Phrasal verbs
Prepositions or certain adverbs (such as away and forward) can combine with verbs in such a way that they are no longer used as prepositions or ordinary adverbs. They are known as particles. These particles change the meaning of the verb: the combination of the verb and its particle (a phrasal verb) takes on a new, totally idiomatic meaning.
Note the idiomatic meanings of some common phrasal verbs. Always check the meanings of such verbs in a dictionary.
| Phrasal Verb | Meaning | |
| break down | stop functioning | |
| get over | recover from | |
| look into | examine | |
| run across | meet unexpectedly | |
| run out | become used up | |
| take after | resemble |
A particle can be followed by a preposition to make a three-word combination:
| Example | She gets along with everybody. [Is friendly toward] |
| Combination | Meaning | ||
| catch up with | draw level with | ||
| get away with | avoid discovery | ||
| look down on | despise | ||
| look up to | admire | ||
| look forward to | anticipate | ||
| put up with | endure | ||
| stand up for | defend |
Position of direct objects with two-word phrasal verbs
Some two-word phrasal verbs are transitive (that is, they take a direct object). With these transitive phrasal verbs (pv) the direct object (do) can come between the verb and the accompanying particle.
| Example | She put her dinner party off. |
| Description | pv = put / do = her dinner party / pv = off |
| Example | She put off her dinner party. |
| Description | pv = put off / do = her dinner party |
When the direct object is a pronoun, the pronoun must come between the verb and the particle.
| Example | She put it off. |
| Description | pv = put / do = it / pv = off |
The following are commonly used phrasal verbs that can be separated by a direct object noun and must be separated by a direct object pronoun.
| Phrasal Verb | Meaning | |
| break off | discontinue | |
| bring up | raise | |
| call off | cancel | |
| fill out | complete | |
| find out | discover | |
| give up | surrender | |
| leave out | omit | |
| look up | locate | |
| make up | invent | |
| put off | postpone | |
| put out | extinguish | |
| turn down | reject |
Most dictionaries list any phrasal verbs associated with a particular verb, along with their meanings and some examples. If you are a nonnative speaker of English, you should develop your own list of such verbs from your reading.
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