Phrasal Verbs (also called multi-word verbs)

Phrasal verbs are idiomatic expressions,

combining verbs and prepositions to make new verbs whose
meaning is often not obvious from the dictionary definitions of the
individual words. They are widely used in both written and spoken
English, and new ones are formed all the time as they are a
flexible way of creating new terms.

There are at least three main types of phrasal verb constructions

depending on whether the verb combines with a preposition, a
particle, or both.[3] The words constituting the phrasal verb
constructions in the following examples are in bold:
Verb + preposition (prepositional phrasal verbs)[4]
a. Who is looking after the kids? after is a preposition that
introduces the prepositional phrase after the kids.

b. They picked on nobody. on is a preposition that introduces the

prepositional phrase on nobody.

c. I ran into an old friend. into is a preposition that introduces the

prepositional phrase into an old friend.[5]

d. She takes after her mother. after is a preposition that introduces

the prepositional phrase after her mother.

e. Sam passes for a linguist. for is a preposition that introduces

the prepositional phrase for a linguist.

f. You should stand by your friend. by is a preposition that

introduces the prepositional phrase by your friend.

Verb + particle (particle phrasal verbs)

a. They brought that up twice. up is a particle, not a preposition.
b. You should think it over. over is a particle, not a preposition.
c. Why does he always dress down? down is a particle, not a
preposition.

d. You should not give in so quickly. in is a particle, not a

preposition.

e. Where do they want to hang out? out is a particle, not a

preposition.

f. She handed it in. in is a particle, not a preposition.

Verb + particle + preposition (particle-prepositional phrasal
verbs)
a. Who can put up with that? up is a particle and with is a
preposition.[6]

b. She is looking forward to a rest. forward is a particle and to is

a preposition.

c. The other tanks were bearing down on my

panther. down is a particle and on is a preposition.
d. They were really teeing off on me. off is a particle and on is a
preposition.

e. We loaded up on Mountain Dew and Doritos. up is a particle

and on is a preposition

f. Susan has been sitting in for me. in is a particle and for is a

preposition.

The difference between these types of phrasal verbs lies with the
status of the element(s) that appear in addition to the verb. When
the element is a preposition, it is the head of a full prepositional
phrase and the phrasal verb is a thus a prepositional phrasal verb.
When the element is a particle, it can not (or no longer) be
construed as a preposition, but rather is a particle because it does
not take a complement.[7] Finally, many phrasal verbs are combined
with both a preposition and a particle.
The aspect of these types of phrasal verbs that unifies them under
the single banner phrasal verb is the fact that their meaning cannot
be understood based upon the meaning of their parts taken in
isolation. When one picks on someone, one is not selecting that
person for something, but rather one is harassing them. When one
hangs out, one is in no way actually hanging from anything. The
meaning of the two or more words together is often drastically
different from what one might guess it to be, based upon the
meanings of the individual parts in isolation.

The aspect of phrasal verb constructions that makes them difficult to

learn for non-native speakers of English is that their meaning is noncompositional. That is, one cannot know what a given phrasal verb
construction means based upon what the verb alone and/or the
preposition and/or particle alone mean, as emphasized above.

What is a Phrasal Verb?

A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and preposition, a verb

and an adverb, or a verb with both an adverb and a preposition.
A phrasal verb has a meaning which is different from the original
verb. That's what makes them fun, but confusing. You may need to
try to guess the meaning from the context, or, failing that, look it up
in a dictionary.
The adverb or preposition that follows the verb are sometimes
called a particle. The particle changes the meaning of the phrasal
verb in idiomatic ways.
They are also known as compound verbs, verb-adverb
combinations, verb-particle constructions", two-part words/verbs
and three-part words/verbs (depending on the number of words).
Phrasal verbs are usually used informally in everyday speech as
opposed to the more formal Latinate verbs, such as to get together
rather than to congregate, to put off rather than to postpone, or
to get out rather than to exit. They should be avoided in
academic writing.

Literal usage

Many verbs in English can be combined with an adverb or a

preposition, a phrasal verb used in a literal sense with a preposition
is easy to understand.
"He walked across the square.
Verb and adverb constructions are also easy to understand when
used literally.
"She opened the shutters and looked outside."
"When he heard the crash, he looked up."
An adverb in a literal phrasal verb modifies the verb it is attached to,
and a preposition links the subject to the verb.

Idiomatic usage
It is, however, the figurative or idiomatic application in everyday
speech which makes phrasal verbs so important:
"I hope you will get over your operation quickly."
The literal meaning of to get over, in the sense of to climb over
something to get to the other side, is not relevant here. Here "get
over" means "recover from" or "feel better".

Separable or inseparable phrasal verbs

A further way of considering phrasal verbs is whether they are
separable or inseparable. In inseparable verbs, the object comes
after the particle.
For example: "She got on the bus ."
"On weekdays, we look after our grandchildren."
Separable verbs have several ways of separating verb, particle and
object. Usually, the object comes between verb and particle.
For example: "She looked up the word in her dictionary."
"She looked it up in her dictionary."
However, with some separable verbs, the object can come before or
after the particle.
For example: "Switch the light off."

 "Switch off the light."

"Switch it off."
The importance of phrasal verbs

Phrasal verbs are very important for learners

because they are so prevalent in everyday spoken
and informal written language. Not only do learners
need to understand the more common phrasal
verbs, but they will also need to use them
themselves. If they don't, and use a more formal
synonym, they run the risk of sounding pompous or
ridiculous to native speakers. Imagine, for example,
your friend telling you Oh, do desist from
talking! instead of Oh, do shut up! or Oh, do belt
up! or Oh, do pipe down!
A Phrasal Verb is semantic unit which consists of a verb and a
preposition (such as on, in, under, etc.) or an adverb (such as up,
down, away). The meaning of the phrasal verb as a whole is often
very different from the meaning of the indivual words that make it
up. Phrasal verbs are used more frequently in everyday speech than
in formal (or official) writing or speaking.
Phrasal verbs
What is a phrasal verb? A phrasal verb is a verb combined with a
preposition. The preposition can add extra meaning to the verb or give it
more emphasis.
Could you switch off the light, please?
I had an ice-cream to cool down.

Some, prepositions change the meaning of different verbs in a similar way.

The preposition away, for example, can mean away from here, or it can
mean intensively. This means that it can be combined with any verb of
activity.
I didn't hear the telephone because I was working away.
I've been typing away all morning.