Phrasal Verbs
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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. |
Separable or inseparable phrasal verbs? Some dictionaries tell you when phrasal verbs are 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 "something/somebody" as appropriate in your vocabulary book when you learn a new phrasal verb, like this
get upbreak downput something/somebody
offturn sthg/sby
down This tells you whether the verb needs a direct object .. and where to put it
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