Phrasal Verbs

separable
inseparable
transitive
transitive
three-word
intransitive transitive
with
optional
preposition
transitive
three-
word
transitive
verb + particle
verb +
particle +
preposition
verb +
particle
verb +
particle +
optional
preposition
verb +
particle +
preposition
verb +
preposition
He put on his
shoes.
He put his
shoes on.
He put them
on.
He screwed
me out of
$100.
The students
lined up.
She dropped
out.
She dropped
out of
school.
I came up
with a
plan.
She fell for
his lies.
These are what
most people
A small
number of
A
preposition
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think of when
they think of
phrasal verbs,
but as you can
see, there are
other types. A
small number
of separable
verb + particle
combinations
are
permanently
separated.
three-word
verbs are
separable
because
they must
have two
objects.
is used to
make some
intransitive
phrasal
verbs
transitive.
Then they
are like
three-word
phrasal
verbs except
that three-
word
phrasal
verbs cannot
be used
without a
preposition
—they have
no
intransitive
meaning.
Most teachers call these phrasal verbs, but some teachers don’t agree that verbs
that end with prepositions are phrasal verbs. They call them prepositional verbs.
In this book, I call them phrasal verbs. This is not something students should
worry about. What is much more important is learning what they mean.
Although particles may look like prepositions or adverbs, in phrasal
verbs they do not function as prepositions or adverbs, and for that
reason, they are called particles. (However, sometimes you will see
them called prepositions in other books about phrasal verbs.)
Because many phrasal verbs have more than one meaning, many of the phrasal
verbs in this book fall into more than one of the categories described above.
Also, as you study this book, you will see that there are some variations and
exceptions to what I have explained here. Don’t worry about trying to remember
all this grammar. Please take my advice: meaning is more important than
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grammar! As you learn what these phrasal verbs mean by reading the examples
and doing the exercises, little by little you will learn the grammar too.
Transitive/intransitive
When a verb requires an object, we say the verb is transitive:
I bought a car.
verb object
When a verb does not need an object, we say the verb is intransitive:
His mother died.
verb
Many verbs can be both transitive and intransitive, depending on how they are
used:
We ate.
verb
We ate the pizza.
verb object
Separable phrasal verbs
The verb and particle of some phrasal verbs can be separated by an object. When
this is possible, we say that the phrasal verb is separable. When the verb and