Support material

Learning activity 2

Presentation

A. Phrasal verbs

A phrasal verb is a group of words that serves the purpose of a verb and is made
up of a verb and a preposition, an adverb, or both.

Depending on the particle that follows the verb and the context where it is used,
the meaning varies. Some verbs such as look, bring, pick and throw are
examples of verbs that can be turn into phrasal verbs by using different
prepositions.

Let’s see how a verb can be completely transformed by using different

prepositions:

 look for: take care  put together:  go in: enter

 look through: read assemble  go on: continue
quickly  put in: install  go out with: date
 look at: to regard  put on: get fat  go up: increase
 look to: expect,  put up: allow  go out: go from inside to
hope someone to stay at outside
 look up to: respect. your house for a  go back: have a long
 look back: think night or few days history
about the past  put up with: tolerate  go through: experience

Here you have some other examples:

 bring on: cause  put off: postpone

something to happen  get off: escape  put up: allow someone
 put on: get fat punishment  look up to: respect
 look on: watch  go off with: run away  bring up: mention
something like a with someone  get up: get out of bed
crime without helping  bring off: succeed  go up: increase
 jump on: criticize, with something  hit up: inject drugs
attack difficult
  hit on: have an idea

B. Idiomatic expressions

It is important for you to remember that when you are learning a language, you are
learning a whole culture full of different explanations of things and different ways of
seeing a specific behavior. Language is not only a set of words with a determined
structure you need to memorize. Exact translations do not exist. There are some
cultural elements that don’t allow for translations. They are elusive. I am sure you
have noticed that sometimes looking up a word in a dictionary is not enough; you
need to take into account several aspects before deciding your interpretation is
close to what the text from where you extracted the word from is trying to express.

For example, there are some expressions in a language that are formed by a set of
words with a fixed structure and meaning that cannot be deduced from the
translation of the words that constitute the expression. As you noticed in the
training material, it makes no sense for a native English speaker to try to
understand the expression “se puso la casa de ruana”. If you think about it, it is
something that can only be understood if we know the meaning the Colombian
Spanish speaker gives to expressions like that.

Those expressions are called idiomatic expressions. They are a set of words that
have a particular meaning to the speaker of the language. It is not easy to
understand its meaning by simple translation or logic, for they have a historical and
social background of the culture.

Examples:

In Spanish: Ahogarse en un vaso de agua, el burro hablando de orejas, tirar la

toalla.

In English: Roll out a red carpet, to be born with a silver spoon in one´s mouth, to
have a bun in the oven.

In order to understand these expressions and to be capable of using them in

English, you need to practice them as often as possible. In the practice area, you
will have the change to work with them.

C. Furniture vocabulary in idiomatic expressions

Furniture vocabulary isn’t only used to name things at home. It is also present in
many idiomatic expressions either in Spanish or English.
Examples:

 Everything but the kitchen sink.

Meaning: To take a lot of things when you go somewhere.
 A bed of roses.
Meaning: A comfortable situation; an easy life.
 To put something on the shelf.
Meaning: To postpone something.

Let’s think in some Spanish idiomatic expressions that use furniture vocabulary or
are related to it.

 Tener la sartén por el mango.

Meaning: To be in the control of the situation.
 Ahogarse en un vaso de agua.
Meaning: To make a big deal of a simple situation.
 Estar en la olla.
Meaning: to be in a hard situation or a problem.

In learning a language it is important to be able to understand both meanings the

literal and the figurative. That’s why knowing the idiomatic expressions and the
featuring vocabulary become essential.

D. Furniture and phrasal verbs

The furniture vocabulary and phrasal verbs are also related. It is usual to use both
in some sentences at home.

For example:

 To turn on the heater.

 To put away the dishes when you finish to lunch.
 To hang up some clothe in the closet.

Make sure you use the correct phrasal verb with the correct place at home or
furniture.

Phrasal verb Furniture

Hung up Clothes on a hook in the closet
Pick out The sofa’s color
Put away The dishes
Turn on The microwave
Turn off The oven
Break down The refrigerator (or any electrical appliance)
Throw away Old furniture
Put in New furniture (put the new kitchen in)

Practice

A. Match each idiomatic expression with its corresponding meaning.

Idiomatic expression Meaning

To get your own house in
order (a) To have a horrible secret.
1. ______

be on the house
(b) To exhaust yourself by doing too much.
2. _______
Everything but the kitchen (c) An invisible discriminatory barrier that
sink prevents women and minorities from
3. _______ achieving positions of power or responsibility.

To have a skeleton in the in

the closet (d) A crazy person.
4. _______

Armchair critic (e) To take a lot of things when you go

5. _________ somewhere.

Basket case (f) To pay attention to your own problems

6. ________ before criticizing other people.
(g) Someone who sits in the safety of their
Wet blanket own house and criticizes people even though
7. _________ they haven't experienced what they are
criticizing.
 Burn the candle at both ends (h) To try to hide something because it is
8. ________ embarrassing.
Roll out a red carpet
(i) Someone who spoils other people's fun.
9. __________
Glass ceiling (j) To give special treatment to an important or
10. _________ visitor.

To sweep under the rug

(k) To be free (in a restaurant).
11. __________

B. Match the phrasal verbs and meanings:

1. To look after a. Not to enter, not allow to enter

2. To cheer up b. To watch, to supervise
3. To keep out c. To make happier
4. To count on d. To postpone
5. To carry out e. To stop functioning
6. To get back f. To trust someone
7. To move into g. To start living in a place
8. To throw away h. To return
9. To put off i. To accomplish, to execute
10. To break
j. To discard, to get rid of
down

C. Read the story about Lucia and the soccer player and identify which verb best
completes the meaning of the sentence.

Lucia and the soccer player

My best friend Lucia is looking for a boyfriend. I suggested she 1.__________

(go out with / go on) a guy I know who is a soccer player. She said she had
gone out with a soccer player before and that she didn’t want to 2.
___________ (go through / go in) that experience again.

She had met him the year before. His name was Pablo; he was famous, so she
wanted to impress him. But she didn’t know anything about soccer so she took
 a soccer course that someone told her was very cheap. When she signed up
she 3. ____________ (went out / found out) that it was very expensive; the
price had 4. ____________ (gone on / gone up)!

The next day she 5.____________ (went up / woke up ) early in the morning
and went to her first soccer practice. When the coach arrived, she realized that
it was the guy she wanted to go out with. She decided to 6. ___________ (go
on / put on). He 7.___________ ( went through / looked through) the first
trick. “This is a famous trick that 8.___________ (goes back to / goes out) the
days of Maradona,” Pablo explained. It was very complicated. Lucia knew she
could never do it and she knew she was going to make a fool of herself in front
of Pablo. So, she left the practice and told him she felt completely ridiculous
trying to learn a sport she never liked and that she was there only to impress
him. She told him she was not an athlete at all and she was not planning to
become one. She left the practice and he never called her back.

D. Read the story about the girl that goes flat hunting. Try to identify which phrasal
verb that means the same as the verb in italics. Remember to change the verb
tense if necessary.

My girlfriend goes flat hunting

I really love my girlfriend. I’ve always 1._______(looked up to / looked for) her

as someone I can to go for advice. My girlfriend is 2. _______(looking for /
going up) a new flat. She spent the weekend 3.________ (jumping in /
looking through) the newspapers trying to find something in her price range,
but was not that easy; living in Bogota has become really expensive. She
decided she needed some advice so she 4.________(call for / looked up) my
phone number in her cell phone and gave me a ring. The next day we spent the
afternoon 5._________(looking at / going through) some possibilities on the
downtown of Bogota, in a neighbourhood called La Candelaria. In every flat we
6. ________(looked over / looking at) there was a detail she did not like. All
the flats we saw were quite pricey so we 7._______ (look up / looked into) the
possibility of selling the car and asking a loan from the bank. In the end we
managed to find the perfect flat and my girlfriend is really 8. ________(looking
up / looking forward to) moving in. It was pricey but worthy. I think she will
9.________(look after / look up) it and enjoy living there

E. Look at the following sentences and fill in the blank with the corresponded
furniture.
 toilet drawer microwave closet

nigh table dinner table heater

1. Can you turn off the _________? It’s hot inside.

2. Could you please hang up my jacket and put it in the ______________?
3. Paula, put away the cutlery. Please put the knives in the _______.
4. My husband and I picked out a colorful tablecloth for our new ________.
5. I need a new _________; mine broke down and I don’t have another way to
heat the food.
6. They are coming to put in the new _________ next week.
7. She’ll throw away her old ________ to buy a new one that matches her lamp.

F. Look up the meaning of the following phrasal verbs and complete the sentences
below. Remember the meaning of the verb depends on the context. Rear
carefully.

bring up get up pick up go up

1.
a. While you are in town, can you ______ my trousers from the dry cleaner?
b. She _____ English in six months.

2.

a. They did not ____ the subject ___ at the meeting.

b. My parents _____ me ___ strictly.

3.

a. Carla_________ at seven o´clock every morning.

b. At what time should we ____ the kids____ tomorrow?

4.

a. The price of petrol has ____________ sharply because of the raise in the
duty in the Government’s budget.
b. Skyscrapers are _________ everywhere in the city.
 Production

A. As you should know by now, phrasal verbs, like many other verbs, often have
more than one meaning. For example, the verb throw up has different
meanings depending on the context where it is used. Take a look at the
following sentences:

1. A shed was quickly thrown up so that the survivors had a place to sleep.

In this case, the meaning of the verb is to build something fast without paying
too much attention to details.

2. I think Tais is food poisoned; she has been throwing up for hours.

In this case, the meaning of the verb is to vomit.

For this production exercise, you should find four phrasal verbs that have
multiple meanings. Once you find them, you should write two sentences per
phrasal verb. Each sentence should illustrate a different meaning.

B. In English, there are also idioms to refer to people and their behavior. Read the
definitions of the following expressions:

Early bird: A person who gets up early and is generally more productive in the
mornings.

Night owl: A person who stays up at night and is generally more productive
during the nighttime.
Are you an early bird or a night owl? Write a composition with your answer using
as many phrasal verbs as you can. You can either use the ones you learned in
learning activity 2 or some others you find interesting.
 Document control

Name Position Dependence Date

Theme expert Dirección de
Asesor English formación
December
Author Mauricio Aldana Dot Works - profesional.
2014
Programa de Dirección
bilingüismo General

Paola Andrea Copy editor - Centro

September
Adaptation Bobadilla Línea de Agroindustrial
2015
Gutiérrez producción Regional Quindío