Idioms

Basically, a phrasal verb is a combination of a verb with at least one other word. These can be a verb and an adverb, a verb and a preposition, or even a verb with an adverb and a preposition.

Example: "John flew off the handle." Which means that John became very angry.

Phrasal Verbs

1. grow up - behave responsibly; behave as an adult, not a child.

Are any of you studying English for business purposes? Idioms are really common in the workplace and can be heard everywhere, in offices or on factory floors. Here are seven of the most common.

Business before pleasure - you should finish your work before starting to relax and enjoy yourself.

A done deal - a final decision or agreement.

Phrasal verbs are made of two parts: a base verb and another small word that is either a preposition or an adverb particle.

It is not always possible to guess the meaning of a phrasal verb from the individual words in it. The more exposure you have to phrasal verbs the easier they are to learn.

Take a look at the following ten sentences and decide which preposition is needed to form the correct phrasal verb.
 

A few months ago we looked at some plant and flower idioms and many people found the idioms really helpful and interesting. Can you still remember how they are used? Here are some sentences to help you check your memory, as well as two new plant idioms to help you learn something new!

Good luck!

Lesson by Caroline Devane

We all get sick from time to time, so it is a good idea to learn some idioms that you may hear on a visit to the doctors or in general conversation; or you may find the idioms useful to use yourself.

Below are some medical idioms along with some example sentences of their use. Can you match them to their meanings? When you are finished, see if you can write some sentences which include the idioms and share them with us.

Lesson by Caroline

Here is another opportunity for you to practise using phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs with 'put' are extremely common and here are just a few of them. In each sentence, decide which phrasal verb is needed to complete it correctly. I've put the meanings of the phrasal verbs below to help you decide. Don't put it off until tomorrow! Do this lesson now!

Today's lesson reviewd and builds on the 7 travel phrasal verbs we studied at a few weeks ago. Look at the these phrasal verbs and their definitions. Fill in the gaps with the correct phrasal verbs so that the text makes sense. (Keep in mind that the main verb changes according to the time and function of the sentence, e.g. drop off in a past passive structure is I was dropped off.