Learn about phrasal verbs
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Braden: Are You Tweeting while Working at your American Job? In this lesson, you’ll learn about Phrasal verbs and Vehicle insurance. |
| Barbara: This conversation takes place In the morning before the store opens in the employee break room. |
| Braden: And it’s between Sarah and Alex. |
| Barbara: Sarah is the new apparently militaristic assistant manager and Alex again, seems not to understand that he is talking to his boss and therefore shouldn’t be so casual. |
| Braden: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Sarah: Attention, people. Big John has taken the day off, but he left us with some instructions. |
| Alex: Did he put in anything strange? |
| Sarah: That's up to you to decide. To start things off, he asked us to not use our cell phones during work. |
| Alex: Not even for Twitter? |
| Sarah: No, not even for Twitter. |
| Alex: That's okay. I don't even own a cell phone. |
| Sarah: He also reminded us that the printer is not for personal use. |
| Alex: What do you mean by personal use? |
| Sarah: Not for personal use means the printer can only be used for store-related tasks. |
| Alex: Does printing out my insurance card count as personal use? |
| Sarah: Yes it does. And last, he reminded us that we shouldn't log in to Facebook at all while at work. |
| Alex: And how does he know we're doing all that? |
| Sarah: Because of the cameras. Look here at the sign, "Smile, you're on camera." |
| Alex: I've never seen that. Has anyone else seen that? How long has that been there? |
| Sarah: Seven months. |
| Alex: Wow. I've been getting away with this stuff for a long time. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Braden: So, we wanted to talk a little bit about Vehicle insurance |
| Barbara: Vehicle insurance is also known as auto insurance or car insurance. The primary purpose of vehicle insurance is to provide financial protection against car wrecks, bodily injury, collisions, or any of the various types of damage that can happen through traffic collisions or other vehicle related situations. |
| Braden: In the United States, vehicle insurance varies from state to state. You should be aware of and familiar with the laws regarding vehicle insurance in your respective state. |
| Barbara: Remember that all states require the vehicle owner to carry some minimum level of insurance, except Virginia. |
| Braden: When you insure your car is typically said that you “carry insurance” on your car. Usually insurance companies provide the vehicle owner with an insurance card that details the specific terms and coverage for that insurance policy. |
| Barbara: In almost all states, that insurance card must be kept in the vehicle at all times. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Braden: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is: |
| Barbara: reminded [natural native speed] |
| Braden: cause (someone) to remember someone or something |
| Barbara: reminded [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: reminded [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| log in [natural native speed] |
| Braden: go through the procedures to begin use of a computer, database, or system |
| log in [slowly - broken down by syllable] log in [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: look at [natural native speed] |
| Braden: examine |
| Barbara: look at [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: look at [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| start off [natural native speed] |
| Braden: begin working or dealing with something |
| start off [slowly - broken down by syllable] start off [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: task [natural native speed] |
| Braden: some work that is assigned to a person |
| Barbara: task [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: task [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| insurance [natural native speed] |
| Braden: agreement where a person makes payments to a company, in promise that the company will pay money in the case of injury or thing agreed upon |
| insurance [slowly - broken down by syllable] insurance [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Braden: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Barbara: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase "attention people." |
| Braden: This phrase is one way of getting a Group of people’s attention. There is a slight nuance here. Sarah used the word people instead of everybody. There is nothing grammatically wrong with this. Both are equally acceptable grammatically. |
| Barbara: The nuance is cultural. Using the word “people” in this way distances Sarah from the other employees. It’s a slight - however, noticeable - sign that Sarah thinks that she is of above the other employees. Technically, she is above the other employees since she is the assistant manager. |
| Braden: However by using this word choice, there is a feeling that she thinks she is better than the other employees not just that she has a higher position. Could you break this down? |
| Barbara: attention people (slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Barbara: attention people (fast) |
| Braden: Perfect! What’s next? |
| Barbara: Our next phrases are "cell phone" and "mobile phone." |
| Braden: To keep things simple, cell phone is used in the US mobile phone is used in the United Kingdom. Both phrases can be shortened and become just “cell” or “mobile” respectively. |
| Barbara: Usually, this is pronounced “mobile” (using the long “I”) instead of saying “mobile. (“BL”) |
| Braden: Could you break this down? |
| Barbara: mobile phone (slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Barbara: mobile phone (fast) |
| Braden: Excellent! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Braden: Let’s take a look at the grammar point. |
| Braden: Barbara, what’s the focus of this lesson? |
| Barbara: The focus of this lesson is Phrasal verbs |
| Braden: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase... |
| Barbara: Big John has taken the day off but he left us with some instructions. |
| Braden: Phrasal verbs are verbs that are made of more than one word. There are four types of phrasal verbs which can be divided into two categories - |
| Barbara: The first category is phrasal verbs that take objects and the second category is phrasal verbs that don't take objects. For those of you who are familiar with more complex grammar terms, those are transitive and intransitive phrasal verbs. |
| Braden: Phrasal verbs can also be separable or inseparable and we'll use this distinction to create sub-groups. |
| Barbara: Let’s start with Phrasal Verbs which Take Objects. First of all, Phrasal verbs which take objects can be separable or inseparable. |
| Braden: Separable phrasal verbs can remain together when using an object that is a noun or noun phrase. The phrasal verb “to pick up” is a separable phrasal verb. |
| Barbara: For example, “I picked Jerry up.” where we insert the noun between the verb and the preposition OR “I picked up Jerry.” where the verb and preposition stay together. |
| Braden: Two other examples would be, “They put their books up.” OR “They put up their books.” |
| Barbara: The tip here is that separable phrasal verbs MUST be separated when a pronoun is used. |
| Braden: For example, “We picked her up at the airport.” NOT “We picked up her at the airport.” |
| Barbara: Inseparable phrasal verbs always remain together. It makes no difference if a noun or pronoun is used. |
| Braden: For example, “They are looking after the children.” / “They are looking after them.” |
| Barbara: Now let’s move on to phrasal verbs which don’t take objects. |
| Braden: These phrasal verbs are ALWAYS inseparable. |
| Barbara: For example, “The thieves got away.” and “The bus broke down on the way to work.” and “She got up early.” |
| Braden: A quick tip here is that If you are not sure whether a phrasal verb is separable or inseparable, use a noun or noun phrase and DO NOT separate. This way you'll always be correct, however, sometimes it won't sound natural. |
| Barbara: Let’s look at the Separable Phrasal Verb “bring up” |
| Braden: The example sentences here would be, “They brought up their children to respect others.” It could also be “They brought their children up to respect others.” |
| Barbara: Now, let's look at the inseparable phrasal verb "set off.” |
| Braden: An example sentence would be “set off”, “They set off for a wonderful holiday in Hawaii.” You cannot say, “They set for a wonderful holiday off in Hawaii.” |
| Barbara: To finish things off, let’s look at three-word phrasal verbs. |
| Braden: Some verbs are followed by two prepositions. These phrasal verbs are ALWAYS inseparable. |
| Barbara: For example, “I'm looking forward to meeting Luke.” OR “I'm looking forward to meeting him.” |
| Braden: A second example would be, “They didn't get on with their mother.” OR “They didn't get on with her.” |
Outro |
| Braden: That just about does it for today. Thanks for listening. |
| Barbara: See you later! |
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