Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs are used very commonly in English, even more so in informal situations. Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and a preposition or a particle.
What Are Phrasal Verbs?
Phrasal verbs are verbs with two or more parts. These verbs have one verb and two or more particles.
A particle is usually an adverb. It can also be a preposition, added to a verb to form a phrasal verb.
Particles Are Not Independent
Main verbs in phrasal verbs can have new meanings in addition to their own meanings.
Marcus
After three months, he
In this example, the words 'show' and 'up' have separate meanings and together they create a phrasal verb meaning 'to arrive where you have arranged to meet somebody or do something'.
Phrasal Verbs Can Have Many Meanings
When we said that phrasal verbs have one meaning, that does not mean they have one single meaning. Many phrasal verbs have two or three or more meanings. For example 'show up' (together, verb + particle) can have three meanings according to Oxford Learner's dictionary.
After three months, he
Here, 'show up' means 'to arrive where you have arranged to meet somebody or do something'.
The moonlight
Here, 'show up' means 'to make something start to be able to be seen'.
Kelly
Here, 'show up' means 'to make somebody feel embarrassed by behaving badly.'
Phrasal Verbs Are Mostly Informal
Phrasal verbs are often used in informal situations. That is why many of them have a one-word verb equivalence. For example, 'show up' means 'arrive'. Or 'run out' means 'finish'.
Although they have a one-word equivalent, that does not mean they can be used in the same situations. We cannot replace a phrasal verb with its one-word equivalent all the time.
Types of Phrasal Verbs
There are four types of phrasal verbs:
- Type I: Transitive Separable Phrasal Verbs
- Type II: Transitive Inseparable Phrasal Verbs
- Type III: Intransitive Phrasal Verbs
- Type IV: Phrasal Verbs with More Than One Particles
using the Phrasal Verb 'Take off' in a Sentence
Type I: Transitive Separable Phrasal Verbs
Transitive phrasal verbs must have an object. Otherwise their meaning cannot be complete.
With transitive separable phrasal verbs, you can put the object between the verb and the particle, or put it afterward. Its meaning will be the same.
I
I
But if our object, is an object pronoun like 'it', 'me' or 'them', you cannot put the object after the particle. It must be put between the verb and the particle.
I took off them.')
Type II: Transitive Inseparable Phrasal Verbs
Inseparable phrasal verbs are transitive, but you cannot insert that direct object into the middle of the phrasal verb. In other words, they cannot be separated.
He picked her on because of her size.')
Type III: Intransitive Phrasal Verbs
Intransitive phrasal verbs do not need an object to have a wholesome meaning.
He
'Get up' is an intransitive phrasal verb which does not take an object.
Type IV: Phrasal Verbs with More Than One Particles
Type IV phrasal verbs can be both transitive and intransitive. They are the kind of phrasal verbs that have more than one particle, such as 'come up with'. With these phrasal verbs, you cannot generally separate the particles. So we say 'come up with something' and not, 'come up something with'.
She's never really
Meaning of the Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs can have two types of meaning:
- Literal Meaning
- Idiomatic Meaning
He
Here, the phrasal verb 'look up' have a literal meaning and the particle 'up' means 'upward'.
He
Here, the phrasal verb 'look up' have an idiomatic meaning and 'up' does not have an independent meaning.
Review
Phrasal verbs are verbs with two or more parts. These verbs have one verb and two or more particles.
Note
'Phrasal verbs' can have more than one meaning.
| Transitive Separable Phrasal Verbs | Transitive Inseparable Phrasal Verbs | Intransitive Phrasal Verbs | Phrasal Verbs with More Than One Particles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Different types of phrasal verbs |
I |
He |
He |
He never |
Spotlight
If your object is a pronoun, we can never bring them at the end of the sentence we should bring them between the verb and the particles.
Meanings of Phrasal verbs
- Literal Meaning
- Idiomatic Meaning
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