Commenting on developments in the English language

I won’t tolerate it! Replacing formal words with

phrasal verbs. April 1, 2015
by Liz Walter​

When you are using a language, it is important to understand if a

word is formal or informal, so that you can use it in an appropriate
way. You might hear people saying dosh for money, or spud for potato,
but they wouldn’t write those words in a formal essay. Similarly, a
lawyer’s letter might include very formal terms such as heretofore or
pursuant to, but nobody uses them in speech or informal writing.

Learners sometimes have problems with this issue when they try to
avoid phrasal verbs by using a single word verb instead. This is
particularly true when they have a similar word in their own language,
for example tolerate in English and tolérer in French or tolerar in Spanish. Although the meaning is the
same, tolerate is a more formal word in English. In speech, we would be much more likely to say put up
with: I don’t know how she puts up with his behaviour.

Unfortunately, verbs like tolerate are not always so formal that they have a formal label in a dictionary,
so here are a few useful ones where it sounds more natural to use the phrasal verb in everything except
formal writing:

accelerate/speed up: I wish we could speed up the process.

address/deal with: We need to deal with the problem as soon as we can.

cohabit/live together: They have been living together for two years.

decelerate/slow down: You need to slow down when you go round the corner.

discard/throw away: I threw away all my old notes.

encounter/come across: I came across this photo in his desk.

erect/put up: He put up a fence.

omit/leave out: You should fill in the form, but leave out the bit about your education.

participate/join in: He refused to join in the games.

rebuke/tell off: The teacher told them off for talking in class.

replace/put back: She borrows my pens and never puts them back.
resemble/take after: He’s very tall. He takes after his father.

return/go back: We went back to the same restaurant the next week.

rise/go up: Prices are going up but my wages stay the same.

sacrifice/give up: She had to give up her university place to care for her sister.

If you use a single verb in sentences like these, people will understand your meaning. However, you
would lose marks in an exam for using words that are too formal. If you want your spoken English to
sound as natural as possible, I’m afraid you can’t avoid phrasal verbs. The ones in this list are all
common and worth learning.

Posted in the English language | Tagged English language, phrasal verbs, vocabulary |

9 comments

I want to know if i online Cambridge Advance learners dictionary is available in android appstore?
Can we buy and use it offline?

by sanaa April 1, 2015 at 1:54 pm

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Reblogged this on StatsLife.

by murozel April 1, 2015 at 3:53 pm

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Thanks! Well, actually I know these phrasal verbs, however I did not know that using the
corresponding single verbs instead would lead to losing marks in the exams

by murozel April 1, 2015 at 4:02 pm

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Reblogged this on premkumar131's Blog.

by Prem Kumar April 1, 2015 at 6:27 pm

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Thank you so Much for your lesson

by Hamit April 1, 2015 at 7:29 pm

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awesome

by pravin meshram April 1, 2015 at 7:40 pm

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I am not realy find suitable words to express my feelings better to thank you our teachers . My
 I am not realy find suitable words to express my feelings better to thank you our teachers . My
problem till now I am not able to deal with phrasal verbs . Can you please re write my comment
correctly using phrasal verbs .
I used deal with unconsciously .

by Abubakr Sudan April 1, 2015 at 8:26 pm

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Quite Useful inofrmation

by ramakiran April 2, 2015 at 1:20 am

Reply
thanks so much,, it’s very helpful.

by rosesteel April 2, 2015 at 4:21 am

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