English Lesson: Phrasal Verbs & Moving Vocabulary

My friend Johnny is moving this weekend. He said he is moving to California because ehe got a new job. I am surprised he is moving from New York because he is a native New Yorker and has lived here all his life. I told him I can help him move out of his house, so we have been busy packing up his stuff in boxes. Johnny has a lot of stuff, but he is not going to take all of his things to California. He is planning to give away some of his furniture. I guess he will  probably  throw away some stuff too. He doesn’t have anyone to help him unpack when he moves into his new house, so it might take some time before he can get settled in.  

Are you moving to a new home or city? Today we will look at some phrasal verbs and vocabulary related to moving. Check the paragraph above once more, then have a look at today’s lesson:

You can move from and move to a city or country;

• Johnny moved from Boston to New York in 2005.
• Jenny will move to France in January

You can move out of a city or a house:

• I can help him move out of his house
• After finishing his contract, Eddie moved out of Chicago and went back to Kentucky.

You can move into a house, apartment, etc. but not a city:

• He doesn’t have anyone to help him unpack when he moves into his new house.

Pack up is a phrasal verb. You can pack up [something], pack [something] up, or use a pronoun between pack and up:

• We have been busy packing up his stuff in boxes. The object goes after the phrasal verb.
• We have been busy packing his stuff up in boxes. The object goes between the verb and preposition.
• We have been busy packing it up in boxes. The pronoun goes between the verb and preposition.

Give away and throw away are also phrasal verbs and have the same structure pattern as pack up

• He is planning to give away some of his furniture.
• He is planning to give some of his furniture  away.
• He is planning to give it away.
• He will probably throw away some things.
• He will probably throw some things away.
• He will probably throw them away.

Stuff is a collective noun. Here, it means a person’s belongings. Johnny’s stuff includes his clothes, electronic equipment, furniture, etc. His stuff is all of the things in his home that belong to him. Stuff does not have a plural form. We also use the word things, but this word is a plural noun:

• Johnny has a lot of stuff. Not, Johnny has a lot of stuffs.
• We packed up his things in boxes.

When you unpack your stuff, you remove it from the boxes, suitcases, etc. After you move, and all of your stuff is unpacked and your new home is set up, you can get settled in. Settled in means you feel comfortable in your new home. We can use get or be + settled in

• He won’t have anyone to help him unpack his stuff.
• It took Johnny three weeks to get settled in there.  
• Jane loves her new apartment and is finally is settled in.

One of the best ways to learn and remember vocabulary is to study it in context like we did here today. Thanks for studying with me today. Have you moved into a new house recently?

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