Basics. Introduction to Common Phrasal Verbs
Introduction to Common Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs are combinations of verbs and prepositions or adverbs that create entirely new meanings. For example, while the verb "look" means to use your eyes, adding "for" creates look for (to search), and adding "after" creates look after (to take care of).
This challenge introduces essential, everyday phrasal verbs. You will practice using verbs related to daily routines and problem-solving, such as waking up, putting on or taking off clothes, turning on/off appliances, and figuring out mysteries or giving up when things get too hard.
You'll work through 11 questions featuring drop-down, single-choice, drag-and-drop, and multi-choice formats.
Try the quiz to check your knowledge!
Adverb
An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, adding information about how, when, where, how often, or to what degree something happens: she sings beautifully, unbelievably fast, we go there often. Many adverbs end in -ly, but plenty don't (well, fast, hard, almost).
Adverbs matter because they're how you add nuance without piling on extra clauses. Used well, a single adverb can sharpen a vague sentence (she answered → she answered honestly), but misplace one and the meaning drifts in a way native speakers immediately notice.
Gerund
A gerund is the -ing form of a verb used as a noun: swimming, reading, being late. It can sit in any position a noun can: as the subject (Swimming is fun), as the object of a verb (I enjoy swimming), or as the complement of a preposition (She's good at swimming).
Gerunds matter because dozens of common English verbs and almost every preposition force you into the -ing form. Pick the wrong shape (I enjoy to swim, good at to swim) and the sentence sounds clearly off to a native speaker. Knowing which contexts demand a gerund (vs. an infinitive) is what makes verb patterns click.
Imperative mood
The imperative mood is the verb form English uses to give commands, instructions, requests, invitations, and warnings: Sit down, Pass the salt, Don't touch that, Have a great trip. It uses the bare verb form, omits the subject (an implied you), and is negated with don't.
Imperatives are everywhere: recipes, instructions, warning signs, road directions, casual requests. The challenge isn't forming them but choosing them: a bare imperative often sounds rude in English, so polite contexts swap them for question forms (Could you…?) or please.
Infinitive
The infinitive is the basic, unmarked form of a verb, used when no tense or subject agreement is needed. English has two flavors: the to-infinitive (to swim, to read) and the bare infinitive (swim, read). The to-infinitive follows verbs like want, decide, hope, plan (I want to swim); the bare infinitive follows modal verbs (I can swim) and certain causative verbs (Let him go).
Knowing which form to use after which verb is one of the trickiest distinctions in English, closely tied to the parallel choice of gerund (-ing form). I want to swim but I enjoy swimming aren't interchangeable.
Past tense
The past tense is how English talks about events finished before now. It comes in four flavors: simple past (I walked) for completed events, past progressive (I was walking) for actions ongoing at a past time, past perfect (I had walked) for events before another past event, and past perfect progressive (I had been walking) for ongoing events leading up to a past point.
Choosing the right one is what makes past narratives clear instead of murky. When I arrived, she ate dinner is technically grammatical but means something different than had eaten (already done) or was eating (in progress when you arrived).
Phrasal verb
A phrasal verb is a verb combined with one or two short words (a particle, a preposition, or both) that together carry a meaning you can't predict from the parts: give up (quit), run into (meet by chance), put up with (tolerate). The combination behaves as a single unit even though it looks like several words.
English has thousands of these, and they're everywhere in everyday speech. Learning them as whole units (take off, look after, come across) beats trying to decode them word-by-word, and it's the fastest way to make your English sound less stiff and more natural.
Preposition
A preposition is a small word that links a noun or noun phrase to other parts of the sentence, usually marking time, place, or relationship: in, on, at, to, from, with, over, under, between, during. The book on the table, We met at noon, She lives in Berlin.
Prepositions are deceptively small. Their meaning shifts dramatically by collocation (depend on, good at, afraid of), and their choice rarely translates directly between languages. Picking the right preposition is one of the trickiest, most idiomatic-sounding parts of English.
Verb
A verb is a word that expresses an action, a state, or an occurrence: the engine of every English sentence. Most verbs have five forms: base (go), -s form (goes), past tense (went), past participle (gone), and -ing form (going). The verb be is the major exception with eight forms; modal verbs like can and must have fewer.
Verbs carry tense (when), aspect (how it unfolds), mood (the speaker's attitude), and voice (active vs passive). Mastering them is foundational: virtually every other grammar topic depends on getting verbs right.
Progressive tense
The progressive aspect (also called continuous) marks an action as ongoing at the time of reference, formed with be + present participle (-ing): I am working, She was reading, They will be traveling. It signals temporary or in-progress events. The contrast with the simple aspect (I work = habit; I'm working = right now) is one of the most-used distinctions in English.
Some verbs (stative verbs like know, believe, own, belong) don't normally take the progressive: I'm knowing the answer sounds wrong. Recognizing stative vs dynamic verbs is what stops you from over-applying the rule.
Simple tense
The simple aspect is the unmarked verb form: no progressive -ing, no have + past participle. I go, I went, I will go are simple; I am going, I have gone, I had gone are not. The simple aspect typically marks a single completed action (Brutus killed Caesar), a repeated/habitual action (I go to school every day), or a permanent state (We live in Dallas).
The simple aspect is the foundation everything else builds on. Once it's automatic, switching into progressive (ongoing) or perfect (completed-relative-to-now) becomes a small adjustment rather than a fresh decision.
Collocations
Collocations are combinations of words that habitually occur together in a fixed order: make a decision (not do a decision), strong coffee (not powerful coffee), heavy rain (not thick rain). The grammar would allow either pairing, but native speakers consistently pick one and reject the other. Common patterns include verb + noun, adjective + noun, adverb + adjective, and adverb + verb.
Learning vocabulary as collocations rather than isolated words is the single fastest way to sound natural in English. It's the difference between I made a big mistake and I did a big mistake: small, but immediately noticeable.
Idiom
An idiom is a fixed expression whose meaning isn't predictable from the words it contains. Kick the bucket doesn't mean physically kicking a bucket; it means to die. Spill the beans means to reveal a secret. It's raining cats and dogs means it's pouring rain. The cultural meaning has fully replaced the literal one.
English is dense with idioms, and recognizing them is the difference between feeling lost in a casual conversation and following along easily. They can't usually be translated word-for-word into other languages; they have to be learned as whole units, like vocabulary.
A2 | Elementary | Pre-intermediate
A2 is the elementary level in the CEFR framework, sitting between A1 and B1. At A2 you can handle routine exchanges (ordering food, asking directions, making small talk) and describe your immediate environment in simple sentences.
Grammatically, A2 introduces past simple and past continuous, present perfect for experiences, basic modal verbs, and the first conditional. You're also picking up collocations and learning which verbs take gerunds vs. infinitives. Knowing your level here is the difference between confident progress and frustration: A2 material consolidates the basics; B1 will overwhelm you.
Difficulty: Medium
The Medium difficulty tag marks questions and challenges in the middle of the difficulty range, typically suitable for A2 to B1 learners. Expect a single rule with realistic distractors, longer sentences, and contexts where you have to think before answering rather than reading off the obvious choice.
Filter by Medium when you're past the absolute basics and ready to consolidate. It's the level where most lasting progress happens: easy enough that you can finish without exhausting concentration, hard enough that getting it right means you've actually understood.