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  • Hi. This is Gill at www.engvid.com,

  • and in today's lesson we're going to be looking at some phrasal verbs

  • using the preposition "up". So, a phrasal verb, just to remind you, is

  • the verb plus the preposition. So, in this case, the preposition in all of these examples

  • is "up", so it's being put with a main verb to turn it into a phrasal verb. Okay?

  • So let's have a look at what we have here.

  • So, first of all: "Children love to dress up."

  • Okay? Children like to put clothes on,

  • maybe their mother's clothes, put makeup on, ear rings, all sorts of things to dress up.

  • So, that's the phrasal verb. "To dress up" is to put sort of special clothes on for,

  • you know, just for fun really. Adults dress up as well if they're going somewhere special.

  • "Oh, we'll have to dress up for this party",

  • put some jewellery on and a long full-length's

  • dress or a tuxedo with a bowtie, all that sort of thing. Dressing up in special clothes

  • for a special occasion. Okay? Dressing up.

  • Second one: "It's time to drink up - the bar is closing." So, "to drink up" is to finish

  • your drink. Drink up, you're putting the glass up like that to finish your drink because

  • the bar is closing and you have to go, so you don't want to leave your drink there.

  • You want to drink it because you paid for it, so you don't want to waste it. Okay.

  • "Time to drink up".

  • Right, now, this is a common complaint that somebody in the household:

  • "He never washes up."

  • And we have the noun from this: "the washing up", which is about washing the dishes

  • after a meal. "He never washes up.",

  • "To wash up" means washing all the dishes after a meal.

  • Okay.

  • Now, next one, if there's a word you don't know:

  • "I don't know that word - I'll have to look it up."

  • So the phrasal verb is "to look up". But you'll notice that the pronoun

  • "it" has to go in the middle there. You don't... You can't say: "I have to look up it."

  • You have to put the pronoun in the middle: "I have to look it up."

  • Okay. Right, so and "looking it up", that means getting the dictionary

  • or using a computer, looking for the word

  • to find the meaning. "Looking it up" means find the page, look down the page:

  • "Ah, there it is. What does it mean? Ah, okay."

  • Looking up, referring to a book or referring to a

  • website to find out the definition.

  • Okay, next one: "I can't hear you - please speak up."

  • Okay? "Speak up" means get louder,

  • say it louder. "I can't hear you. Please speak up. Turn up the volume." Okay? "Speak up".

  • Okay, next one, you're studying and you say:

  • "I'm having to read up on Shakespeare for the test next week."

  • So, if you "read up" on a subject that means you're reading lots

  • of information about the subject. You're finding books, you're finding websites, all sorts

  • of sources to get lots of information, learning all the information, get it into your head

  • for a test, for the test next week.

  • "Reading up" means to gather information about a subject.

  • Okay.

  • Right. Now, this next one is not a very nice thing to say to somebody, especially if they're

  • maybe over 40:

  • "When are you going to grow up?" Okay?

  • It's okay... If you say it to a child, that doesn't really make sense

  • because a child hasn't grown up yet. But people tend

  • to say this to adults because if an adult is behaving in a very silly way like a child,

  • a childish way, somebody might say to them:

  • "When are you going to grow up?"

  • Meaning become mature. "Grow up" can mean to get taller,

  • but it also means to become more sensible,

  • more mature, you know, be a more responsible adult person. Okay. Rather than messing about

  • and being silly. All right.

  • Okay, next one: "You've really messed that up."

  • So, mess... "To mess up", if you mess up...

  • And again, you'll see another word comes in between, but this is the phrasal verb:

  • "to mess up". "To mess something up" is to do something badly.

  • Just a mess is untidy,

  • not very good. If you mess something up, you've made a very bad job of it. You've not done

  • it at all well. You've done it very badly. Okay.

  • Next one: "What are you cooking up now?"

  • So, "to cook up", you might think this is some

  • food that you're cooking in the kitchen, but in this sense it's more metaphorical. If you

  • cook something up, you're planning something. And the sense of it is you're being quite

  • devious about it. It's something a bit, you know, not quite right.

  • "Cooking something up" means having a plan to do something a bit...

  • A bit naughty perhaps.

  • "What are you cooking up now? What are you planning?" Okay.

  • And then finally: "You're making it all up, aren't you?" So, again,

  • there's our phrasal verb: "to make up",

  • but this time we have two words in between: "it" whatever it is

  • and "all". You can just say: "You're making it up, aren't you?"

  • But if you say: "You're making it all up", this really means you're inventing something.

  • You're inventing a story.

  • It's not true. It's untrue, it's false, it's fiction. But maybe a policeman interviewing

  • a suspect and the suspect has done a crime, but they have some... They say:

  • "Oh no, I wasn't in that shop yesterday. I didn't steal that television. I was somewhere else.

  • I was a hundred miles away."

  • But it's not true. They're making it up. They're making up a story which is not true.

  • Okay? So: "You're making it all up, aren't you?" Okay.

  • So, I hope that's been interesting and helpful for you.

  • If you'd like to take a quiz on this topic, go to the website www.engvid.com,

  • and hope to see you again very soon. Okay.

  • All the best. Bye.

Hi. This is Gill at www.engvid.com,

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