Start with short recordings, then work through longer phrases. Listen once for the situation and again for the words.
Learn look phrases as complete units. Look after means take care of, look for means try to find, look forward to means wait happily for something, look into means investigate, and look up means find information.
Learn a phrasal verb as a complete phrase. Use the situation to choose its meaning, then check whether its object can move or must stay after the phrase.
A phrasal verb is a verb plus one or more short words that work together as one meaning. In look after, the phrase means take care of.
When a sentence gives both place and time, put the place expression before the time expression in the usual neutral order. Keep the main verb and any object together first: We left the keys on the desk after lunch.
Use plain for something simple, clear, undecorated, or for a broad area of flat land. Use plane for an aircraft or a flat surface in a technical context.
To poke means to make a small, quick touch or push, often with a finger or a pointed object. A poke is one such action.
For one owner, usually add apostrophe plus s: the student's notebook. For a regular plural owner ending in s, put the apostrophe after s: the students' notebooks. Use of when it sounds more natural or helps a reader follow a longer phrase: the door of the museum.
In British English, practice is usually the noun and practise is usually the verb. In American English, practice is used for both.
Use prefer for a general choice, as in I prefer tea to coffee. Use would prefer for a present or particular choice, as in I'd prefer to sit by the window. Prefer can be followed by a noun or an -ing form. Would prefer can be followed by a noun or to plus a base verb.
A prepositional phrase has a preposition followed by its complement. It can add a detail about place, time, direction, method, reason, or a relationship. Choose the preposition from the meaning you need, and keep the phrase close to the word or action it describes.
Learn an adjective and its usual preposition as one phrase, then practise it in a complete sentence. For example, say good at drawing, not good in drawing.
Use into for movement from outside to inside, through for movement within and out of an enclosed space, across for movement from one side to another, and toward for direction without saying that the destination is reached.