EducationEnglish.Phrasal verbsCOMMUNICATION · A2–B1

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← Phrasal verbs

Lesson 72 / Learning & progress

Make efforts and receive suggestions.

5 phrases · 12 minutes · Look, listen and try.

Focus on learning, following feedback and understanding the cause of an error.

After this lesson, you can

  • Use this lesson’s expressions to talk about the situation introduced above.
  • Distinguish “get down to” and “act on” in context.
  • Use “get ahead” in a sentence connected to your own situation.
Practice and check your answers →

Match words to pictures →Play What is She/He doing? →

A randomly assigned, fixed male or female synthetic voice for each phrase or sentence · Slow playback at 0.7× preserves pitch.

Phrase 1 / 5Understand context
Khoa sat at the table and focused on doing his homework after break.
Khoa sat at the table and focused on doing his homework after break.

get down to

After the break, let us get down to our homework.

Read the example again

After the break, let us get down to our homework.

I got down to drawing when the room became quiet.

Read the example again

I got down to drawing when the room became quiet.

View meaning & usage

Start focusing on working seriously

get down to somethingget down to doing something

Emphasize stopping procrastinating and focusing on work. “To” is a preposition, so it can be followed by -ing.

Cambridge Dictionary · get down to

Haven't studied yet
Khoa edited the drawing according to Minh's suggestions.
Khoa edited the drawing according to Minh's suggestions.

act on

I acted on my teacher’s advice and practised again.

Read the example again

I acted on my teacher’s advice and practised again.

We should act on this useful feedback.

Read the example again

We should act on this useful feedback.

View meaning & usage

Follow advice/information

act on advice / information / feedback

You put advice or information into action, not just hear it. Do not split phrases.

Cambridge Dictionary · act on

Haven't studied yet
Khoa sees his new work better after a period of steady effort.
Khoa sees his new work better after a period of steady effort.

get ahead

Working steadily can help you get ahead.

Read the example again

Working steadily can help you get ahead.

She got ahead by learning from her mistakes.

Read the example again

She got ahead by learning from her mistakes.

View meaning & usage

Progress / achieve better results

get aheadget ahead by doing something

In the lesson is more progress or success in general; “get ahead of someone” also means to get ahead of someone else.

Haven't studied yet
Khoa told Minh that the small mistake was due to his nervousness.
Khoa told Minh that the small mistake was due to his nervousness.

put down to

I put the small mistake down to being nervous.

Read the example again

I put the small mistake down to being nervous.

The teacher put our slow start down to tiredness.

Read the example again

The teacher put our slow start down to tiredness.

View meaning & usage

Assume that something is caused by something

put something down to somethingput something down to doing something

What needs to be explained is between “put” and “down to”. This is a way of stating the reason that I think is correct, not solid evidence.

Haven't studied yet
Khoa believes in practicing every day and points to the training schedule with pictures.
Khoa believes in practicing every day and points to the training schedule with pictures.

believe in

I believe in practising a little every day.

Read the example again

I believe in practising a little every day.

Our teacher believes in learning through games.

Read the example again

Our teacher believes in learning through games.

View meaning & usage

Believe in the value/effectiveness of a thing

believe in somethingbelieve in doing something

In the lesson, we believe in a valuable way of doing things. “Believe in” can also say to believe something exists, depending on the context.

Haven't studied yet

The examples were written for this course. Usage was checked against Matt Errey’s book, pages 51, 6, 49, 101, 11. A2–B1 is the course’s intended level.

OBSERVE · UNDERSTAND · MATCH

Match phrases to pictures

Drag a wire from the dot beside a phrase to the dot beside its matching picture. You can also tap a phrase, then a picture. Drag again to change a pair before checking.

Read the picture descriptions for more context. Similar expressions are accepted when they fit the particular scene.

A conversation in context

Read the conversation and find the expressions you have learned.

  1. Mai

    We should get down to the report now.

    Read the example again

    We should get down to the report now.

  2. Alex

    First, let us act on the feedback from our teacher.

    Read the example again

    First, let us act on the feedback from our teacher.

  3. Mai

    I believe in our plan, but we need time to check it.

    Read the example again

    I believe in our plan, but we need time to check it.

Compare the uses

get down to / act on

“Get down to” means start working seriously; “act on” means follow advice or information. In “get down to work”, “to” takes a noun or an -ing form.

Practice and check your answers

Try answering before revealing the suggested answer. This practice is not scored.

The answers below are models. Other answers can also work if they preserve the facts, meaning and structure requested in the task.

A situation to apply what you have learned

A study group stops chatting and starts its report. They also have feedback that needs to influence the next draft.

  1. Describe beginning serious work.

    Show the answer and explanation

    They get down to writing the report.

    The group stops chatting and starts the report: “get down to writing”, with “writing” after “to”.

  2. Complete: We should act ___ the teacher’s feedback.

    Show the answer and explanation

    on

    “Act on the feedback” uses it to change the draft, rather than merely reading or receiving it.

  3. Write a concrete next step using act on.

    Show the answer and explanation

    Let us act on the feedback by checking the examples again.

    “By checking the examples again” gives a specific action that implements the feedback.

The usage comparisons are checked against the Cambridge Dictionary entries linked beside the compared expressions. The additional conversations and exercises are written for this course.

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