Teaching Phrasal Verbs – Fun with Take and Make

“Make change your friend.”

-Bill Clinton (1946-), 42nd President of the United States

Part of Teacher Edition Tuesday, a weekly series based on ten teaching tips from Compelling American Conversations – Teacher Edition!

“Take” and “make” create many common phrasal verbs. One could “take” several English lessons just going over the intricacies of their usage in a conversation. Variants such as “make up” and “take out” have multiple meanings and thus are often confusing for many English language learners.

So, how can we simplify for our students?

One solution is emphasizing reading comprehension skills. By listening and reading for context clues rather than individual words, students avoid unnecessary confusion and strengthen fluency. Improving reading comprehension also assists English learners in getting better scores exams such as TOEFL and IELTS.

Here’s a brief list of common phrasal verbs with “take” and “make” in context to get the conversation started:

Common Phrasal Verbs with “Take”

Take After – To look or act like someone else

• Wow, David really takes after his father. He looks and acts like him.

Take Apart – To break into smaller pieces, to dismantle, or to reduce something or someone’s action or statement

• Did you see the debate yesterday between the two candidates? The Senator took his opponent apart.
• I won’t know what’s wrong with your car until I take the motor apart.

Note: You might also take this opportunity in the classroom to address how phrasal verbs can be separated, as above.

Take Back – To regret and apologize for something said or done

• “Take it back! I never cheated in soccer. You’re the one who always cries foul.

Take In – To observe with detail and for enjoyment

• We took in the view when we climbed the mountain

Take Out – To remove something from somewhere.

• Hiro, could you take out the trash on your way out please?
• Take out the reference in your essay about Joey, he might not appreciate it.

Take Over – To conquer or take control of something.

• Do you want me to take over? You look tired.
• Genghis Khan formed the Mongol Empire after invading and taking over most of Eurasia.

Take Up – To begin to do something or accept an offer

• Did you hear about Eric, I heard he took up scriptwriting and stopped writing novels.
• I think I’ll take you up on that offer to go to Hawaii. I really need a break.

Common Phrasal Verbs with “Make”

Make Of – To figure something out or to try and distinguish something.

• What do you make of this painting? It’s truly odd.

Make Out – To kiss someone, or to interpret meaning

• I saw Jenny and Ted making out at the restaurant last night. I didn’t know they were a couple.
• What were you trying to say? I couldn’t make out your handwriting, the ink was smudged.

Make Over – To have a complete change in life or to change something/someone’s physical appearance

• Laurie had new carpeting installed in her living room, and now she wants to make over the whole apartment!

Make Through – To survive something or to complete something

• The end of the semester is difficult, and many college students are just trying to make it through finals week in one piece.

Make Up – To create or invent something out of thin air, or to settle differences.

• That news sounds too good to be true, did you make that up?
• Juan and I had an argument last week, but we made up over coffee today.

How do you introduce new phrasal verbs in the English classroom? What context do you provide for your students to aid comprehension?

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Teacher Edition Tuesdays feature material introduced in Compelling American Conversations – Teacher Edition, the companion text to the original Compelling American Conversations (sample chapters available here). We also offer a free copy of the Teacher Edition with class sets for adult ESL schools, literacy centers, Intensive English language programs (IEP) , church and other non-profit groups offering ESL classes to immigrants and refugees. Contact Eric Roth here for more information.

Eric

Eric H. Roth teaches international graduate students the pleasures and perils of academic writing and public speaking in English at the University of Southern California (USC). He also co-authors of the ELT fluency-focused Compelling Conversations series. Roth co-authored Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics in 2006 to help English language learners increase their English fluency. Recommended by English Teaching Professional magazine, the advanced ESL textbook has been used in over 50 countries in English classrooms and conversation clubs. Easy English Times, an adult literacy newspaper, published a monthly column, “Instant Conversation Activities,” based on the book for over a decade. The first specific version for a particular country, Vietnam, was published in 2011, followed by 2012's "Compelling American Conversations". A title for Japanese learners, "Compelling Conversations – Japan", was released in 2015, and a second edition of "Compelling Conversations – Vietnam" in 2016. "Creating Compelling Conversations: Reproducible Search and Share Activities for English Teachers" (2019) reflects his educational philosophy that students deserve a choice and a voice in their English classes. Eric enjoys sharing reflections, resources, and teaching tips on this blog. Many intelligent followers of many related hashtags - #ESL #EFL #ELF #CATESOL #TESOL #ELT - might find enjoy these posts.