What is a phrasal verb?

Answer 1

A phrasal verb is a verb plus a preposition or adverb that, when added up (a phrasal verb right there!) means something different than the verb itself.

For example, "add up", "back down", "call on", or "drop off" are all phrasal verbs.

A phrasal verb consists of two or more words, for example: to get over, rather than the Latin based homonym: to recover. They are one of the reasons why the English language vocabulary is so rich. Phrasal verbs are of Anglo saxon origin.

and

Phrasal verbs can have a literal meaning or an idiomatic meaning. The idiomatic meaning makes them hard to understand.

eg pick up - has the literal meaning of lift something higher:

She picked up the pen and began to write.

or the idiomatic meaning of learn something without really trying:

I picked up Spanish when I lived in Barcelona

English phrasal verbs consist of a verb, usually a verb of action or movement, and one or more particles - a preposition or an adverb.

Often the meaning of these verb phrases is idiomatic and cannot be determined by knowing the meaning of the individual words.

Many phrasal verbs can be replaced with no change in meaning by a single word e.g. give in by yield, look after by tend, carry on by continue, put up with by tolerate.

Two kinds of phrasal verbs.

1. Phrasal verbs without an object.

We decided to carry on.

2. Phrasal verbs with an object.

He turned down an excellent job.

If the object is a noun phrase you can split the verb and the particle

She brought up two children.

She brought two children up.

If the object is a personal pronoun it must come between the verb and the particle.

She brought them up. √

She brought up them. X

Many verbs can be used:

ask come get keep make set

be fall give let put take

find go look run turn break

Many particles can be used:

about around by under in out

across away down off over up

along back forward on through

We can also look at multi word verbs as literal or non- literal

Sit down = literal meaning

Blow up = non-literal meaning.

A phrase is a group of words. A phrasal verb is a verb that consists of two or more words.

Examples: run into, get over, look into,

Answer 2

A phrasal verb is a verb followed by one or more particles, typically an adverb or preposition, that together have a different meaning than the individual words on their own. For example, "take off" means to depart suddenly, which is different from the meanings of "take" and "off" when used separately.