B2 First phrasal verbs: put up with or tolerate? 16 swaps, 2 directions

Video · 4:07 · published 11 November 2026

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Chapters

1. 0:00Tolerate in three words
2. 0:33Three ways to test a phrasal verb
3. 0:51Part 4: one word in, phrasal verb out
4. 1:42The grammar moves too
5. 2:27Same verb, different small word
6. 3:11Formal writing: the other direction
7. 3:40Swap, then swap back

Read the transcript

1. 0:00Here's a B2 First puzzle: say tolerate in three words, and one of them has to be put.
2. 0:11In Part four, the key word is put, and tolerate has to become put up with.
3. 0:18So the two mean much the same, yet in B2 First they belong in different places.
4. 0:25But in formal writing, the card's note says tolerate sounds better.
5. 0:30Here's which way to swap, and when.
6. 0:33The exam board's handbook says Part one can test three things: the whole phrasal verb, the verb, or the small word after it.
7. 0:42Hide the verb, hide the small word, or hide both: the sample papers test all three, in Parts one, two and four.
8. 0:52In Part four, you write the whole phrasal verb yourself.
9. 0:56Sixteen Part four cards in our kit work this way: a one-word verb becomes a phrasal verb.
10. 1:03Cancelled becomes called off, in the same tense and voice.
11. 1:07Your turn. The key word is OFF. Say the missing words out loud before the answer appears.
12. 1:20The answer: has been put off. Still present perfect, still passive.
13. 1:33Push back means postpone too, but it has no off, so here the key word rules it out.
14. 1:43A swap can also change what comes after the verb.
15. 1:47You persuade someone to go, but you talk someone into going: after into, the verb changes its ending.
16. 1:57Pronouns move too: you think it over, because with a pronoun, it goes in the middle.
17. 2:09Now you choose: which order is right?
18. 2:16It's through it: sit through is one of the verbs that never split.
19. 2:23You can't always tell from the verb, so the card tells you which kind it is.
20. 2:28Sometimes only the small word is missing, and then knowing the verb is not enough.
21. 2:33Back up, back out and back down share a verb, and each means something different.
22. 2:39Up, out or down: which one does the council need?
23. 2:47It's down: after strong protests, the council gave in. Back out means to withdraw from a deal, and back up means to support.
24. 2:59Stand up for and stand up to are just as close: you stand up for what you believe in, and you stand up to a bully.
25. 3:11In formal writing, the arrow can turn around.
26. 3:16Tell off becomes reprimand, make up for becomes compensate for, and pull out of becomes withdraw from.
27. 3:25But not every phrasal verb is informal: bring about, as in bring about change, is formal enough for any essay.
28. 3:36Only about half of the phrasal verbs in the kit are marked informal.
29. 3:40Before you write a phrasal verb, ask which way you are swapping.
30. 3:45All sixteen swaps are waiting in a free exercise on our blog, linked below.
31. 3:51In the kit, each phrasal verb card carries its one-word twin and how formal it is.
32. 3:57The free Part one practice hides three phrasal verbs in a whole text, and the word check is next to it.

B2 First phrasal verbs: how Part 4 turns a one-word verb into a phrasal verb (16 swaps), how the grammar moves with it, the small word that changes the meaning, and when to swap back in formal writing. Every card, note and recording comes from our English B2 First Exam Kit.