Learn English Phrasal Verbs for Organizing Things

Learn the meanings of common phrasal verbs like tidy up, throw away, lying around, put away and lots more. In this video English lesson you’ll see Jay and Vicki organizing their props and costumes and see how they use the phrasal verbs in action.

Click here to learn 24 phrasal verbs for computers and technology
Click here to learn 10 phrasal verbs for food and eating
Click here to learn 8 very common separable phrasal verbs

Organizing Phrasal Verbs

Hi. Today we’re going to show you some of the props and costumes that we use in our videos.
It’s a bit of a mess so we’re going to organize them today.

This lesson is about phrasal verbs we use to talk about organizing things. The best way to learn their meanings is to see them in action so we’re going to play a game. Watch Jay and I talking about our props and costumes and see how many phrasal verbs you can spot. You’ll hear 13 of them.

Jay and I aren’t very tidy.
We don’t have one place in our house to keep all our props and costumes.
They’re scattered all over the house.
So it’s time to tidy up.
Yes, and I’ve got a prop box ready so we can keep them all in that.
We’ve laid out lots of our props and costumes so we can see what we’ve got.
Yep. Let’s start with this one.
Oh, a toy truck.
A toy truck. I don’t think we need it any more.
I don’t think we’ll ever use this again.
Throw it out.
I will throw it away.
OK, we’ve got lots of hats.
Ooh, this is my magician’s hat
Yes.
I used this hat to send you to Paris with this magic wand.
Yes, a magic wand is a magician’s stick. And your chef’s hat.
Oh, very good. Could you cook something for me?
Oh and you can be a king someday.
This is a crown.
And you’ve got… erm, OK, you’ve got cowboy hats as well.
Well now this is a cowboy hat that a criminal cowboy would wear, right?
What, the baddie?
Yeah, the bad guy.
OK, and that one?
And this would be a cowboy hat a good guy would wear. Right?
Yeah. Look. Do you remember that one?
Oh yes. Rachel wore this in one of our airport videos.
That’s right. And I wore this when I was a cop.
OK. Sort the hats out. Sort them out and we’ll put them together.
There we go.
OK.
Oh look. This is a crystal ball. Tell me the future.
I know. I want to do a scene with a fortune teller where they forecast the future, but I haven’t got round to it yet.
Well, maybe you’ll do it someday soon.
Ok.
Here is a white coat. Oh this is my doctor’s outfit.
It’s really useful that coat because it can be for a doctor or it can be for a shop assistant sometimes like in a chemist’s, or as you would say, a pharmacy.
This comes with a stethoscope, doesn’t it?
Yep, there you are. This is a stethoscope.
All right. Let’s see how this works.
Now, I’ll put this in the prop box, but we should hang that up…
Or else it will get creased, right?
Yep. Hang it up. Here you are.
No problem. Thank you very much.
Ooh. Look what I found.
This is Vicki’s wig, but I think I want to try it.
A wig is false hair. We bought this for the Halloween video that we did. Hang on, I’ll straighten it out for you. It’s very good. I love it.
Oh, is this a table cloth?
Yes, that’s for when we want to set up a restaurant scene.
Oh, we’ve done that.
Yeah.
We had Carter eating in a restaurant, didn’t we?
Yep, and also next time we can use some flowers and it can be a posh restaurant.
Ah, very good. Ooh, Look.
There’s one of these missing. There should be four of these.
There’s one lying around in kitchen.
Oh, right. We’re not very tidy. I’ve been looking for this.
That’s a magnifying glass. I came across this in my office. I use it to find things on my desk.
OK. Are we done?
No, there’s a slate here.
A slate. I… I think people call it a clapperboard as well, don’t they?
Right. It’s used to synchronize cameras and audio. Take one!
Ok, so give it to me and I’ll put it in the prop box.
No, it belongs in my office.
OK, well put it away then.
I shall.
OK, that’s it everyone.

How many phrasal verbs did you spot? The first one was tidy up. If we tidy a place we make it look nice because everything is arranged neatly and put in the right place. But we can also say tidy up. It means the same thing.

We don’t have one place in our house to keep all our props and costumes.
They’re scattered all over the house.
So it’s time to tidy up.
Yes.

You’ll also hear people say tidy away. It’s similar to tidy up. It means to put things in the place they belong.
OK, the next one was lay out. This means to spread things. We usually lay things out so we can see them easily, or so they’re ready to use.

We’ve laid out lots of our props and costumes so we can see what we’ve got.
Yep.

OK, the next two were throw out and throw away. They can mean the same thing. If you have something you don’t need or don’t want any more and you dispose of it or get rid of it, you throw it out or throw it away.

A toy truck. I don’t think we need it any more.
I don’t think we’ll ever use this again.
Throw it out.
I will throw it away.

Next was sort out and it can mean a couple of things in the context of tidying. One is simply to organize – so to arrange and tidy. And the second meaning is to separate different types of things. I used it to say we should separate the hats from the other props.

OK. Sort the hats out. Sort them out and we’ll put them together.
There we go.

OK, next one: to get round to. This means to find time to do something. Perhaps there’s a job that you’ve been meaning to do for a long time, but you haven’t got round to it. You haven’t found time to do it yet. Tell us in the comments.

I want to do a scene with a fortune teller where they forecast the future, but I haven’t got round to it yet.
Well, maybe you’ll do it someday soon.

The next one’s easy to understand. To hang up means put to clothes on a hanger or a hook.

I’ll put this in the prop box, but we should hang that up…
Or else it will get creased, right?
Yep. Hang it up. Here you are.
No problem.

Another phrasal verb with hang is hang on. Hang on is an informal way of asking someone to wait, or stop what they’re doing for a short time.
And the next one. To straighten out means to make something straight, so put it in the correct position so it’s not curved or at an angle. We could just say straighten, that’s the verb, but you’ll often hear straighten out too.

We bought this for the Halloween video that we did. Hang on, I’ll straighten it out for you.

Next one. Set up has several different meanings. It often means make necessary arrangements for something to happen, so you can set up a meeting or an appointment. And it can also mean get equipment or materials ready for use and that’s how we used it here.

Oh, is this a table cloth?
Yes, that’s for when we want to set up a restaurant scene.
Oh, we’ve done that.

OK, next one. If someone has left something somewhere in a careless way, an untidy way, we can say it’s lying around. Jay and are bad at putting things back where they belong so you’ll often find things lying around in our house.

There’s one of these missing. There should be four of these.
There’s one lying around in kitchen.
Oh, right. We’re not very tidy.

In British English we also say lying about. It means the same as lying around.
OK, we’re nearly finished. The next one was come across and it means to find or discover something by chance.

I came across this in my office.

And the last one. When we put something away, we put it in the place it should be kept. When we’ve finished using things we should put them away, so as to be tidy.

Ok, so give it to me and I’ll put it in the prop box.
No, it belongs in my office.
OK, well put it away then.
I shall.

And that’s it! If you enjoyed this videos, why not share it with a friend who’s also learning English? And if you’d like to learn some more phrasal verbs, click here and make sure you subscribe to our channel too, so you don’t miss our future videos. See you next Friday everyone. Bye.

Click here to learn 24 phrasal verbs for computers and technology
Click here to learn 10 phrasal verbs for food and eating
Click here to learn 8 very common separable phrasal verbs