Multi-word verbs - a challenge!
Hello again Marcos!
Thank you for your interesting comments on the current financial crisis. I agree about the importance of interconnectivity, mentioned by you and some of the readers of your post.
You asked for help with phrasal verbs and indirect/direct speech. I’ll focus on phrasal verbs in this post and come back to indirect/direct speech later. I hope that’s OK with you!
Phrasal verbs are one of three types of multi-word verbs*. All three types of multi-word verb consist of a lexical verb* plus one or two particles*. Sometimes it’s possible to guess the meaning of a multi-word verb; sit down for example. Some multi-word verbs have meanings which are impossible to guess; look after (take care of) for example. Other multi-word verbs have more than one meaning, depending on the context; get back meaning return (she got back from York yesterday) and also meaning regain/re-possess (I can’t live without you, what do I need to do to get you back?) etc.*
Another thing to think about when using multi-word verbs is whether an object is possible, or necessary. For example, get back, meaning return, does not take an object*, whereas get back, meaning regain does*. Finally, if the multi-word verb can take an object, you need to think about whether the particle can be separated from the lexical verb. In the case of get back, meaning regain, the object comes before the particle: get you back, NOT get back you.
This is (another!) complex area of grammar* and rather than trying to learn rules, I think it’s more effective to notice, and try using, sentences or short phrases containing multi-word verbs that you like. So……here is a challenge for you…..! Study the examples of multi-word verbs on the BBC LE Funky Phrasals – Careers page and use as many as possible to tell us something about your job. Or, if you prefer, choose another topic within Funky Phrasals and use the multi-words there.
I enjoyed your information about the orthographic reform of Portuguese. I think it’s a good idea to look at the most common mistakes children make when they are learning to spell and consider changing the spelling of those words! I disagree with your statement about your authority over English though! English belongs to its users, of which you are one. So feel free to reform it to suit yourself (and the people you use it to communicate with)!
Thanks to all the people who made comments on Clara’s audio* (Ana Paula, Deepak, James and Hyoshil); we looked at them together with great interest. It’s fascinating for me to read your examples of how young people use (or don’t use) informal language (including slang) and occasional English words (especially in the blogosphere). Daria mentions the ‘edge’ between innovation and mistake, and I think that’s a good choice of word. We can see in Hyoshil’s story about her discussions (arguments?!) with her son that this ‘edge’ is often quite a sharp one!
There isn’t a single ‘original’ or ‘best’ version of English. This is because everyone reading this blog uses English to communicate messages and make friends in ways that are suitable in a particular situation, at a particular time. As the situations and the people we meet change, so does the ‘best’, most suitable, way to communicate. For Daria, the ‘best’ way to communicate in English could be to include some words in Russian....
Marcos, I look forward to seeing how you get on with your multi-word verb challenge and to hearing more from the readers!
Rachel
* multi-word verbs = there are three classes of multi-word verbs: phrasal verbs (lexical verb + particle e.g. sort out meaning solve); prepositional verbs (lexical verb + preposition e.g. check into meaning register at a hotel); and phrasal-prepositional verbs (lexical verb + adverb particle + preposition e.g. put up with meaning tolerate). Sometimes the term ‘phrasal verb’ is used to cover all three classes of multi-word verb.
* lexical = verbs that mean something in themselves and are not just being used to help with grammar. Modal and auxiliary verbs are not treated as lexical verbs because they are concerned with grammatical meaning, not content meaning.
* particle = a small group of words including mainly adverbs and prepositions.
* see this page on dictionary.com for more meanings of get back and other multi-word verbs using get.
* if a verb does not need an object, or any other item to complete its meaning, it is known as an intransitive verb (e.g. appear, begin, die). If a verb does need one, or more, objects, it is a transitive verb (e.g. ask, bring, carry). This information is usually available in your dictionary.
* Last time I was the teacher blogger, some very diligent readers of my blog commented on mistakes or over-generalisations in the information I gave. If you notice anything like this, please feel free to comment!!! I will apologise and make corrections!
* I have now (finally) understood how to use my video camera. So will be looking for (willing) victims for my BBC LE videos!
Comments
Hello Rachel Maybe I´m a little late, but let me tell you that your daughter looks like a very lovely girl. Talking about youth language, of course here in Chile young people have their own dialect, which includes some english words, as cool or clever, with the same meaning you know. But one of the last included in the list is "next", meaning "boring". Apparently, it was picked up from an MTV show, where a girl meet several boys, and she has to choose one. She talks with one of them untill she find out he is not the right candidate, and then she send him away saying "next". So, here, when a teenager ask another How was...(anything)? If the questioned wants to say it was boring, probably will say "neeext". Going to other subject, multi word verbs are a hard defiance for me too. In my opinion, the only solution is practice, practice and more practice. Best Regards.
Hi Rachel! The ortographic reform is a quite polemical issue here nowadays. This reform is an agreement among the eight contries which have the Portuguese as an official language. Its aim is to unified the written language in order to make the written communication clearer and the teaching of Portuguese as a second language easier. Some scholars think that this reform is unnecessary and expensive due the fact that the publishing houses will have to adapt to the changes. In addition to it, some points of this agreement aren´t so clear, so the specialists are asking to people not to buy any dictionay or new grammar till everything will be definitively settle. I have to confess that I´m already missing the stress in the word idea ( now we write ideia instead of idéia)... Anyway, I´m looking forward to seing your video. I hope you can find a willing victim soon :-). Good night, Ana Paula.
Hi Rachel, Earlier I used to concentrate only on improving my vocabulary; however, I have realized that phrasal verbs are as important as vocabulary and most of the time it helps to communicate effectively. So, I started keep a file to jot it down the phrasal verbs now and then besides the vocabulary. Of course, face-up-to phrasal column in the BBC LE helps a lot to learn. When we say ’ sit ‘obviously it implicitly means down, then why are we saying sit down. isn't look redundant ?, also the phrasal verb 'soar up' has same redundant meaning. isn't it ?. Could you please justify, why we have so?. Thanks!.
Dear Rachel, phrasal verbs are impenetrable forest for me! Some of them are rather tricky. The greatest challenge is to learn new ones. Very often they consist of familiar words, but I can’t keep in mind the particular combination. Even if I come across these phrasals again I very often don’t recognize them. Only learning dialogs by heart helps me to memorize them in context. If you know better way, please, share it with us. Thank you for your previous explanations, hope they will help me with “get back” :) If you could add at least one multi-word verb to each of your posts, it would be great! See you later!
Hello Teacher,Rachel,I have never concerntrated on "Phrasal verb". I think sometime I use it in speaking english unknowingly. I agree, that it is another area of complex grammer.I will go ahed as per your advise that to notice and try using sentenses or short pharses containing multi- word verb that you like. I think this is the easy way to learn such complex grammer. I know after giving attention to it, it will be easy to use it. Thank you for having interacted this new area of grammer though it is complex, practice will make it easy. I have no doubt about it. O.K. By Deepak.
Hi Rachel! First off, thanks for your tips. I cannot wait to see your videos. Just out of curiosity, are you one of the teacher who thinks that phrasal verbs are better to use in oral rather than in written English? Several teachers think it is safer to use the phrasal verbs in oral English. If you happen to celebrate Easter, have a happy one!!!
Hi again Rachel! While I was going over my post I realised that I forgot to add the s...I meant to say, are you one of the teachers.. Best wishes, Filippo
Hi Rachel! I am so glad that Marco asked you for help with phrasal verbs and indirect/direct speech. Those areas in English are immensely complicated for me, too. I’ve been struggling to tackle phrasal verbs, as I am resident in English spoken society. I had no idea what people were talking about and why they were hilarious and it sounded Greek to me or like jargon. It drove me to despair whenever I was heard or overheard. So I decided to grapple with the problem and started recording them on my notebook and have used some websites to learn phrasal verbs. if I come across a new idiom, first,I make sure of getting my head round the meaning, and collect new ones similar to it. For instance, a friend, who one of this blog's regular commentor and has passionate for English, ask us to give her a sentence used ‘to grin and bear it’ So I’ve started gathering same or similar ones and these are in my note book, and I love to share them with the readers. 1.To grin and bear it 2.To like it or lump it 3.Take a chill pill 4.To put on a brave face 5.To roll with the punches 6.To put that in your pipe and smoke it 7.To see you later alligator In my experience, using them in a writing or conversation with friends as much as I can is the best way of expanding my knowledge of idioms. By the way, I’ve been accumulating ‘death idioms’, and I have found this expression is so interesting'brown bread dead'even though I haven’t a clue where it stems from. Have a wonderful day!x
I was so mazed to learn the beauty of phrasal verbs when your effort to imporove the paragraph wriiten by Marcus was juxtaposed.Please do this type of work as it gives us a lot of lesson.
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