What are phrasal verbs?

A phrasal verb is a verb with two parts; the verb and a preposition . The preposition changes the meaning of the verb - to turn on a light is different from to turn a corner.

Why are phrasal verbs difficult?

Regular verb patterns in English are relatively straightforward compared to most European languages. Learning the standard conjugations (paint/painted/will paint etc) is the key to thousands of verbs following the same pattern.

Phrasal verbs are more difficult for English language learners because there are no universal rules.  They can also seem illogical: you arrive at school but in a town etc. 

How to get on with learning phras verbs?

Another problem is that English has more phrasal verbs than other languages - simply because it has more words. Many verbs have multiple phrasal variations. Set, for example, has 464 entries in the Oxford English dictionary.

Ultimately, phrasal verbs are learned by exposure to them and usage.