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She was from the US and she had to go back in three weeks after we met, so we broke up very quickly.
And we got on really well, but it took him a long time to ask me out on a date.
Hello and welcome to Learning English Grammar.
I'm Beth.
And I'm Neil.
We just heard Pippa and Phil talking about dating.
We're going to hear more from them later.
And we'll learn some phrasal verbs to talk about relationships and how we can use them.
A phrasal verb is a verb plus a particle.
A particle could be a preposition or an adverb.
Some examples of phrasal verbs are go out with or break up.
So, Beth, have you ever been on a memorable date?
Oh, I once went on a blind date, so I didn't know who I was meeting and it didn't go that well.
We didn't really hit it off, so it wasn't very successful.
What about you?
Yes.
I once went on a date with a woman who fell asleep when we were having a drink.
But it worked out OK, because she's now my wife.
Wow.
OK.
Well, here are Phil and Pippa to tell us more about dates they've been on.
Did they have successful romances?
When I was at university, I guess this was like a whirlwind romance is that we met, but we met.
She was an overseas student.
She was from the US and she had to go back in three weeks after we met.
So we broke up very quickly.
So my now husband and I were friends first and we got on really well, but it took him a long time to ask me out on a date.
But when we did go out on a date, that went really well.
And now we're settled down.
We live together, we're married and it's a happy ending, I suppose.
I met my wife in Paraguay in a bar over a game of Jenga.
She was a friend of someone who knew people that I worked with.
And yeah, we just sort of hit it off.
It went really well.
And yeah, we're here 23 years later.
I'm still married.
So Phil said he met a girl at university, but she left after three weeks to go back to the US.
He said they had to break up, which means to stop being in a relationship.
We can also say split up, which is a phrasal verb with the same meaning.
For Pippa, it took a long time for her friend to ask her out.
Ask out is a phrasal verb that means ask someone if they'll go on a date with you.
But in the end, she married him, so it was a success.
And in the end, Phil got married too, so another success.
Let's learn more about phrasal verbs.
Here's Georgie, our grammar guru.
Hi guys, I've come to help our listeners with phrasal verbs.
Let's start with the structure of them.
Some phrasal verbs need an object, like ask out.
We can't say I asked out, we need to say who we asked out.
Pippa's friend asked her out, or Phil asked an American girl out.
But it took him a long time to ask me out on a date.
Phrasal verbs that require an object can be separable or inseparable.
Separable means the object can go between the phrasal verb, like ask out.
You could say he asked Pippa out or he asked out Pippa.
And we can also use pronouns with these phrasal verbs.
You can say he asked her out, right?
Correct, but we can't say he asked out her.
If you want to use a pronoun like him her, you or it, it must go in the middle of the phrasal verb, not at the end.
There are other examples of separable phrasal verbs you might know, like put on.
I put a coat on or turn off.
Can you turn the light off?
And Georgie.
Can you give us some examples of phrasal verbs that need an object but can't be separated?
Yes, I can.
Pippa said she went out on a date with her friend.
Go out is a phrasal verb where the object has to go after the phrasal verb.
It can't go in the middle.
But when we did go out on a date, that went really well.
Other phrasal verbs that need an object but can't be separated are look after.
I look after my dog.
And bump into.
I bumped into my friend at lunch.
OK, so what about our other relationship phrasal verbs like break up, get on and settle down?
Do they need an object?
We got on really well.
These are phrasal verbs that don't take an object, like break up and settle down.
However, sometimes they can have an object if we add another word, like with.
For example, Phil broke up with his American girlfriend, but Pippa got on so well with her friend that now he's her husband.
She's settled down with him.
Great.
And we also had hit it off earlier.
What can you tell us about that?
Hit it off means you immediately like someone.
You have a good connection from the start.
It's a fixed phrase, so you can't remove the word it.
It has to stay as it is.
Hit it off.
Yeah, we just sort of hit it off.
We can also follow hit it off with the preposition with and at a person.
For example, I really hit it off with you two when I started working here.
That's true.
We all get on well.
Yes, we all get on with each other.
Thanks, Georgie.
See you later.
Right, Neil, we are going to make some sentences using the phrasal verbs from this episode.
I will start the sentence and you need to finish it.
Oh, this sounds quite difficult, Beth.
For the listeners.
Your task is to try to predict the particle part of the phrasal verb that I'm going to use.
OK, let's begin.
I really hit it... ..off with the girl I went on a date with.
Very good.
Me and you get...
On well.
We do.
OK.
Phil asked an American girl... Out.
He asked her to go on a date.
I hope they don't break... Up.
I hope they don't break up because they're a lovely couple.
And of course, we want to hear from you.
Can you tell us a story about a date or a relationship you've had using some of the phrasal verbs you've heard in this episode?
Send us an email to learningenglish at bbc.co.uk.
That's it for this episode.
We've learnt that phrasal verbs can be separable or inseparable.
And we learnt that Phil had his heart broken by an American girl who had to leave him.
Poor Phil.
We'll be back next week to learn some more grammar tips.
In the meantime, you can test what you've learnt in this episode with the worksheet on our website.
To learn more about phrasal verbs in English, watch Phrasal Verbs with Georgie on our website now bbclearningenglishcom.
Goodbye for now.
Goodbye.
