Series ID: EDKS-BASIC-ZH-0050 · Lesson No.050 · B1-Direction Everyday Vocabulary

Phrasal Verbs in Everyday English | 日常英语短语动词

Turn it on. Pick me up. Find out what happened. Carry on.
打开它。来接我。查清楚发生了什么。继续。

Phrasal verbs are combinations such as turn on, look for and find out. Some meanings are easy to guess; others are idiomatic and must be learned as whole chunks.

短语动词不能只靠“动词 + 小词”逐字翻译。最有效的方法是把高频组合直接当作一个意义单位来学。

Chinese Edition Hub · 中文版入口 · ← Lesson No.049 · Second Conditional

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The phrasal-verb map | 短语动词路线

• literal vs idiomatic meaning
• separable vs inseparable
• pronoun position
• daily routine
• clothes and objects
• transport
• work/study
• communication
• problem solving
• continuation/stopping
• learn in context

1. What is a phrasal verb? | 什么是短语动词？

A verb combines with an adverb or preposition-like particle and creates a common meaning:

• turn on
• look for
• find out

2. Literal meaning | 字面意思

• sit down
• stand up
• go out

These are easier to visualise.

3. Idiomatic meaning | 非字面意思

• find out = discover information
• give up = stop trying
• work out = solve / exercise, depending on context

4. Get up | 起床

• I get up at seven.
• What time did you get up?

5. Wake up | 醒来

• I woke up at six but got up at six thirty.

wake up and get up are not identical.

6. Go out | 出门 / 外出

• We’re going out for dinner.
• I didn’t go out yesterday.

7. Come back | 回来

• What time will you come back?

8. Turn on | 打开设备

• Turn on the light.
• Turn the light on.
• Turn it on.

9. Turn off | 关闭设备

• Please turn off your phone.
• Please turn it off.

10. Pronoun in the middle | 代词放中间

• turn it on ✓
• turn on it ✗ for this separable pattern

11. Put on | 穿上

• Put on your jacket.
• Put it on.

12. Take off | 脱下 / 起飞

• Take off your shoes.
• The plane took off at nine.

One phrasal verb can have several meanings.

13. Pick up | 拿起 / 接人 / 学会

• Pick up the bag.
• I’ll pick you up at six.
• She picked up some Italian while travelling.

Context decides the meaning.

14. Drop off | 放下 / 送到

• I’ll drop you off near the station.

15. Look for | 寻找

• I’m looking for my keys.
• What are you looking for?

This pattern is inseparable: look for it, not “look it for”.

16. Find out | 查明 / 发现信息

• I need to find out the price.
• We found out what happened.

17. Look up | 查找信息

• Look up the word in a dictionary.
• Look it up.

18. Fill in | 填写

• Fill in the form.
• Fill it in.

19. Fill out | 填表

Common in American English:

• Fill out this form.

Regional usage varies.

20. Write down | 写下来

• Write down the number.
• Write it down.

21. Check in | 办理入住/登机

• We checked in at the hotel.
• Check in online before the flight.

22. Check out | 退房 / 查看

• We checked out at eleven.
• Check out this new café. — informal “look at/try”

23. Get on / get off | 上/下公共交通

• Get on the bus.
• Get off at the next stop.

24. Get in / get out of | 上/下小型车辆

• Get in the car.
• Get out of the taxi.

25. Call back | 回电话

• I’ll call you back later.

26. Hang up | 挂电话

• Don’t hang up.

27. Speak up | 大声一点说

• Could you speak up, please?

28. Slow down | 慢下来

• Please slow down.
• Traffic slowed down near the station.

29. Hurry up | 快一点

• Hurry up or we’ll miss the bus.

30. Set up | 设置 / 建立

• set up an account
• set up a meeting
• set up the equipment

31. Log in / log out | 登录 / 登出

• Log in to your account.
• Remember to log out.

32. Sign up | 注册参加

• sign up for a course
• sign up online

33. Hand in | 提交

• Hand in your assignment by Friday.

34. Carry on | 继续

• Carry on with your work.
• Please carry on.

35. Give up | 放弃

• Don’t give up.
• She gave up trying after an hour.

36. Work out | 解决 / 算出 / 锻炼

• We worked out the answer.
• I work out three times a week.

37. Figure out | 弄明白

Common informal English:

• I can’t figure out how this works.

38. Deal with | 处理

• We need to deal with this problem.

Inseparable: deal with it.

39. Run out of | 用完

• We’ve run out of milk.
• I’m running out of time.

40. Put off | 推迟

• We had to put off the meeting.
• Don’t put it off too long.

41. Take care of | 照顾 / 处理

• She takes care of her grandmother.
• I’ll take care of the booking.

42. Look after | 照顾

• Can you look after the children?

43. Find out vs look up | 查明 vs 查资料

• look up a word → search a source
• find out the answer → discover the information

44. Separable phrasal verbs | 可分短语动词

• turn on the light / turn the light on
• write down the number / write the number down

45. Inseparable phrasal verbs | 不可分

• look for the keys
• deal with the problem
• run out of time

46. Pronoun rule | 代词规则

With many separable phrasal verbs, the pronoun must go between verb and particle:

• pick it up ✓
• pick up it ✗

47. Do not guess grammar from one example | 不要从一个例子乱推

Some phrasal verbs are separable, some are not, and some vary by meaning. Check a reliable dictionary when unsure.

48. Learn with a noun and pronoun example | 每个短语动词学两种例句

Example:

• turn off the computer
• turn it off

49. Mandarin transfer: one Chinese verb, several phrasal verbs | 一个中文词对应多种英语

“开” can be:

• turn on a light
• open a door
• start a car

50. Mandarin transfer: particles are not direct translations | 小词不能逐字翻

up, out, off, on often contribute idiomatic meaning. Learn the combination.

51. Reading practice A | 阅读 A

David woke up late, got up quickly and put on his clothes. He picked up his bag, checked out of the hotel and got into a taxi. On the way to the airport, he found out that his flight was delayed.

1. Which phrasal verb means left the hotel?
2. Which means lifted/took his bag?
3. Which means discovered information?

52. Reading practice B | 阅读 B

Mei couldn’t log in to the website, so she looked up the help page. She tried the instructions but couldn’t work out the problem. Finally, she called support, and they helped her set up a new password.

1. What did she search?
2. What couldn’t she solve?
3. What did support help her do?

53. Speaking practice: daily routine | 日常口语

Tell your morning using at least five phrasal verbs.

54. Speaking practice: tech problem | 技术口语

Use: log in, look up, work out, set up, turn off/on.

55. Error clinic | 常见错误

Error	Better English
turn on it ✗	turn it on ✓
look it for ✗	look for it ✓
deal it with ✗	deal with it ✓
pick up it ✗	pick it up ✓

56. First weak link diagnosis | 第一个卡点诊断

• I know the base verb but not combination → chunk learning.
• I understand meaning but place pronoun wrongly → separability.
• I confuse several meanings → context discrimination.
• I memorise lists but cannot use → sentence/scene practice.

57. Retrieval lab | 提取练习

• 打开它。 → ______
• 把号码写下来。 → ______
• 我在找钥匙。 → ______
• 我需要查清楚。 → ______
• 别放弃。 → ______
• 继续。 → ______
• 我们用完时间了。 → ______

Suggested answers: Turn it on. / Write the number down. / I’m looking for my keys. / I need to find out. / Don’t give up. / Carry on. / We’ve run out of time.

58. Seven-day training cycle | 七天训练

Day 1	routine verbs	日常
Day 2	objects/clothes	物品
Day 3	travel	交通
Day 4	work/study	学习工作
Day 5	tech/communication	技术沟通
Day 6	separable/inseparable	语法
Day 7	30-phrasal-verb story	综合

59. Self-test | 自测

Explain and use: get up, turn on, turn off, put on, take off, pick up, look for, find out, look up, fill in, write down, check in, check out, get on, get off, call back, slow down, set up, log in, sign up, hand in, carry on, give up, work out, deal with, run out of.

60. For parents and teachers | 给家长和老师

Teach phrasal verbs by scene and frequency. Do not assign giant alphabetical lists.

Use noun and pronoun pairs to reveal separability.

For Mandarin speakers, emphasise that particles often carry idiomatic meaning and should not be translated independently.

61. Final real-world challenge | 最终真实任务

1. Use twenty common phrasal verbs.
2. Use five separable patterns with pronouns.
3. Use five inseparable patterns.
4. Explain three multi-meaning verbs.
5. Tell one daily routine.
6. Describe one travel sequence.
7. Describe one technology problem.
8. Use five in a conversation.
9. Write a short story containing ten phrasal verbs.
10. Recognise phrasal verbs in a new text without translating particles word by word.

Next: Lesson No.051 | 下一课

Once language becomes longer, memory alone is not enough. The next lesson teaches how to reduce spoken and written information into useful notes and summaries without copying everything.

Lesson No.051 · Summarising and Note-Taking · 总结与笔记

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Reference floor: British Council B1 Intermediate.