Why is it important to learn phrasal verbs for Primary 4 English?
For the Primary 4 English Paper 2 exam, students are required to know the common phrasal verbs.
This is primarily an introduction to the English syllabus at the Primary 5 level. For the Primary 5 English Paper 2 exam, there are questions on phrasal verbs in the different sections of the exam.
As such, knowing the common phrasal verbs is certainly useful. With mastery of the common phrasal verbs ,there is lesser pressure on students moving up to Primary 5 English. It makes learning of more difficult phrasal verbs for Primary 5 English easier for students.
What are phrasal verbs?
Phrasal verbs consists of two parts.
The two parts consist of a verb and an adverb.
A verb is an “action word” like take, bring, look while an adverb is like on, off, away and down.
Examples of phrasal verbs
Like the above examples, it is often not possible to guess the meaning of the phrasal verbs just by looking at the verb and adverb.
Very often, the verb and adverb comes together to form a phrasal verb of a very different meaning.
So how can we learn phrasal verbs then?
How to learn phrasal verbs
At the Primary 4 level, there is a common list of basic phrasal verbs that routinely appears in the Paper 2 exam.
With practice, it is possible to avoid the common mistakes when it comes to answering questions on phrasal verbs.
Let’s look at some of the phrasal verbs commonly tested at the Primary 4 level and the mistakes that are often made by students.
Common mistakes for Primary 4 phrasal verbs
Example 1
This is an extremely common mistake as students often use the term “hand up” in school. In truth, there is no such phrasal verb in the dictionary.
The correct phrasal verb is hand in. This means to give something to someone of authority.
Example 2
It is common for students to try to guess the answer for the above question. They often select the option that “sounds correct” to them.
In this case, “call on” is a very commonly selected answer. However it is incorrect as it means to visit someone.
Example 3
Students also try to logically guess answers by using related phrasal verbs.
In this case, the first phrasal verb they often think of is get away. This is because get away means to escape.
As such, they do think that if get away means to escape then made away should be of the same meaning.
Example 4
When unsure of the answer to the above question , students do try to visualise to guess the answer.
It is common for students to think that since the outing could not be carried out this week, it is pushed to the next week.
When visualising the action of pushing, they generally relate the action with away hence the wrong answer of put away.
The above are some of the common mistakes made by students and the reasons why they do so.
Knowing what the common mistakes made are helps to reduce the possibility of such mistakes being repeated.
This is because such mistakes can be anticipated and the reminders given in a timely manner to students. With awareness, students do learn to avoid making the common mistakes when answering questions on phrasal verbs.
Join us for our Primary 4 English and Writing classes for precise and thorough instruction of the Primary 4 English syllabus.
For more information , Whatsapp us at 87873371 or email us at admin@creativelearning.com.sg
