The main problem about English “phrasal verbs” is that there is no connection between the meaning of its components.

PHRASAL VERBS are special verbs in English that are composed of:

VERB + one or more PARTICLES (usually, prepositions or adverbs)

Check in a dictionary the different meanings of “turn” and “on” that you can find.But for a student, the worst thing about phrasal verbs is having to study lists of verbs by heart.In Bridges for Bachillerato 1 - page 146, you have a chronological list of 106 verbs, but in reality phrasal verbs in English are virtually unlimited.

Get a list of the most common PARTICLES and their most probable meaning:

ON – encendido, continuidad, sobre (una superficie)

OFF – apagado, separado (de una superficie)

UP – arriba, aumentar, completamente/exhaustivamente, aparecer

DOWN – abajo, disminuir

OUT – hacia fuera, resultado

IN – hacia dentro

Then, organize them in a visual way:

ON

Go on - seguir, continuar

Put on - ponerse

e.g. He went on talking forever

e.g. The woman put on her clothes

Switch onencender -

e.g. Mike switched on the lights

Hold onmantenerse a la espera -

e.g. Hold on a moment!

OFF

Take off - despegar, quitarse (de ropa)

Set off - salir, ponerse en marcha

e.g. The plane took off on time

e.g. We set off early in the morning

Turn offapagar -

e.g. The TV turned off

Get offBajarse (del bus,tren…) -

e.g. She got off the train in London!

UP

Turn up - subir, aparecer.

Pick up - coger

e.g. He turned up the volume

e.g. The man picked up the rubbish from the ground

Break upSepararse, romper -

e.g. Tony broke up with his girlfriend

Give upAbandonar, renunciar -

e.g. He gave up smoking

Etc…

ADVANTAGES of this type of diagrams:

- It’s more logical to organize verbs by similar particles than alphabetically.

- It’s more VISUAL because it includes colours and uses a more attractive space distribution in your notebook.

- It’s easier to remember phrasal verbs this way.

Prepare an empty diagram like this:

And organize the phrasal verbs that you see in your class or that you have to study in your diagram.YOU WILL REMEMBER PHRASAL VERBS MORE EASILY AND YOU WILL START TO SEE SOME LOGIC IN THEM!