Phrasal Verbs for Movement | Understanding Up, Down, In, Out, Around, Into & More

In this live English class, we’re looking at phrasal verbs for movement and the literal meaning behind the particles.We’ll look at expressions like:• go up / go down• come up to someone• walk down the street• walk along the river• walk around the city• wander around / wander off• sneak in / sneak out• storm out• barge in• step out• walk across / walk past• go through / go under• come back / get back / head back• walk into a room• run into someone• move over / come overOne of the reasons I like starting with movement is that it helps you see that phrasal verbs aren't always as random as they seem.The particles — up, down, in, out, around, off, back, through, over, into, etc. — often give us information about direction, position, or what happens to the movement.For example:I walked around the park.→ I stayed within the park and moved around without a specific destination.I wandered off.→ I walked away from where I was, without a clear destination.I’m in the room.→ I’m already inside.I walked into the room.→ I moved from outside to inside.We also look at how these literal meanings can develop into more idiomatic expressions:move forward with a projectget through a difficult timeget over someonebe into somethingget back at someoneThis is one of the things I really want my students to understand about phrasal verbs: you don't necessarily need to memorize every expression as a completely separate piece of vocabulary.There is often a logic behind the particle.Think of the verb as describing how you move:walk, run, climb, crawl, creep, dash, tiptoe…And the particle gives you more information about where or how that movement happens:up, down, around, away, into, through, over, back…Once you start paying attention to that relationship, you can become much more specific when you speak.Instead of simply saying:“He walked to me.”you might say:“He came up to me.”“He crept up on me.”“He wandered over to me.”“He stormed over to me.”This is the first class in a series I'm doing on phrasal verbs. We’re starting with the literal meanings and gradually moving toward the more idiomatic uses.🌐 Find my classes at charmenglish.cl