Human Body Movements

This lesson focuses on common verbs and phrases that describe how people move their bodies. These words are useful in professional situations (meetings, presentations, interviews) and everyday interactions.

• Learn verbs and phrasal verbs that describe actions (stand up, sit down, nod).
• See examples in business contexts (greeting clients, presenting, collaborating).
• Practice recognition and correct usage with quizzes.

How to choose and form movement verbs:

• Use phrasal verbs (stand up, sit down) as single actions — the particle (up/down) follows the verb.
• Use simple past for completed actions: He stood up, She sat down.
• Use imperatives for polite instructions: Please stand up, Please sit down.
• Combine gestures with speech for clarity in presentations: point to the slide, nod to show agreement.

In formal writing, you may prefer 'rise' or 'take a seat' instead of phrasal verbs.

Watch out for these universal errors when using movement vocabulary:

• Incorrect particle placement: writing 'down sat' instead of 'sat down'.
• Wrong tense: using present instead of past for completed actions (e.g., 'He stand up' instead of 'He stood up').
• Confusing similar verbs: 'lean' vs 'lie' — they have different meanings and structures.
• Missing prepositions: some verbs require prepositions in context (e.g., 'reach for' an object).
• Literal translation that creates unnatural phrasing in English.

Focus on verb forms, phrasal verb particles, and prepositions.