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Phrasalverb
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

ThetermphrasalverbiscommonlyappliedtotwoorthreedistinctbutrelatedconstructionsinEnglish:averbandaparticleand/oraprepositionco
occurformingasinglesemanticunit.Thissemanticunitcannotbeunderstoodbaseduponthemeaningsoftheindividualpartsinisolation,butratherit
canbetakenasawhole.Inotherwords,themeaningisnoncompositionalandthusunpredictable.[1]Phrasalverbsthatincludeaprepositionareknown
asprepositionalverbsandphrasalverbsthatincludeaparticlearealsoknownasparticleverbs.Additionalalternativetermsforphrasalverbare
compoundverb,verbadverbcombination,verbparticleconstruction,twopartword/verb,andthreepartword/verb(dependingonthenumberof
particles),andmultiwordverb.[2]

Contents
1Examples
2Somenotesonterminology
3Catenae
4Shifting
5Originofphrasalverbs
6Phrasalnouns
7Seealso
8Notes
9References
10Externallinks

Examples
Onecandiscernatleastthreemaintypesofphrasalverbconstructionsdependinguponwhethertheverbcombineswithapreposition,aparticle,or
both.[3]Thewordsconstitutingthephrasalverbconstructionsinthefollowingexamplesareinbold:
Verb+preposition(prepositionalphrasalverbs)[4]
a.Whoislookingafterthekids?afterisaprepositionthatintroducestheprepositionalphraseafterthekids.
b.Theypickedonnobody.onisaprepositionthatintroducestheprepositionalphraseonnobody.
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c.Iranintoanoldfriend.intoisaprepositionthatintroducestheprepositionalphraseintoanoldfriend.[5]
d.Shetakesafterhermother.afterisaprepositionthatintroducestheprepositionalphraseafterhermother.
e.Sampassesforalinguist.forisaprepositionthatintroducestheprepositionalphraseforalinguist.
f.Youshouldstandbyyourfriend.byisaprepositionthatintroducestheprepositionalphrasebyyourfriend.
Verb+particle(particlephrasalverbs)
a.Theybroughtthatuptwice.upisaparticle,notapreposition.
b.Youshouldthinkitover.overisaparticle,notapreposition.
c.Whydoeshealwaysdressdown?downisaparticle,notapreposition.
d.Youshouldnotgiveinsoquickly.inisaparticle,notapreposition.
e.Wheredotheywanttohangout?outisaparticle,notapreposition.
f.Shehandeditin.inisaparticle,notapreposition.
Verb+particle+preposition(particleprepositionalphrasalverbs)
a.Whocanputupwiththat?upisaparticleandwithisapreposition.[6]
b.Sheislookingforwardtoarest.forwardisaparticleandtoisapreposition.
c.Theothertankswerebearingdownonmypanther.downisaparticleandonisapreposition.
d.Theywerereallyteeingoffonme.offisaparticleandonisapreposition.
e.WeloadeduponMountainDewandchips.upisaparticleandonisapreposition
f.Susanhasbeensittinginforme.inisaparticleandforisapreposition.
Thedifferencebetweenthesetypesofphrasalverbslieswiththestatusoftheelement(s)thatappearinadditiontotheverb.Whentheelementisa
preposition,itistheheadofafullprepositionalphraseandthephrasalverbisathusaprepositionalphrasalverb.Whentheelementisaparticle,itcan
not(ornolonger)beconstruedasapreposition,butratherisaparticlebecauseitdoesnottakeacomplement.[7]Finally,manyphrasalverbsare
combinedwithbothaprepositionandaparticle.
Theaspectofthesetypesofphrasalverbsthatunifiesthemunderthesinglebannerphrasalverbisthefactthattheirmeaningcannotbeunderstood
baseduponthemeaningoftheirpartstakeninisolation.Whenonepicksonsomeone,oneisnotselectingthatpersonforsomething,butratheroneis
harassingthem.Whenonehangsout,oneisinnowayactuallyhangingfromanything.Themeaningofthetwoormorewordstogetherisoften
drasticallydifferentfromwhatonemightguessittobe,baseduponthemeaningsoftheindividualpartsinisolation.
Asaclass,particlephrasalverbsbelongtothesamecategoryastheseparableverbsofotherGermaniclanguages.Theyarecommonlyfoundin
everyday,informalspeechasopposedtomoreformalEnglishandLatinateverbs,suchastogettogetherratherthantocongregate,toputoffratherthan
topostpone(ortodefer),ortodoupratherthantofasten.

Somenotesonterminology
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Theterminologyofphrasalverbsisinconsistent.Moderntheoriesofsyntaxtendtousethetermphrasalverbtodenoteparticleverbsonlytheydonot
viewprepositionalverbsasphrasalverbs.[8]TheEFL/ESLliterature(Englishasaforeignorsecondlanguage),incontrast,tendstoemploytheterm
phrasalverbtoencompassbothprepositionalandparticleverbs.[9]Theterminologyusedtodenotetheparticleisalsoinconsistent.Sometimesitis
calledanadverb,andatothertimesanintransitiveprepositionalphrase.[10]Theinconsistentuseofterminologyintheseareasisasourceofconfusion
aboutwhatdoesanddoesnotqualifyasaphrasalverbandaboutthestatusoftheparticleorapreposition.
Concerningthehistoryofthetermphrasalverb,TomMcArthurwrites:
"...thetermphrasalverbwasfirstusedbyLoganPearsallSmith,inWordsandIdioms(1925),inwhichhestatesthattheOEDEditorHenry
Bradleysuggestedthetermtohim."
Thevalueofthischoiceanditsalternatives(includingseparableverbforGermaniclanguages)isdebatable.Inorigintheconceptisbasedontranslation
linguisticsasmanysinglewordEnglishandLatinatewordsaretranslatablebyaphrasalverbcomplexinEnglish,thereforethelogicisthatthephrasal
verbcomplexmustbeacompletesemanticunitinitself.Oneshouldconsiderinthisregardthattheactualtermphrasalverbsuggeststhatsuch
constructionsshouldformphrases.Inmostcaseshowever,theyclearlydonotformphrases.Hencetheverytermphrasalverbismisleadinganda
sourceofconfusion,whichhasmotivatedsometorejectthetermoutright.[11]
Whenaparticlephrasalverbistransitive,itcanlookjustlikeaprepositionalphrasalverb.Thissimilarityisanothersourceofconfusion,sinceit
obscuresthedifferencebetweenprepositionalandparticlephrasalverbs.Asimplediagnosticdistinguishesbetweenthetwo,however.Whentheobject
ofaparticleverbisadefinitepronoun,itcanandusuallydoesprecedetheparticle.[12]Incontrast,theobjectofaprepositioncanneverprecedethe
preposition:[13]
a.YoucanbankonSusan.onisapreposition.
b.*Youcanbankheron.Theobjectoftheprepositioncannotprecedethepreposition.
a.YoucantakeonSusan.onisaparticle.
b.Youcantakeheron.Theobjectoftheparticleverbcanprecedetheparticle.
a.Heisgettingoverthesituation.overisapreposition.
b.*Heisgettingitover.Theobjectofaprepositioncannotprecedethepreposition.
a.Heisthinkingoverthesituation.overisaparticle.
b.Heisthinkingitover.Theobjectoftheparticleverbcanprecedetheparticle.

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Theobjectofaprepositionmustfollowthepreposition,whereastheobjectoftheparticleverbcanprecedetheparticleespeciallyifitisadefinite
pronoun,sincedefinitepronounsareverylight.

Catenae
TheaspectofphrasalverbconstructionsthatmakesthemdifficulttolearnfornonnativespeakersofEnglishisthattheirmeaningisnoncompositional.
Thatis,onecannotknowwhatagivenphrasalverbconstructionmeansbaseduponwhattheverbaloneand/ortheprepositionand/orparticlealone
mean,asemphasizedabove.Thistraitofphrasalverbsisalsowhatmakestheminterestingforlinguists,sincetheyappeartodefytheprincipleof
compositionality.Ananalysisofphrasalverbsintermsofcatenae(=chains),however,isnotchallengedbytheapparentlackofmeaning
compositionality.Theverbandparticle/prepositionformacatena,andassuch,theyqualifyasaconcreteunitofsyntax.Thefollowingdependency
grammartreesillustratethepoint:[14]

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Thewordsofeachphrasalverbconstructionarehighlightedinorange.Thesewordsformacatenabecausetheyarelinkedtogetherinthevertical
dimension.Theyconstituteunitsofmeaning,andtheseunitsarestoredasmultipartwholesinthelexicon.

Shifting
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Aconfusingaspectofphrasalverbsconcernsthedistinctionbetweenprepositionalphrasalverbsandparticlephrasalverbsthataretransitive,as
discussedandillustratedabove.Particlephrasalverbsthataretransitiveallowsomevariabilityinwordorderdependingontherelativeweightofthe
constituentsinvolved.Shiftingoftenoccurswhentheobjectisverylight,e.g.
a.Fredchattedupthegirlwithredhair.Canonicalwordorder
b.Fredchattedherup.Shiftingoccursbecausethedefinitepronounherisverylight.
c.Fredchattedthegirlup.Thegirlisalsoverylight.
d.?Fredchattedtheredheadup.Athreesyllableobjectcanappearineitherpositionformanyspeakers.
e.??Fredchattedthegirlwithredhairup.Shiftingisunlikelyunlessitissufficientlymotivatedbytheweightoftheconstituentsinvolved.
a.Theydroppedoffthekidsfromthatwarzone.Canonicalwordorder
b.Theydroppedthemoff.Shiftingoccursbecausethedefinitepronounthemisverylight.
c.??Theydroppedthekidsfromthatwarzoneoff.Shiftingisunlikelyunlessitissufficientlymotivatedbytheweightoftheconstituentsinvolved.
a.Marymadeupareallyentertainingstory.Canonicalwordorder
b.Marymadeitup.Shiftingoccursbecausethedefinitepronounitisverylight.
c.??Marymadeareallyentertainingstoryup.Shiftingisunlikelyunlessitissufficientlymotivatedbytheweightoftheconstituentsinvolved.
Shiftingoccursbetweentwo(ormore)sisterconstituentsthatappearonthesamesideoftheirhead.Thelighterconstituentshiftsleftwardandthe
heavierconstituentshiftsrightward,andthishappensinordertoaccommodatetherelativeweightofthetwo.Dependencygrammartreesareagainused
toillustratethepoint:

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Thetreesillustratewhenshiftingcanoccur.Englishsentencestructuresthatgrowdownandtotherightareeasiertoprocess.Thereisaconsistent
tendencytoplaceheavierconstituentstotheright,asisevidentintheatrees.Shiftingispossiblewhentheresultingstructuredoesnotcontradictthis
tendency,asisevidentinthebtrees.Noteagainthattheparticleverbconstructions(inorange)qualifyascatenaeinboththeaandbtrees.Shifting
doesnotalterthisfact.

Originofphrasalverbs
Prepositionsandadverbscanhavealiteralmeaningwhichisspatialor"orientational",andthen,ashappenswithallwords,metaphoricalmeanings
developthataresystematicextensionsfromtheoriginalcoremeaning.[15]ManyverbsinEnglishcaninteractwithanadverborapreposition,andthe
verb+preposition/adverbcomplexisreadilyunderstoodwhenusedinitsliteralsense.
Hewalkedacrossthesquare.
Sheopenedtheshuttersandlookedoutside.
Whenheheardthecrash,helookedup.
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Thefunctionoftheprepositionalphrase/particleinsuchclausesistoshowtherelationshipbetweentheaction(walked,opened,looked)andtherelative
positioning,actionorstateofthesubject.Evenwhensuchprepositionsappearaloneandarehenceadverbs/particles,theyhavearetrievable
prepositionalobject.Thus,Hewalkedacrossclearlyshowsthatthe"walking"is"across"agivenarea.InthecaseofHewalkedacrossthesquare,
acrossthesquareisaprepositionalphrase(withacrossasitsheadword).Inbothcases,thesingleword/multiwordexpression(acrossandacrossthe
square)isindependentoftheverb.Theactionofthesubject(walking)isbeingportrayedashavinghappenedin/at/on/overacertainlocation(acrossthe
square).SimilarlyinSheopenedtheshuttersandlookedoutsideandWhenheheardthecrash,helookedup,outsideislogicallyoutside(of)thehouse,
andupissimilarlyanadjunct(=upwards,inanupwardsdirection,heislookinginadirectionthatishigherthanwherehiseyeswerepreviously
directed).
Phrasalverbsarerepresentedinmanylanguagesbycompoundverbs.AnintermediatestateisinDutch,wheredelampaansteken(tolightthelamp)
becomes,inaprincipalclause,iksteekdelampaan(Ilightthelamp).

Phrasalnouns
Anextensionoftheconceptofphrasalverbisthatofphrasalnoun,whereaverb+particlecomplexisnominalized.[16]Theparticlesmaycomebeforeor
aftertheverb.
standby:Wearekeepingtheoldequipmentonstandby,incaseofemergency.
backup:Neilcanprovidetechnicalbackupifyouneedit.
onset:Thematchwashaltedbytheonsetofrain.
input:Trytocometothemeetingwe'dvalueyourinput.
Iftheparticleisinfirstplace,thenthephrasalnounisneverwrittenwithahyphen,iftheparticlecomessecond,thenthereissometimesahyphen
betweenthetwopartsofthephrasalnoun.
Thetwocategorieshavedifferentvalues.ParticleverbcompoundsinEnglishareofancientdevelopment,andarecommontoallGermaniclanguages,
aswellastoIndoEuropeanlanguagesingeneral.ThosesuchasonsettendtoretainolderusesoftheparticlesinOldEnglishon/anhadawider
domain,whichincludedareaswhicharenowcoveredbyatandininEnglish.Somesuchcompoundnounshaveacorrespondingphrasalverbbutsome
donot,partlybecauseofhistoricaldevelopments.ThemodernEnglishverb+particlecomplexsetonexists,butitmeans"starttoattack"(setitselfmeans
startaprocess).InmodernEnglishthereisnoexactverbalphraseequivalenttotheolderseton,butrathervariouscombinationswhichgivedifferent
nuancestotheideaofstartingaprocess,suchaswinterhassetin,setoffonajourney,setupthestand,setoutonadaytrip,etc.Verbparticle
compoundsareamoremoderndevelopmentinEnglish,andfocusmoreontheactionexpressedbythecompoundthatistosay,theyaremoreovertly
"verbal".

Seealso
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Catena
Clich
Collocation
Compound(linguistics)
Dependencygrammar
Ergativeverb

Idiom
Lexicalunit
Lightverb
Nounphrase
Separableverb

Notes
1. Thatunpredictablemeaningisthedefiningtraitofphrasalverbconstructionsiswidelyassumed.SeeforinstanceHuddlestonandPullum(2002:273)andAllerton
(2006:166).
2. Concerningtheseterms,seeMcArthur(1992:72ff.).
3. Declerck,R.ComprehensiveDescriptiveGrammarofEnglish,A1991Page45"Thetermmultiwordverbcanbeusedasacovertermforphrasalverbs,
prepositionalverbs,prepositionalphrasalverbsandcombinationslikeputanendto."
4. TheCollinsCobuildEnglishGrammar(1995:162)isasourcethattakesprepositionalverbstobephrasalverbs.Manyothergrammars,incontrast,distinguish
betweenprepositionalverbs(theadditionalwordisapreposition)andphrasalverbs(theadditionalwordisaparticle).
5. RonCowanTheTeacher'sGrammarofEnglish:ACourseBookandReference2008Page176
"TheAdverbInsertionTestEarlier,wesawthatintransitivephrasalverbsusuallydonotpermittheinsertionofanadverbbetweentheverbandtheparticle,
andthesameistrueoftransitivephrasalverbs,as(25a)and(25b)show.Incontrast,prepositionalverbsdopermitadverbinsertion,as(25c)demonstrates.
(25)a.*Heturnedquicklyoutthelight.=separablephrasalverb.
b.*Heranunexpectedlyintohiscousin=inseparablephrasalverb.
c.Hestaredintentlyatthetarget=prepositionalverb.
TheRelativeClauseTestRelativeclausesinwhichtherelativepronounistheobjectofaprepositionpermitthetwopatternsshownin(26).
(26)a.Theman[thattheywerewaitings/or]waslateb.Theman[forwhomtheywerewaiting]waslate.In(26a),theprepositionforisattheendoftherelative
clauseenclosedbysquarebrackets,but(26b)showsthatthisprepositioncanalsooccuratthebeginningoftheclausebeforetherelativepronounwhom."
6. JeanetteS.DeCarricoThestructureofEnglish:studiesinformandfunctionVolume1Page802000"4.6.3PrepositionalPhrasalVerbsItisalsopossible
tofindphrasalverbsthatarethemselvesfollowedbyapreposition.Thesestructuresarecalledprepositionalphrasalverbsormultiwordverbs.Examplesareputup
with(e.g.,Ican'tputupwith"
7. Foralistoftheparticlesthatoccurwithparticlephrasalverbs,seeJurafskyandMartin(2000:319).
8. Forexamplesofaccountsthatusethetermphrasalverbtodenotejustparticleverbs(notprepositionalverbsaswell),seeforexampleTallerman(1998:130),
Adger(2003:99f.),andHaiden(2006).
9. Thisfactcanbeeasilyverifiedbygoogling"phrasalverb".TheonlineresourcesforEFL/ESLlearnersproducelistsofphrasalverbs.Theselistsincludeboth
particlephrasalverbsandprepositionalphrasalverbs.
10. HuddlestonandPullum(2002:273),forinstance,usebothparticleandintransitiveprepositiontocallwhatisbeingcalledaparticlehere.
11. HuddlestonandPullum(2002:274)rejectthetermphrasalverbpreciselybecausetherelevantwordcombinationsoftendonotformphrases.
12. Foranexampleoftheshiftingdiagnosticusedtodistinguishparticleverbsfromprepositionalverbs,seeTallerman(1998:129).
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13.
14.
15.
16.

PhrasalverbWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Concerningthedifferencebetweenparticlesandprepositionswithphrasalverbs,seeJurafskyandMartin(2000:318).
Thatconstructions(includingphrasalverbconstructions)arecatenaeisapointestablishedatlengthbyOsborneandGro(2012).
Concerningtheextensionofliteralmeaningtometaphoricalmeaningwithphrasalverbs,seeKnowlesandMoon(2006:17).
Concerningthetermphrasalnoun,seeMcCarthyandO'dell(2007).

References
Adger,D.2003.Coresyntax:Aminimalistapproach.Oxford,UK:
OxfordUniversityPress.
Allerton,D.2006.Verbsandtheirsatellites.InThehandbookof
linguistics,ed.byB.AartsandA.McMahaon,126149.Malden,M.:
BlackwellPublishing.
CollinsCobuildEnglishGrammar1995.London:HarperCollins
Publishers.
Haiden,M.2006.Verbparticleconstructions.InM.EveraertandH.
vanRiemsdijk,TheBlackwellcompaniontosyntax,volumeV.344
375.Malden,MA:BlackwellPublishing.
Juraffsky,D.andJ.Martin.2000.Speechandlanguageprocessing.
DorlingKindersley,India:PearsonEducation.
Huddleston,R.andG.Pullum2002.TheCambridgegrammarofthe
Englishlanguage.Cambridge,UK:CambridgeUniversityPress.
Knowles,M.andRMoon.2006.Introducingmetaphor.London:
Routledge,2006.

Long,T.(ed.).1979.LongmandictionaryofEnglishidioms.
LongmanGroupLimited.
Macmillanphrasalverbsplusdictionary.2005Oxford:Macmillan
Education2005.
McArthur,T.1992.TheOxfordcompaniontotheEnglishlanguage.
OxfordUniversityPress.
McCarthyM.andF.O'dell.2007.Englishphrasalverbsinuse.
CambridgeUniversityPress.
Osborne,T.andT.Gro2012.Constructionsarecatenae:
ConstructionGrammarmeetsDependencyGrammar.Cognitive
Linguistics23,1,163214.
Oxfordphrasalverbsdictionary.2001.
Tallerman,M.1998.Understandingsyntax.London:Arnold.

Externallinks
Orderedlistofphrasalverbs(http://www.uazone.org/friends/esl4rus/pvlist.html)
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Phrasal_verb&oldid=669452657"

LookupCategory:English
phrasalverbsin
Wiktionary,thefree
dictionary.

Categories: Englishgrammar Verbtypes Lexicalunits

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