Phrasal Verbs 16/17 ep.16

In this week's Premier Skills English podcast, Rich and Jack talk about Yaya Toure's surprise return to Manchester City's first-team and they have some difficult phrasal verbs for you to learn. We also have a new football phrase for you to guess and a Premier League prediction for you to make. Enjoy!

How much did you understand?

Vocabulary

In the podcast, Rich and Jack used some words and phrases that might be new for you. You can see two examples here:

The match will be remembered for a floodlight failure.

The Manchester City fans chanted Yaya's name for 90 minutes.

There were a few more tricky words in the podcast. Can you remember all of them? Try the activity below, then, listen to the podcast again to hear how we used the words in context. This can really help with understanding.

Activity 1: In this activity, have a look at the vocabulary and try to match it to the correct definition.

Can you match the words to their definitions?

Language - Phrasal Verbs

A phrasal verb is a verb form that has two or three parts and usually have nonliteral meanings. There are lots of multi-word verbs or phrasal verbs in English and sometimes it can be difficult to learn them all. This sentence is easy to understand because it has a literal meaning:

I ran out of the stadium at the end of the match because I wanted to get home quickly.

But, here, 'run out of' has a nonliteral meaning and is a phrasal verb and is much more difficult to understand:

I had to drink black tea because I'd run out of milk.

In this sentence, 'to run out of something' means to finish a supply of something that you normally have, it has nothing to do with running! There are hundreds of phrasal verbs in English and when the meaning is non-literal we need to use the context of the rest of the sentence to help us understand.

Phrasal Verbs - Using Context

So, understanding phrasal verbs with nonliteral meanings can be difficult to understand from just looking at the words. Look at the example below:

Manchester Utd hang on against Chelsea.

If you don't know the specific meaning of the phrasal verb 'to hang on', the above sentence is impossible to understand. We need more context to help us. The following example would help us more:

Chelsea attacked a lot during the game and in the final minute won a penalty, but David de Gea made a great save and Manchester hung on.

By reading more, you will have more context and will be better able to understand the problematic phrasal verb. Now, with more context you can make a guess at what the word means so it's always important to read the sentences before and after the phrasal verb - this will help you. The phrasal verb 'to hang on', in this context, means to continue to do something in a difficult situation.

In this activity, take a look at the sentences and decide how to complete each verb form. Are these phrasal verbs new for you?

Activity 2: In this activity, read each sentence and decide what the phrasal verb means, then choose the correct adverb or preposition to complete the verb form.

What is the correct word to complete each phrasal verb?

Phrasal verbs with 'up'?

In the podcast, we asked you to think about some sentences that included phrasal verbs with 'up'. Here are the sentences again. Have a look at the sentences and then tell us what you think the phrasal verbs mean in the comments section below. And try not to use an online dictionary!

I think they gave up when Manchester Utd scored goal number five.
Leicester City need to win a few more games if they want to catch up with the leaders this season.
Don’t forget to warm up before you start playing.

Transcript

If the listening was difficult, listen again and read the transcript at the same time.

Read and listen at the same time.

Welcome

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich

Jack: and I’m Jack

Rich: and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast

Jack: Where we talk about football and help you with your English.

Rich: In this week’s show, we talk about Yaya Toure, phrasal verbs, have a new football phrase for you to guess and a Premier League prediction for you to make.

Latest news headlines

Jack: Let’s start with the Premier League headlines this week.

Rich: Yaya returns with a bang.

Jack: Yaya Toure played his first Premier League match of the season and scored both goals in Manchester CIty’s 2-1 win away at Crystal Palace. Toure scored first but Palace equalised in the second half. It looked like Palace would hang on for a point but Toure had other ideas, scoring the winner with a few minutes left.

Rich: Harry does the business for Tottenham.

Jack: Harry Winks scored on his Premier League debut but it was Harry Kane who took the headlines. Kane scored twice in injury time to give Spurs a 3-2 win against West Ham.

Rich: Sunderland can see the light.

Jack: Sunderland beat Hull 3-0 to climb off the bottom of the Premier League table for the first time this season and Jermain Defoe scored his 150th Premier League goal. But, the match will be remembered by many for a floodlight failure. The match was delayed for 15 minutes when it went dark at...the Stadium of Light.

Competition

Rich: Before, we move on, we want to thank everyone for entering our first Big Football Quiz. We’ve had thousands of entries from all over the world and lots and lots of you got all ten questions correct.

Jack: We will have news of the first winner of the Big Football Quiz in next week’s podcast.

Rich: Don’t forget to keep an eye on our homepage and this podcast for our next competition which will be coming soon.

Jack: While you are waiting, don’t forget to try all of our vocabulary pages to improve your football English for the next quiz!

Player of the Week

Jack: Some great performances last week. Diego Costa scored his 10th goal of the season for Chelsea, Victor Anichebe grabbed two goals for Sunderland and Harry Kane of course with his two late goals for Spurs.

Rich: But our player of the week this week is Manchester City’s Yaya Toure! Many people thought Toure would not play for City again after falling out with City’s manager - Pep Guardiola.

Jack: But, it looks like the pair have made up and Toure was back with a bang as he scored both goals to give City a great win at Palace.

Rich: Yes, I think there is a good chance we will see more of Yaya in the rest of the season. To play, basically, his first match for six months and play so well is amazing.

Jack: Pep Guardiola said, after the match, that Yaya’s physical condition was better than ever and now he’s a real part of the team.

Rich: And, after the match, Yaya said that ‘he knew, that one day, his manager would need him’.

Jack: The fans chanted Yaya’s name for nearly 90 minutes and at the end his teammates backed him up by clapping him back to the dressing room.

Rich: It’s like City have a new player. He might make the difference for City this season, you know.

Language

Rich: Phrasal verbs are difficult, aren’t they?

Jack: Yes, I think they're a bit of language that learners often find difficult.

Rich: They are really common and useful to learn and in this section we’re going to look at five of them.

Jack: First, let’s think about what a phrasal verb is. It’s a verb form that has two or three parts: a verb and a preposition or adverb and they usually have nonliteral meanings. That is, you have to know the whole form - you can’t understand them if you only know the words that make them.

Rich: Let’s look at an example. The phrasal verb is to ‘run out of’. This is quite difficult to understand because it doesn’t have anything to do with running.

Jack: I had to have black tea - yuk- this morning because I’ve run out of milk.

Rich: Here the phrasal verb means to finish a supply of something that you normally have. It has nothing to do with running or moving quickly!

Jack: If you don’t know the phrasal verb you will need to use the rest of the sentence to help you. I drank black tea which I don’t like because I didn’t have any milk in my fridge. I’d run out of milk.

Rich: So, phrasal verbs have non-literal meanings and are a bit difficult and we’ve used a few when speaking about Yaya Toure. Let’s look at them now.

Jack: Toure fell out with the City manager.

Rich: The phrasal verb here is to fall out with. Here there is not much context so sometimes you need to use your football knowledge in addition to your language ability to help you.

Jack: To fall out with someone means to have an argument and not be friendly to them. I fell out with my sister a lot when I was younger but the next day we always….

Rich: Wait! That’s the next phrasal verb. Yaya Toure and Pep Guardiola have made up.

Jack: Ah, OK! The phrasal verb is to make up and it means to become friends again. So, after falling out with my sister we would always make up the next day. What’s the next one?

Rich: It looked like Palace would hang on for a point.

Jack: The phrasal verb here is to ‘hang on for’. Again, you can use the context of the sentence and your football knowledge to help understand the phrasal verb.

Rich: It means to continue doing something in a difficult situation. So, Palace were defending a lot against City and looked like they might hang on for a point.

Jack: But they didn’t because Yaya got the winner!

Rich: The last phrasal verb in the last section was to ‘back up’. Yaya’s teammates backed him up by clapping him at the end of the match.

Jack: To back up means to support someone to show you’ve got their back in a difficult situation. The CIty players and fans showed their support to Yaya.

Rich: So, there are a few phrasal verbs for you to think about and learn. You probably saw that ‘back up’ and ‘make up’ both end with the same word: ‘up’. Sometimes it can be helpful to learn phrasal verbs that end with the same preposition.

Jack: We’re going to give you three more sentences that use phrasal verbs with ‘up’ and we want you to tell us what they mean in the comments section. The first one, Rich.

Rich: Number one: I think they gave up when Manchester Utd scored goal number five.

Jack: Number two: Leicester City need to win a few more games if they want to catch up with the leaders this season.

Rich: Number three: Don’t forget to warm up before you start playing.

Football Phrase

Rich: Have you got a football phrase for us this week?

Jack: Yes, I have, but first last week’s football phrase. The phrase was a booking. This word is used because the player’s name is written down by the referee. It’s often called a yellow card or a caution.

Rich: Well done to Alex, Pavlo and Liubomyr from Ukraine, Elghoul from Algeria, AssemJuve from Palestine, Kwesimanifest from Ghana and Shobonenek from Russia. You got the right answer last week!

Jack: This week’s phrase is also a phrasal verb and can be used as a noun, too. The phrase is to **** **. It means to give a player the chance to play for a sports team and especially an international team. This week Harry Winks was ****** ** for Tottenham’s first-team. He might get

an England **** ** soon, too. In more general English, we use this phrase to mean to make a telephone call to someone.

Rich: Maybe I could **** ** a friend to help me this week.

Prediction

Rich: Last week’s prediction was the match between Arsenal and Manchester Utd. I went for a Manchester Utd win and Jack went for an Arsenal win. After Olivier Giroud’s late equaliser none of us got it right last week. You, our listeners also thought Manchester Utd would win so no points for anyone this week.

Jack: So, no change to our prediction league. What match are you taking a look at this week, Rich?

Rich: It’s the big London derby between Chelsea and Tottenham. Chelsea are on fire at the moment. They have won their last six Premier League matches without conceding a goal and scoring 17 and Diego Costa and Eden Hazard are back to their best. Tottenham are

the only undefeated team in the Premier League but they have drawn too many matches. I think this will be Spurs’s first taste of defeat this season. Final score: Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham

Jack: I have to agree with you, Rich but I think it will be closer because derby matches are always close. Chelsea will win 2-1.

Rich:Right, that’s all we have time for this week.

Jack: Don’t forget to write your answers to our questions and make a guess at our football phrase in the comments below. And remember to take a look at our Fantasy Premier League page and join in the discussions!

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football!

Quiz

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Form

Premier League Prediction - Gameweek 13 - Chelsea v Spurs

In Gameweek 12, Arsenal and Manchester Utd drew 1-1, and nobody predicted the right result! Rich and our listeners went with Manchester Utd and Jack thought Arsenal would win. The match finished 1-1. Jack stays on 6 points and our podcast listeners stay on 4 points. Rich is still in the lead on 7 points. We know you can catch him up! Remember, it's one point for the correct result and two additional points for the correct score. The big match in Gameweek 13 is - Chelsea v Tottenham! Can you predict the right score?

	Gameweek 12	Total Points	Chelsea v Spurs
Rich	0	7	2-0
Jack	0	6	2-1
Podcast Listeners	0	4	?

Make your prediction now!

What do you think?

In this week’s podcast, Jack and Rich used some phrasal verbs to talk about Yaya Toure and we have some more phrasal verbs for you in this week's questions.

Are you happy Yaya Toure has got back in the City team? Will he make a difference to City's season?
The floodlights went out at the Stadium of Light last weekend and the match was delayed. Why else might a football match be held up or even called off?
Take a look at the phrasal verbs below and tell us what you think they mean.

I think they gave up when Manchester Utd scored goal number five.
Leicester City need to win a few more games if they want to catch up with the leaders this season.
Don’t forget to warm up before you start playing.

Remember to write your guess at this week's football phrase and the questions above in the comments section below.

If you want us to correct your English, just write 'correct me' at the beginning of your comment.

Comments

hsn
11/08/2021

5527
points

What do you think?
1-Yaya Toure was a good player and he is a football coach now.
2-In case of bad weather conditions or social events matches could be called off. When a crazy-:) fan runs the pitch or an animal like bird land on there the match could be hold up.
3-
a-To give up means to leave or to finish an action.
b-To catch up with means to reach, or to arrive someone or somewhere or to come same level .
c-To warm up means to make exercise like stretching to get body warmed.
Phrases
• They fell out with each other over the credit cards expenses, but afterwards they made up and decided to cancel all of them.
• Small Business Enterprises are hanging on the hard conditions of the pandemic so officials have to back them up immediately.

hsn
11/08/2021 11:16

Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5527

mobeckham
16/05/2020

6510
points

The football phrase for this week is ( international call up )

mobeckham
16/05/2020 03:58

Turkey
Manchester United
6510

1. In the first sentence , Gave up means to lose hopes for winning and surrender to the current situation
2. In the second sentence , Catch up with means to reach to a higher position or to improve yourself after a bad start
3. In the third sentence , Warm up means to stretch and do some exercises before the start of the game to be fit and avoid injuries

mobeckham
16/05/2020 03:56

Football matches might held up because of safety issues like a bomb in the stadium or something or one of the teams might be late due to traffic

mobeckham
16/05/2020 03:53

Absolutely was happy for Yaya Toure to see him back in the team because he is an incredible player and he will make a difference

mobeckham
16/05/2020 03:50

M.s. Aboelsafa
24/11/2016

738
points

Ask for advice:
I had studied Phrasal verbs for 3 months without any benefit. I know the main reason for that I did not practice anymore to speak with a foreign person.
So, I ask for a good manner to study well
Thanks.

M.s. Aboelsafa
24/11/2016 19:46

Egypt
Arsenal
738

admin
25/11/2016

560
points

This is a good question. I don't believe that your studies have been without benefit. Slowly, as you learn more phrasal verbs, you will start to get a feeling about how we use prepositions with verbs. Now, you can never be sure of the meaning of a phrasal verb out of context, but you can get a sense of many.

Regarding your practice problem - this really is a problem for people who are learning a language without classes. Have you got friends who are learning English that you could meet and practise with?

Thanks

Jack

admin
25/11/2016 09:28

United Kingdom
Arsenal
560

M.s. Aboelsafa
25/11/2016

Unfortunately, I have not got friends who I can practise with them.
So I ask for sites which provide practical sheets.
Thank You Mr. Jack

M.s. Aboelsafa
25/11/2016 20:49

Rich
28/11/2016

594
points

Hi M.s Aboelsafa

The British Council has lots of great sites where you can practise your English. Have you tried LearnEnglish? Also, take a look at their F acebook page where you will see lots of interesting posts and different websites where you can practise your English.

Of course, my personal favourite is Premier Skills English!

Rich

Rich
28/11/2016 08:22

Spain
Liverpool
594

M.s. Aboelsafa
03/12/2016

Thank You Mr. Rich

M.s. Aboelsafa
03/12/2016 11:20

3-
a-Give up:to get out from a competition before its end
b-Catch up with:an act of catching someone up in a particular activity.
c-Warm up: to do some exercises before a huge game

M.s. Aboelsafa
24/11/2016 19:40

Correct me:
2-Matches might be held up due to bad weathers as what happened with the city in UEFA champion in his 1St match in Etihad stadium
Might matches be called off due to Mass riots.

M.s. Aboelsafa
24/11/2016 19:33

Hi M.s. AboelSafa

Matches might be held up due to bad weathers as what happened with the city in UEFA champion in his 1St match in Etihad stadium
Might matches be called off due to Mass riots.

1. weather is uncountable - bad weather

2. as - OK, this is a bit tricky. you could use like here, but it feels too informal and strict grammar teachers would get upset and tell you "like is a preposition and should only come before simple nouns". As is better, but we don't use it on its own to make comparisons - you could say "as with what happened".

3. the UEFA Championship

4. In their - not his

5. In the Etihad Stadium

I hope these help. If you have any questions about the corrections. please reply and let me know.

admin
25/11/2016 09:25

Thank You Mr. John

M.s. Aboelsafa
25/11/2016 20:36

Correct me:
1-I am very happy for Yaya to back again for the team & I want to him to be in good relationship with Pep.
I was very sad for Yaya to end his career with these dramatic end

M.s. Aboelsafa
24/11/2016 19:26

Rich
24/11/2016

Good to hear from you!

I have no problems understanding your message and I agree with what you say. I'm just going to focus on three things that you should change:

You need a verb after 'to', so you need to say 'I am very happy for Yaya to be back again'. I'm not sure, but maybe you just forgot to type 'be' and this wasn't a mistake.
It sounds better to say: 'to have a good relationship with Pep'; 'to be in a relationship' is more personal, you might say 'I have been in a relationship with my partner for five years.'
'these' is used with a plural form so you need to use 'this'. If you want to use a more difficult phrase you could say: 'I was very sad for Yaya to end his career in this dramatic fashion'.

Hope that helps!

Rich - The Premier Skills English Team

Rich
24/11/2016 22:59

Thank you Mr. Rich

M.s. Aboelsafa
25/11/2016 20:35

elghoul
24/11/2016

3988
points

1.Yaya toure has successfully got back but I am not sure he can stand up for all the season.
2.Stormy weather can make a match be held up.
3.The loser against Man united surrendered after the fifth goal with no hope to gain any point.
Leicester need to win some match for narrowing the gap from the leaders.
Its means to do some exercice before beginning to play.
Football phrase . Appointed

elghoul
24/11/2016 16:51

Algeria
Manchester City
3988

kwesimanifest
24/11/2016

4768
points

Chelsea 2-2Tottenham

kwesimanifest
24/11/2016 11:20

Ghana
Manchester United
4768

Thanks Jack

kwesimanifest
24/11/2016 11:19

kwesimanifest
23/11/2016

'Gave up' could mean lost hope/confidence in pursuing an act
'Catch up' could mean close the gap
'Warm up' means get prepared

kwesimanifest
23/11/2016 17:41

A match might be held up or called off if the conduct of fans is not the best and can disrupt the game if allowed to continue.

kwesimanifest
23/11/2016 17:37

Correct me: I am happy that yaya toure got back to the city team. But am afraid he can't enjoy much play time as he used to due to what i see as a fall in his pace and strength. Having said that, i believe he will always make a difference for city whenever he is given the opportunity to play as his experience will be brought to bear.

kwesimanifest
23/11/2016 17:35

admin
23/11/2016

I am happy that Yaya Toure got back to the city team. But am afraid he can't enjoy much play time as he used to due to what I see as a fall in his pace and strength. Having said that, I believe he will always make a difference for city whenever he is given the opportunity to play as his experience will be brought to bear.

Hi Kwesimanifest - this is very accurate! Be careful with capital letters

I have coloured a few bits of text blue. I'll address them here:

1. got back - this is OK, not completely wrong. Macmillandictionary.com lists several uses for get back. The meaning closest to your use is: to return to the state or condition you were in before. So it would be better to say get back to playing for the city team. It's really quite a subtle difference.

2. But - OK, this is not a big deal, but some teachers don't like it if you start a sentence with but. If you were writing something formal, it is better to use the word however. The meaning is exactly the same, but however is a little more formal.

3. I think you are using the verb enjoy to mean get benefit from - which is quite formal. The verb enjoy is transitive so needs an object. In this case, as it's a verb, you need to use the gerund - and I'd say 'can't enjoy as much playing time as he used to...'

4. OK - drop is better.

5. Having said that, - lovely linking phrase.

p.s. brought to bear is a great phrase

admin
23/11/2016 21:15

Emir Veličanstveni
23/11/2016

1449
points

Maybe to call

Emir Veličanstveni
23/11/2016 17:33

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Arsenal
1449

Rich
23/11/2016

Hi Emir

Welcome to Premier Skills English!

You're nearly right but not quite. The answer is a phrasal verb so you need one more word :)

Rich
23/11/2016 17:41

This week's phrase is **** **

kwesimanifest
23/11/2016 17:25

Good job Kwesimanifest!

admin
23/11/2016 20:55

assemjuve
23/11/2016

3705
points

I think it may be delayed for a team that is late for a match because of traffic jam.

assemjuve
23/11/2016 16:51

Palestinian Territory
Liverpool
3705

Yes i am,i think if he will play orderly,he will make a big difference with the team,but the race for the title will be difficult this season with teams like Liverpool and Chelsea.

assemjuve
23/11/2016 16:49

Liubomyr
23/11/2016

4408
points

my second attempt: the phrase is to 'call on'

Liubomyr
23/11/2016 14:05

Ukraine
Watford
4408

It's close but still not right. Third time lucky?

Rich
23/11/2016 14:26

Alex_from_Ukraine
22/11/2016

6281
points

This week’s phrase is **** **.

Alex_from_Ukraine
22/11/2016 18:31

Ukraine
Liverpool
6281

admin
22/11/2016

Well done Alex, you're the first this week!

admin
22/11/2016 22:06

aragorn1986
22/11/2016

3557
points

1. It means that team didn't want to make more efforts to 'catch the train', to equalise or try to score.
2. Leicester needs to make a winning streak if they want to earn more points and become concurrent in the top part of the table.
3. We should do some excercises to stretch well before we start playing so we can avoid potential injuries.

aragorn1986
22/11/2016 16:05

Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

Of course, Yaya is a kind of player that always makes a difference. A football match might be called off for a bad weather, traffic etc.

aragorn1986
22/11/2016 15:57

Liubomyr
22/11/2016

I think that the phrase is to 'pick up'

Liubomyr
22/11/2016 15:41

That's close Liubomyr but not quite right.

admin
22/11/2016 22:05

Rank	Name	Score
1	Colombia	71478
2	Ukraine	33314
3	Spain	28379
4	Serbia	27294
5	Brazil	23992
6	Albania	20578
7	Vietnam	19954
8	Turkey	19874
9	Macedonia	19074
10	Bosnia and Herzegovina	16333

Rank	Name	Score
1	Manchester United	142084
2	Liverpool	110402
3	Chelsea	88779
4	Arsenal	85759
5	Manchester City	57132
6	Tottenham Hotspur	19173
7	Newcastle United	10478
8	West Ham United	7460
9	AFC Bournemouth	4530
10	Crystal Palace	4245

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