This is the Rachel’s English 30 Day Challenge. Learn 30 phrasal verbs in 30 days. Jumpstart your vocabulary in 2017. Today is Day 11 and we’re studying phrasal verbs with “die”.

Are you dying to know what today’s phrasal verb is? It’s die.

First, die away. This means to fade away, to fade to nothing. We use it a lot with sounds. The sound of the train died away as it left town. Or, the laughter of the crowd died away as they realized how serious the situation was. It can also mean to become weaker. The excitement of Christmas died away as the kids got older. The new paint smell should die away over time.

Die back is used with plants. Our yard dies back in the winter. This means, the plants don’t die, but they loose leaves. They loose color. But they will come back in the spring.

Die down has a meaning must like to die away: to fade or lose strength or intensity: Put another log on the fire, it’s dying down. When the rain dies down, let’s to for a walk.

To die for: this means to want something a lot, or for something to be amazing. I’d die for a chance to go to the big game. This chocolate cake is to die for. I’m dying to go to Europe.

To die out is to be extinct, for every one of a species or family to be gone. The dinosaurs died out millions of years ago. We have to prevent rare species from dying out. Old family traditions have died out with the younger generations.

Die away, die back, die down, die for, die out. ‘Die’ is a simple word. It has the D consonant and the AI diphthong. Die. To make the D consonant, the tongue comes to the roof of the mouth and the vocal cords engage a bit to make this sound, ddd. We make that as we release the tongue, d-, d-. Then right into the AI as in BUY diphthong, die. Jaw drops, back of the tongue lifts, da-. Die. Then the front of the tongue arches towards the front of the roof of the mouth while the tip of the tongue stays down behind the bottom front teeth, ai. Die, die.

If the next word begins with a vowel or diphthong, you can think of putting a quick Y sound between the two words to glide between the sounds and connect them. Die away, die out. We want the words in a though to flow together, and this will help.

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Click the links in the description. This 30-day challenge is leading up to a phrasal verbs course that will be available on my online school on February 1. Rachel’s English Academy is a collection of courses focusing on English conversation, pronunciation, and listening comprehension. You will understand Americans better and speak better English with these courses. Visit rachelsenglishacademy.com to sign up and get started today.