English phrasal verbs, often perceived as arbitrary, possess an underlying logic rooted in cognitive linguistics, specifically the concepts of perspective and spatial understanding, which makes them learnable.
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Have a look at this painting by the Ukrainian artist
Oleg Shuplyak
What do you see?
Do you see the face of a man?
Or do you see somebody painting a cottage?
And which one is correct?
Or are both correct?
It depends on your perspective
In linguistics, the idea that one word
can have multiple meanings is called "polysemy"
And understanding and accepting
that words can have multiple meanings
and all of those meanings are correct,
depending on your perspective,
is the key to understanding English phrasal verbs
And also chocolate biscuits
Hello and welcome to Canguro English
I'm Christian and today I am going to show you
how to really understand
and learn English phrasal verbs
Phrasal verbs are one of the most frustrating
and difficult things in the English language
Their meanings seem completely arbitrary
and random
and a traditional teaching method
would tell you that you have to look at this phrasal verb
which means this, and memorize it
And repeat and repeat and repeat
But what if I told you that, actually,
English phrasal verbs do have a deeper logic,
a deeper meaning,
and once you understand this logic behind phrasal verbs
then learning them becomes really easy
To help us we need cognitive linguistics
Cognitive linguistics is different from other studies of language
because it tells us
that the way that the human mind works
shapes language
The way that we see and experience the world
has a direct effect on the language that we use
And studying phrasal verbs using cognitive linguistics
has significant benefits
Before we talk specifics,
there are two very important concepts to understand
The first one is: perspective
We can view events and situations in life
from different perspectives
For example, right now I am at a desk,
in front of a camera,
on a chair,
in a school
on the planet Earth
My situation hasn't changed,
but the perspective from which you view my situation
is different and this affects the language we use
The second concept is: space
Space, spatial awareness,
and how we move through space
is essential to the human experience
We can move through space on a trajectory
or we can be static in space,
or we can be oriented in space
So now you understand that phrasal verbs
are not random and illogical
and you also understand the concepts of perspective and space
Now, we can begin to look
at the deeper meaning behind phrasal verbs
Phrasal verbs consist of a verb
and one or more particles
Now, obviously the verb part is important
but really, the most important part of phrasal verbs
is the particles
The particles can alter and change the meaning of the verb
and understanding the deeper meaning of these particles
is the key to understanding and learning phrasal verbs
Now, to understand the particles
we need a special tool,
something really powerful and unique
chocolate biscuits (laugh)
First, let's look at the particle UP
The principle meaning of UP is a movement through space
in this direction
The biscuit is moving up
and this helps us to understand
the basic verb + preposition combinations,
like, for example, "to pick up" a biscuit
or the biscuit "goes up the mountain"
but this movement through space
in this direction
also helps us to understand the more abstract verbs
which contain UP
Here on my plate, I have one biscuit
As I start to add biscuits...
as I have a greater quantity of biscuits,
you can see that the stack moves in this direction: UP
So phrasal verbs which contain UP
can talk about a greater quantity of something
So when I ask you to "speak up"
I'm asking you to increase the level of your voice
But also, 5 biscuits is better than 1 biscuit
So UP can also indicate that something is improving,
something is better than before
So if I go out to a special occasion,
maybe I will "dress up"
I will "dress up" in improved better clothes
UP can also talk about orientation in space
Look at this packet of biscuits
Would you say that it's UP?
No... because this end is open
So this is the top
where you can access the biscuits
So now the packet of biscuits is UP
It's in the correct orientation
It's ready for action
It is prepared
And from this idea we get the phrasal verbs such as
"set up" a business
To put your business in the correct orientation,
to be prepared
Or before you exercise you "warm up"
You prepare your body for action
Now a question for you
How many biscuits do I have on this plate?
You don't know?
Well it's because you can't see them
Let me "bring them up"
Now you can see I have three biscuits
When I "move something up"
I bring it into your vision
because remember, the human experience,
how we experience the world,
affects our language
So when we "bring something up"
we make it visible
and now we can understand phrasal verbs like
"to go up to somebody" at a party
So when you come closer to them, they can see you
And also when something is in our vision,
we can start to know it,
to understand it,
so "coming up"... seeing something
is a synonym for understanding
And this helps us to understand phrasal verbs like
"look up" a word in the dictionary
or "read up" about the English language
Now imagine that this is the last biscuit in the packet
and you want to share it with your friend
You need to break it
You need to "break it up"
Do you see? When we break something,
when we destroy it,
we have this natural upward direction
and so maybe if you don't share your biscuit with your girlfriend
she will "break up" with you
and if she's really bad, maybe she will
"smash up" your things (laugh)
To understand the final meaning of UP
it's really important to use your perspective
So here I have four biscuits on a plate
Now imagine that I eat them all
(Christian eating noises) :-p
Now my body, my stomach, is full
I am "full up"
So from one perspective,
you could say that this vessel...
this container... is full
which helps you to understand phrasal verbs like
"to fill up"
But if we look at this perspective,
we can see that the biscuits are gone
The plate is empty
It's the opposite meaning
and that helps you to understand phrasal verbs like
"use up"
The battery in my phone is completely "used up"
The next particle is DOWN
The principle meaning of down is
a movement through space in this direction
So, for example, the biscuit is moving down
and this helps us to understand basic phrasal verbs like
"to put down" or "to fall down"
But what about the more abstract meanings?
Here I have my plate of biscuits,
as I begin to eat them (eating noises)
They go down inside my body
I eat them down (eating noises)
But, also, you can see
.... that... that as I eat them
we have a movement in this direction
So phrasal verbs which contain "down"
talk about a reducing quantity
For example, "to calm down" or
"to cut down" the amount of cigarettes that you smoke
Down is inherently negative
Remember that language reflects the human experience
If I had four biscuits before
and now I only have one biscuit
because the quantity has reduced "down"
then my situation is worse than before
It's a deteriorated situation
and that helps you to understand phrasal verbs like
"break down" when your car or your washing machine
doesn't work anymore like it used to
or when somebody disappoints you,
they "let you down"
Now, let's talk about ON
"on" describes contact between two surfaces
So here the biscuit is "on the plate"
We have contact between the biscuit and the plate
And this helps us to understand phrasal verbs like
"to put on clothes" because the clothes are
in contact with our bodies
Or "to hold on to something" when our hands are
in contact with another surface
Now, let's look at ON from another perspective
The biscuit is "on" the plate
But imagine that the plate disappeared
What would happen to the biscuit?
It would fall
The plate is providing a type of support
to hold the biscuit
So phrasal verbs which contain ON also talk about support
Like when you "depend on somebody"
Contact between two surfaces causes an effect
For example, if I sit ON the biscuit
The biscuit will probably break
and this helps to understand why phrasal verbs containing ON
talk about, effects, for example "to switch on" the lights
Or if you are running in a race
and I am "cheering you on"
Come on, you can do it.
I'm pushing you
Movement is essential to the human experience
because humans cannot fly, whenever we move
we are always in contact with a surface
But we don't just move through physical space
We also move through time
So phrasal verbs which contain ON
can also talk about moving through time
For example, "carry on working"...
... continue working through time into the future
and also, when I want you to think about something
through time, in the future,
why don't you think on that idea,
reflect on that idea
Now, imagine that you are with your group of friends and
there's only one biscuit left
You need to "get your hand on" the biscuit if you want it
This idea of capturing something,
of attacking something, also appears in phrasal verbs with ON
For example, bullies "pick on" people
The next particle is OFF
On talks about contact between two surfaces,
but off is when we lose that contact
and that helps you to understand phrasal verbs like "come off"
I hope that this stain will "come off" my shirt
Or to "see off",
when somebody goes on a long journey
you lose contact... you "see them off"
But also, this movement away
this distance
could be physical but also abstract
You can "move away" from a current condition
Imagine that you are in a very bad position in your life
but then your situation improves
You can say "I am better off"
The distance from this original condition is growing
Now finally, let's switch perspective
So imagine that you are the plate
and this biscuit is trying to make contact with you
It's trying "to get on" you
but you are fighting back
You are keeping the biscuit off the plate
This helps you to understand phrasal verbs like "cut off"
where you are maintaining that distance
The next particle is IN
To describe IN, first we need to define a container
Now the container could have very clear boundaries
like this cup
or the boundaries could be not so clear
like a group of people or a forest
The principle definition of IN is when we have an external object
moving or inside our container
and it could be completely inside the container, like this,
or it could be sticking out of the top
and they are both valid definitions of IN
and this helps us to understand basic phrasal verbs within
like "to stay in"
To stay inside your house, because you don't want to go out tonight
or if you have a form that you have to "fill in"
you are putting the information inside the boxes
that are on the form
In a more abstract sense, our mind is also a type of container
We can put ideas and information here
and this helps you to understand phrasal verbs like
"to take in" a story
In can also be used to talk about including or adding something
Imagine if I have one piece of biscuit inside my cup
and then I add another one
This biscuit is "joining in"
I added in another biscuit
Now what if we look at these two pieces of biscuit
from a different perspective
Imagine that you are inside the cup
with these two biscuits looking at them
They are inside together
and this idea of being inside the container,
joined, helps you to understand phrasal verbs like
"to keep in touch"
The final particle we're going to study is OUT
And again, we have to define a container
Io it could be a container with clear boundaries
like this cup, or something more abstract
and the principle definition of OUT
is the idea that something is NOT in the container
Not in situ... absent from the container
And this helps us to understand basic phrasal verbs like
"to go out"
But if the container is more abstract
it helps us to understand phrasal verbs like "to stretch out"
where the container normally is my body,
in this sphere and "I'm stretching out" of my container
Now if all of the biscuits are OUT
then that means that there are no biscuits left
There is an absence of biscuits
and this helps you to understand phrasal verbs like "sell out"
or "run out"
Now, let's switch perspectives
Imagine that you are inside this empty cup
and this biscuit is trying to get in
but you are inside, blocking it
preventing it, keeping it... out
Then this helps you to understand phrasal verbs like
"block out" or "cross out"
Now I want you to continue imagining
that you are inside this cup
and OUT we have this biscuit
Can you see it from inside the cup?
No... it is out of your vision
Out of your knowledge
So phrasal verbs that talk about "out"
can also mean that there's something that you don't know,
that you need to discover
Phrasal verbs, for example, like "find out"
Well, I hope that now you understand
not only about phrasal verbs
but also about how we experience the world as humans
Language can teach us so much about who we are
It's powerful and incredible
If you would like to see
any more videos about the English language,
then don't forget to subscribe
I'm Christian, this is Canguro English
and I'll see you IN class
[Music]
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