Search results for 'tag:Phrasal verbs tag:Learning English' matching tags 'Phrasal verbs' and 'Learning English'

How do you know when a phrasal verb can be separable or not?

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 01:44:28 GMT

Hello everyone![:-D]
I've been learning english for many years, but since now, I didn't study the so-called "phrasal verbs". I am a spanish speaker so they are quite difficult to me.
Anyway,the question I have is the next :
How do you know that a phrasal verb can be separable or it can't?Is there any rule or do you have to learn whether it can be separable or not by heart?
Thank you very much!

Re: How would you define "native speaker of english"?

Anonymous — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 10:24:57 GMT

In my opinion the phrase 'native speaker of English' gains more relevance when referred to in a specific context such as that of a non-native speaker of English like me, who lived for two thirds of my working life in a non-English speaking country, and all of a sudden my life changed dramatically in the 90s, after the 'Romanian revolution', when I ended up living in UK. I'd started learning English in secondary school up to a graduate level in Romania, and at the age of 25 I followed a career as a successful English linguist, i.e. teaching, translating and interpreting in and out of English. However, when in my early 40s I moved to UK with the intention of settling here, I was faced with a language barrier I'd never anticipated, simply realising that my level of English was not high enough to satisfy my high linguistic needs and aspirations.

At present, despite recently obtaining an MA in English, the language barrier between my mother tongue and English seems to be more present than ever, and I have the feeling that I'm stuck in a no return situation. There is only one hope for me, and that is to continue to study English, and this is actually why I'm writing to this forum: I'd like to do some research on 'How to become a native speaker of English' by challenging anyone who's interested to take part in.

Here I am speaking about launching a study in Englishness at the same time, as, in my opinion, one cannot speak the language of a people without actually becoming one of the people of that country. From my own experience, it is not only the language that poses a problem to me, it is the Englishness itself that is part and parcel of the whole thing, i.e. that state which the native speakers have acquired together with the language and which has shaped them into what they are as a result of acquiring their mother tongue. A language is not only a set of rules, it is a way of thinking and behaving in a particular way, using certain native phrases, idioms and collocations which make sense only in a certain linguistic context, and to which the English speakers are exposed to since the moment they were born. Therefore, if anyone has any illusion that they can 'become' English without mastering those 'charming' idioms and collocations, they will be in for the shock of their lives when they find themselves in a native English society, for example, and they open their mouth for the first time: they will be automatically classed as 'foreign', and there will always be an unsurpassable barrier between them end the English.

Maybe many of you wouldn't mind living in a state of marginalization for the rest of their lives - after all there are people and people, and many non-native English speakers are successful honourable citizens living, working and bringing up their children here in UK, and I respect and admire them for their successful lives. However, I haven't reached that level of happiness yet, and maybe there are many others like me who would like to speak English almost, if not at the same level with the native speakers. I know this may seem idealistic and impossible to attain, but at the moment I feel that there's no other way of finding my happiness than pursuing my linguistic career in English and in UK, and attaining a level of English according to my high standards.

So if you are interested in taking English as a foreign language up to English native speaker level please help me with your ideas, suggestions and English language learning experience after postgraduate level. At the moment I have gathered some learning materials such as: 'Cobuild Dictionary of Idioms', 'Cobuild Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs', 'Oxford Collocations', 'Longman Language Activator', etc,, which I'm going to start studying on my own and see if I can 'push' my English any further, and then write a book about it.

All I need is to find people interested in studying the same materials at the some time with me, and to see if we can take English to a level where we can express our ideas as freely and as naturally as in our native tongues. To me this is the challenge of my life, and I'd like to know that there are other enthusiastic non-native postgraduate students of any age who are ready to embark on, let's say, a one-year self taught course in Englishness.

biggest thing

User_gary — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 05:39:23 GMT

The biggest thing to learn is the phrasal verbs while learning English.

Is this sentence correct?

Please help me.

Re: I am looking forward to (meet / meeting)? you

Ouc — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 02:54:08 GMT

Learning English http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv267.shtml


	look forward to / agree to / object to

tag the class is question --->


				Adriana, learning English in Canada, writes: I have been studying English since I came to Canada, about four years now, but because there are so many exceptions to rules, it's hard for me to apply what I've learnt. For instance, I don't understand why it's correct to say I look forward to hearing from you and not I look forward to hear from you. Jolie from Vietnam writes: In the example In no way will I agree to sharing an office with Ben, I just wonder why you can use both infinitive and V-ing form for the verb share.


	Roger Woodham replies:






			look forward to something = anticipate something with interest Look forward to is one of the many phrasal verbs in English in which an adverbial particle (forward) as well as a preposition (to) is combined with the stem verb to signify a particular meaning. What we are looking forward to can be exemplified as either as a noun phrase or as a verb-phrase with an -ing pattern Jill says she's not looking forward to Jack's party next weekend. I very much look forward to meeting you soon. They're looking forward to joining their children in Australia There are many such three-part verbs, e.g.: look back on = think back to put up with = tolerate come down with = fall ill with There are a number of instances where such verbs end with the preposition to, e.g.: face up to = confront get round to = do something after some delay get down to = concentrate on Note that in such instances to is not part of any infinitive phrase. It is an integral part of the verb. And whatever it is that we face up to or get round to is normally expressed as either a noun phrase or as a verb phrase with an -ing pattern: I must get round to cleaning my car next weekend. And I must get down to reading Jack's article* which he sent me two weeks ago* I must face up to the fact that I'm never going to be promoted* in this organisation.* Note that when verbs follow prepositions (any prepositions) the V-ing form is normally used, not the to-infinitive pattern: I managed to finish reading Jack's article by staying up till midnight. He's talking about getting it published* in National Geographic magazine.* Instead of going on holiday last summer, he undertook this arduous trip up the Amazon.

			agree - agree to There is a complication in your example, Jolie, where both the -ing form and the to-inifnitive pattern appear possible: I cannot agree to share / to sharing* an office with Ben.* In no way can I agree to sharing / to share* an office with Ben* The complication arises because there are two different forms of pretty much the same verb, agree and agree to. If we are using the phrasal verb, agree to, the -ing pattern is more likely. If we are using the non-phrasal verb, agree, the to-infinitive pattern is imperative. Compare the following: What have you agreed? We've agreed to tidy our rooms when we get up, to clear the dishes from the table after eating and not to go out until we've finished our homework. What have you agreed to? We've agreed to arriving punctually before the working day begins and to not leaving before five o' clock in the afternoon.


			object to Note that the opposite of agree to is object to and here only the -ing pattern is possible: What do you object to in her behaviour? I object to her going out every evening and not telling me where she is going.

Re: phrasal verbs

TeacherBrian — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 15:31:35 GMT

Hello Phungninhbao

Yes, two-word-verbs are not easy for people learning English! There are many of them in English. On behalf of all native speakers I apologise for this! And each one has a different meaning. It is almost impossible to guess the meanings! Even if one sounds similar to another, the meaning will probably be totally different!

In some language books are lists of phrasal verbs. One good way to learn them is by doing a proper language course. This way you will probably learn a few new phrasal verbs each day.

Of course we can always help you with any that you do not understand. But there are actually ....thousands! But you do not need to learn ALL af them! Some two-word-verbs (phrasal verbs) are used more often than others. I suggest you just learn the phrasal verbs that are in common usage.

With all good wishes

Re: Questions for non-native speakers of English.

WaÃ¯ti — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 11:50:17 GMT

Hiya YC,
It sure feels good that a native shows interest in how we perceive english... Let me try to understand the best I can...

Specific elements of language posing problem :
I'm comfortable with tenses and conjugation. I find myself sometimes troubled with vocabulary and spelling ; whenever the word is close to one in my mother tongue with a different meaning or spelling (faux-ami).
A main difference I've found compared to my native language is the extensive use of phrasal verbs. It took me some time to start thinking in terms of phrasal verbs rather than trying to find a corresponding latin-derived verb that often exists but makes you sound a little bit 'off-key' if not pretentious.
Written vs spoken english :
I definitely find spoken english more difficult. Too much difference b/w the various accents (US vs UK, even within UK or within US. Also I have difficulties with relaxed speech forms of spoken english (contractions, elisions and so forth...).
Pronunciation and stressing the right syllable of the word is another thing I'm still struggling with : it's kind of frustrating when you know the word and how to spell it but still nobody understands you because you don't emphasize the right syllable.
How english sounds :
To my ear, it does not sound like or compare to anything else. Or I should say it's hard to remember my early stages in learning english where it may have sounded weird or where I may have mistaken it for something else. Definitely not a harsh language. I'd say 'mellow' is what comes to my mind. Also 'efficient' (or is it 'effective') as I find it a powerful tool to express thoughts in a concise way.

Hope this answers the questions from your survey.
WaÃ¯ti.

Re: adverb--phrasal verb

Philip — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 15:14:19 GMT

Redkiddy wrote:

Dear friends and moderators,

As you might know I have been learning English for a long time, look at this question.

You know phrasal verbs are mostly formed with verb+preposition ,,,

So in this usage the prepositions are named as adverb. Look at this sentences...

He waved and drove off..........................off here is an adverb? If you say yes,,why,,,I have never heard this from my teachers.

She took her coat off.........................off"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" my teachers.

I consider a good many expressions in English to be two-word verbs. That is, what looks like a preposition is simply part of the verb. 'He took the coat from the closet' is obviously the verb of the sentence. 'He took off his coat' is a separate verb, coat being the object of the verb took off; in 'He took his coat off the chair', off becomes a preposition. MANY people will disagree with me, but there are many grammarians who tend to simplify the question with this explanation.

Anlatabildim mi?

adverb--phrasal verb

redkiddy — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 12:00:20 GMT

Dear friends and moderators,

As you might know I have been learning English for a long time, look at this question.

You know phrasal verbs are mostly formed with verb+preposition ,,,

So in this usage the prepositions are named as adverb. Look at this sentences...

He waved and drove off..........................off here is an adverb? If you say yes,,why,,,I have never heard this from my teachers.

She took her coat off.........................off"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" my teachers.

(( My Experience in Learning English ))

Vigor — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 12:03:03 GMT

"With those who are dying to improve their English, I share my experience"

In this thread I am going to talk about my experience in learning English. Hope it will be useful and helpful to you.

My realtionship with English started when a little rascal friend of mine taught me to say " I LOVE YOU ". It was at the age of 8 I guess. "I Love You" was the first English well formed sentence I managed to learn. Little by Little, I found myself learning two more English words; Yes and NO. After that, it seemed that I became satisfied with the English I had.

At the age of 13, I started taking English courses in school, for the educational system in my country used to start teaching English courses at the 7th level( English is taught now in the 6th level. What a difference!! lol ). "Stand up" and "Sit down" were the first verbs (phrasal verbs) I learned there. Moreover, I managed, at last, to distinguish between "Right" and "Left", and know the literal meaning of "Good" and "Bad".

My days in secondary school were not "englishly" happy, nor were they in high school, so I began to get disappointed. However, I frankly confess that I learned many English words at that period such as car, cat, dog, bed, where, when, did, go, come, beautiful, girl, boy etc,, but my PROBLEM was that I did not know how and when to use them, and above all how to make sense of them. So whenever I tried to talk in English, I failed. Whenever I tried to write in English, I faild. Whenever I tried to read in English I faild. Whenever I tried to listen to English I faild. In brief, I simply failed four times, in speaking, in writing, in reading, and in listening. As a result, the one who is writing NOW these lines decided to give up thinking about his English.

(( To Be Continued ))

Yours

Vigor

Re: Phrasal Verb of the day

chris — Sun, 25 May 2003 19:03:15 GMT

We have around 30 English language schools in Malta most of which target teenagers in the summer months. I think the combination of learning English while being able to leave with a suntan is a wonderful combination! The same must apply for Mallorca.