Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and a modifying adverb or participle, altering the verb’s meaning. Intransitive types don’t modify direct objects, while transitive types can. Some phrasal verbs are inseparable, while others can be separated. Over 1,000 phrasal verbs exist.
A phrasal verb is actually more than a word, with the verb accompanied by a modifying adverb or participle. The effect is a change in the meaning of the verb, depending on the adverb or preposition and its position immediately after the verb or separated from a noun or pronoun. While some members of this verb family are intransitive, meaning they can’t have a direct object, many others can and do.
Intransitive types of phrasal verbs won’t modify a direct object, however, transitive types often will. It’s okay to say, “Warm up your body before every workout.” It is wrong, however, to choose an object with other phrasal verbs such as “show up” or “run away”. An example of an intransitive phrasal verb in action is “The shipping department is finally catching up” instead of “The shipping department is finally catching up with the orders.” In the latter example, the only way to make this transitive usage acceptable is to put “to” in front of “the orders”, making it an indirect, rather than a direct, object.
Many phrasal verbs combine the verb with an adverb or preposition and nothing in between. This could severely alter the meaning. In other cases, however, phrasal verbs may be used with or without other intervening modifying words. An example of an inseparable agreement is “I hope there is a way around this mountain.” When separated, this phrasal verb loses all meaning.
Another type of phrasal verb can be easily separated. This is often necessary to change the structure of a sentence without altering the information. Examples include, check, add, cut, and raise. These phrasal verbs can take direct or indirect objects and can have modifiers inserted or trailed behind. It just depends on the particular writer’s style. It is just as grammatically correct to say “You cut down that tree” as it is to say “You cut down that tree.” Many of these transitive phrasal verbs can take an object either before or after the verb appears, but when a pronoun is used as an object, an insertion is often needed to keep the sentence consistent. For example, “I looked up my old boss on Facebook” will work, but “I looked him up on Facebook” won’t.
More than 1,000 phrasal verbs are available. Timothy Leary’s famous mantra, “Turn on, tune in, quit,” includes three in a row. The English Club website maintains a list of over 1,000 phrasal verbs, with detailed usage information and examples for each.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
