Hello and welcome to this video. Today
you're going to learn the top 10 phrasal verbs in English. Of course, I'm Jennifer from
JForrestEnglish.com. And this channel is dedicated to helping you feel confident speaking English in
public so you can take your career and your life to the next level. Now before we go any further,
make sure you subscribe and hit that bell icon so you're notified every time I post a new
lesson. Now let's get started with this lesson. Are you ready to learn the top 10 phrasal verbs
in English? Now make sure you watch right to the end because at the end, I'm going to quiz you to
make sure you know how to add all of these to your vocabulary. Now let's go with number one. Number
one: to take up. This means to occupy or to fill. Now we use this specifically with two
different nouns. You can take up time and you can take up space. And they're both
very commonly used. For example, I could say this meeting took up my whole morning. So it
occupied or filled the amount of time. Now we can also use this with space. For example,
I need a new couch because my couch takes up too much space. So it occupies or fills space.
So remember, you can use this with both time and space and they're both very commonly used.
Number two is to branch out. Now this means to expand and we use a specifically in a business
context. So let's say you're in a meeting and you're discussing how to increase your profits,
you might suggest branching out into new markets. So if you only sell in North America, you can
branch out, expand, and sell in Europe or in Asia, Africa, for example. We need to branch out into
new markets. Number three, this is a fun one, to jot down. Now you would probably understand
this from context. In the meeting I jotted down a few notes. I jotted down a few notes. So it's
the exact same thing as write down. I wrote down a few notes. But it's very commonly used. So someone
might ask you, maybe your boss or a colleague even might say, Hey, can you jot this down. And then
they might give you a number or a date or a location and you write it down. Now, of course not
many people use pen and paper anymore, right? We take electronic notes, but if your colleague asked
you to jot something down, you can absolutely take out your phone and make a note in your phone.
Jot it down in your phone. Write it down in your phone. So this still applies even though we
don't really use pen and paper much. Number four, to carry out. This means to perform or to conduct.
And we use this specifically in a business content. For example, next week we're carrying
out our customer surveys, our student surveys. We're carrying out our surveys. We're conducting
them, we're performing them, So I'm just going to do this survey. That's the simplest way to say it.
Next week we're doing the surveys. We're carrying out the surveys. Number five, this is an important
one so make sure you jot it down. Number five, to keep up with something. This means to make
sufficient progress on. Let's say that you have this many orders and it's your job to
fulfill those orders. If you fulfill this many, you've kept up with the orders. You've made
sufficient progress. But if you fulfill this many, or this many, or this many, or anything less than
the total number of orders, then you haven't kept up with the orders. You haven't made sufficient
progress on. Now of course you can use this with many things other than orders. You can use it with
your studies, your reading list, your chores, your performance reports, your filing, your scheduling.
You can use it with many, many, many other tasks. Number six, to fill out or to fill in a form. Now
this is one that confuses a lot of students and they ask me, do I fill out a form or do I fill
in the form? What's the difference? The reality is there is no difference, specifically when
we're talking about a form. Now when you have to fill out an application, you could also fill in
an application. Fill out your passport renewal, you can fill in your passport renewal. In this
specific context, there's no difference. Number seven, to drop in. This is a great phrasal verb
because you can use it both in a business context or a social context. Now to drop in simply means
to visit. So if you're talking to a friend and you're planning to visit that friend, you can say,
how about I drop in Saturday morning? How about I visit Saturday morning. Now in a business context
you might have a client that wants to drop in, that wants to visit. Or you might drop in on
a client just to say hello and to keep that relationship going. So you can use this in both
a social and a business context. Number eight, to push back. This means to delay or
postpone in the context of a scheduled event. So a scheduled event, like a meeting. Let's
say the meeting was scheduled for Monday, but everyone is really busy on Monday. Well
then push the meeting back until Wednesday, postpone it until Wednesday. Now you can use this
in a social context. So you might be planning your wedding anniversary and it's your 10-year wedding
anniversary. And the actual date is March 30. But everyone is busy, so you might push it back until
the middle of April so more people can attend. Well, everyone's busy so let's push back the
party until next week, until two weeks from now, so you can push back a scheduled event which means
to delay or postpone. Number nine is to call off. Now this means to cancel a scheduled
event. So remember in our last one, to push back, you delay or postpone. But the other
alternative is simply to cancel it. But generally when you call something off, it's because there
were some problems or issues associated with it. But the problem or issue could be a scheduling
conflict and just people couldn't attend. So let's say you were planning a conference for the summer,
but nobody registered because everyone's really busy in the summer. So you might discuss it with
your team and say, let's call off the conference. Attendance is too low. So let's call it off.
Let's cancel it. Now, you can also use this in a social context. You might call off your
wedding. But if you canceled your wedding, then most likely there was a problem, an issue, a big
one, right. So in that context, in a social event, most people will wonder what happened. Why
did they call off their wedding? Why did they call off their anniversary? They're going to
assume that something is wrong. And number 10, to sort out. This means to organize or to fix,
if there's a problem. For example, I need to sort out my travel plans. So it could mean I
just need to organize them. So I need to decide when I'm going to travel, what airline I'm going
to use, what hotel I'm going to use. I need to sort out my travel plans. But I can also use it if
there's some sort of problem and I need to fix it. For example, my flight was canceled so I need
to sort out my travel plans. I need to fix this problem with my plans. So to sort something
out, you can organize it or you can fix it if there's a problem. And now you have 10 new
phrasal verbs added to your vocabulary. So it's time for your quiz. Now feel free to go back and
watch the video again to make sure you're really comfortable with all these phrasal verbs before
you take the quiz. But if you feel you're ready, well then let's start the quiz now. So I'm going
to show you 10 questions and you need to decide which phrasal verb best completes the sentence.
So I'll show you the questions. Make sure you hit pause because I'll only show you for about five
seconds. And then once you complete it, you can hit play and you can see the answers. So here are
the questions, hit pause and complete a quiz now. Welcome back. Now I'm going to show you
the answers. I'll only show them for five seconds. So again, hit pause, compare these
answers to your own. So here are the answers. So how did you do with the quiz? Put your score
in the comments below. And also I want you to take three of these phrasal verbs and practice
them with some practice sentences in the comments below, so you feel really
comfortable adding them to your vocabulary. And if you found this video helpful, please
hit the like button, share it with your friends and of course subscribe. And before you go
make sure you head on over to my website, JForrestEnglish.com and download your free
speaking guide. In this guide I share six tips on how to speak English fluently and
confidently. And until next time, Happy Studying!
