English Course · Level 4 (B1+) · Week 10 of 12

Culture and Entertainment

Grammar: Phrasal verbs — separable and inseparable

This week's plan

Day	Learn	Listen / Watch	Practise
Day 1	Words: Films and series · Sentences 1–2	BBC 6 Minute English: “What makes a good story?” (podcast)	Exercise 1
Day 2	Words: Arts and events · Sentences 3–4	British Council: “Chatting about a series” (listening)	Exercise 2
Day 3	Words: Separable phrasal verbs · Sentences 5–6	BBC 6 Minute Grammar: “Phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs” (podcast) + British Council: “Phrasal verbs” (grammar)	Exercise 3
Day 4	Words: Inseparable phrasal verbs · Sentences 7–8	British Council: “Film reviews” (listening)	Exercise 4
Day 5	Words: Giving your opinion · Sentences 9–10	BBC 6 Minute Grammar: “4 types of phrasal verbs” (podcast) + TED-Ed: “How to recognize a dystopia” (video)	Write & Speak
Day 6	Review all 30 words + 10 sentences	British Council: “Star Wars and the hero myth” (reading)	Redo mistakes
Day 7	Free day ☺	BBC 6 Minute English: “The power of poetry” (podcast)	Tick your tracker

30 minutes a day: review, learn, listen, practise, speak. Day 7 is a free day. Tap a resource to find it.

30 words to learn

Set 1 · Films and series

the plotالحبكة / أحداث القصة
the castطاقم التمثيل
an episodeحلقة
a seriesمسلسل
a soundtrackالموسيقى التصويرية
a spoilerحرق للأحداث / سبويلر

Set 2 · Arts and events

a premiereالعرض الأول (لفيلم)
a box-office hitفيلم ناجح جماهيريًا / مكسّر الدنيا
the audienceالجمهور
sold outنفدت تذاكره / كومبليت
a venueمكان الحفل أو الفعالية
a standing ovationتصفيق حار وقوفًا

Set 3 · Separable phrasal verbs

put offيؤجّل
turn downيخفض الصوت / يرفض (عرضًا)
look upيبحث عن معلومة (في قاموس أو على الإنترنت)
pick upيلتقط / يتعلم بسرعة / يُقِلّ شخصًا
take upيبدأ هواية جديدة
give awayيكشف (سرًّا أو نهاية قصة) / يتبرّع بـ

Set 4 · Inseparable phrasal verbs

look forward toيتطلع إلى / مستنّي بفارغ الصبر
come acrossيصادف / يلاقي بالصدفة
get intoيندمج في / يبدأ يحب (شيئًا)
take afterيشبه (أحد أفراد العائلة)
run out ofينفد منه / يخلص منه
keep up withيواكب / يلحق بـ

Set 5 · Giving your opinion

grippingمشوّق جدًا / شادد
overratedمبالَغ في تقديره / واخد أكبر من حجمه
a must-seeعمل لا بد من مشاهدته / لازم يتشاف
predictableمتوقَّع
movingمؤثّر
hilariousمضحك جدًا

10 sentences to memorise

1The concert has been put off because of the storm.تم تأجيل الحفل بسبب العاصفة.
2Can you turn the TV down? I'm on the phone.هل يمكنك خفض صوت التلفاز؟ أنا أتحدث في الهاتف.
3I didn't know the word, so I looked it up.لم أكن أعرف الكلمة، فبحثت عنها في القاموس.
4I'm really looking forward to the Cairo International Film Festival.أتطلع حقًا إلى مهرجان القاهرة السينمائي الدولي.
5I came across a brilliant Egyptian series last week.صادفت مسلسلًا مصريًا رائعًا الأسبوع الماضي.
6My son has taken up the oud.بدأ ابني يتعلّم العزف على العود.
7She takes after her father; they both love old films.إنها تشبه أباها؛ فكلاهما يحب الأفلام القديمة.
8The tickets sold out in two hours.نفدت التذاكر في ساعتين.
9Please don't give away the ending — no spoilers!من فضلك لا تكشف النهاية؛ بلا حرق للأحداث!
10The plot was gripping, but the ending was a bit predictable.كانت الحبكة مشوقة جدًا، لكن النهاية كانت متوقعة بعض الشيء.

Grammar: Phrasal verbs — separable and inseparable

Separable phrasal verbs: a noun object can go in the middle or at the end: turn down the music / turn the music down. A pronoun (it, them, him, her) MUST go in the middle: turn it down.

Inseparable phrasal verbs never split: I came across an old photo. I came across it.

معنى الفعل المركب (phrasal verb) غالبًا لا يُفهم من كلماته منفصلة، فاحفظه كوحدة واحدة مع مثال. أشهر خطأ هو وضع الضمير في آخر الجملة مثل Turn down it أو I looked up it، والصحيح Turn it down و I looked it up. أما الأفعال غير القابلة للفصل فلا نضع شيئًا في وسطها: I'm looking forward to the trip. وانتبه: بعد look forward to يأتي فعل بـ ing لأن to هنا حرف جر: I'm looking forward to seeing you (وليس to see).

Type	Rule	Example
Separable + noun	object in the middle or at the end	Put off the meeting. / Put the meeting off.
Separable + pronoun	pronoun always in the middle	Put it off. (not Put off it)
Inseparable	object always after the particle	I came across an old photo. I came across it.
Three-part verbs	never separate	I'm looking forward to the film. We ran out of popcorn.

Separable: put off, turn down / up, look up, pick up, take up, give away, try on, fill in, throw away.

Inseparable: come across, look after, take after, get into, run out of, keep up with, look forward to, get over.

Wrong: I'm looking forward to see you. ✔ I'm looking forward to seeing you.

Exercises

Exercise 1 · Put the words in the correct order.

1) up / it / I / looked
2) the music / turn / please / down
3) them / I / off / put / can't
4) across / I / an old film / came
5) forward / looking / I'm / to / the concert
6) after / her mother / takes / Mona

Show the answers

1) I looked it up. 2) Please turn the music down. / Please turn down the music. 3) I can't put them off. 4) I came across an old film. 5) I'm looking forward to the concert. 6) Mona takes after her mother.

Exercise 2 · Replace the words in brackets with a phrasal verb.

1) She (refused) the offer to act in the film.
2) We're (excited about) the summer holiday.
3) They (postponed) the festival until next year.
4) I (found by chance) a great bookshop in Alexandria.
5) I want to (start) photography as a hobby.
6) We have (used all our) tickets.

Show the answers

1) turned down 2) looking forward to 3) put off 4) came across 5) take up 6) run out of

Exercise 3 · Correct the mistake.

1) Can you turn down it?
2) I'm looking forward to watch the match.
3) Please pick up them from the cinema.
4) She takes her grandmother after.
5) We ran out popcorn.
6) I came an interesting article across.

Show the answers

1) Can you turn it down? 2) I'm looking forward to watching the match. 3) Please pick them up from the cinema. 4) She takes after her grandmother. 5) We ran out of popcorn. 6) I came across an interesting article.

Exercise 4 · Translate into English.

1) أجّلوا الحفل إلى الأسبوع القادم.
2) لم أعرف الكلمة فبحثت عنها.
3) أتطلع إلى رؤيتك في المهرجان.
4) يشبه أحمد جدّه كثيرًا.
5) كان الفيلم مشوقًا جدًا، لكن النهاية كانت متوقعة.

Show the answers

1) They put the concert off (put off the concert) until next week. / They put off the concert till next week. 2) I didn't know the word, so I looked it up. 3) I'm looking forward to seeing you at the festival. 4) Ahmed really takes after his grandfather. 5) The film was gripping, but the ending was predictable. / The film was really exciting, but the ending was predictable.

Do each exercise in pencil first, then open the answers to check.

Write & Speak

Write & Speak — Write a review (150–200 words) of a book, film, series or concert you enjoyed. Describe it, give your opinion and recommend it. Use at least five phrasal verbs. Then record a one-minute spoken review, as if for your own channel.

Example: I recently came across an old copy of Naguib Mahfouz's Palace Walk (Bayn al-Qasrayn) in my father's bookcase, and I couldn't put it down. It is the first part of the famous Cairo Trilogy, and it tells the story of a family living in old Cairo in the years leading up to the 1919 revolution. The father, Al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad, is strict and serious at home but fun-loving with his friends outside. His wife, Amina, spends her life looking after the family and almost never leaves the house. Their children grow up in a changing country, and their dreams and problems are very moving. The plot is slow at the beginning, so some readers might give up after a few chapters. My advice is: don't! Once you get into the story, it becomes gripping. I had to look up a few historical events, but that made it even more interesting. In my opinion, the novel is not overrated at all. Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988, and after reading this book, I understand why. I'm already looking forward to reading the second part, Palace of Desire. A must-read!