Intermediate Grammar Project: UCI

Intermediate Grammar Project: UCI

This is my work on Intermediate Grammar Project from University of California. I have chosen to write about all the topics we studied.

Past Participle

The form of a verb, typically ending in -ed in English, which is used in forming perfect and passive tenses and sometimes as an adjective, e.g. looked in "have you looked"?, lost in "lost property".

For regular verbs, we normally add "ed" to form its past participle. Unfortunately for irregular verbs there are no rules and it is just a matter of practice.

List of common irregular verbs:

Verb	Past Participle	Verb	Past Participle	Verb	Past Participle
be	been	grow	grown	shake	shaken
beat	beaten	hang	hung	steal	stolen
become	become	have	had	shine	shone
begin	begun	hear	heard	shoot	shot
bet	bet	hide	hidden	show	shown
blow	blown	hit	hit	shut	shut
break	broken	hold	held	sing	sung
bring	brought	hurt	hurt	sink	sunk
build	built	keep	kept	sit	sat
burst	burst	know	known	sleep	slept
buy	bought	lay	laid	slide	slid
catch	caught	lead	led	speak	spoken
choose	chosen	leave	left	spend	spent
come	come	lend	lent	spring	sprung
cost	cost	let	let	stand	stood
cut	cut	lie	lain	stick	stuck
deal	dealt	light	lit	swear	sworn
do	done	lose	lost	sweep	swept
draw	drawn	make	made	swim	swum
drink	drunk	mean	meant	swing	swung
drive	driven	meet	met	take	taken
eat	eaten	pay	paid	teach	taught
fall	fallen	put	put	tear	torn
feed	fed	read	read	tell	told
feel	felt	ride	ridden	think	thought
fight	fought	ring	rung	throw	thrown
find	found	rise	risen	understand	understood
fly	flown	run	run	wake	woken
forget	forgotten	say	said	wear	worn
freeze	frozen	see	seen	weave	woven
get	got, gotten	sell	sold	win	won
give	given	send	sent	write	written
go	gone	set	set

Present Perfect

This tense is formed by have/has + the past participle.

The present perfect is used to indicate a link between the present and the past. The time of the action is before now but not specified, and we are often more interested in the result than in the action itself.

Some examples:

• Actions started in the past and continuing in the present:

1. They haven't lived here for years.
2. She has worked in the bank for five years.
3. We have had the same car for ten years.
4. Have you played the piano since you were a child?

• When the time period referred to has not finished:

1. I have worked hard this week.
2. It has rained a lot this year.
3. We haven't seen her today.

• Actions repeated in an unspecified period between the past and now:

1. They have seen that film six times
2. It has happened several times already.
3. She has visited them frequently.
4. We have eaten at that restaurant many times.

• Actions completed in the very recent past (with just):

1. Have you just finished work?
2. I have just eaten.
3. We have just seen her.
4. Has he just left?

• When the precise time of the action is not important or not know:

1. Someone has eaten my soup!
2. Have you seen 'Gone with the Wind'?
3. She's studied Japanese, Russian, and English.

Present Perfect Progressive

The present perfect continuous tense (also known as the present perfect progressive tense) shows that something started in the past and is continuing at the present time. The present perfect continuous is formed using the construction has/have been + the present participle (root + -ing).

Example: I’ve been decorating the house this summer. The focus is on the action – decorating – and the action is unfinished.

Adverbs for Present Perfect

The present perfect tense is commonly used with the indefinite time adverbs never, ever, before, yet, already.

• Have you ever been to the USA?
• I have never seen a kangaroo.
• I have seen her before.
• They have already arrived.
• She has not received the parcel yet.

Stative Verbs

A stative verb is a verb used primarily to describe a state or situation as opposed to an action or process. Common examples include be, have, like, seem, prefer, understand, doubt, and know. Also known as a stative, state verb, or static verb. Contrast this with a dynamic verb. Stative verbs usually don't occur in the progressive aspect or the imperative mood.

List of stative verbs:

agree	doubt	love	remember
appear	feel (=have an opinion)	matter	satisfy
astonish	fit	mean	see
be	hate	measure (=have length etc)	seem
believe	have	mind	smell
belong	hear	need	sound
concern	imagine	owe	suppose
consist	impress	own	surprise
contain	include	please	taste
deny	involve	possess	think (=have an opinion)
depend	know	prefer	understand
deserve	lack	promise	want
disagree	like	realise	weigh (=have weight)
dislike	look (=seem)	recognise	wish

Some verbs can be both stative and dynamic:

be

think

have

see

taste

Examples of stative sentence:

1. This soup tastes great
2. The coffee tastes really bitter

Example of non-stative sentence (dynamic sentence):

1. The chef is tasting the soup

Past Perfect

The past perfect, also called the pluperfect, is a verb tense used to talk about actions that were completed before some point in the past.

We use the verb had and the past participle for the past perfect.

Examples:

1. John had gone out when I arrived in the office.
2. I had saved my document before the computer crashed.
3. When they arrived we had already started cooking.
4. He was very tired because he hadn't slept well.

In the examples above, it doesn't matter which event is mentioned first, the tense makes it clear which one happened first.

Modals

Modal verbs are helping/auxiliary verbs that express ideas like ability, permission, possibility, and necessity. One of the most important things to remember is that modal verbs are always combined with other verbs to show complete meanings, but combining correctly is often a challenge for English learners. This is because we have single-word modals (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) and phrasal modals (be able to, be going to, be supposed to, had better, have to, have got to, ought to, used to).

Phrasal Modals

Modal phrases (or semi-modals) are used to express the same things as modals, but are a combination of auxiliary verbs and the preposition to.

1. I have to go.
2. Maybe we ought to explore the mountain a little,' said Ginger to Steve
3. He is not able to be with us
4. It was supposed to last for a year and actually lasted eight.
5. He used to help us
6. He's got to help us
7. He's going to help us
8. He's able to help us
9. He had better help us

Ability Modals

We use can, be able to and could to show that someone has (or doesn’t have) an ability to do something:

Present/future ability	Negative
Alan can swim well.	Jackie cannot play piano.
I can meet you after school.	We can’t visit Vancouver this weekend.
I am able to speak two languages.	I am not able to speak Arabic.
Brenda is able to run quickly.	Stacey isn’t able to finish a marathon.
You are able to program a computer.	We aren’t able to make a reservation tonight.

Modals of Possibility

We use the modals could, might and may to show that something is possible in the future, but not certain:

1. They might come later. (= Perhaps/Maybe they will come later.)
2. They may come by car. (= Perhaps/Maybe they will come by car.)
3. If we don’t hurry we could be late. (= Perhaps/Maybe we will be late)

We use could have, might have and may have to show that something was possible now or at some time in the past:

1. It’s ten o’clock. They might have arrived now.
2. They could have arrived hours ago.

Advice Modals

Modal Verbs are used to give advice or suggestions. There are two modal verbs for advice: should and would:

Subject + Should + Base Verb: Should is used for advice in the present:

1. You should eat healthy food.
2. You should exercise every day.

Should + Have + Past Participle: Should is used for advice in the past:

1. You should have gone to the party.
2. She should have studied more often.

The modal verb "would" is used to give advice. In this situation, the speaker is giving hypothetical advice as if he/she were the listener:

1. If I were you, I would return the book.
2. If I were you, I would not wear that jacket.

Preference Modals

Would rather:

1. I would rather stay home.
2. I would rather play tennis.

Would rather + than:

1. I would rather go to the beach than study on such a nice day.
2. I would rather be rich than poor.

Prefer:

1. I prefer hot chocolate to tea.
2. I prefer drinking hot chocolate to drinking tea.
3. I prefer to drink hot chocolate rather than drink tea.

Would prefer:

1. Would you prefer spaghetti or fish for dinner?
2. Would you prefer to catch a bus or take a taxi home after the party?

Modals of Impossibility

We use the negative can’t or cannot to show that something is impossible:

1. That can’t be true.
2. You cannot be serious.

We use couldn’t/could not to talk about the past:

1. We knew it could not be true.
2. He was obviously joking. He could not be serious.

Adjectives

Adjectives are words that describe the qualities or states of being of nouns: enormous, doglike, silly, yellow, fun, fast. They can also describe the quantity of nouns: many, few, millions, eleven.

1. They have a beautiful house.
2. The unhappiest, richest man.
3. A red apple.

Adjective Participles

Some participles can be used as adjectives in either the present or past form. Present Participle (-ing) is used to describe something or someone. Past Participle (-ed) is used to describe how people feel about something or someone:

1. I watched an interesting TV about American history last night.
2. This film is boring. Let's stop watching it.
3. I'm interested in American history.
4. I'm bored of my job. I want to find another one.
5. I'm bored of my job. I want to find another one.
6. I was really bored during the flight.
7. She's interested in history.
8. John's frightened of spiders.
9. It was such a long, boring flight.
10. I read a really interesting book about history.
11. Many people find spiders frightening.

Adjective Clauses

Adjectives are not always single words. Sometimes they are clauses. For example:

• Students who are intelligent understand adjectives.

Adjective clauses begin with words such as that, when, where, who, whom, whose, which, and why.

Examples of adjective clauses:

1. Pizza, which most people love, is not very healthy.
2. The people whose names are on the list will go to camp.
3. Grandpa remembers the old days when there was no television.
4. Fruit that is grown organically is expensive.
5. Eco-friendly cars that run on electricity save gas.
6. I know someone whose father served in World War II.
7. Making noise when he eats is the main reason why Sue does not like to eat with her brother.
8. The kids who were called first will have the best chance of getting a seat.
9. I enjoy telling people about Janet Evanovich whose latest book was fantastic.
10. The people waiting all night outside the Apple store are trying to purchase a new iPhone.
11. "He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe is as good as dead." - Albert Einstein
12. "Those who do not complain are never pitied." - Jane Austen
13. "People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid." - Søren Kierkegaard
14. "Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died." - Erma Bombeck

Adjective Clauses with Subject Pronouns

This sentences are made with the use of subject pronouns and subject relative pronouns.

Here is a list of subject pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they.

And here is a list of subject relative pronouns:

Relative pronoun	Used for people	Used for things
who	yes	no
that	yes	yes
which	no	yes

To understand how this kind of adjective clause is formed take a look at these two sentences:

1. The woman is in my class.
2. She likes tennis.

In the sentences above we have the subject she. Using the relative pronoun who or that we can make an adjective clause with subject pronoun:

1. The woman who likes tennis is in my class.
2. The woman that likes tennis is in my class.

Adjective Clauses with Object Pronouns

This sentences are made with the use of object pronouns and object relative pronouns.

Here is a list of object pronouns: Me, you, him, her, it, us, them.

Here is a list of object relative pronouns:

Relative pronoun	Used for people	Used for things
who/whom	yes	no
that	yes	yes
nothing	yes	yes
which	no	yes

To understand how it works, look at the following sentences:

1. The woman is in my class.
2. I like her.

These can be reduced to one of the following adjective clauses with object pronoun:

1. The woman whom I like is in my class.
2. The woman who I like is in my class.
3. The woman that I like is in my class.

Adjective Clauses with the Possessive

In addition to subject- and object-pattern adjective clauses, there are also adjective clauses with whose. In clauses of this type, whose shows possession. It is always combined with a noun or noun phrase. For example, consider these two sentences:

1. The people will be glad to help you.
2. The people's names are on this list.

These can be rewritten using possessive adjective clause:

1. The people whose names are on this list will be glad to help you.

Whose can be used for people and things.

Adjective Clauses with Prepositions

Many common verbs are followed by prepositions before their object. A partial list includes verbs such as:

think about

work with

go to

speak with

look for

ride on

pay for

worry about

live with

care about

write about

look at

Given that, consider the following sentences:

1. I am looking at a woman.
2. She is looking at the water.

If you want to turn it to adjective clauses, the preposition must be kept:

1. The woman at whom I am looking is sitting near the ocean.
2. The water at which she is looking is blue.

The sentences can also be written in these less formal ways:

1. The woman who I am looking at is sitting near the ocean.
2. The woman that I am looking at is sitting near the ocean.
3. The woman I am looking at is sitting near the ocean.
4. The water which she is looking at is blue.
5. The water that she is looking at is blue.
6. The water she is looking at is blue.

Adjective Clauses with Where

Adjective clauses beginning with where add information about a place. Consider these two sentences:

1. The building is on Central Avenue.
2. Lena works in the building.

Rewriting as an adjective clause with where:

1. The building where Lena works is on Central Avenue.

Adjective Clauses with When

Adjective clauses beginning with when add information about a time. Consider these two sentences:

1. I'll always remember the day.
2. We met on the day.

Rewriting as an adjective clause with when:

1. I'll always remember the day when we met.

Reduced Adjective Clauses

You may remove the relative pronoun and reduce your sentence in certain conditions:

1. The man who wants to talk to you is waiting for you.
2. The man wanting to talk to you is waiting for you.

Reduction to Participle

a) Present participle (simultaneous)

1. We stood on the bridge which connects the two halves of the city.
2. We stood on the bridge connecting the two halves of the city.

b) Past participle (passive simultaneous)

1. The boy who was attacked by a dog was taken to hospital.
2. The boy attacked by a dog was taken to hospital.

c) Perfect participle (explaining sth. happened before the others)

1. Jenna, who has lived in Florida for 20 years, has gone through several hurricanes.
2. Jenna, having lived in Florida for 20 years, has gone through several hurricanes.

d) Perfect Passive Participle (explaining sth. happened before the others)

1. Usain Bolt, who had been disqualified from the men’s 100m final after a false start, made no such mistake in the 200m.
2. Usain Bolt, having been disqualified from the men’s 100m final after a false start, made no such mistake in the 200m.

Reduction to Preposition

Adjective clauses can often be reduced to phrases, but the relative pronoun must be the subject of the verb in the adjective clause.

Example 1:

1. Did you see the book that is on the table?
2. Did you see the book on the table?

Example 2:

1. She hasn't finished her paragraph which is about her best friend yet.
2. She hasn't finished her paragraph about her best friend yet.

Reduction to Appositive

Example 1:

1. You who are students should plan about your future jobs.
2. You students should plan about your future jobs.

Example 2:

1. Piseth, who is a curriculum developer, has been working very hard.
2. Piseth, a curriculum developer, has been working very hard.

Reduction by omitting Relative Pronoun

Example 1:

1. I will talk to a consultant whom I met at the party.
2. I will talk to a consultant I met at the party.

Example 2:

1. We will start our project which we finalized it last week soon.
2. We will start our project we finalized it last week soon.

Reduction by omitting Relative Pronoun + To be

Example 1:

1. The car which is parked next to mine is very expensive.
2. The car parked next to mine is very expensive.

Example 2:

1. Hamlet, which was written by Shakespeare sometime in the early 1600s, is among the classics.
2. Hamlet, written by Shakespeare sometime in the early 1600s, is among the classics.

Reduction to With or Without

When the verb “have” meaning possession, we can omit relative pronoun and “have” and use with(+) or without(-):

Example 1:

1. Students who have enough math and English skills will be admitted.
2. Students with enough math and English skills will be admitted.

Example 2:

1. People who don’t have their ID cards can not get in.
2. People without their ID cards can not get in.

Appositives

Appositives are two words or word groups which mean the same thing and are placed together. Appositives identify or explain the nouns or pronouns which they modify:

1. Our teacher, Professor Lamanna, loves grammar.

We can say that "Professor Lamanna" is an appositive or is in apposition to "our teacher." "Professor Lamanna" identifies or explains "teacher.'

Appositives can be essential or nonessential. If the appositive is necessary for the meaning of the sentence, then it is essential. This means that it cannot be left out. If the appositive is not essential for the meaning of the sentence, and it could be left out, then it is nonessential. Nonessential appositives should be set apart from the sentence with commas. Essential appositives are not set off with commas.

Examples:

1. The long-time U.S. senator Ted Kennedy was known for his oratorical skills and his charisma.
2. Ted Kennedy, a long-time U.S. senator, was known for his oratorical skills and his charisma.
3. The novel “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” was a great read.
4. Starbucks, one of the best places for coffee in town, is always busy.
5. The Great Depression, a time of great strife for many Americans, one of the nation’s toughest non-military challenges, affected many of those who lived through it for the rest of their lives.

An appositive identifies, defines or renames a noun or pronoun. This is the main difference between appositive and adjective clause.

Comparatives and Superlatives

Comparative adjectives

Commonly, adjectives that contain only one syllable or end in 'y' use 'er' to form comparatives and 'est' to form superlatives. For adjectives ending in y, change the 'y' to 'i' before adding the 'er' or 'est'. Adjectives with two or more syllables do not change but instead add more to form comparatives and most to form superlatives:

1. old – older – oldest
2. young – younger – youngest
3. pretty – prettier – prettiest
4. long – longer – longest
5. short – shorter – shortest
6. bright – brighter – brightest
7. close – closer – closest
8. happy – happier - happiest
9. respectable – more respectable – most respectable
10. beautiful – more beautiful – most beautiful
11. preferable – more preferable – most preferable
12. hardworking – more hardworking – most hardworking

We use comparative adjectives to describe people and things:

1. This car is certainly better but it’s much more expensive.
2. I’m feeling happier now.
3. We need a bigger garden

Comparative with than

We use than when we want to compare one thing with another:

1. She is two years older than me.
2. New York is much bigger than Boston.
3. He is a better player than Ronaldo.
4. France is a bigger country than Britain.

Comparative with as

We use as + adjective/adverb + as to make comparisons when the things we are comparing are equal in some way:

1. The world’s biggest bull is as big as a small elephant.
2. The weather this summer is as bad as last year. It hasn’t stopped raining for weeks.
3. You have to unwrap it as carefully as you can. It’s quite fragile.

Superlative

In the superlative you talk about one thing only and how it is the best, worst, etc. You do not compare two things:

1. My sister is the tallest in our family.
2. Yesterday was the coldest day of the year so far.
3. The richest people are not always the happiest.
4. Which do you think is the easiest language to learn?
5. She's the luckiest person I know.
6. The most boring thing about ESL class is doing grammar exercises.
7. My sister is the most careful person I know.
8. Albert Einstein was the most intelligent person in history.
9. You are the most irritating person I have ever met!

Countable and Uncountable nouns

A count noun is one that can be expressed in plural form, usually with an "s." For example, "cat—cats," "season—seasons," "student—students."

A noncount noun is one that usually cannot be expressed in a plural form. For example, "milk," "water," "air," "money," "food." Usually, you can't say, "He had many moneys."

Quantifiers

Quantifiers are adjectives and adjectival phrases that give approximate or specific answers to the questions "How much?" and "How many?"

Quantifiers can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns.

With Both	With Countable Nouns	With Uncountable Nouns
all	many	much
enough	a few/few/very few **	a little/little/very little *
more/most	a number (of)	a bit (of)
less/least	several	a great deal of
no/none	a large number of	a large amount of
not any	a great number of	a large quantity of
some	a majority of
any
a lot of
lots of
plenty of

Examples:

1. There are many people living in the many houses on that street
2. Because there was so little fire, people noticed little smoke.
3. He put lots of chocolate chips and lots of sugar into the cookie dough.
4. If you put a little bit more effort into this, I’m sure you can have a little bit more success.
5. They put plenty of thought into their plans, and were able to think of plenty of ideas.

Definite and Indefinite Articles

The definite article the is used to indicate a noun that is definite or has been previously specified in the context:

1. Please close the door.
2. I like the clothes you gave me.

The indefinite articles a and an are used before singular nouns that are unspecified and also before number collectives and some numbers:

1. a pencil
2. an orange
3. a dozen
4. a gallon

Gerunds and Infinitives

An infinitive is the verb form that has “to” at the beginning. For example, “to do,” “to sleep,” “to love” and “to create.” Gerunds are formed by adding “-ing” to the verb: “sleeping,” “drawing,” “swimming.” But they are not the “-ing” verb forms that you see in the present or past continuous tense. They look the same, but gerunds are actually verb forms used as nouns.

It can be a little difficult to know when to use gerunds and infinitives.

Here’s an example. Which sentence is correct?

1. I suggested going to dinner.
2. I suggested to go to dinner.

Sentence one, with the gerund, is correct. “I suggested going to dinner.” Why? You can only use a gerund after the verb “suggest.”

List of commons verbs:

Common verbs followed by a gerund:

abhor	discontinue	give up (stop)	recommend
acknowledge	discuss	keep (continue)	report
admit	dislike	keep on	resent
advise	dispute	mention	resist
allow	dread	mind (object to)	resume
anticipate	endure	miss	risk
appreciate	enjoy	necessitate	shirk
avoid	escape	omit	shun
be worth	evade	permit	suggest
can’t help	explain	picture	support
celebrate	fancy	postpone	tolerate
confess	fear	practice	understand
consider	feel like	prevent	urge
defend	feign	put off	warrant
delay	finish	recall
detest	forgive	recollect

Common verbs followed by an infinitive:

agree	demand	mean	seek
appear	deserve	need	seem
arrange	determine	neglect	shudder
ask	elect	offer	strive
attempt	endeavor	pay	struggle
beg	expect	plan	swear
can/can’t afford	fail	prepare	tend
can/can’t wait	get	pretend	threaten
care	grow (up)	profess	turn out
chance	guarantee	promise	venture
choose	hesitate	prove	volunteer
claim	hope	refuse	wait
come	hurry	remain	want
consent	incline	request	wish
dare	learn	resolve	would like
decide	manage	say	yearn

Common verbs followed by a gerund or infinitive with little to no change in meaning:

begin	like
can’t bear	love
can’t stand	prefer
continue	propose
hate	start

Requests and Permissions

The modal verbs may, could, will, would are used in making polite requests in speech and writing, in communication with strangers and with people you know. Can is generally used in informal requests, mostly in conversation with friends and family:

1. May I borrow your pen, please?
2. Could I speak to Tom Lee, please?
3. Could you help me with this report?
4. Can I borrow your pen, please?
5. Can you tell me where the bank is, please?
6. Will you please be quiet?
7. Would you please ask her to call me?

Can is used to make basic requests from a friend or co-worker. It is often used for small things.

Could is more polite than can, but has the same function.

Would is used to make polite requests in English.

Will is similar to would, but is a more casual way of making a request. "Will" would be more with people who you have a comfortable, common relationship with.

May is used to politely ask for permission to do something.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

A personal pronoun is a pronoun that is associated primarily with a particular person, in the grammatical sense.

Subject	Object
I	me
you	you
he	him
she	her
it	it
we	us
you	you
they	them

Examples:

1. I like your dress.
2. You are late.
3. This is Jack. He’s my brother. I don’t think you have met him.

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns include my, mine, our, ours, its, his, her, hers, their, theirs, your and yours - all words that demonstrate ownership.

Table of possessive pronouns:

Personal pronoun	Possessive determiner	Possessive pronoun
I	my	mine
you (singular and plural)	your	yours
he	his	his
she	her	hers
it	its	its
we	our	ours
they	their	theirs
one	one’s	one’s

Examples of possessive pronouns:

1. The kids are yours and mine.
2. The house is theirs and its paint is flaking.
3. The money was really theirs for the taking.
4. We shall finally have what is rightfully ours.
5. Their mother gets along well with yours.
6. What's mine is yours, my friend.
7. The dog is mine.
8. The cat is yours.
9. The ring is hers.
10. The bag is theirs.

Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are words ending in -self or -selves that are used when the subject and the object of a sentence are the same (e.g., I believe in myself). They can act as either objects or indirect objects. The nine English reflexive pronouns are:

myself

yourself

himself

herself

oneself

itself

ourselves

yourselves

themselves

Examples:

1. I was in a hurry, so I washed the car myself.
2. You’re going to have to drive yourself to school today.
3. He wanted to impress her, so he baked a cake himself.
4. Jennifer does chores herself because she doesn’t trust others to do them right.
5. That car is in a class all by itself.
6. We don’t have to go out; we can fix dinner ourselves.
7. You are too young to go out by yourselves.
8. The actors saved the local theatre money by making costumes themselves.

Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are those that are not specific, exact or definite. They are also used when the noun is unknown.

Singular

another	anybody	anyone	anything	each
either	enough	everybody	everyone	everything
little	much	neither	nobody	no one
nothing	one	other	somebody	someone
something

Plural

both

few

many

others

Both singular and plural

all	any	more	most
none	some	such

Examples:

I would like to go somewhere this summer. Someone gave me this book. I won't tell your secret to anyone. I bought everything at the mall. I have nobody to talk to. There wasn't anything we could do.

Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs are verb+preposition combinations, so they are usually two or more word expressions. For example, ’look + after’, ’put off’, ’take + up’ or ’put + up with’. The meaning of a phrasal verb is often very different from the original verb:

1. She’s looking after the children. (She is taking care of the children.)
2. They’ve put off the meeting. (They’ve postponed the meeting.)
3. Greg’s taken up golf. (Greg’s started playing golf.)
4. I can’t put up with my neighbours any longer. (I can’t tolerate my neighbours any longer.)

Collocations

Collocations are words that are generally used together. For example:

1. commit a crime
2. make a mistake
3. distant memory
4. break a record
5. bunch of flowers
6. fast food

It would sound strange if you said ’make a crime’, ’do a mistake’, ’remote memory’, ’knock a record’, ’pack of flowers’ or ’quick food’. These words don’t collocate with each other - don’t sound correct together.