Belmont International English

Phrasal verbs

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Students often tell me that they have a lot of trouble with prepositions.  I usually discover that they do well with prepositions.  The problem is phrasal verbs.  A phrasal verb is a verb thats meaning is changed by the addition of a proposition.  An example is give up.  We all know what give means, and we all know what up means, but we may not know that give up means surrender.
 
I got most of these phrasal verbs from Dave's ESL Café http://www.eslcafe.com/. Click on the link to go to Dave's.   His site is an excellent resource for ESL students and teachers.  I have modified the lists to meet the needs of my classes. 

I usually cover one list each week.  Some letters have so many verbs that I divide them into two lists.  Some have few, so I combine them.  I hand out the list, and explain them and answer questions.  Then, I ask each student to choose five phrasal verbs and write out one sentence for each of these verbs.  This is a homework assignment, and I give them a week to do it.  I find a sample of writing very useful, because it tests not only their use of the phrasal verbs, but shows me where their weaknesses and strengths are, so I can put our efforts where they will do the most good. 
 
Click on a letter to download the phrasal verbs for that list.

A

B 1

B 2

C 1

C 2

D

E, F

G 1

G 2

H

I, J, K

L

M

P 1

P 2

R

S

T 1

T 2

W

One week after I give the set of verbs, I put the students in groups of two or three, and have them substitute the phrasal verb for the phrase in italics in the sentences below.  Click on a letter to download the sentences for phrasal verb substitutions. 

A

B 1

B 2

C 1

C 2

D

E, F

G 1

G 2

H

I, J, K

L

M

P 1

P 2

R

S

T 1

T 2

W