La beauté des phrasal verbs 😍 (et le cauchemar 👻 des apprenants d’anglais)

The other day I was looking through some old books 📚 and I came across a dictionary of phrasal verbs. When this edition came out, there were already 12,000 phrasal verbs from English and American usage. Then the memories began coming back to me about where this book had come from and how I had started my long career as an English teacher 🤓🎓.

At that time, I was a young teacher in my first job, working for an Irishman who I had come upon by coincidence in a bar.

This is how I got this first job. A friend of mine was going to a new bar in Paris and didn’t want to go alone so she asked me to come along. We were amongst the first to arrive, ourselves and this Irish guy, so we began chatting and he came up with the idea (after a few Guinness 🍺 – don’t forget he was Irish 😊) of me working for him in his language school!

He had a teacher who was expecting a baby, and he didn’t think she was coming back afterwards, so he suggested that I come in to replace her. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea, I had no experience and was very young, but I finally came around to the idea. I didn’t even know if he would remember our discussion the next day but a week later, he came through with his promise. We had a long collaboration, and I learnt so much with him.

📕 Anyway, let’s come back to the book! At that time, I had an elderly student who came around to the language centre practically every day. He loved English and he spoke very well, having worked in a giant multinational and having travelled extensively. He also loved the English language, especially phrasal verbs. He said they were more nuanced. He gave me the dictionary of phrasal verbs as a present 🎁😊.

I had never thought about the beauty of phrasal verbs before as for me they just came out naturally and we native speakers use them so frequently. But it’s true that for a word in French that covers a range of possibilities we can come up with 3 or 4 words in English.

Phrasal verbs avec ‘come’

👉 Comme vous pouvez le constater dans ce récit de mes premières pas en tant que professeur d’anglais 🤓🎓, les phrasal verbs s’intègrent naturellement à l’oral comme à l’écrit. Chaque phrasal verb a généralement un équivalent plus « formel », mais au quotidien on utilise beaucoup plus les formes avec particule.

Ils sont formés d’un verbe de base + une particule, et cette petite particule change totalement le sens du verbe. C’est ce qui les rend difficiles : un seul petit mot peut transformer complètement la phrase !

Prenons le verbe to come par exemple. Selon la particule qui suit, come peut vouloir dire : revenir, visiter, inventer, créer, trouver, se rétablir…

👌 As-tu compris le sens des phrasal verbs dans l’histoire grâce au contexte ?

Si ce n’est pas le cas, voici la liste avec une définition pour chacun (et un petit quiz en bonus 🎁).

1. come across → trouver par hasard.
   I came across a dictionary of phrasal verbs.

2. come out → paraître, être publié.
   When this edition came out...

3. come back → revenir, ou revenir en mémoire.
   The memories began coming back...

4. come from → venir de, avoir pour origine.
   Where this book had come from.

5. come upon → tomber sur, rencontrer par hasard.
   I had come upon [the Irishman] in a bar.

6. come along → accompagner quelqu’un.
   She asked me to come along.

7. come up with → inventer, proposer une idée.
   He came up with the idea...

8. come in → intervenir, jouer un rôle.
   He suggested that I come in to replace her.

9. come around →

   • changer d’avis. I finally came around to the idea.

   • passer (rendre visite). He came around to the language centre every day.

10. come through → réussir, tenir une promesse.
    He came through with his promise.

11. come out (naturally) → sortir naturellement, apparaître.
    Phrasal verbs came out naturally for me.

12. come up with (bis) → produire, trouver.
    We can come up with 3 or 4 words in English...

📝 Petit quiz : Phrasal verbs avec ‘come’

Choose the correct meaning of the phrasal verb in bold.

1. I came across a really interesting article yesterday.
   a) I searched for it carefully
   b) I found it by chance
   c) I bought it in a shop

2. After a week in bed, she finally came around.
   a) She regained consciousness / recovered
   b) She changed her mind about something
   c) Both a and b are possible, depending on the context

3. He always comes back to the same argument in meetings.
   a) He forgets it
   b) He repeats it
   c) He avoids it

4. The manager came up with a new idea for the project.
   a) He copied it
   b) He invented it
   c) He rejected it

5. Don’t worry, she always comes through in the end.
   a) She disappoints people
   b) She keeps her promises / succeeds
   c) She arrives late

👉 Réponses : 1 → b / 2 → c / 3 → b / 4 → b / 5 → b

​​​​​​​👋​ Pour finir…

Les phrasal verbs avec come sont partout en anglais — que ce soit pour revenir, découvrir, inventer ou simplement rendre visite. En les apprenant dans leur contexte et en les pratiquant avec de vrais exemples, vous commencerez à les utiliser naturellement dans vos conversations. Gardez l’œil ouvert ​​​​​​​​👀​ pour repérer come across, come up with, come around dans vos lectures, vos écoutes et vos discussions. Avec un peu de pratique, ces expressions polyvalentes deviendront vite un réflexe !

Liz Aldam - Professeure d'anglais

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