Grammar ~21 min of the core left

Sort out your phone and the internet

After this lesson you can

I can say what to do with a device and understand a two-word instruction.

Start the lesson Core 19–21 min · steps: 6 · optional: +2

Declared core time. Two of the core blocks carry no figure at all, so the real lesson is longer than this sum.

Grammar

5 min

A phrasal verb is a verb plus a small word, and together they mean something new.

turn on / turn off make a machine or a light start / stop working
switch on / switch off the same
pick up answer the phone
hang up end a phone call
log in / log out go into / leave your account
charge up put power into a battery
run out / run out of be used up / have none left (of something)

Word order: with a noun it is free, with a pronoun only in the middle.

✓ Turn on the light. / ✓ Turn the light on. a noun — either order
✓ Turn it on. ✗ Turn on it. a pronoun — only in the middle

get + an adjective means "become": get tired, get ready, get better, get angry, get lost.

**make and do — two verbs where many languages have one (French faire, Spanish hacer, German machen), and they are split by a list:**

make — create do — carry out
make a call, make a mistake, make a decision, make coffee, make a noise do homework, do the shopping, do a job, do exercises, do the washing
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Common learner errors

written for your language
1

One verb for make and do

✗ I did a mistake

✗ make the shopping

✓ I made a mistake

do the shopping. French faire une erreur, Spanish hacer la compra and German Hausaufgaben machen use one verb for both. The line between make and do is not always logical, so learn the list. This is the main mistake of the lesson.

2

The pronoun at the end

✗ Turn on it

✓ Turn it on

Learners who learn turn on as one block put it after it. With a pronoun, the small word always goes last.

3

open and close for the light

✗ Open the light

✗ Close the light

✓ Turn on the light

Turn off the light. Chinese, Arabic, Turkish and Greek "open" and "close" a light or a machine; in English you open and close a door or a window.

Pronunciation

3 min

In a phrasal verb the stress falls on the SECOND part: turn on, log in, hang up, pick up.

This makes it different from an ordinary verb with a preposition: look at the picture — the stress is on the main verb, not on the preposition.

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Text

3 min

My phone doesn't work. The screen is black.

Did you charge it up? Turn it off and turn it on again.

I did. Nothing happens.

Maybe the battery has run out. Do you want to use mine? Just log in with your email.

Thanks. I have to make a call — it's important.

Reading aloud

Exercises

8–10 min

1. Gap fill.

  1. It's dark — the light
  2. I the phone when the call finished
  3. We have milk
  4. with your email and password
Show the answers
turn on, hung up, run out of, Log in.

2. Word order.

  1. Turn on the light.
  2. Switch off the computer.
Show the answers
Turn it on. / Switch it off.

3. Gap fill.

  1. a mistake
  2. homework
  3. a call
  4. the shopping
  5. a decision
Show the answers
make, do, make, do, make.

4. Gap fill.

  1. I tired in the evening
  2. Please ready — we're leaving
Show the answers
get, get.
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Summary

Covered

  • seven phrasal verbs
  • word order with a pronoun
  • get + an adjective
  • make against do

Next — lesson 23: shopping online.

End of the core

The lesson counts as done once the exercises are done. Everything after this is optional.

Lesson 59

optional

Vocabulary for your deck

13 words
  • turn on /tɜːn ˈɒn/ to make a machine or a light start working
  • turn off /tɜːn ˈɒf/ to make a machine or a light stop working
  • hang up /hæŋ ˈʌp/ to end a phone call
  • log in /lɒɡ ˈɪn/ to go into your account with your password
  • charge /tʃɑːdʒ/ to put power into a battery
  • battery /ˈbætri/ the thing that gives a phone or a car the power to work
  • screen /skriːn/ the flat part of a phone, computer or TV where you see words and pictures
  • password /ˈpɑːswɜːd/ a secret word that you need to log in
  • device /dɪˈvaɪs/ a phone, computer or other small machine
  • button /ˈbʌtn/ a small part of a machine that you press to make it work
  • press /pres/ to push (a button) with your finger
  • work /wɜːk/ to do what it should (about a machine)
  • broken /ˈbrəʊkən/ damaged, so it does not work

Writing

A dialogue of four lines: your phone doesn't work, and someone gives you advice.

Example

— My phone doesn't work. — Did you charge it up? — Yes, but nothing happens. — Turn it off and turn it on again.

Checklist

The draft is saved on this device
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Practise this lesson in the other sections

Dictationbased on this lesson Write down what you hear. The check shows every word that differs, and how. Write the dictation Reading aloudbased on this lesson Read the lesson text aloud — speech recognition highlights the words it did not catch. Read the text aloud Reading and listeningA1–C1 Texts at every level with comprehension questions; the transcript opens after you answer. Try it

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