What Are Phrasal Verbs? — English Bac SMB

Dans le programme du Bac SMB

English carries a coefficient of 2 in the Bac Sciences Maths B (SMB) stream, level with Philosophy. Mathematics dominates the stream (coefficient 9), followed by Physics-Chemistry and Engineering Sciences (coefficient 7 each), so English can look marginal — but it and Philosophy form the narrow margin where rankings and honours are actually decided. Reading, language and guided writing are all assessed.

À l'épreuve

Three parts: Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing (a guided text of about 180 words). SMB candidates, trained to be rigorous and systematic, do well on the Language section if they treat each grammar point as a rule with a fixed structure; the risk is a dry essay that ignores vocabulary range and register, which the Writing section also scores.

Objectifs d'apprentissage

Reuse this vocabulary field in the Bac SMB Reading answers and in the argumentative essay (coefficient 2)
Understand that a phrasal verb (verb + particle) often has an idiomatic meaning different from the verb alone
Distinguish separable phrasal verbs (look up a word / look a word up) from inseparable ones (look after someone)
Recognise the most frequent phrasal verbs of the programme: give up, look after, find out, carry out, come across, put off, run out of
Place a pronoun only between the verb and the particle in a separable transitive phrasal verb

Notions clés

What is a phrasal verb?

A simple verb (look, give, come…) paired with one or two particles (up, after, out, off…) forming a unit of meaning often far from the verb alone. E.g. give up (abandon) has no direct link with give.

Separable and inseparable

Separable (transitive): the object can go between the verb and the particle, or after — but a pronoun ALWAYS goes between the two (turn off the light / turn the light off / turn it off, never turn off it). Inseparable: the verb and particle never split (look after your sister, look after her).

Frequent phrasal verbs of the programme

give up (abandon), look after (take care of), find out (discover), carry out (perform, complete), come across (find by chance, meet), put off (postpone), run out of (have no more of).

Erreurs fréquentes

Placing a pronoun after the particle of a separable phrasal verb: “turn off it” is wrong — use “turn it off”.

Translating a phrasal verb word for word: “give up” does not mean “give upward” but “abandon” — the meaning must be learned as a unit.

Treating an inseparable transitive phrasal verb as separable: “look after” can never become “look your sister after”.

Exemple corrigé

Énoncé

Rewrite the sentence replacing the object with a pronoun, following the placement rule: “Please turn off the lights before leaving.”

Correction

Identify the phrasal verb. turn off is separable and transitive.

Apply the pronoun rule. With a pronoun (it, replacing the lights), the particle must follow the pronoun: never “turn off it”.

Result. “Please turn them off before leaving.”

Le cours, puis l'entraînement.

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3 exercices pour t'entraîner

Exercice 1

Easy

Choose the correct meaning of “give up”: (abandon / give / stand up)

Voir la correction

abandon — give up is a phrasal verb with an idiomatic meaning, unrelated to give.

Exercice 2

Medium

Complete with the right particle: “The scientists carried ___ several experiments before reaching a conclusion.” (out / on / off)

Voir la correction

out — carry out means to perform, to complete (an experiment, a mission).

Exercice 3

Hard

Correct: “She looks her little brother after every afternoon.”

Voir la correction

look after is inseparable; the object always follows the particle: “She looks after her little brother every afternoon.”

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Questions fréquentes

How do I memorise so many phrasal verbs for the exam?

Group them by particle (up = completion / increase: give up, look up, grow up; out = discovery / running low: find out, run out of, carry out) — this helps you recall families of meaning rather than isolated words.

How can I tell if a phrasal verb is separable without a dictionary?

It is hard to guess: it is a property to learn verb by verb. One useful hint: phrasal verbs meaning “take care of / depend on” (look after, look for, rely on) are almost always inseparable.

Can I replace a phrasal verb with a simpler word in the exam?

Yes, and it is sometimes safer if you are unsure of the structure: discover for find out, postpone for put off, abandon for give up — but knowing the phrasal verb is still essential for reading the texts.

A maths-stream student often dislikes English — how do they raise the mark?

Treat it as structure. Every writing task = introduction + argument + counter-argument + conclusion; every grammar point = one rule + one correct example + one typical mistake. Memorise that framework, apply it to the 31 chapters with two example sentences each, and 12/20 is reachable without eating into the heavy maths programme.

How do I use this theme in the Bac SMB essay without sounding generic?

Anchor each key term in one concrete, personal example — a place, a person, a situation you know. A specific illustration in accurate English scores better than a long list of terms with no support, on any of the society prompts in the programme.