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All Ears English Podcast

AEE 2552: How to Master Confusing Past Tense Verbs in English

21 Jan 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 3.286 Lindsay McMahon

This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2552.

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Chapter 2: What are confusing past tense verbs in English?

3.889 - 8.893 Lindsay McMahon

How to master confusing past tense verbs in English.

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10.831 - 40.471 Aubrey Carter

Welcome to the All Ears English podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection, with your American host, Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz, and Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer. coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA.

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41.032 - 56.67 Aubrey Carter

And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com forward slash subscribe. Do you get confused by English grammar when you have to put two-word phrases in the past tense?

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Chapter 3: How can I identify my English level?

57.11 - 81.992 Aubrey Carter

Today, clear up your confusion and get some great examples with a common phrasal verb. Do you often end up in situations where you know exactly what you want to say, but you don't have the English vocabulary words that you need in that moment? To succeed in English, you need nuanced English vocabulary. But first, you need to know your English level.

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82.412 - 108.718 Aubrey Carter

Take our free English level quiz to find out if you are B1, B2 or C1. Go to allearsenglish.com slash fluency score. That's allearsenglish.com slash F-L-U-E-N-C-Y-S-C-O-R-E. Hey, Aubrey, what's shaking? I'm doing great.

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108.758 - 109.459 Lindsay McMahon

How are you, Lindsay?

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109.94 - 110.181 Aubrey Carter

Good.

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Chapter 4: What are the differences between compound verbs and phrasal verbs?

110.301 - 112.546 Aubrey Carter

Aubrey, how often do you blow dry your hair?

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112.566 - 123.047 Lindsay McMahon

Hmm, about once or twice a week. Once or twice a week, okay. For recording on video, if you see my hair kind of straight looking nice, I blow dried my hair.

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123.488 - 126.712 Aubrey Carter

We're so honored for that. I never do.

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126.793 - 129.536 Lindsay McMahon

What about you, Lindsay? You're so luxurious.

129.917 - 141.973 Aubrey Carter

Yeah. No, I never blow dry my hair and I don't even really brush my hair. I comb it in the shower, but I don't do anything because when you have curly hair, you can't do those things. It'll make it all poofy and weird.

141.993 - 142.995 Lindsay McMahon

Take special maintenance.

143.135 - 147.944 Aubrey Carter

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Special, special projects here. But yeah, why are we talking about this, Aubrey?

148.304 - 166.135 Lindsay McMahon

So this verb came up recently because native speakers struggle with it in the past. I think I just said I blow dried my hair and I was like blow dried. Michelle went to say it, you know, and she was like, wait, is it blow dried or blue dry? And I was like, let me think. Two-word verbs can be really confusing, especially in the past.

Chapter 5: Why do native speakers struggle with past tense verbs?

239.964 - 243.011 Aubrey Carter

So that's how it changes the meaning, right? Exactly.

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243.031 - 261.749 Lindsay McMahon

So essentially all phrasal verbs are compound verbs, but not all compound verbs are phrasal verbs. And here's what's really tricky. Many words can be both depending on the context. Oh my gosh. For example, look up. What about this one? Look up. Yeah. So when it means the direction one is looking, it's just a verb with a preposition, right? A common verb.

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261.83 - 267.417 Lindsay McMahon

I looked up from my book and saw she was leaving. But what if it's a phrasal verb, Lindsay?

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267.437 - 279.855 Aubrey Carter

When it's a phrasal verb, it would mean search for information, right? So I need to look up my flight times. I need to look up that word in the dictionary. That then changes the meaning of look slightly.

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279.835 - 302.201 Lindsay McMahon

Exactly. It means like research actually has nothing to do with the direction one is looking. So yes, very interesting. So blow dry, this is a single verb. And there's a reason native speakers mess it up a lot in the past tense because it functions as a single verb, meaning to dry something with a blow dryer. It's not a typical phrasal verb where the meaning changes dramatically.

302.722 - 307.107 Lindsay McMahon

It just combines blow and dry to describe an action forming a compound verb.

307.127 - 312.159 Aubrey Carter

Yeah. And also we would need a preposition there for it to be a phrasal verb, right? We don't have a preposition. Yeah. Yeah.

312.179 - 323.848 Lindsay McMahon

It's a compound verb. It's just combining two words. Yeah. But when you change the tense, you change the whole verb. So blow dry becomes blow dried, not blue dry. So she blow dried her hair this morning.

324.014 - 325.036 Aubrey Carter

Yes. Nice.

Chapter 6: What are examples of phrasal verbs and their meanings?

492.827 - 498.876 Lindsay McMahon

Lindsay, can I borrow your hairdryer? I blow dried my hair before coming over, but it's still damp. Sure.

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499.157 - 501.981 Aubrey Carter

I'm almost done frosting the cupcakes and then I'll grab it for you.

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502.366 - 506.393 Lindsay McMahon

Oh, wow. Those look amazing. I can't wait for her to blow out the candles.

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506.934 - 511.661 Aubrey Carter

By the way, did you hear about Angie's bike tire last night? It totally blew out on her way home.

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512.322 - 518.853 Lindsay McMahon

Oh, no. Seriously? I've been meaning to call her. She actually blew up at me over a misunderstanding, and we need to talk.

519.695 - 526.451 Aubrey Carter

Oh, sorry to hear it. Hopefully she comes tonight and you two can chat. Oh, Aubrey, why'd you put cupcakes in this? I'm hungry now.

526.551 - 542.897 Lindsay McMahon

Now you want a cupcake? I do want a cupcake. Well, it's funny. Some cupcakes like at kids' birthday parties, I cannot stand. I don't know if listeners out there, if you have these where. Fake tasting? And it has this giant glob of frosting that will like stain everything. It's like purple or green or something.

543.758 - 544.759 Aubrey Carter

Get those away from me. Sure.

544.779 - 546.021 Lindsay McMahon

Some cupcakes.

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