happy Studying!