Learning English

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Introduction

Georgie teaches you some phrasal verbs that can be used to talk about climate change. 

Phrasal verbs mentioned

heat up
increase in temperature

• The planet is heating up due to a high level of CO2 in the atmosphere.
• If you put food in the microwave, it heats up. 

rely on (something)
depend on something; need something for another thing to function 

• Humans rely on fossil fuels to heat our homes and fuel our cars. 
• When I broke my ankle, I relied on my family to help me around the house. 

dry up
lose liquid and become dry

• This valley used to be a lake but it dried up centuries ago. 
• The juice you spilled on the floor has finally dried up.

die out
gradually become extinct e.g. species 

• If we don't protect their habitats, many species will die out before the end of the century. 
• Some traditional skills are dying out in modern society. 

wipe (something) out 
eliminate something, e.g. a species, in a sudden and destructive way

• Pollution and deforestation have wiped out entire ecosystems.
• The hurricane wiped out the entire neighbourhood, leaving only destruction and debris. 

cut down on (something)
use or do less of something 

• One way to combat climate change is to cut down on our use of fossil fuels.
• I'm going to start cutting down on sugar to improve my health. 

fight for (something)
push for (something)
try really hard to achieve something or make it happen 

• The community is fighting for cleaner air and water in their neighbourhood.
• The workers are pushing for higher wages and better conditions. 

take part in (something)
participate in an activity or event

• I took part in a beach clean-up event and together we removed 200 bags of rubbish. 
• Every year, we take part in a fundraising challenge to raise money for sustainability projects. 

TOP TIPS!

• If you see the word ‘something’, it usually means the verb requires an object.
• If ‘something’ is in the middle of the phrasal verb, it means that it can be separated by the object (but doesn’t have to be).
• If ‘something’ is at the end of the phrasal verb, it means it cannot be separated.
• When a pronoun, e.g. him, her, them, is the object of a separable phrasal verb, it must go between the verb and the particle.

To do

Practise by using the worksheet on this page.

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Tenses with Georgie 

Prepositions with Georgie 

Conditionals with Georgie

Try our other vocabulary programmes