Sound like a native, not a textbook: master the little verbs that carry big meanings.
A phrasal verb is a verb plus one or two little words (a particle: a preposition or adverb) that together create a new meaning — often very different from the verb alone. Give means one thing; give up, give in and give away mean three completely different things. Native speakers reach for these constantly, so understanding them is the difference between textbook English and the real thing.
At B2 the challenge is no longer just knowing what a phrasal verb means. You must handle its grammar — whether the object can split it (turn it off vs turn off it), whether it takes one particle or two, and whether the meaning is literal or figurative. This unit sorts them into clear types and adds a set of everyday idioms that work the same way.
Many two-word phrasal verbs are separable: the object can come after the particle or between the verb and the particle. Both orders are fine — until the object is a pronoun (it, them, him). Then the pronoun must go in the middle.
| Object type | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a noun (after) | verb + particle + noun | She turned off the radio. |
| a noun (split) | verb + noun + particle | She turned the radio off. |
| a pronoun | verb + pronoun + particle | She turned it off. (never "turned off it") |
Other phrasal verbs are inseparable: the object — even a pronoun — always comes after the whole verb. You can never put anything between the verb and its particle.
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| run into | meet by chance / hit (a problem) | I ran into her yesterday. (not "ran her into") |
| look after | take care of | Who will look after the dog? |
| get over | recover from | It took weeks to get over the flu. |
Some phrasal verbs carry two particles. These are always inseparable, and the object comes after both particles. They are extremely common in speech, so learn them as fixed units.
The same phrasal verb can be literal (its plain, physical meaning) or figurative (an idiomatic meaning you cannot guess from the words). Many have several meanings, so context decides.
| Phrasal verb | Literal | Figurative / idiomatic |
|---|---|---|
| break down | The car broke down. (stopped working) | He broke down in tears. (lost control of emotions) |
| pick up | Pick up the pen. (lift it) | Business is picking up. (improving) |
| take off | The plane took off. (left the ground) | Her career took off. (became very successful) |
Phrasal verbs sound natural and informal. In formal writing (reports, essays, official letters) a single-word, often Latin-based, verb is usually preferred. Knowing both, and choosing the right one for the situation, is a real B2 skill.
| Informal (phrasal) | Formal (single word) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| put off | postpone | delay to a later time |
| find out | discover | learn a fact |
| carry out | conduct | perform (a study, a task) |
| set up | establish | create / start (a club) |
These are the errors B2 students still make with phrasal verbs. Check your own writing against every row.
| Wrong ✗ | Right ✓ | Why? |
|---|---|---|
| Can you turn off it? | Can you turn it off? | a pronoun object must split a separable verb. |
| I ran her into at the shops. | I ran into her at the shops. | "run into" is inseparable; the object stays after it. |
| I look forward to meet you. | I look forward to meeting you. | "to" here is a preposition, so use the -ing form. |
| She can't put up the noise with. | She can't put up with the noise. | a three-part verb is never split. |
| The school carried out a survey about the trip and put it off. | ...conducted a survey... and postponed it. | in a formal essay, single-word verbs fit the register better. |
Two friends plan a class trip. Read it twice and watch each phrasal-verb type in action: a separable verb (put off / call off), an inseparable one (run into), a three-part verb (come up with), and an idiom (get the ball rolling).
Choose the correct answer. — 10 questions, each one is marked instantly. Questions get harder as you go.
Learn the phrasal verbs and idioms, then use them to talk about plans, problems and teamwork.
Describe a real plan, project or problem you have dealt with (e.g. organising a school event, starting a hobby, planning a trip with friends). Write 8 sentences telling the story. Use at least 8 of the phrasal verbs and idioms above.
Sentence starters (you can begin with these):
Değerlendirme öğretmenin tarafından yapılacak. (Your teacher will review your task.)
Read the text, then answer the questions.
Good readers prepare before they start. Before you read, think about these three questions (you do not need to write the answers):
Phrasal verbs to spot (from the Speaking section): come up with · put up with · call off · sort out · take on · cut corners · get the ball rolling · throw in the towel
Starting a band is never as simple as it looks. Plenty of people come up with a cool idea for a group, yet only a few manage to get it off the ground. The gap between dreaming and doing is where most school bands fall apart.
For most teenagers, the trouble is not a lack of talent but a lack of time and staying power. Between homework, exams and half a dozen other clubs, a band can quickly slip down the list. It is easy to picture yourself on stage after watching a slick video online, but the clips people share never show the boring bits — the hours spent tuning instruments, arguing over song choices or waiting for a member who has forgotten the rehearsal. Social media makes success look instant, and that false impression is exactly what trips so many young musicians up. They expect a shortcut, and when the hard work turns out to be real, they lose heart and drift away.
Take Mira, who set up a small band with her friends three years ago. At first, everything went wrong. Two members let her down and kept skipping rehearsals, an old amplifier broke down during their first show, and she nearly gave up. Instead of throwing in the towel, she sat down and worked out exactly what had gone wrong. She cut back on long, messy practices, took on one reliable drummer, and drew up a simple rehearsal plan she could stick to.
The reliable drummer she took on turned out to be the turning point. He showed up on time, kept a steady beat, and pushed the others to treat rehearsals seriously rather than as an excuse to hang out. Mira also set up a group chat where everyone could agree on times, share links to songs and flag any clashes with tests or matches. Bit by bit, the band started to feel less like a loose group of friends and more like a proper team. In fact, she often compares it to a football side: if one player keeps missing training, the whole squad suffers, and no amount of talent can paper over the cracks.
Balancing the band with schoolwork was a constant juggling act. Mira drew up a weekly timetable that blocked out one short rehearsal on a weekday evening and a longer session at the weekend, so that nobody had to choose between the group and their grades. She kept the practices focused, starting on time and ending on time, which meant the others could plan their revision around them. Parents who had once grumbled about the noise came round when they saw that the band was teaching their children to manage deadlines rather than waste their afternoons.
Time was the biggest headache. To keep the songs tight, Mira refused to cut corners on practice, even when it would have been far easier to do so. She pointed out to the others that an audience can always tell when a song has been rushed. Slowly, word got around at school, and classmates began to turn up to every gig.
Getting people to notice the band was a challenge of its own. Rather than splashing out on posters they could not afford, Mira and her friends turned to their phones. A classmate filmed short clips of their best moments and posted them online, and slowly the views and comments began to add up. A catchy thirty-second snippet did far more than any flyer ever could. The attention was not always kind — a few users left harsh remarks — but Mira taught the band to shrug off the trolls and focus on the fans who genuinely turned up. Around the same time, the school held a debate about whether music clubs deserved a share of the budget. Mira spoke up for her band, arguing that the arts matter just as much as sport, and to her surprise the motion was carried.
Of course, being in a band means putting up with long rehearsals and constant problems to sort out. There are days when nothing goes to plan and you feel like giving in. Even so, Mira insists that the fun makes up for the stress, and she looks forward to playing at the school festival next year.
With the festival on the horizon, preparation moved up a gear. The band teamed up with the art class on a small joint project, swapping a live performance for a set of hand-painted posters that brightened up the corridors. Everyone chipped in: some sorted out the sound system, others drew up a running order, and a couple of volunteers handled the lights. There were still plenty of hiccups — a broken string here, a forgotten lyric there — but the group had learned to take these in their stride. What once would have thrown them into a panic now barely slowed them down, and that quiet confidence, Mira says, was the real reward of sticking with it.
Looking back, the band members agree that the experience changed them in ways they never expected. Shy players learned to speak in front of a crowd, while the louder ones learned to listen and share the spotlight. They picked up practical skills too — how to plan ahead, how to handle criticism, and how to keep a promise to the rest of the group. Teachers noticed the difference as well, pointing out that the same discipline the band demanded had started to show up in classwork and deadlines. None of this had been part of the original plan; it simply grew out of turning up, week after week, and refusing to let small setbacks bring the whole thing crashing down.
Her advice to anyone starting out is refreshingly simple. Do not sit around waiting for the perfect moment; it will never come along. Get the ball rolling, learn from your mistakes, and never lose sight of why you began. All in all, she says, the risk was well worth taking.
Choose the correct answer.
Are these sentences true or false, according to the text?
Complete each sentence with ONE word from the text — the missing part of a phrasal verb or idiom.
Write your answer in your own words. These questions are not marked automatically.
1. According to the text, why do most new bands fail to get off the ground?
2. How did Mira react when everything went wrong at the start?
3. Do you agree with Mira's advice to "get the ball rolling" rather than wait? Why or why not?
Find these phrasal verbs and idioms in the text — each one appears at least once: come up with, get off the ground, let down, break down, throw in the towel, cut corners, put up with, get the ball rolling. Note their meaning, then check.
Aimee talks to Paul about his first few weeks at a new job and how he found his feet.
You will hear a conversation: Aimee asks Paul about his first weeks at a new job — how he settled in, the problems he ran into, and how his team backs him up. Listen for the phrasal verbs he uses. You will listen TWICE. First listen: answer questions 1-5. Second listen: answer questions 6-10. (Kaydı İKİ kez dinleyeceksin: ilk dinlemede 1-5, ikinci dinlemede 6-10.)
Write and submit an informal message packed with natural phrasal verbs; your teacher will review it.
Phrasal verbs make your writing sound natural and friendly — perfect for an informal message to a friend or classmate. In a formal essay you would swap many of them for a single-word verb. For this task you want the informal, phrasal versions.
| Formal (single word) | Informal (phrasal verb) | Example |
|---|---|---|
| postpone | put off | We had to put off the trip. |
| cancel | call off | They called off the party. |
| tolerate | put up with | I can't put up with the delays. |
| devise / produce | come up with | She came up with a great plan. |
| resolve | sort out | We soon sorted it out. |
| discover | find out | I found out what went wrong. |
See the difference — the same news, written two ways:
| Too formal for a friend ✗ | Natural, informal English ✓ |
|---|---|
| I wish to inform you that the event was cancelled. We subsequently postponed it and eventually resolved the difficulties. | Just so you know, we called off the event. We put it off for a week and, in the end, we sorted everything out. |
A friendly update message has three parts. The skeleton stays the same — you change the content, not the structure:
| Part | What to write | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Opening | Greet the reader and say why you are writing. | Hi Sam, I just wanted to fill you in on how the school trip is going. |
| 2. Body | Tell the story with phrasal verbs: what came up, what went wrong, how you dealt with it. | We ran into a few problems and nearly threw in the towel, but we came up with a plan and sorted it out. |
| 3. Closing | End warmly, using a phrasal verb or idiom. | Looking forward to catching up soon — let's get the ball rolling next week! |
Write an informal message or email to a friend, telling them about a recent plan, project or problem you dealt with — for example: organising a school trip, starting a new hobby or club, or sorting out a problem with friends. Tell the story naturally, using plenty of phrasal verbs.
Değerlendirme öğretmenin tarafından yapılacak. (Your teacher will evaluate your writing.)
Mixed questions from the whole unit, then check what you can do.
14 questions: grammar + vocabulary + reading + listening. Each question is marked instantly.
Tick what you can do now. Honest answers help your teacher.
İşaretlemediğin madde varsa ilgili bölüme dönüp tekrar çalış — soldaki menüden her bölüme geri dönebilirsin.
Oturum kontrol ediliyor...