Phrasal Verbs

I’ve been away from the language talk blog for a little while and I’ll explain where I’ve been soon, but this week I’ve decided it’s time we brushed up on some phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs are made up of a verb and one or sometimes two particles. The particles are adverbs or prepositions. These particles can add to or change the meaning of the verb. Sometimes the meaning of the phrasal verb can be worked out from the particle and sometimes it’s impossible to guess the meaning of the phrasal verb from the particle because they have an idiomatic meaning.

When you come across a phrasal verb it’s important to look it up in a good dictionary which will tell you the meaning or in many cases meanings of the phrasal verb. It’s helpful to write down the meaning of the phrasal verb and the context it is used in or write an example sentence. Sometimes, phrasal verbs have a different meaning in different contexts so it is important to find out which context it is used in and how it is used.

In addition, it’s important to know whether the phrasal verb takes an object because sometimes the phrasal verb can be split up, the object can be used between the verb and the particles. If you use a pronoun instead of a noun sometimes you have to split up the phrasal verb.

This may sound a little confusing but don’t let it put you off. Phrasal verbs are an important part of everyday English and being able to use them will help you to get by in English.

How many phrasal verbs did I use in the text?

I’ll write the answer and explain a bit more in a few weeks.

Ben