Phrasal verbs

Phrasal verbs

Paloma Velázquez

Contents

Phrasal verbs

Phrasal verbs vs. Idioms

Types of phrasal verbs

Strategies to distinguish Phrasal verbs

Phrasal verbs vs. Idioms

Phrasal verbs

Idioms

Expressions where a group of words is used, but the meanings of these words do not relate to their literal or actual meanings.

Verbs that combine with prepositions or adverbs to form a new verb with different meaning

Phrasal verbs

Idioms

My mom gave everything away when she moved.

That house must have cost an arm and a leg

Types of phrasal verbs

Types of Phrasal verbs

Intransitive inseparable Like all intransitive verbs, intransitive phrasal verbs cannot take an object. They can be followed by a complement. These verbs are called inseparable because they do not allow the verb and preposition/adverb to be separated.

Types of Phrasal verbs

Transitive inseparable Transitive phrasal verbs take an object. They differ in what they do with the object. In transitive inseparable phrasal verbs, the object must come directly after the entire phrasal verb. This is true whether it consists of a verb + one particle or a verb + two particles and whether the object is a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun.

Types of Phrasal verbs

Transitive separable Transitive separable phrasal verbs permit variable sentence position when the object is a noun or noun phrase. However, when the object is a pronoun, it must come between the verb and particle. In these sentences, the object is a short object noun phrase and can come between or after the verb + particle.

Types of Phrasal verbs

Transitive separable When an object noun phrase is long, the preferred position is after the verb + particle: Jeremy filled out an application to graduate school. Regardless of the length of an object noun phrase a pronoun is referring to, it must still occur between the verb and particle: Jeremy filled it out.

Types of Phrasal verbs

Intransitive inseparable

Transitive inseparable

Transitive separable

Strategies to distinguish Phrasal verbs

Strategies

Adverb insertion. One way to test for a phrasal verb is adverb insertion. Only when a preposition/adverb is not part of a phrasal verb, can we insert an adverb between the main verb and the following preposition or adverb. For example Rain runs slowly down this hill. I ran slowly down old friends on Facebook.

Strategies

Substitution. By putting another verb for what looks like a phrasal verb. Usually, there is a single verb synonym, often less colloquial, for a phrasal verb. For example, parents bring up (phrasal) or raise their children, and John can fix up (phrasal) or repair the old car.

References

DeCapua, A. (2017). Grammar for teachers (2nd ed.). Springer: New York. DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-33916-0

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