Phrasal Verbs B1 Cambridge

[Eliecer Brathwaite]

Otherphrasal verbs describe the speed at which we eat. If you wolf down food, you eat a lot of it very quickly and hungrily. The phrasal verb pick at, meanwhile, means the opposite. Someone who picks at their food eats slowly, eating very little of what is on their plate and showing no interest in it:

Phrasal verbs are a vital part of mastering English at an advanced level. They can seem daunting at first, but they're actually your best friends when it comes to expressing yourself in a more natural, idiomatic way. For the Cambridge C1 exam, showing off your prowess with advanced phrasal verbs is like wearing a badge of honor that screams, "I've got this language down!"

But why, you ask, are phrasal verbs so crucial for the CAE exam? They are the bread and butter of English fluency, allowing you to convey complex ideas succinctly and naturally. Moreover, using them correctly can significantly enhance your speaking and writing parts, proving your ability to handle the English language with the sophistication expected at the C1 level.

Phrasal verbs are fascinating because they consist of a verb plus a preposition or adverb (or both) that changes the meaning of the original verb. This transformation is what makes them so special but also a bit challenging to learn. They are not just random combinations; they follow patterns that, once understood, can make them easier to remember and use.

For example, the verb "put" on its own is quite straightforward, meaning to place something somewhere. However, when combined with different prepositions or adverbs, it transforms: "put off" can mean to postpone something or to cause to dislike, depending on the context. This duality and flexibility are what make phrasal verbs a powerful tool in your language arsenal.

Phrasal verbs for C1 can be your ticket to showcasing a truly advanced level of English proficiency. They add color, nuance, and depth to your language use, making your spoken and written English more vivid and expressive. Remember, mastering phrasal verbs is not just about memorizing; it's about understanding their nuances and applying them in the right contexts.

Cambridge certification test. Text about travelling and multiple choice questions. You follow your teacher's advice, start reading and suddenly ... 'set off'. Again the phrasal verbs; you don't remember its meaning and you don't know what to answer.

This situation may be familiar to many of you as the list of phrasal verbs is very extensive and is often difficult to remember. However, there are a number of them that are often repeated in certification tests such as First Certificate, Advanced, Proficiency, IELTS or TOEFL and it is convenient to know and remember them.

First let's have a look at what phrasal verbs are. These are verbs composed of two or three words (put up with), verb plus adverb or preposition, and when used together often acquire completely different meanings (fall out) or sometimes, meanings similar to Spanish (go up). It can also happen that the adverb or preposition does not add any meaning and you can use the verb with or without particle (swell - swell up). Native English speakers use them very happily but for non-natives they are like hell.

Most of the time these phrasal verbs usually have an equivalent much easier to understand (put off - postpone). However, if native speakers used these synonyms, one of the most defining features of the English language would be lost, that is making life impossible for non-native speakers who take certification tests.

So, if you are going to take a Cambridge exam, remember these phrasal verbs that we have just seen. Or you can also have a look at our official exam preparation courses at this link and get the best preparation possible and with the greatest teachers.

Before learning the phrasal verbs, you must know what the focus is for each of the parts of the Speaking Module. Once you understand the tasks, you can learn phrasal verbs which are directly related to the types of speech you will use in each section (such as language for talking about the future, comparing and contrasting, agreeing and disagreeing, etc.).

Note: The CAE and FCE Speaking Exams are very similar, but there are a few differences (these are noted below). You can use the same phrasal verbs for each exam, regardless of the differences in the test format.

For Part 1 of both FCE and CAE, you may be asked about things like your home town, your interests, your studies, your career(s), etc. When speaking about yourself, try to use the following phrasal verbs.

FCE: The interlocutor gives you TWO photographs and asks you to talk about them for 1 minute. The interlocutor then asks your partner a question about your photographs and your partner responds briefly (up to 30 seconds).

Why this is a useful phrasal verb: You have to speculate a lot when looking at these photos, so this phrasal verb is a great one to use when guessing how the person came to be in the situation in the photo (or what will happen to them after).

FCE: (4 minutes) This part is divided into two parts and the interlocutor asks you and your partner to talk together in both. In the first part, you are given five written prompts and asked to discuss a question. For example, you might be asked to discuss things ways to improve the environment in your city.

CAE: You and your partner are given written prompts. You must speak together for about 2 minutes (3 minutes for groups of three) about these prompts. After the discussion time, the examiner will ask you another question which requires you to make a decision. You have 1 minute to talk together and make the decision (2 minutes for groups of three).

Why this is a useful phrasal verb: This is a great phrasal verb to use when responding to a comment that your partner made (or a question that the interlocutor brought up). It shows interaction with what another person has said, which is something they look for in this section of the exam.

Did you know that CISL is an official Cambridge Testing Centre? CISL CAE and FCE students have the advantage of taking their exam at CISL, which makes them much more comfortable! Hear from our students why our small class sizes and intensive, speaking-based curriculum are excellent for improving your Cambridge score.

This is the form. Please can you fill it in?

Why are you bringing that argument up now?

Police are looking into connections between the two crimes.

We need to come up with a solution.

Phrasal verbs are very common in English, especially in more informal contexts. They are made up of a verb and a particle or, sometimes, two particles. The particle often changes the meaning of the verb.

2. See above! Phrasal verbs, or multi-word verbs, are very common in speech. Often the alternatives sound drier or more formal, and having different ways to express the same idea allows the speaker options for emphasis, rhythm, cadence and so on. For example, these two sentences below mean the same but the first has an entirely different rhythm to it which is pleasant to the ear:

3. Multi-word verbs usually have more than one meaning, which makes them very flexible. Often there is literal meaning (pick something up from the floor) and an idiomatic meaning (pick someone up from school). The literal meaning is usually easy to work out but the idiomatic meaning can be less clear and often needs to be memorised.

The best way to pick up and become familiar with multi-word verbs is to read and listen to as much authentic/natural English as possible. Happily there's a lot to choose from online, and watching films or series with the subtitles (in English) on is also a very good option. You can watch something in your own language with English subtitles or something in English with English subtitles. These are great ways to grow your English and pick up good grammatical and lexical patterns.

This is not a criticism or anything like that (I love all the work you share with everyone), but it's really difficult to find a rule that cannot be, well, bent, if not broken. Here's a sentence you can find in the Cambridge dictionary, with the verb and the two particles separated:

You're not wrong! The explanation on this page is an introduction to the topic of phrasal verbs. It doesn't cover everything and doesn't explain all the details, which are quite complex, because it would be too much information for people at the B1 or B2 level. But since you ask, I'll explain this particular case a bit more even though in the end it's still an example of a 'bent' rule.

'to get over with' is a phrasal-prepositional verb. Such verbs can be broken down as verb + particle + preposition. Most of these verbs are inseparable, i.e. the objects of most phrasal-prepositional verbs come after the preposition.

And so that's why the sentence you found is correct. I don't think it would ever be wrong or awkward for you to always put the object after the preposition, though, so in terms of your own speaking and writing, just follow the rule and you'll be fine!

Hello! May I ask you something? The thing that I want to ask is easy to understand but complicated to write. So, I will give an example. 'Suck something into something' is a phrasal verb meaning to cause someone or something to gradually become involved in an unpleasant situation or harmful activity. I got that definition from the dictionary. But why the same group of words (suck sth into sth) is not a phrasal verb in the following sentence: The spaceship was sucked into a blackhole. Is it because its meaning is different from the one I wrote above? It is literally sucked into sth, not involved in an unpleasant situation. So is that possible to use the same group of words both as a phrasal verb and not in different sentences? Could you please give another example? (What I mean is for example we know X+into is a phrasal verb which means A. If it means B in another sentence, can we still count it as a phrasal verb or not?) Thanks in advance!

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