Phrasal verbs, idioms and expressions
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Phrasal verbs
449give up, look after, find out — by verb
- give upstop doing; stop trying
- find outdiscover information
- look forward tofeel happy about something coming
- get upget out of bed, rise to your feet
- hang outspend relaxed time with someone
- run out ofuse all of something, have none left
Idioms
338break the ice, piece of cake — by topic
- break the icehelp strangers relax and start talking
- piece of cakesomething very easy
- better safe than sorrybe careful now, not regret later
- no pain, no gainno result without hard work
- hit the roadset off on a journey, time to go
- out of the bluesuddenly and unexpectedly
Slang and abbreviations
225idk, btw, rizz, slay — from chats and social media
- idkI don't know
- btwby the way
- lollaughing out loud
- rizzcharm, flirting skill
- slayto impress, to nail it
- cringeto feel embarrassed, embarrassing
Expressions
325of course, never mind, so far — by situation
- of coursecertainly, naturally
- never mindit doesn't matter, forget it
- so farup to now, until this moment
- by the wayincidentally, used to change the topic
- used toin the past; be used to = accustomed to
- how do you doformal greeting, pleased to meet you
Collocations
269make sure, take care of, interested in
- make surecheck; see that something happens
- pay attention towatch, listen or think carefully
- make sensebe clear and logical, be reasonable
- take care oflook after, deal with a task
- have funenjoy yourself, have a good time
- make a decisionchoose what to do
Linking words
159however, although, therefore — by function
- howeverbut, despite this
- althoughin spite of the fact that
- thereforefor this reason, as a result
- despitein spite of (+ noun or -ing)
- in additionalso, furthermore
- so thatin order that (introduces a purpose)
Confusing words
147say or tell, borrow or lend
- say vs tellsay words vs tell someone
- speak vs talkspeak a language vs talk with someone
- learn vs studylearn = gain a skill, study = the process
- make vs domake = create, do = carry out a task
- hear vs listenhear sounds vs listen on purpose
- borrow vs lendborrow = take, lend = give (for a time)
False friends
98actually, fabric, magazine
- actuallyin fact, really
- datafacts, numbers and information
- artistsomeone who paints or does creative work
- fabriccloth, material
- magazinea publication with articles and photos
- intelligentclever, quick to understand and learn
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The service already has ready-made sets of phrasal verbs, idioms and academic phrases, and you can also study your own words from work and reading. For IELTS, practice continues in Writing, from a single criterion to a full answer.
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