2. Paco read out a passage of a book in the library
Paco arrived at the library. The man on the train was right. It was great! There were books wherever he looked at. He walked along the corridors and took a book from one of the shelves, opened it, and started to read it out without realizing he was in a library...
Imagen en Flickr de twechy bajo CC |
That man was brought up in a small town in the countryside. Growing up in the countryside offered lots of advantages for young people. The only problem was that youngsters often got into trouble as they made up stories that they acted out around town. He can remember one adventure in particular: One day as they were coming back from school, they came up with the brilliant idea to make out that they were old pirates looking for treasure. His best friend Sam said that he made out an enemy ship in the distance. They all ran for cover and picked up several rocks to use for ammunition against the ship as they got ready to put together their plan of action. They were ready to set off on their attack, they slowly went along the path until they were face to face with their enemy - the postman's truck! The postman was dropping off a package at Mrs. Smith's house, so they got into his truck. At that point, they really didn't have any idea about what they were going to do next. The radio was playing so they turned down the volume to discuss what they would do next. Jim was all for switching on the motor and getting away with the stolen mail! Of course, they were just children, but the idea of actually making off with a truck was too much for them to believe. They all broke out in nervous laughter at the thought of them driving down the road in that stolen Postal Truck. Luckily for them, the postman went running towards them shouting, 'What are you kids up to?!'. Of course, they all got out of that truck as quickly as they could and took off down the road.
WHAT ARE MULTI-WORD VERBS?
As we said above, multi-word verbs are verbs followed by a particle or two particles (adverb, preposition or adverb and preposition which function as single verbs. Taking that into account, depending on the particle/s they are followed by, they have one meaning or another completely different one. E.g.: look after = cuidar; look for = buscar; look at = mirar, etc.
Have a look at the chart below to learn how many kinds of multi-word verbs there are in English.
Multi-word verbs: |
Particle | Examples |
Prepositional verbs | Preposition | to complain about; to look at; to listen to; ... |
Phrasal verbs | Adverb | to act out; to bring up; to break out; ... |
Phrasal-prepositional verbs |
Adverb + preposition | to be up to; to come up with; to get out of; to make off with... |
Note: Remember that prepositional verbs were studied in topic 5, unit 3. So, we will concentrate here on phrasal verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs.
We must take into account that phrasal verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs are very frequently used in informal spoken English. So, it is essential that you learn how they work and some of the most common ones you might use every day.
In order to do so, watch the video below first.
Now, it would be a good idea to read the information provided on this website. Finally, in order to get further information on the topic, watch and study this presentation.
Decide which of the following sentences include a multi-word verb.
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By New York Public Library. Public domain |
1.
a. Paco's teacher postponed the exam date.
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b. Paco's teacher put off the exam date.
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a. Paco was told to keep off the manuscripts.
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b. Paco was told not to be close to the books.
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a.Why don't you try looking it up in a dictionary?
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b. Why don't you try to find it in a dictionary?
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