Important speaking phrasal verbs to be used in daily conversations. Intermediate and advanced words that are used by natives on a daily basis to expand and enrich your vocabulary.
These important phrasal verbs will be also helpful if you want to impress your IELTS examiner or get a high score in TOEFL.
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list of phrasal verbs
18 speaking phrasal verbs
Harry
It’s an advanced English lesson. We’re looking at phrasal verbs, we’ve got 18 in total. And these phrasal verbs are split into different groups and they are all about better communication.
Speaking phrasal verbs to improve or to give you or help you with better communication. Okay, so let’s go through them.
Negative Speaking
go on
Meaning: keep talking about sth for a long time
Example:
He went on and on about his new car.
He went on and on about his new job.
harp on (about sth)
Meaning: repeatedly talk about a certain subject
Examples:
He is always harping on about the lack of money.
John harps on about his new hobby.
ramble on
Meaning: talk for a long time about lots of points that are usually disconnected
Examples:
Oh, he rambled on at that presentation. We ended up being there for 40 minutes.
Old people can ramble on. You have to keep them focused.
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Speaking Quickly
rattle sth off
Meaning: say a list or an impressive number of facts very quickly
Example:
He can rattle off the list of the last 20 winners of the World Cup.
reel sth off
Meaning: say a list or an impressive number of facts very quickly
Examples:
The old man reeled off the names of his 22 grandchildren.
He can reel off/rattle off the names of all of the planets.
Interrupting
butt in
Meaning: rudely enter another conversation
Examples:
Do you mind if I butt in there?
We were having a conversation around the coffee table. And this guy, who knows everything about everything, decided to butt in.
chip in
Meaning: add a specific point to a conversation
Examples:
If somebody wants to chip in and give some ideas, please feel free to do so.
In one of those brainstorming sessions, the boss will expect you to chip in with some ideas.
18 speaking phrasal verbs
Saying Something Suddenly
blurt out
Meaning: say something suddenly, usually without thinking
Example:
Everybody laughed when he blurted out the answer. He wasn’t supposed to do that.
come out with
Meaning: say something suddenly
Examples:
Oh, you can always rely on Harry to come out with something quite funny.
Oh, you should have seen the looks on people’s faces last night when Michael came out with his joke.
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Contributing
come up with
Meaning: add a new idea to a conversation
Example:
Can anybody come up with a good suggestion as to what we’ll do for this year’s Christmas party?
go along with
Meaning: agree with someone else
Examples:
Everybody went along with his idea about the Christmas party.
For once, they liked and went along with my idea for the party theme.
Not Speaking
shut up
Meaning: (very rude) stop talking, often used as an imperative
Examples:
When the teacher came in, the kids shut up immediately.
He was so frightened that he shut up and didn’t dare to speak all the way.
break off
Meaning: suddenly stop speaking
Examples:
He broke off mid-sentence to allow somebody else to comment.
He lost his train of thought and broke off staring into space.
clam up
Meaning: refuse to speak or become silent during a conversation
Examples:
Some kids, who can be very shy at an early age, clam up in the presence of their school teacher.
They just clammed up; nobody was going to tell him anything.
dry up
Meaning: run out of ideas, finish speaking because you don’t know or have forgotten what to say
Examples:
His mind went blank, he forgot his lines and he dried up.
Antonio dried up during the presentation; luckily, Anna stepped in and took over.
18 speaking phrasal verbs
Speaking Rudely
talk at somebody
Meaning: talk to someone without listening to what they have to say
Examples:
The more I talked at him in a demanding tone, the more upset he became.
I don’t like it when people talk at me.
talk down to somebody
Meaning: when you treat someone as inferior or subordinate to you
Example:
The mean girls at school thought I was dumb, so they always talked down to me.
go off
Meaning: speak angrily about something
Examples:
Something got into his mind, and he went off on me for no apparent reason.
The boss went off on a rant today about overheads and costs.
Okay, so these are all phrasal verbs connected with speaking. With the phrasal verbs, you’re going to have a verb and you’re going to have a preposition.
Lots of them have other meanings. But here we’re talking about speaking phrasal verbs.
See, can you introduce them into your conversations or your writing? If you need any help, please contact me at englishlessonviaskype.com
Very happy to help you further, just takes a little bit of practice. So whatever you do, practice, practice and a bit more practice. Thanks for listening and thanks for watching. Join me again for the next lesson.
speak better English with Harry podcast- episode 421
more information
For more information on English grammar rules, English collocations and English idioms, check out the links below:
Expressing likes and dislikes in English
How to use prepositions in English
You can always study English advanced level at Learning English with the BBC and British Council Learn English.
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