Phrasal Verbs and other multi-word verbs
Phrasal verbs are part of a large group of verbs called "multi-word verbs". Phrasal verbs and other multi-word verbs are an important part of the English language. Multi-word verbs, including phrasal verbs, are very common, especially in spoken English. A multi-word verb is a verb like "pick up", "turn on" or "get on with". For convenience, many people refer to all multi-word verbs as phrasal verbs. These verbs consist of a basic verb + another word or words. The other word(s) can be prepositions and/or adverbs. The two or three words that make up multi-word verbs form a short "phrase" - which is why these verbs are often all called "phrasal verbs".
The important thing to remember is that a multi-word verb is still a verb. "Get" is a verb. "Get up", is also a verb, a different verb. "Get" and "get up" are two different verbs. They do not have the same meaning. So you should treat each multi-word 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 multi-word verb:
single-word verb | look | direct your eyes in a certain direction | You must look before you leap. | |
multi-word verbs | prepositional verbs | look after | take care of | Who is looking after the baby? |
phrasal verbs | look up | search for and find information in a reference book | You can look up my number in the telephone directory. | |
phrasal-prepositional verbs | look forward to | anticipate with pleasure | I look forward to meeting you. |
Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs are a group of multi-word verbs made from a verb plus another word or words. Many people refer to all multi-word verbs as phrasal verbs. On these pages we make a distinction between three types of multi-word verbs: prepositional verbs, phrasal verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs. On this page we look at phrasal verbs proper.
Phrasal verbs are made of:
verb + adverb
Phrasal verbs can be:
- intransitive (no direct object)
- transitive (direct object)
Here are some examples of phrasal verbs:
phrasal verbs | meaning | examples | ||
direct object | ||||
intransitive phrasal verbs | get up | rise from bed | I don't like to get up. | |
break down | cease to function | He was late because his car broke down. | ||
transitive phrasal verbs | put off | postpone | We will have to put off | the meeting. |
turn down | refuse | They turned down | my offer. |
Separable Phrasal Verbs
When phrasal verbs are transitive (that is, they have a direct object), we can usually separate the two parts. For example, "turn down" is a separable phrasal verb. We can say: "turn down my offer" or "turn my offer down". Look at this table:
transitive phrasal verbs are separable | They | turned | down | my offer. | ||
They | turned | my offer | down. |
However, if the direct object is a pronoun, we have no choice. We must separate the phrasal verb and insert the pronoun between the two parts. Look at this example with the separable phrasal verb "switch on":
direct object pronouns must go between the two parts of transitive phrasal verbs | John | switched | on | the radio. | These are all possible. | ||
John | switched | the radio | on. | ||||
John | switched | it | on. | ||||
John | switched | on | it. | This is not possible. |
Prepositional Verbs
Prepositional verbs are a group of multi-word verbs made from a verb plus another word or words. Many people refer to all multi-word verbs as phrasal verbs. On these pages we make a distinction between three types of multi-word verbs: prepositional verbs, phrasal verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs. On this page we look at prepositional verbs.
Prepositional verbs are made of:
verb + preposition
Because a preposition always has an object, all prepositional verbs have direct objects. Here are some examples of prepositional verbs:
prepositional verbs | meaning | examples | |
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":
prepositional verbs are inseparable | Who is looking after the baby? | This is possible. | |
Who is looking the baby after? | This is not possible. |
Phrasal-prepositional Verbs
Phrasal-prepositional verbs are a small group of multi-word verbs made from a verb plus another word or words. Many people refer to all multi-word verbs as phrasal verbs. On these pages we make a distinction between three types of multi-word verbs: prepositional verbs, phrasal verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs. On this page we look at phrasal-prepositional verbs.
Phrasal-prepositional verbs are made of:
verb + adverb + preposition
Look at these examples of phrasal-prepositional verbs:
phrasal-prepositional verbs | meaning | examples | |
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:
phrasal-prepositional verbs are inseparable | We | ran out of | fuel. | |
We | ran out of | it. |
No comments:
Post a Comment