Dictionary Of Phrasal Verbs
A Phrasal Verb is a fixed expression with two parts. It consists of a verb followed by an adverb, or a preposition, or both an adverb and a preposition. That is, Phrasal verb is a specific phrase whose first part will have a verb and the second part will have an adverb, or a preposition, or an adverb and a preposition. For example, Verb + adverb = look out. Verb + preposition look for. Verb + adverb + preposition = look down on. However, if an expression has an adverb or a preposition after the verb, it cannot be called a Phrasal Verb.
A Phrasal verb has its own special meaning and this meaning is entirely different from the meanings of its individual words. Let’s make it clear with an example: I ran across the field. She ran into the room. Here ‘ran across’ 4 “ran into” expression is not a phrasal verb, because the combination of verb and preposition has no special meaning here. The words of these two expressions are expressing their own general meaning. For example, “run” here is running.
Both “across” and “into” are used in their normal sense, but this is the same When expression is used in a special sense in another sentence, we can call it phrasal verb. For example, I ran across my old friend. She ran into some problems. The verbs and prepositions used here have given up their own meaning and developed a completely different meaning. The first sentence specifically means, “I met my old friend,” and the second sentence means, “he was in some trouble,” and this meaning has nothing to do with the meaning of the words themselves.
This is the biggest feature of phrasal verbs. That is, each word belonging to the phrasal verb loses its own meaning and forms an inseparable relationship with each other, and together they express a completely different meaning. Hydrogen and oxygen are two gases, and they have their own religion. But when they are mixed together in a certain chemical formula, they produce water. Water is a compound whose religion is completely different from that of hydrogen and oxygen separately.
That is, when hydrogen and oxygen are combined, they lose their properties and form a completely new substance. Phrasal verbs are similar. When an adverb or preposition is added to a verb to form a phrase of a completely different religion, it is called a Phrasal Verb. Just like water is a compound substance, a phrasal verb can also be called a Verb. Another feature of Phrasal Verb is that we can create phrases with different meanings by adding different adverbs or Prepositions to the same Verb. For example, turn up (= appear), turn off (stop), turn down (reject) etc.
Not only that, many times the same expression expresses different meanings depending on the context. For example, turn = The expression down can mean “reject” and can also mean “reduce the level of something”. Phrasal verb like any common verb can be used as intransitive or transitive. For example, Intransitive: The guests have not yet turned up. Transitive: Please turn up the gas. However, in the case of phrasal verbs, the object of the transitive phrase does not always sit later.
Read More – Phrasal Verbs that start with “A”
Object sometimes also sits between two parts of phrasal verb. For example, Please turn the gas up. The overall meaning of idiom is “kick the bucket.” Phrasal Verb we can also compare with idiom. Because we know that idiom is also a kind of fixed phrase or expression which expresses a special meaning and is different from the own meaning of the words within a whole. For example, an idiom that means “die”, but this special meaning has nothing to do with the meaning of “kick” or “bucket”.
In this respect, there is no difference between an idiom and a phrasal verb. The difference is only structural. In general Phrasal verbs do not have a specific structural pattern, and that is why Phrasal verbs are often called two-part verbs in modern English Very comprehensive. So it is very important for every student to understand the English language and to have a proper understanding of Phrasal verbs.
Types of Phrasal Verbs
Basically 4 types of Phrasal Verbs
- Intransitive Phrasal Verbs
- Nonseparable Transitive Phrasal Verbs
- Optionally Separable Transitive Phrasal Verbs
- Obligatory Separable Phrasal Verbs
Intransitive Phrasal Verbs
These phrasal verb don’t need an object. The preposition always follows the verb right away.
Example:
“The lights went out.” (Here, “went out” is an intransitive phrasal verb because it doesn’t answer “who” or “what”.)
Nonseparable Transitive Phrasal Verbs
These phrasal verb need an object but you can’t separate the verb and preposition.
Example:
“He ran into his friend at the park.” (Here, “ran into” is a nonseparable transitive phrasal verb because it answers “who”.)
Optionally Separable Transitive Phrasal Verbs
These phrasal verb need an object and you can separate the verb and preposition if you want.
Example:
“Please fill out the form.” or “Please fill the form out.” (Here, “fill out” is an optionally separable transitive phrasal verb because you can say it both ways.)
Obligatory Separable Phrasal Verbs
These phrasal verb must have the verb and preposition separated to make sense.
Example:
“She turned it on.” (Here, “turned on” must be separated to be correct.)