Phrasal verbs and winter vocabulary.

You already know that native English speakers use many phrasal verbs in their informal conversations, so those of us who want to learn this language have no choice, you have to know at least the most common ones.

Now that winter is approaching, it is a good time to focus on some phrasal verbs that we can use to talk about this special season of the year.

One thing that happens in winter is the drop in temperatures and there is no more recurring topic than talking about how cold it is outside. There are different ways and expressions you can use to describe how cold it is: It's Arctic out there! It's freezing cold! It's as cold as ice! It's brass monkey weather! It's bitter today! It's bitterly cold!

In many places, winter brings with it the beautiful yet dangerous weather phenomenon of snow. Getting up early in the morning and seeing the streets and roofs of the houses covered in a white blanket of snow is a gift, although it loses its charm as soon as you have to remove the snow from the garage and then put the snow chains on the tyres of your car.

But it is also true that the little ones in the house and some adults enjoy the snow. Normally, when it snows a lot, the schools close, which is called "snow day", which makes the children put on warm clothes and winter boots and go outside to play, make snowmen, throw themselves on the ground to make a snow angel, and of course, snow fights.

After this introduction to this beautiful season of the year, let's get down to the nitty-gritty, which is phrasal verbs. Here are a few that we encourage you to use in your English conversations.

1. Turn on. Make a machine or a device start operating.
We''ll have to turn on the heating today. It's getting cold

2. Turn up. Increase the amount of sound, eat..., produced by a machine or device.
Turn up the heating, I'm cold.

3. Bundle up. To put on warm clothes in order to protect yourself from the cold weather.
You’d better bundle up well.

4. Warm up. To become warm.
Come over to the fire, it will warm you up.

5. Stay in. To stay at home.
I don't feel like going out in this cold weather. Shall we stay in?

6. Cuddle up. To sit next to someone in order to get warm or protected.
We cuddled up under the blanket and watched a film while it was snowing outside.

7. Be snowed in. Not being able to leave a place because of the snow.
We have been snowed in for four days.

8. Freeze over. Cover an area of water with a layer of ice because of low temperatures.
In winter, the lake freezes over and we skate on it.

9. Die down. To become less powerful or active.
The wind seems to be dying down.

10. Wrap up warm. To wear warm clothes because it's cold.
Wrap up warm, it's freezing cold outside.

When the cold starts to set in, take the opportunity to snuggle up on the sofa and enjoy your homes. A good coffee or hot chocolate, a movie, spending the evening at home with family or friends, reading a book or whatever you feel like. Winter invites you to stay indoors and get your strength back so that, when the good weather arrives, you can go out and have fun doing outdoor activities.