PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES WITH PHRASAL VERBS FOR B2/C1 STUDENTS – EPISODE 4 – Includes Listening Input!
As you know Phrasal Verbs play a major role in language learning. This time we are going to focus on the following 10 Phrasal Verbs: HEAR OUT – WRAP UP – CARRY ON – DRIFT APART – MAKE OUT – HAND IN – IRON OUT – ADD UP – CASH IN ON – DO WITHOUT
I – Meaning/Explanation of the Phrasal Verbs + Example Sentences
1. Hear out: listen to what someone has to say until they have finished
Ex.: “I´m serious about this. Can you stop interrupting and hear me out, please?
2. Wrap up: a. wrap
Ex.: “Can you wrap up Jimmy´s birthday present, honey?”, Barney asked his wife.
b. put on warm clothes
Ex.: “You´d better wrap the baby up in another blanket before you go out. It´s very cold outside.”, Jeanne advised Ruth.
c. finish something
Ex.: “Ok, guys, let´s wrap up this meeting and get back to work.”, Mr. Richards told his team.
3. Carry on: continue an activity or task
Ex.: “Sorry if I distracted you. Just carry on with what you were doing and forget I´m here.”, Gary told Sheila.
4. Drift apart:lose personal contact over time
Ex.: “Bill and I were really close friends, but after he got married and moved to the west coast we just drifted apart.”, Joe told Nancy.
5. Make out: kiss, embrace and touch in a passionate way
Ex.: “Guess what? I caught Dave and Shirley making out in the school library”, Brian told his friends
6. Hand in: submit something to someone, ex.: a piece of work to a teacher, a boss, etc.
Ex.: “Sorry, I can´t go out for lunch with you, guys, I have to hand in a report by 3 pm today.”, said Burt to his coworkers.
7. Iron out: a. use a flatiron to make cloth flat
Ex.: “Your shirt is a little wrinkled. Do you want me to iron it out for you?”, Marcy asked Joel.
b. solve a problem; settle; resolve difficulties
Ex.: “The new version of the program will be released as soon as they iron out all the glitches.”, said Michael to a coworker.
8. Add up: a. find the total
Ex.: “Could you add up those bills and tell me the total, please?”, Rex asked Alice.
b. make sense; seem reasonable or consistent
Ex.: The story Josh told us sounds fishy to me. There´s something about it that just doesn´t add up.
9. Cash in on: profit from; take financial or any other kind of advantage of a situation
“I think Deborah should cash in on her talent as a ballerina. I mean, maybe she could start a ballet school.”, said Celine to a friend.
10. Do without: manage to live without someone or something
Ex.: “We can´t do without Jefferson. His expertise and sound advice has helped us out in many occasions and I honestly think we´d be in trouble if we let him go.”, said Martha at the meeting.
II – Exercise 1: Fill in the short dialogues below with phrasal verbs
Mini-dialogue 1
Rachel: Have you done the geography assignment yet?
Tom: No, I haven´t even started.
Rachel: Are you kidding? You know we´re supposed to ________ it _____ tomorrow, don´t you?
Tom: I do. I guess I´ll have to pull an all nighter to get it done.
Mini-dialogue 2
Charlie: Hey, Pete, how´s it going?
Pete: Uh, okay I guess, only we´ve been swamped with work lately.
Charlie: Really? Why´s that?
Pete: We´ve had some setbacks with the logistics and a couple of people in the department are on leave right now.
Charlie: I see, how long do you think it will take you to ____________ the current project?
Pete: I don´t really know, but I think we´ll only be able to meet the deadline if we work overtime.
Mini-dialogue 3
Eric: Hey, Phil, I heard you left the party with Sharon last night, didn´t you?
Phil: Uh, yeah, I did.
Eric: So tell me, what happened exactly?
Phil: I just took her home, that´s all.
Eric: You mean to say nothing else happened? I mean, she´s a pretty attractive girl.
Phil: Ok, we cuddled and ______________ in my car, but we didn´t really go all the way, are you satisfied now?
Mini-dialogue 4
Sharon: So, I heard you´re going to work in our Paris office for a year.
Barbara: That´s right and I´m really excited about it!
Sharon: Who wouldn´t be? It´s great news, you deserve it! Do you plan to rent a car while you´re there?
Barbara: Uh, not really. I think I can _____________ a car while I´m there. You can pretty much go anywhere in Paris by subway.
Mini-dialogue 5
Gregory: Hey, Doug, how´s the project coming along?
Doug: Pretty good! Everything´s running smoothly now that all the kinks have been ______________.
Gregory: Am I glad to hear that!
III – Exercise 2: Click the link below to listen to the phrasal verb sentences and write them
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IV – KEY TO EXERCISES
Exercise 1: Fill in the short dialogues below with phrasal verbs
Mini-dialogue 1: hand it in
Mini-dialogue 2: wrap up
Mini-dialogue 3: made out
Mini-dialogue 4: do without
Mini-dialogue 5: ironed out
Exercise 2: Listen to the phrasal verb sentences and write them
1. According to the investigators some things in the witness´s story don´t add up.
2. “Why don´t you cash in on your long-time experience as a realtor? You could start your own real estate agency.”, Mick told Josh.
3. Paul and Gary used to be real close, but as time went by and both of them got married they just drifted apart.
4. Can you stop horsing around and hear me out, please?
5. Joanne didn´t look up from the book. She carried on reading as if nothing had happened.
Source: FALE TUDO EM INGLÊS AVANÇADO – Author: José Roberto A. Igreja / Disal Editora
José Roberto A. Igreja is the author and co-author of several ELT books, including:
600 Phrasal Verbs (with Jonathan T. Hogan)
Fluent Business English (with Robert C. Young)
English for Job Interviews (with Robert C. Young)
Essential American Idioms! (with Joe Bailey Noble III)