I’ve found that mastering phrasal verbs is crucial for sounding natural and fluent in English. It took me a while to understand not just their meanings, but also the right contexts to use them. Phrasal verbs, with their unique combination of a verb and one or two particles, can drastically change the tone and informality of a conversation. For instance, saying “I put off the meeting” instead of “I postponed the meeting” can make my language sound more casual and accessible in everyday conversations.
I learned that timing and setting are everything when it comes to using phrasal verbs correctly. In professional emails or formal settings, I might opt for their more formal counterparts to maintain a certain level of professionalism. However, in casual chats with friends or in situations where I want to convey a relaxed tone, phrasal verbs become my go-to choice. They have the power to make my speech sound more native-like and convey nuances that formal language sometimes misses. The journey to integrate them seamlessly into my speech has been challenging but rewarding, as it has significantly improved my ability to express myself in English with the flexibility and nuance that native speakers do.
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Definitely. Now that I’ve switched back to improve my English, phrasal verbs will be an area where I want to focus more for sure. They are quite important in many different situations, but I don’t obsess too much about it, I go with the flow of what I read, or what I’m focused on.
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I guess they are comparable to German separable verbs, whereas the non phrasal verb equivalents tend to be from latin or french. Generally latinate words are seen as more formal, more prestigious, germanic words are more down to earth, and informal. This makes sense as our Norman conquerers spoke french, whereas the commoners spoke Anglo Saxon. Thus french was associated with the court, and latin with learning.
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I think English phrasal verbs are a lot easier than German, but I agree that the concept is the same.
The difficult with German is that the particle is at the end of the sentence, and can have a lot of words in the middle before closing the concept. This makes it a lot harder to create a connection between the root of the word and the particle, plus the fact that you need to keep that in mind each time you read a sentence in German. If the sentence is short, it becomes easier, but often German sentences are not so short, and sometimes are insane. It takes much more time to get comfortable with German phrasal verbs. Imho.
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You’re quite right, although in English the particle can come at the end: You’d better put that really big bonfire at the end of the garden out. Have you put your application for the accountant’s job in yet?. Note the second example where yet must be last! I don’t know if this placement of the particle at the end is regional, or British, or older usage (I am 60).
Off topic now, but what I find interesting about German is the love for little words like noch, auch, mal, wieder, schon etc.
It’s true that in some situation, some particles can go at the end as well. But it’s quite uncommon, usually they are very close, and with constant repetitions they become easier to get understood. Plus, it is an option, they can be moved sometimes, but in German is an obligation to have them at the end, at least most of the time. I’m not an expert for sure, overall I look at the common usage.
Yet is different, because it’s not part of a phrasal verb, as far as I remember, it is an adverb or a conjunction, or part of a fixed expressions.