Speak Up - Phrasal Verbs

Look after something/take care of something
Look after somebody/take care of somebody
look after yourself/take care of yourself
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* Firstly let's annalyse some sentences and try to understand the meaning.

1- My mother found that looking after me and my five siblings on her own was not easy.
2- Who is taking care of  Najla while Caio is working?
3- You must look after your computer because it cost a lot.
4- Bianca was just thirteen and she felt that was able to take care of  herself.
5- Andrew is still very sick and he is being looked after our personal nurse.
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** To accomplish the exercises below ,  you need to pay attention on the sentences above.
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1- Choose the best answer to complete the sentences and find out the meaning of look after/take care of.

a- not alone              b- dry                c-  safe                 d- happy   -               e-  in good condition

>>If you look after somebody you make sure that they are .........................................
>>If you take care of something you make sure that it is .................................................

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2- Which of those sentences are gramatically possible:

A- I took my brother care of.
B- She looks after my daughter because she is my friend.
C- I love her. So that I look her after.
D- My Daddy needed to go somewhere and my neighbor took care of me.
E-  My sister was looked after.

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3- I'll give you four object pronouns . Use them to complete the following sentences using the correct form of look after/take care of.

* himself                                 *him                        *children                            * your clothes

A- When my neighbor was in hospital, the nurses.....................................................   very well.
B- Stop worrying about Jose Luis! he's quite old enough to ......................................
C- You can always ask Selma to babysit. She loves.................................................
D- Your new t-shirt is dirty already! I wish you would..............................................

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You can replace look after by using "care for " and " take care of   ". Both means the same thing. As far as I'm concerned " care for"  is more formal   .The phrasal 'look after" is used more in British English while "take care of"  in American English.     

cut down

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Let's start by reading through the sentences below:

1- Even if you've smoked all your life , it's never too late to cut down or stop.
2- I1ve spent far too much money this month - I really must cut down.
3- if you want to lose weight , try cutting down on fatty snacks such as crisps.

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** Let's use the same statements above to find out the meaning of this phrasal verb by solving the exercises below:

1- I will give you four words for you to choose just two that can help you to find out the meaning of "cut down".

* more    * less       * change         * improve

to eat, drink or use ...............................of something, usually to .......................your health or your situation.

** You got it? I hope so. This isn't the hardest phrasal ...here you will  get acquaintance of a lot of phrasal verbs ....much more difficult. My mission is let them be interesting.

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2- Let's see how well you are. Before doing this exercise, go back again to the beginning of this class and read carefully the sentences. If you do it , you will find the answer for the next exercise. You must pay attention on how i wrote the sentences.

** Ok. I want to know which of these sentences are gramatically possible.

A- I cut down.
B- I cut down beers.
C- i cut down on beers.

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3- I heard that a friend of yours is looking forward to giving up of eating unhealthy food cos' he is getting fatter and fatter. Write some friendly advice to him. Don't forget to use the new phrasal you've learnt today.

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 4- Now it's your turn! are you trying to cut down on anything? Is there anything that you must cut down? I mean, everyone exagerates on something. I myself must cut down on food. I'm in a very good shape of a ball.  So tell me , what should you cut down on?

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** There are other phrasals you can use to replace " cut down on". Certainly you've heard about " give up". if you really believe in something , you will never give up before you get it. Just because Jesus never cut back on you , He wants you keep going on without giving up of your dreams.
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Come across somebody
Come across something

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*Let's start by reading carefully these sentences below:

1- While Vanusa was cleaning her apartment, she came across a 50-dollar bill.
2- What is it? I've never come across anything like this before. How does it work?
3- Whose keyring is this? I came across it in my handbag.
4- You are the most short fuse woman I have ever come across.
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* Use the sentences above to solve the exercises below. Good luck!

1- Complete the gaps with the correct verb and find out the meaning of "come across"

*  chance                               *   planned                                 *    meet


>>> Come across means to find or ..........................................somebody or something by ...................................without having ...........................................or thought about it.


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 2- If you come across a book in a bookshop , which of the following might be true ?


A- You had no idea it was there.
B- Your teacher had told you to go to the bookshop and buy it.

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3- Which of these are gramatically possible:


A-  Andrelina came a book across.
B-  Andrelina came across a book.
C-  She came it across.
D-  She came across it.

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* After these exercises I hope you are able to explain somebody about the meaning of this phrasal verb. As you should know the verb come means " vir" and the word across means " atravessar" . When the main verb followed by a preposition or a adverb changes its meaning , it is a phrasal verb.
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** Let me check if you really understood the verb "come across". I challenge you to find and correct the mistake I made while writing this exercise. I made one mistake in each statement.


A- Did you came across anything interesting in this class?
B- This is an unusual english blog. My sister came it across on internet.
C- This is a recipe that I came across it in a french dictionary of cooking.
D- J.B. is the strangest person I've ever coming across!
E- Have you come a girl across called Selma on your course?


*** As Plugnet teacher I am supposed to give you much more than you expect to get. For this reason I will give you more two ways of replacing the verb come across and keeping the same meaning.

1- Run into someone  = find someone by chance
2- Bump into somebody  = find somebody without a meet.

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Alright Plugnet students! How do you like it? I hope this class can help you to improve your English. see you next Phrasal.
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***** If you want to know the meaning of any phrasal verb. I will love to prepare a special lesson to help you to understand it. That's what Plugnet teacher is for!!!