Don't Study Phrasal Verbs and Collocations

And the number of these phrases and colocations and phrasal verbs

they're they're almost unlimited.

Hi there, Steve Kaufmann and today I wanna talk about collocations and phrasal verbs.

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So we often hear that the language, when we're trying to learn a language,

consists of not just individual words, but you know, chunks of, of words like

phrases, uh, that there are certain words that are typically always used

with other words and these are called collocations, like put to this...

in the same location, you know, that they combine with each other.

Certainly, uh, there's a whole, you know, industry, books and other

publications on the subject of phrasal verbs, uh, in English, you know, we get

sick, get on the bus, get with it, get going, all kind, uh, you know, take a

hike, you know, there's all kinds of phrases that go with certain verbs and

these are now called phrasal verbs.

So we have these terms: collocations, phrasal verbs.

This is not unique to English.

Uh, although reading some of these textbooks, you would think that it's

something unique to English that you have, uh, expressions phrases,

where certain words will naturally be combined with other words.

Uh, but this happens elsewhere.

I'm certainly seeing it in Persian.

Uh, and I think it happens in, in all languages.

There's this thing about words, it's, it's not only which words,

words like to be friends with, you know, colocate with, hang around

with, uh, there's also an issue of order, like in terms of adjectives.

It's amazing.

If, if I'm gonna say there is a new red expensive car, I'm

gonna say it in that order.

And I can almost anticipate, like, I'll just say it.

It's not an expensive new red car.

It might be, but typically there's a certain order.

Uh, and, and, and so the native speaker is gonna get it right most of the

time, but it's, it's not important.

You can jumble the order.

It's not so important.

What is though interesting in all of that is that these are habits in the

language, habits that we acquire.

And so, you know, whenever I have tried to learn set phrases, and they exist

in every language, even in even sort of express sayings like raining cats

and dogs or the equivalent in other languages, uh, I can never remember them

because they don't come up that often.

But for the native speaker, because the native speaker has humongous quantity of

exposure to the language words they have heard and read that they'll have come

across cats and dogs, raining cats and dogs often enough that they will naturally

use it when it's appropriate to use it.

The person who buys a book full of English expressions, even

if they can remember them, they probably won't use them correctly.

And so collocations, it's fine to have that as a term, but

there are certain expressions...

and I was just thinking about this, for example, in English we

say, as far as I know, far, as far as I know, doesn't make sense.

Why?

As near as I know, as far as I know, uh, you know, that expression could

have been as near as I know, because we can say as near as I can tell,

as far as I can tell, as far as I know, these are just expressions that

we kind of get used to, to using.

And it's interesting, the equivalence in other languages use a different imagery.

Uh, you know, in Japanese ... like within the limits of what I know ... or, um,

uh, again with the sub subjective or, um, somewhat similar in Russian ... uh,

what else have we got, uh, ... you know, in Chinese, again, it's different.

The problem is that if any speakers of those languages try to translate

from those expressions into English, the resulting expression will

sound funny: as much as I know.

No, no we say as far as I know, we don't say as much as I know,

or as many as I know from Russian.

As I know from Chinese or within the limits that I know from

Japanese, we just don't say that.

How do you get...

and, and the number of these phrases and collocations and phrasal verbs,

they're, they're almost unlimited so that, you know, first of all, the

idea that you could buy a dictionary of these and somehow learn them and

sprinkle your language with these i, I think is a little bit unrealistic.

If you already know them, if you have already come across them in different, um,

contexts and you then find a book which is full of these, and especially if it's, you

know, in the same language, so that you're kind of exposing yourself to the language

and reading up on useful expressions and staying in the language when you

are already at a fairly advanced level.

You know, I can see that as a, as being a useful exercise.

However, I think the, the only way, and this is a familiar theme with

me, the only way that you can become confident in using these is if you have

had enough exposure to the language.

This, by the way, also applies to slang.

It applies to swear words, which to my mind are taboo, uh, until you are

comfortable enough in the language that you can use them naturally and correctly.

It, it applies to, for example, in Chinese, they have ...which are these

sort of very literate sounding, uh, four character expressions that usually

have a reference to something in Chinese history or Chinese literature.

And if you use them, you sound very erudite, but I've never been able

to remember enough of them so that I could sprinkle them through my Chinese

conversation and, and sound like, uh, you know, and impress the Chinese speaker.

Um, so I, I think this whole idea that you can sort of zero in on

phrasal verbs, collocations and thereby enrich your language...

I think this might be possible when you are already fairly advanced

in the language and you're doing it out of interest and for fun and

with a realization that you won't remember much, you won't remember

many of these expressions, but it's fun, kind of reviewing them.

But at an earlier stage in the language, if you think you can sort

uh, leverage yourself up, ladder yourself up by focusing in on

phrasal verbs and, um, collocations.

I think you may be disappointed and I think that you're still

better off to continue to massively expose yourself to the language.

And you'd be surprised at how often these expressions that are almost

limitless show up in all the things that you're reading and listening to.

And so you'll, your brain will naturally get used to the fact that certain words

are used with certain other words.

So that's my take on collocations and phrasal verbs.

Uh, I hope you found that useful.

Thank you.

Bye for now.