Master English: Phrasal Verbs, Conditionals, and More
Phrasal Verbs
- Break up: To end a relationship.
- Pop into: To visit briefly.
- Fall out: To quarrel.
- Stay away from: To avoid.
- Get on with: To have a good relationship.
- Add together: To sum.
- Get over: To recover.
- Add up: To calculate.
- Get together: To meet.
- Make up: To reconcile.
- Stand up: To fail to meet someone.
- Take after: To resemble.
- Dress up: To wear elegant clothes.
- Pay for: To give money for something.
- Drop out: To abandon.
- Put on: To wear.
- Take off: To remove clothing.
- Take back: To return.
- Try on: To test clothes.
- Cut back on: To reduce.
- Break into: To enter by force.
- Log off: To disconnect.
- Log on: To connect.
- Name after: To give someone a name to honor another person.
- Run out for: A lack of something.
- Run out of: To have nothing left.
- Turn on: To switch on.
- Take back: To return something.
- Carry out: To execute.
- Figure out: To understand.
- Find out: To discover.
- Look up: To search for information.
- Point out: To indicate.
- Set off: To start a journey.
- Turn off: To switch off.
- Mess around: To waste time.
- Get into: To enter.
- Get on: To manage.
- Get through: To finish/pass.
- Go on: To continue.
- Average out: To calculate the average.
- Come to: To amount to.
- Round up: To increase a number to the nearest whole number.
- Take away: to subtract.
Conditionals
- 0 Conditional: If + Present Simple, Present Simple. (Used for 100% certainties)
- Example: If you heat water to 100 degrees Celsius, it boils.
- 1st Conditional: If + Present Simple, will + infinitive. (Used for very probable situations)
- Example: If you study a lot, you will pass the exam.
- 2nd Conditional: If + Past Simple, would + infinitive. (Used for advice and hypothetical situations)
- Example: If I were you, I would study more.
- 3rd Conditional: If + Past Perfect, would have + past participle. (Used for past situations that cannot be changed)
- Example: If Elvis had lived, I would have asked him for an autograph.
The word “if” can be substituted by: as long as, even if, provided that, unless.
Wishes and Regrets
- I wish/If only + Past Simple/Continuous (desires)
- I wish/If only + Past Perfect (past regrets)
- I wish/If only + would + infinitive (complaining about something)
Relative Clauses
If the subject is repeated before and after the relative pronoun, the pronoun can be omitted.
Example: “He also points to a girl ____ he describes…”
- Who: Person/people (can be omitted)
- Where: Place
- When: Time
- Which: Things (can be omitted)
- Whose: Possession
Non-Defining Clauses
The second clause is between commas and can be omitted, as it does not have essential meaning.
Modal Verbs
- Ability and Permission: can, could, may, might
- Advice: should, ought to, had better
- Obligation and Prohibition: must (obligation), have to (prohibition)
- Possibility and Certainty: could, may, might, can’t, must
Passive Voice
- Present Simple: She types the letters – The letters are/is typed.
- Present Continuous: She is typing the letters – The letters are/is being typed.
- Present Perfect Simple: She has typed the letters – The letters have been typed.
- Past Simple: She typed the letters – The letters were/was typed.
- Past Continuous: She was typing the letters – The letters were/was being typed.
- Past Perfect Simple: She had typed the letters – The letters had been typed.
- Future Simple: She will type the letters – The letters will be typed.
- Future Perfect Simple: She will have typed the letters – The letters will have been typed.
- Be Going To: She is going to type the letters – The letters are going to be typed.
- Modals: She has to/can type the letters – The letters have to/can be typed.
Tenses
- Present Simple: Verb (add -s/es for third person singular)
- Present Continuous: Verb-ing
- Past Simple: Verb-ed (or 2nd column of irregular verbs)
- Past Continuous: was/were + Verb-ing
- Past Perfect Simple: had + Verb-ed (or 3rd column of irregular verbs)
- Present Perfect Simple: have/has + Verb-ed (or 3rd column of irregular verbs)