iPass IELTS Blog

cover_eBook download our eBook

Phrasal verbs in action: emotions

Here are 5 great phrasal verbs that you can use to describe your feelings!

emotions

EXPLANATION: A good joke or a funny story is an easy way to CHEER someone UP. Sometimes we just tell someone who looks sad to CHEER UP and we say ‘it can’t be that bad’. Often, just by encouraging the person to talk about their feelings or their problems is a good way to make them feel better. A common English saying is “a problem shared is a problem halved”.

EXAMPLE: If I’m feeling miserable, I usually call my best friend and we go for a coffee and a chat. That always cheers me up.

QUESTION: How do you CHEER your friends UP when they are feeling low?


EXPLANATION: Some people are shy or introverted and so they keep their emotions and feelings to themselves, without sharing them with others. In other words, they BOTTLE UP their feelings and emotions inside. This can be a problem when you BOTTLE UP very strong emotions such as anger or fear because one day something might happen to trigger those emotions and it might cause a more extreme reaction which could be aggressive or even violent.

EXAMPLE: It is sometimes hard for teenagers to express their feelings so they often bottle things up inside rather than talk about them.

QUESTION: Is it healthy to BOTTLE things UP?


EXPLANATION: When you are extremely happy or excited about something, sometimes you forget to behave in the usual way and you do something a bit crazy or a bit ‘out of character’. In other words you forget yourself for a moment and get CARRIED AWAY by the moment.

EXAMPLE: I was so overjoyed when I got my exam results, I got completely carried away and started hugging and kissing everyone!

QUESTION: Have you ever GOT CARRIED AWAY by an exciting moment?


EXPLANATION: When something happens that is completely unexpected, we can say that we are TAKEN ABACK by it. It could be a nice surprise or an unpleasant shock but the feeling is one of being completely unprepared for something.

EXAMPLE: When my son told me he was getting married, I was completely taken aback. I didn’t even know he had a serious girlfriend!

QUESTION: When was the last time you were really taken aback by something?


EXPLANATION: When you start to feel better after having a bad experience where maybe you suffered physical pain or emotional stress, we say that you are GETTING OVER it. It could be recovering from a serious illness or just recovering from a mild disappointment such as a bad exam result.

EXAMPLE: I was devastated when I didn’t get the job, but I soon got over it and started applying for other ones.

QUESTION: Do you find it easy or difficult to GET OVER disappointments?


Practice using these phrasal verbs next time you are telling a story in English where you need to describe your feelings.

To practice further, enter our IELTS SPEAKING competition and WIN a FREE skype interview with an iPass tutor.

Simply write 5 example sentences using the phrasal verbs above to describe your personal feelings about 5 different situations.

Send your sentences to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with the subject heading: PHRASAL VERB COMPETITION

We’ll announce the winner on 18th June!!

 

Comment On This Post

Comments

Your Details


Comment

Remember my personal information
Notify me of follow-up comments?

Testimonials

Richard - Trinidad & Tobago

Richard - Trinidad & Tobago

As for some background information, I required a minimum band score of 6.0 in each category or a combined CLB of 7 for my immigration requirements to Canada using the Express Entry system.

I have found iPassIELTS website to be extremely helpful and well-structured with ample amount of review materials, sample answers and top tips all applicable for all 4 sections.
The IELTS 7+ course definitely helped me to achieve an overall band score of 7.5! I strongly recommend anyone requiring IELTS to pursue this course, its best value indeed. The website is indeed a one-stop shop for your IELTS needs.

As a result of the global effects of the Covid pandemic, several centres for IELTS exam were closed. Unlimited access to all courses were given as a result of Covid-19. This was very kind of iPassIELTS to have this feature available for course participants. This certainly resulted in me having more time to prepare adequately for my general training exam.

A special shout out to Nigel, my assigned tutor for the speaking lessons. He was very much accommodating, gave excellent feedback & tips and made me feel very comfortable. I would definitely recommend anyone seeking IELTS training to consider iPassIELTS as your No.1 choice!

My IELTS General Training Results: Listening – 8.5, Reading – 6.5, Writing – 7.0, Speaking – 7.5. Overall Band Score – 7.5. CLB – 8.

Previous blogposts


What's new?

15% DISCOUNT

Email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to request a 48-hour free trial and get a 15% discount off selected courses when you sign up!

Get our monthly newsletter for the latest iPass news & special offers!

* required
Free Course Demo