Phrasal verbs

 Phrasal Verb – special kind of verb – consists of two (or

three) parts
 First part always a verb – second part called a particle
 A phrasal verb must have at least two parts:
Verb+particle
 E.g. When I cleaned my cupboard, I came across a few
old photographs.
 E.g. Due to bad weather, the match was called off.
 E.g. All their efforts to put out the fire did not serve any
purpose.
 Phrasal verbs pose a vocabulary challenge as most phrasal
verbs are idioms. Thus, the meaning of a phrasal verb as a unit
is usually very different from the meanings of the individual
verb and the particle:
 The meaning of give up is not equal to the meaning of give
and up

 Like other common words, a phrasal verb can have more than
one meaning
 E.g. He took off his shoes before entering the lab.
 I did not wait for the flight to take off to leave the
airport.
 A few Common Phrasal Verbs in Spoken and Written English
 1. go on 2. carry out 3. set up 4. pick up 5. go back 6. come back 7. go out
8. point out 9. find out 10. come up
 What’s going on?
 They carried out the boss’s plan.
 It is expensive to set up a new business.
 Can you pick me up at the airport next Monday?
 When did Pierre go back to France?
 What time will you come back?
 The lights went out around ten.
 The teacher pointed out the most important pages.
 When did you find out about the accident?
 His divorce did not come up in our conversation
 Separable Phrasal Verbs:
 The phrasal verbs in this group can be separated when there is a noun as the
object. If there is a pronoun as the object, the phrasal verb must be separated.
 In informal English, the particle can sometimes be several words away from
the verb. In more formal writing, it is best to keep the verb and the phrasal
verb together. When the object is a pronoun, however, the verb and the
particle must be separated.
 E.g. Please put on your shoes
 Please put your shoes on
 E.g. Please put them on
 I can’t wait to take them off. (not take off them)
 Non-separable phrasal verbs
 We are counting on the class representative.(cannot be separated)
 We are counting on him.
 He looked up
 He looked up the wall
 He looked up the word in the dictionary.

 In the above three sentences observe the use of ‘looked up’

 In first sentence, ‘looked’ is a verb and ‘up’, an adverb
 In the second sentence, ‘looked’ is a verb and ‘up’ is a
preposition
 Inthe third sentence, ‘looked up’ together function as the
main verb –phrasal verb