What are phrasal verbs?

Phrasal verbs are verbs that change their basic meaning by adding a preposition or adverb. For example, “I came across this envelope in my office.” Phrasal verbs are very useful, as they allow us to express complex ideas in a concise way. They are also very common in spoken and other informal English — so learning them is essential for anyone who wants to communicate effectively.

However, learning to understand and use phrasal verbs can be a huge challenge for English learners, for several reasons.

Why are phrasal verbs challenging for English learners?

The meanings of phrasal verbs can change depending on the context and the particles that are used.

Phrasal verbs can be challenging to learn because they can have a variety of meanings depending on the context in which they are used. Consider the phrasal verb “take off”. In some contexts, it can mean “to remove” — The room was warm, so she took off her jacket. It can also mean “to depart [suddenly]” — They took off without saying goodbye. In other cases, it can describe success or popularity — The singer’s career took off after his first hit single. 

Moreover, the meanings of phrasal verbs can vary depending on the particles that are used. For example, the phrasal verb “to look for” means “to search for”, but “to look after” means “to take care of”. Imagine wrapping your mind around that as an English learner!

Phrasal verbs are often idiomatic, and their meanings cannot be deduced from the meanings of their individual parts.

Consider the phrasal verb “to get away with”. It means “to do something wrong without being punished”, but you wouldn’t be able to guess that from the component words. Unfortunately, this means that learners must try to memorise the meanings of each phrasal verb, or hope to infer the meaning from context.

Native speakers often don’t even realise they are using phrasal verbs.

I’m a native English speaker, and grew up speaking English at school. I didn’t come across the term “phrasal verb” until my early twenties — even though I’d been using them for well over a decade. That goes to show that native speakers often use phrasal verbs without being aware of the technical term or the grammatical rules behind them.

Phrasal verbs are deeply ingrained in English speech and are commonly used in everyday conversations. Native speakers acquire and use phrasal verbs naturally through exposure to the language from an early age. They learn the meaning and usage of phrasal verbs through context, repeated exposure, and usage patterns rather than explicitly studying them as a separate linguistic concept.

While this might be frustrating for English learners, the good news is that by similarly exposing themselves to authentic English learning materials, they can also learn to understand and use phrasal verbs confidently.

At what CEFR level do English students learn about phrasal verbs?

Learners typically start encountering and learning phrasal verbs at the B1 CEFR level. At this level, learners have already built a strong foundation in basic grammar and vocabulary and are ready to move onto more complex linguistic structures. Phrasal verbs are gradually introduced and reinforced throughout the B1-B2 levels, as they become increasingly important for communication.

How to teach phrasal verbs to English learners

We know that coming across phrasal verbs in context, and repeated exposure, are important for English learners to understand what they mean and how to use them. Online learning resources can be incredibly helpful in achieving this.

Phrasal verbs are used throughout all of our online English programs — hundreds of hours worth of authentic learning materials. Tense Buster, our grammar program, is particularly useful. In addition to coming across phrasal verbs in context, learners will also have a whole topic dedicated specifically to phrasal verbs — what they are, strategies to understand them and use them effectively, and a lot of practice!

If you have any questions on Tense Buster, or any of our other online English programs, please get in touch.