Unit 4 · Media & Information · Lesson 20
Log On, Switch Off
Phrasal verbs are everywhere in real English and almost invisible in textbooks. Learn the digital-life set, plus the rule that decides where the object goes.
Warm-up · §1
5 minGet talking
When did you last properly switch off from your phone? How did it feel?
How many accounts are you logged into right now? Which could you delete today?
What do you catch up on first each morning: news, messages or feeds?
Grammar focus · §2
8–10 minPhrasal verbs — the three types
Quick rule
Separable: object can go either side, BUT a pronoun always goes in the middle. Inseparable and three-part verbs never split.
When to use it
- Speaking naturally about everyday actions — phrasal verbs sound spoken, single verbs sound written.
- Informal writing: blog posts, messages, comments.
- Understanding fast speech, films and podcasts, where they dominate.
Pattern builder
Separable + noun
verb + noun + particle / verb + particle + noun
e.g. Turn the phone off. / Turn off the phone.
Separable + pronoun
verb + pronoun + particle
e.g. Turn it off. (NOT turn off it)
Inseparable
verb + particle + object
e.g. I came across a strange article.
Three-part
verb + particle + particle + object
e.g. I can't keep up with the news.
No object
verb + particle
e.g. My laptop suddenly shut down.
Compare
| Formal single verb | Natural phrasal verb | Watch out |
|---|---|---|
| postpone the call | put the call off | Pronoun: put it off. |
| tolerate the noise | put up with the noise | Three-part — never split. |
| discover by chance | come across | Inseparable — come across it. |
Examples
- →
I turned my notifications off and slept properly for once.
- →
I turned them off at nine and didn't look again.
- →
She came across an old post from 2014.
- →
I can't put up with the constant pinging.
- →
I need to catch up on everything I missed.
- →
He logged out of every app and deleted two of them.
Common mistakes
Turn off it.
✓ Turn it off.
A pronoun always sits between verb and particle.
I put with up the noise.
✓ I put up with the noise.
Three-part verbs keep their order.
I came a post across.
✓ I came across a post.
'Come across' cannot be separated.
Natural English
If you can say 'turn it off', the verb is separable. If 'come it across' sounds wrong, it is inseparable. Test with a pronoun.
Deep dive (full explanation)
A phrasal verb is a verb plus a particle (up, off, on, out, into, up with). The meaning is usually not the sum of the parts: 'put off' means postpone, not place downwards. There are three types. SEPARABLE verbs take the object before or after the particle, and a pronoun MUST go in the middle: 'turn the phone off / turn it off' — never 'turn off it'. INSEPARABLE verbs keep verb and particle together: 'look after the account', 'come across a post'. THREE-PART verbs (verb + two particles) never split: 'put up with the noise', 'catch up on the news'.
Step 1 · Notice the pattern— build the sentence before you analyse it
Build the sentence → spot the natural chunks → say it aloud → reply like a real conversation.
1.Rebuild the sentence — then say it aloud.
2.Rebuild the sentence — then say it aloud.
3.Rebuild the sentence — then say it aloud.
Step 2 · Test the rule
Quick check 1.Pronoun position:
Quick check 2.Which cannot be separated?
Step 3 · Use it in context— longer, less supported items
Question 1.Which is correct?
Question 2.'I can't ___ the constant notifications.'
Question 3.Which verb is inseparable?
Question 4.'I need to ___ on my emails.'
Question 5.'My laptop ___ in the middle of the call.'
Vocabulary · §3
5–7 minWords & phrases to own
to log in / log out
to enter or leave an account.
to switch off
to stop a device — or to stop thinking about work.
to scroll through
to move down a feed without a clear aim.
to come across
to find something by chance.
to catch up on
to do something you are behind with.
to keep up with
to stay at the same speed as something.
to put up with
to tolerate something annoying.
to sign up for
to register for a service.
to shut down
to close a device or a service completely.
to put off
to postpone.
Step 1 · Sort first— what belongs with what?
Step 2 · Pin the meaning
Tap an item on the left, then tap its match on the right.
Step 3 · Produce— now say it about you
Activate it now
Use each phrasal verb about your own digital week.
- Make it yours#1
Name one thing you keep putting off online. Use 'put off'.
to put off - Your view#2
Is it possible to keep up with the news without burning out?
to keep up with - Complete#3
Finish: 'The last interesting thing I came across online was ___ .'
to come across - Rank#4
Rank what you'd give up first: feeds, messaging, streaming, email. Explain with phrasal verbs.
to scroll throughto shut down - Discuss#5
What online behaviour can you simply not put up with?
to put up with
Pronunciation · §4
3–4 minStress on the particle
In most phrasal verbs the STRESS falls on the particle, not the verb: switch OFF, log IN, put it OFF. In three-part verbs the stress lands on the first particle: put UP with, keep UP with. Stressing the verb instead ('SWITCH off') sounds unnatural and can hide the meaning.
- switch OFF
- log IN
- put it OFF
- keep UP with
- catch UP on
Reading · §5
8–10 minThe Week I Logged Out of Everything
Listen to the passage
Tap play to listen. Replay as many times as you need.
I didn't plan it. My laptop shut down mid-sentence on a Monday morning, and by the time it came back, I had been logged out of every account I own. My first instinct was to sign back up for all of it immediately. Instead, I put it off for a day. Then two. What surprised me wasn't the silence — it was how much of my day had been spent catching up on things nobody had asked me to catch up on. I'd been trying to keep up with three feeds, four group chats and a news app that pushed alerts I never read. By Thursday I came across an old notebook while looking for a charger, and I filled six pages in one sitting. I hadn't written anything by hand in about four years. I logged back in on Sunday. Not into everything, though. Two apps went straight in the bin, and I turned notifications off on the rest. I can put up with missing a headline. What I couldn't put up with was the sense that the day was being scrolled through rather than lived.
Step 1 · Scan for evidence— decide true or false, then underline your proof
Q1.The writer planned her week offline in advance.
Q2.She had not written by hand for roughly four years.
Q3.She refused to log back in at all.
Step 2 · Read between the lines— inference and attitude
Question 1.Why was the writer logged out of everything?
Question 2.What did she do instead of signing back up straight away?
Question 3.What did she find on Thursday?
Question 4.What did she change when she logged back in?
Listening · §6
8–10 minTwo colleagues talking about notification overload (about 1:30)
Listening audio
Tap play to listen. Replay as many times as you need.
Show transcript
Dan:You look wrecked. Late night?
Priya:No — I just can't keep up with the group chats. Three projects, three chats, all pinging at once.
Dan:Have you turned them off?
Priya:I keep putting it off. I'm scared I'll miss something urgent.
Dan:Nothing urgent ever comes through a chat. If it's urgent, someone calls you.
Priya:That's fair. I came across an article last week saying the same thing, and I still didn't act on it.
Dan:Try this: notifications off between six and nine, then catch up on everything in one go.
Priya:One block instead of two hundred interruptions. I could put up with that.
Dan:Do it now, before you talk yourself out of it.
Priya:Done. Muted. Honestly, that took about four seconds and I've been dreading it for a month.
Step 1 · First listening— tick only the phrases you hear
Step 2 · Second listening— now check the details
Question 1.What is Priya's problem?
Question 2.Why hasn't she muted them?
Question 3.What does Dan suggest?
Question 4.How does she feel at the end?
Exam skills · §7
5 minStrategy focus — Phrasal verbs in Use of English
Task
Multiple-choice cloze tasks routinely test one particle. The four options often share the verb: put OFF / put OUT / put UP / put DOWN.
Strategy
Read the whole sentence for meaning first, then test each particle out loud. Learn phrasal verbs in a short phrase, not alone: 'put off a meeting', 'put up with noise'. The phrase carries the particle for you.
Example
'I've had to ___ the interview until Friday.' → put off. The clue is 'until Friday' — a time change means postpone.
Practice · §8
8–10 minFill in the blank
Step 1 · Retrieval— write the missing language from memory
Q1.'Turn ___ off.' (use a pronoun for 'the phone')
Q2.'I can't put ___ with the noise.'
Q3.'I came ___ an old post from 2014.'
Step 2 · Check yourself— try it from memory, then reveal the options
Try each sentence from memory first — then reveal the options to check yourself.
Question 1.I've had to ___ the meeting until Friday.
Question 2.I can't ___ that noise for another hour.
Question 3.I ___ an old photo while clearing my phone.
Question 4.Please turn ___ before the film starts.
Question 5.I need to ___ on three weeks of email.
Question 6.She ___ for the newsletter and regretted it instantly.
Writing · §9
5 minPut it in writing
Your task
Write a 130–170 word blog post called 'My Notification Rules'. Use at least SIX phrasal verbs from this lesson, and include one with a pronoun in the middle (turn it off).
Step 1 · Analyse the model— how does the writer open, link ideas and close?
Model answer
My Notification Rules I used to log in first thing and start scrolling through everything before I'd even stood up. It took me two years to admit that I couldn't keep up with it, and that nobody had asked me to. So I made three rules. First: notifications go off at six. I don't mute individual apps anymore — I just turn them off in one go. Second: I catch up on messages once, in the evening, instead of two hundred times a day. Third: anything that isn't urgent gets put off until tomorrow, deliberately. I still come across things I would rather not have seen, and I still put up with a few group chats I should probably leave. But the day belongs to me again. If you only do one thing this week, shut down the laptop at a fixed hour and see what happens.
Step 2 · Rewrite in your own words— same purpose and register, your own content
Your answer
Self-edit before you finish
- • Is the register right for the reader?
- • Did you use this lesson's target grammar at least twice?
- • Any repeated words you could upgrade with today's vocabulary?
Speaking · §10
10–15 minMake it a real conversation
ROLEPLAY — The Digital Declutter. Partner A complains about notification overload. Partner B gives three pieces of advice. Every turn must contain at least one phrasal verb. Then swap roles and change the problem to 'too many accounts'.
How to run it: rank the phrases below — choose the three you will definitely use and cross out one you would never say. Then take opposite positions and negotiate to an agreement in three minutes.
Rank these — which three will you use?
- • I just can't keep up with…
- • Why don't you turn them off?
- • I keep putting it off because…
- • I came across a good tip…
- • I can't put up with…
- • Just shut it down for an hour.
- • Let's catch up on it later.
Step 1 · Warm up on script first— get the moves right, then improvise
- FriendYour phone hasn't stopped buzzing all evening.
- You_______________
- FriendSo do it now.
- You_______________
- FriendAnd the group chats?
- You_______________
Optional · Teacher-led
Teacher Activities
Optional teacher-led activities. ~25 min total
Homework · §11
Take-homeTake it home
Write the 150-word 'My Notification Rules' post with at least six phrasal verbs.
Record 90 seconds describing your morning routine online, using five phrasal verbs from the lesson.
Write one true sentence for each: put off, come across, keep up with, put up with, sign up for, shut down.
Watch three minutes of a podcast or series in English. Note every phrasal verb you hear and mark whether it was separated.
Recap · §12
2–3 minWhat you've learned
- You can use the everyday phrasal verbs of digital life instead of formal single verbs.
- You know that a pronoun always sits between verb and particle: turn it off.
- You can tell separable, inseparable and three-part verbs apart.
- You have completed Unit 4 — you're ready for Review Lab 4 (The Newsroom).
Grammar · Vocabulary · Speaking · Review
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