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 but we have to make a distinction between three types of
multi-word verbs: prepositional verbs, phrasal verbs and
phrasal-prepositional verbs. Now we'll just 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 up
- break down
- put something/somebody off
- turn sth/sb down
This tells you whether the verb needs a direct object (and where to put it).