Download Phrasal Verbs - eslexperience

Phrasal Verbs
• Two or three word verbs
– take up
– get out
– hang out with
• Usually action verbs with result
– dig up
– put on
– send off
Most Common Particles/Prepositions
UP
OUT
• add up, catch up, get up, tune up
• find out, get out, knock out, sit out
What Makes Phrasal Verbs Difficult
• Deceptive Transparency: look up, ran out : you know what look, ran and
out mean but the meaning is often idiomatic!
– Look up the word in the dictionary.
– We ran out of Phrasal verbs in different registers: (formal, informal,
incl. academic)
• Meaning changes depending on the particle:
take on, take off, take over, take in
• Different registers: (not just informal—even in academics!)
– All of the evidence adds up to a significant amount of lead in the
paint.
• More than one meaning:
– After arguing for hours, the couple made up.
– Teachers can make up games to make a class lesson more interesting
Correct Usage
• Transitive=takes a direct object
I turned down the job offer.
I brought over dinner.
He called out her name.
• Intransitive=does not require a direct object
The computer broke down.
Susana got up at 6:00am this morning.
• Separable—the particle can be separated from
the verb and sometimes in cannot.
John threw out the newspaper.
John threw it out. w/pronouns must separate
• Inseparable—the verb and particle have to go
together
John and Mary broke up after 5 months of
dating.
MEANING
• Literal Phrasal Verbs—meaning from the parts
climb up
sit down
pass through
• Semi-literal phrasal verbs—not completely
obvious meaning but not idiomatic
think through
go through
IDIOMATIC
Cannot figure out the meaning from each part:
 chew out
 tune out
 put off
 run up
 bug off
 run up the bill
Still some literal meaning: consider run up the hill