Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs can be very confusing and many students have a lot of difficulty in learning them. A list of phrasal verbs can be as large as a medium-sized dictionary and new phrasal verbs come in to the English language all the time, since every home has a computer many more phrasal verbs have entered the English language such as:
log on boot up shut down
Another difficulty that students have while learning phrasal verbs is that they only exist in the English language.
The last problem that students are presented with when learning phrasal verbs is that the verb part of the phrasal verb can have many different meanings depending on which preposition it is combined with.
What is a phrasal verb?
The easiest way to learn how to use phrasal verbs is to remember that they are simply a two-part verb. They act in almost exactly the same way as verbs but they have a second word which is usually a preposition.
Phrasal verbs are used in informal English and usually have a more formal counterpart, for example:
get up is the same as arise get on is the same as board
As this is the case, we can always rely on using more formal English rather than phrasal verbs.
Separable and Inseparable Phrasal Verbs
Separable means that we can separate something, inseparable means that we cannot.
Separable Phrasal Verbs
When the object of a sentence is a noun we can place the noun in its usual position as the object-at the end of a sentence, all we can choose to placed the noun between the verb and the preposition featured in the phrase or verb:
I turn on the television I turn the television on
However, if the object of the sentence is a pronoun, only this separation is possible.
I turn it on
If a sentence has two objects the separable phrasal verb must be separated.
I turn the television on BBC 1
Task
Use a dictionary to put one of the phrasal verbs in the box in the correct sentence. You must conjugate the verb part of the phrasal verb correctly. Some are used more than once; some are not used at all.
come from work out give back look for put on run into
show up take off turn up get on put off help out |
1. After the police arrived, we _________________quickly.
2. Sales of air conditioners really ________________ when the temperature got over 100 degrees last summer.
3. Megan ________ a lot of weight ________ when she was pregnant.
4. I'm going to install a new program tonight, and I hope I don’t _______________ any problems.
5. The invisible ink _________________only under ultraviolet light.
6. I was expecting 100 people at the party, but only around 50 _________________.
7. Jane was lucky; she _________________ a good family.
8. Be sure you ________ a coat of primer ________before you paint the fender.
9. My cousin is so strange that even his mother can't ________ him ___________.
10. I don't feel well; I think I’ll ________ tomorrow _________ and stay home.
Inseparable Phrasal Verbs
These phrasal verbs cannot be separated and are always used in the same way.
Remember, phrasal verbs are just extra verbs, learn them as you would learn any other verb. When you write a phrasal verb in your vocabulary dictionary, be sure to note all of the different meanings and whether it is separable or inseparable.
