Phrasal Verbs
A phrasal verb is a verb like pick up, turn on or get on with. These verbs consists of a basic verb + another word or words. The two or three words that make up a phrasal verb form a short "phrase" - which is why we call them "phrasal verbs". But a phrasal verb is still a verb. Look is a verb. Look up is also a verb - a different verb. They do not have the same meaning, and they behave differently grammatically. You should treat each phrasal verb as a separate verb, and learn it like any other verb. Look at these examples. You can see that there are three types of phrasal verb formed from a single-word verb:
verb | definition | example | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
single-word verb | look | direct your eyes in a certain direction | You must look before you leap. | |
phrasal verb | verb + adverb | look up | search for and find information in a reference book | You can look up the word in a dictionary. |
verb + preposition | look after | take care of | Who is looking after the baby? | |
verb + adverb + preposition | look forward to | anticipate with pleasure | I look forward to meeting you. |
Phrasal Verb: VERB + ADVERB
The structure of this type of phrasal verb is:
verb | + | adverb |
These phrasal verbs can be:
- transitive (direct object)
- intransitive (no direct object)
Look at these examples of transitive and intransitive::
meaning | example sentence | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
direct object | ||||
transitive | put off | postpone | We will have to put off | the meeting. |
turn down | refuse | They turned down | my offer. | |
intransitive | get up | rise from bed | I don't like to get up. | |
break down | stop working | He was late because his car broke down. |
Separable
When this type of phrasal verb has a direct object, we can usually separate the two parts. For example, "turn down" is separable. We can say: "turn down my offer" or "turn my offer down". Look at these example sentences:
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They turned down my offer. |
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They turned my offer down. |
However, if the direct object is a pronoun, we have no choice. We must separate the two parts of the verb and insert the pronoun. Look at these examples with the verb "switch on". Note that the last one is impossible:
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John switched on the radio. |
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John switched the radio on. |
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John switched it on. |
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Many dictionaries tell you when a phrasal verb is separable. If a dictionary writes "look (something) up", you know that the phrasal verb "look up" is separable, and you can say "look something up" and "look up something". It's a good idea to write "sthg/sby" as appropriate in your vocabulary book when you learn a new phrasal verb, like this:
- get up
- break down
- break sthg off
- turn sthg/sby down
This tells you if the verb needs a direct object (and where to place it).
Phrasal Verb: VERB + PREPOSITION
This type of phrasal verb is also called a "prepositional verb". The structure of a prepositional verb is:
verb | + | preposition |
Because a preposition always has an object, all prepositional verbs have direct objects (i.e. they are transitive).
Look at these examples of prepositional verbs:
prepositional verb | meaning | example sentence | |
---|---|---|---|
direct object | |||
believe in | have faith in the existence of | I believe in | God. |
look after | take care of | He is looking after | the dog. |
talk about | discuss | Did you talk about | me? |
wait for | await | John is waiting for | Mary. |
Prepositional verbs cannot be separated. That means that we cannot put the direct object between the two parts. For example, we must say "look after the baby". We cannot say "look the baby after":
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Who is looking after the baby? |
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- believe in something/somebody
- look after sthg/sby
Phrasal Verb: VERB + ADVERB + PREPOSITION
This type of phrasal verb is also called a "phrasal-prepositional verb". The structure of a phrasal-prepositional verb is:
verb | + | adverb | + | preposition |
Look at these examples of phrasal-prepositional verbs:
phrasal-prepositional verb | meaning | example sentence | |
---|---|---|---|
direct object | |||
get on with | have a friendly relationship with | He doesn't get on with | his wife. |
put up with | tolerate | I won't put up with | your attitude. |
look forward to | anticipate with pleasure | I look forward to | seeing you. |
run out of | use up, exhaust | We have run out of | eggs. |
Because phrasal-prepositional verbs end with a preposition, there is always a direct object. And, like prepositional verbs, phrasal-prepositional verbs cannot be separated. Look at these examples:
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We ran out of gas. |
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We ran out of it. |
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|
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- get on with somebody
- put up with sthg/sby
- run out of something