BBC Learning English

Face up to Phrasals
Mark's Email Mistake
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Episode 4: Oops!

Mark wrote a bad email about his colleague Peter and sent it
to his other colleague, Ali. But Ali says he hasn't received the
email, so Mark's trying to find out what happened to it…

Mark: Oh no… I've really messed up… I sent the email

about stupid Peter… to stupid Peter!!!

Oh no!!! You sent Peter the email! He's not going to like that
very much! Find out what happens next in episode 5 of
Mark's Email Mistake.

Mess up – messed up – messed up

Meaning: If you mess up, you do something wrongly or badly, or you damage or spoil something.

Grammar: This phrasal verb may or may not have an object. If there is an object, it can go after the
particle or between the verb and particle. If the object is a pronoun, it must go between the verb and
particle.

She messed up
She messed up the plans
She messed them up

She messed up them

Example sentence: Sarah messed up and took the wrong documents to the presentation.

Synonyms: make a mistake, screw up, get (something) wrong

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Face up to Phrasals bbclearningenglish.com ©BBC Learning English 2009

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