The question might sound funny but I've always wondered for years if all the English native speakers were capable of knowing that extensive list of phrasal verbs or idioms. If yes, how and when they get to know and memorize them or if not what is such a vast list of them needed for ?
You need to be a member of MyEnglishClub to add comments!
Replies
Baho , thank you for giving your opinion. I like your eyeglasses :)
Mishaikh, I do agree that its not possible to have a control on all grammar structure even in our languages. BUT those never ending lists make it difficult as you said for those who are related to a profession of certain field are required to know all rules or maximum related vocabulary to master this language . Thank you for your opinion.
No! Native English speakers in a America rarely know the grammar - they won't know what a "phrasal verb" is, just how to use the words and may not use them well. It depends on where you live as far as idioms.
Idioms: don't waste your time memorizing idioms! You should review them routinely to be familiar but NOT to memorize. You don't need to use them ever, just understand them. Idioms differ far too much based on where you live or how old you are and other things like that. Some native speakers use them incorrectly. It's best to ask the speaker what it means. I teach ESL English in the US - I have never heard of some of idioms on this site and I often have to ask my friends, strangers, family, etc, what they mean when they use an idiom.
Phrasal Verbs: they are important. Pay attention to the ones you hear or read often, the ones the people around you use the most in every day speaking. Watch the news and listen to what they use - the news uses the most common ones. Study to be familiar and comprehend more than studying to use phrasal verbs because the meaning changes so much - you can learn to use them better later, you can say the same things in a different way.
That's my two cents. ;)
Cheers!
Ditto that. Great answer!
Thank you, Sir! Happy New Year!
Hahaha! Of course, we don't! Americans are famous for being illiterate! There are so many idioms, we can't know them all. Besides, in different dialects the same phrasal verb or idiom may mean something different. Just take it easy and learn as much as you can.
Some native English speakers use idioms incorrectly, or mix them up. I worked for a Boss who used to say, for someone who was making money, that they were making money "hand over foot", when the correct idiom is "hand over fist." I know someone else who used to say, when someone had misunderstood, or interpreted something incorrectly, that they were "barking up the wrong alley", when they should have said, "Barking up the wrong tree".
So native English speakers do use idioms incorrectly, and they do mix them up!
Just as some people (in any language) have a bigger vocabulary than other people, some native English speakers will know more phrasal verbs and idioms than other native English speakers.
--
Also, I think that Roman hits the nail on the head in saying:
"I think, not 100% of English native speakers know all the phrasal verbs, idioms or expressions. At least, because I don't know all the idioms or expressions in my native language"
--
One other thing to remember is the difference between active and passive vocabulary. Active is words we know and use (frequently), passive is words we know but don't use (much):
https://www.englishclub.com/esl-forums/viewtopic.php?t=40639
https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/what.htm
This means that most native speakers may not speak or write with ALL those phrasal verbs and idioms, but they will probably understand most/many of them when they hear or read them. (Note that speaking and writing are active skills, listening and reading are passive skills.)
Note also that "active and passive vocabulary" is NOT the same as "active and passive verbs":
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/passive-voice.htm
--
Remember too that, as Cheryl indicates, there are differences between varieties of a language (Australian, British, American English). For example, it's very possible that a native American-English speaker has never heard a particular idiom used by a native British-English speaker, and vice versa.
--
And finally, native English speakers do NOT memorize lists of phrasal verbs or idioms! In fact, most native English speakers have never heard of a "phrasal verb", and many of them could not define an "idiom". In general, native English speakers assimilate or "pick up" most vocabulary (eg phrasal verbs and idioms) through exposure to the language (ie lots of listening from birth and reading) - just like you do in your native language!
I use phrasal verbs and idioms all the time but do I know them all - definitely not. In class my students will sometimes pick me up when I unconciously use a phrase they can't understand, I grew up with these phrases and they just became part of my normal speech, but I do forget sometimes that others may not comprehend what I am saying.
I'm Australian and have been using an American book with hundreds of phrasal verbs - and there are dozens I do not know and some I cannot even guess at. So there is also a cultural aspect to phrasal verbs amongst the English speaking countries.
Happy New Year everyone.
phrasal verbs are really common then so helpful when we are speaking with english native speakers, i dont think natives know all of them, but i think it is like our own mother tongue when we hear an expression we get it easily cause the context cause we are relating all the sentences then we are thinking about the message .
nope, english native speakers dont know all the existing phrasal verbs .
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
of 4 Next