6 Minute Vocabulary: Multi-word verbs

Catherine
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Vocabulary with me, Catherine…

Rob
And me, Rob. Hello. In this show we’re going to find out about multi-word verbs.

Catherine
That’s right: we’re looking into verb phrases that are made up of more than one word. And if you’d like an example, Rob and I have used three of them already.

Rob
It’s incredible: we have! Catherine you said looking into and made up of.

Catherine
Yep, and Rob you said find out about. And some people call this type of multi-word verb a phrasal verb.

Rob
They do. And in this programme, we’ll look at lots of multi-word verbs…

Catherine
… we’ll explain what they mean …

Rob
There’ll be a quiz …

Catherine
And we’ll leave you with a top tip for learning vocabulary.

Rob
So, let’s get started by listening to Andre – a student from France who is studying in London.

Catherine
Yep, and he’s talking about his weekend. And here are two questions for you while you listen. First, did Andre meet up with his friends?

Rob
And second, Andre’s English is pretty good, but it sounds a bit unnatural. Why is that? Here’s Andre.

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Andre
I wanted to rendezvous with friends at the shopping centre, but I couldn’t find them. In the end, I abandoned the day. They said they couldn’t find me, but I think they just invented a story!

Catherine
Thank you, Andre. And we asked you if Andre managed to meet his friends.

Rob
And sadly he didn’t. He said he abandoned the day. Well done if you got that at home. But why did Andre’s English sound unnatural?

Catherine
Well, we could understand him OK, but some of the words he used were a little bit too formal for everyday natural spoken English.

Rob
Yes, thats right. When we’re speaking, some words, especially verbs that originally come from Latin – make us sound much too formal. Andre used quite a few of these – for example he said abandon the day.

Catherine
Yeah – abandon the day. Well, to sound more natural, Andre could use a multi-word verb instead, and say he gave up on the day. Now, give up on something has a very similar meaning to abandon in Andre’s sentence – they both mean stop doing something, because you’re not succeeding. And Andre stopped hoping he would find his friends. Poor Andre.

Rob
So, give up on is a phrasal verb. In English, these are made up of verbs and prepositions.

Catherine
Yep, so, we’ve got the verb give and the prepositions up and on. And Andre needs to use more of these phrasal verbs when he’s speaking.

Rob
So, are we saying that these Latinate verbs are wrong? Or not as good as the multi-word verbs? Can we forget about learning Latinate verbs then?

Catherine
Well, that would be good, Rob. But, actually no, you do need to learn them and they’re not wrong: it’s just a question of context. You’ll see a lot more of the Latinate verbs in written English and in formal English, so yep, you do need to learn both types, and use the right one in the right situation. So, for example, Andre said he said he planned to rendezvous with friends. Now, if he changes the Latin rendezvous to meet up with, the meaning doesn’t really change, it just makes his speaking sound more natural.

Rob
OK, well, let’s listen to one more example.

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Andre
I think they just invented a story!

Catherine
This would sound better as I think they just made up a story. When you make something up, you say something that isn’t true.

Rob
And now, let’s listen to Andre again, this time with the multi-word verbs…

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Andre
I wanted to meet up with friends at the shopping centre, but I couldn’t find them. In the end, I gave up on the day. They said they couldn’t find me, but I think they just made up a story!

Catherine
Well done Andre. That’s a lot better.

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6 Minute Vocabulary from BBC Learning English.

Rob
And now it’s quiz time! What goes in this gap? I’m going to ______ my family next weekend. Is it a) meet on with b) meet up to or c) meet up with?

Catherine
The verb is c) meet up with. Number 2. My brother isn’t very reliable. He’s always a) making on excuses b) making up excuses or c) inventing up excuses.

Rob
He’s always… b) making up excuses. And number 3. What multi-word verb has a similar meaning to the verb abandon?

Catherine
And the answer is: give up on. Well done if you got those right at home.

That brings us almost to the end of today’s programme.

Rob
But before we go, here’s today’s top tip for learning vocabulary: try to learn phrasal verbs and their Latin-based partners in pairs. That way, you’ll have the right verb for the right situation. So, we’re almost out of time, but Catherine very quickly can you remind us of some of these multi-word verbs we’ve heard today?

Catherine
Most certainly. We had look into, made up of, find out about, meet up with, give up on and made up.

Rob
Thanks. Very useful. There’s more about this at BBC learning English dot com. Join us again for more 6 Minute Vocabulary.

Both
Bye!