How to Correctly Use Phrasal Verbs in English
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hi everybody welcome back to ask alicia
the weekly series where you ask me
questions and i answer them
maybe okay let’s get to your first
question this week
first question this week comes from mari
hi mari
mari says could you please explain
how to know when i can separate a
phrasal verb by putting a noun
between the verb and the preposition
great question
let’s think about this in two categories
phrasal verbs that you can split
are phrasal verbs that take a direct
object these are called
transitive phrasal verbs but please
note that just because a phrasal verb
takes a direct object does
not necessarily mean that you can split
it let’s take a look at some examples
i wrote down her phone number i
wrote her phone number down this is an
example of a phrasal verb
write down or wrote down in past tense
that can be split
the direct object here is her phone
number we can put
her phone number after wrote down in the
past tense
or we can put it between wrote and down
this is one that we can split let’s look
at another example
he opened up the file and started
working
he opened the file up and started
working
in this sentence the phrasal verb is
open up past tense opened up
we can move the file the direct object
to the middle
of the phrasal verb if we want to opened
up the file
is fine opened the file up is also fine
so this is another example of a phrasal
verb that we can split a transitive
phrasal verb that is splittable
let’s take a look now at a transitive
phrasal verb that we cannot split
we got in the car this is an example of
a phrasal verb that we cannot split
so to get in something means to put
yourself
into something but we cannot move the
car
between get and in we cannot say we get
the car in this is an example of a
transitive phrasal verb that we cannot
split so how do we know which ones are
splittable
and which ones are not splittable or
separable and inseparable
unfortunately there isn’t an easy rule
for distinguishing the two
it just takes time and practice let’s
now talk about
intransitive phrasal verbs so phrasal
verbs that do not take a direct object
which are intransitive phrasal verbs
cannot be split we cannot move the noun
after the phrasal verb to
the middle of the phrasal verb some
examples of this
i like to work out my plan fell through
she loved her trip to france she’s
planning to go back next year
the interviewee never showed up so in
each of these example sentences the
phrasal verb is in bold
in each of these examples as well the
phrasal verb does not take a direct
object that means that we cannot split
the phrasal verb
so again these are called intransitive
phrasal verbs
in sum intransitive phrasal verbs cannot
be split
some transitive phrasal verbs can be
split
please take a look at inseparable
transitive
phrasal verbs to get a list of
vocabulary words that you can study so
that you can remember which ones need to
stay together
so i hope that this helps you thanks
very much for the question
okay let’s move on to your next question
next question
comes from jose elias hello jose
jose says hi alicia i would like to know
how to use
rap for example when people say your
life was a wrap
or you are a wrap i would like to know
other possible meanings please
generally when we use the expression
it’s a wrap or that’s a wrap it means
that something is
finished it’s complete we often use this
word
in like media like film production movie
production or tv production related work
when something has come to an end we can
say it’s a wrap
or that’s a wrap which means we’re
finished or we’re done
we might also hear this in business or
professional settings to mean
this is finished as in this project is
finished or
this meeting is finished you might say
let’s wrap up this meeting which means
let’s finish this meeting or let’s
conclude this meeting
so it tends to have this idea this
feeling of something being
finished something being completed to
look specifically at the examples that
you provided here
while they’re not sentences i would say
maybe not phrases i would say
perhaps those would be used in very
specific situations
like he got in trouble with his parents
and they said he couldn’t go
out for a month his social life was a
wrap which means his social life is over
as a result of something that happened
so that might be a situation where you’d
hear something like his life was a wrap
or her life was a wrap
if someone says you are a rap it sounds
like maybe i’m finished with you
i suppose again these are not
expressions that i personally would say
but that might be how someone would use
this
okay to end this question let’s talk
about one more very common use of
rap we have the expression to be wrapped
up in something or to be wrapped up in
someone
which means you are so involved or so
interested in someone or something
that you ignore things outside that or
you don’t pay enough attention to those
things so for example
i’m so wrapped up in this tv show i
forgot my friend’s birthday
or why are you so wrapped up in your new
relationship
i never see you anymore so it means that
someone is too interested or too
involved in something and they forget
about the other things in their life we
also have this meaning
associated with rap so i hope that this
helps you thanks for the question
okay let’s move on to your next question
next question
comes from miriam atef hi miriam maryam
says hey alicia
what is the difference between
infectious and
contagious good question something that
is
infectious is something that is capable
of
causing sickness so an infectious
disease
is a disease that can cause someone to
become sick
so that means that diseases are commonly
called
infectious diseases some examples
prevent the spread of infectious disease
by washing your hands
there was something infectious in my
food and now i’m sick
contagious on the other hand refers to
something that can be passed to another
person through
contact some example sentences
i’m sneezing a lot but don’t worry it’s
just allergies
i’m not contagious there’s a highly
contagious cold going around this year
so to think about the relationship
between these two words
something that is contagious is always
infectious
so for example a cold a cold is a germ
it’s a disease
and it can be passed between people so
it is contagious
and it is infectious however something
that is infectious
is not always contagious i gave the
example of
allergies in an earlier example sentence
allergies are an example of something
that is infectious but
not contagious so we can’t pass
allergies from person to person
one person just has this unfortunate
relationship with like dust or maybe
like
cats or dogs or something something
causes this unfortunate reaction in a
person but it is not contagious
it’s the same idea with something like
food poisoning if you eat something
and there’s an infectious germ in there
you can get sick
but you can’t pass that to another
person through contact
so again something that is contagious is
also infectious
but something that is infectious is not
necessarily contagious
on a lighter note we also use these
words to talk about moods feelings and
emotions like you might say
her laughter is infectious or his energy
is contagious
so we can use these words to talk about
concepts as well
so i hope that this helps you thanks for
the question all right
let’s move on to your next question next
question comes from
rice hi ryza rysa says hi alicia i’m
trying to memorize some phrasal verbs
but sometimes i don’t understand the
need to use a preposition
when the verb without the preposition
means the same thing
for example what’s the difference
between she called him
and she called him up thanks yeah this
is a good question
in this example the two have the same
meaning yes as you said
but the one with up sounds a little more
casual
so she called him and she called him up
are the same
but she called him sounds a little more
formal
i would use she called him in a more
polite situation
and she called him up in a more casual
situation
if you’re not sure just use she called
him another example of this might be
something like
close down so for example if we say the
store closed down
or the store closed the two have the
same meaning and depending on the
context it could mean
the store closed for the day or the
store closed permanently
but again the one with the preposition
closed down
sounds a little bit more casual so if i
want to make sure that i’m being polite
in a polite situation
i would probably choose to say the store
closed
if i want to sound a little bit more
casual a little more conversational i
might say
closed down so this is an imperfect rule
actually this is not a rule this is just
a guide really if you’re not sure which
to use
and you think that the two verbs might
have the same meaning so that means
just the regular verb and the verb with
the preposition
if you think the two have the same
meaning and you’re not sure which to
choose
choose the one that doesn’t have the
preposition attached to it so it’s
better to sound a little bit more polite
and then you won’t be in any trouble
ever than to sound a little bit too
casual
sometimes so this is kind of a general
guide that i hope helps you make
decisions with verbs like these
thanks for the question okay let’s move
on to your next question
next question comes from eduardo botrell
hello eduardo
eduardo says hi alicia you are a great
teacher i learned a lot with you thanks
cool eduardo says my question is
is the expression bear with me used a
lot in everyday life
and when can i use it it’s a common
expression
yes but whether it’s
commonly used in everyday life depends
on the person
so first let’s talk about what this
expression means bear with me means
please tolerate me or please be patient
with me
we use this expression like when we know
we’re being difficult or when we know
maybe we’ve caused a problem
or we’re related to a problem and we’re
asking for the other person’s patience
or the other person’s kindness
so you might hear this if someone is
trying to solve a problem and it’s
taking a long time
like on the phone if i’m like a
technical support person i might say
bear with me i’m working on a solution
like to try to solve someone’s problem
so that means please be patient with me
i’m trying to solve this
issue or maybe if someone made a mistake
you might say
i’m really sorry i messed up please bear
with me i won’t let it happen again
so it’s like asking for someone’s
patience so if maybe you’re the type of
person that messes up a lot or you know
that you’re being really difficult or
something
you might say a lot please bear with me
but hopefully you don’t have to use this
expression so much
so yes it is natural to use an everyday
conversation hopefully you don’t have to
use it that much but i hope that this
helps you understand some situations in
which
you might need to use it so thanks very
much for this question
all right that is everything that i have
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next week bye
you