Phrasal Verbs

down.
The police broke the door down and arrested the bank robbers.
A door had to be broken down to rescue the people trapped by the fire.
Infinitive: burn down
PRESENT TENSE
-ING FORM
PAST TENSE
PAST PARTICIPLE
burn down & burns
down
burning down
burned down
burned down
1. burn . . . down p.v. When a building or other structure burns down or someone burns it
down, it is completely destroyed by fire.
Though most of Chicago burned down in 1871, a few buildings survived.
The owner was arrested for deliberately burning his factory down.
vk.com/englishlibrary

---

Infinitive: find out
PRESENT TENSE
-ING FORM
PAST TENSE
PAST PARTICIPLE
find out & finds out
finding out
found out
found out
1. find . . . out p.v. [not usually separated; the object can be a noun, a noun clause, or a
complete sentence] When you find out information or a fact, you learn or become aware
of that information or fact.
If you don’t know when the movie starts, look online to find out.
I met a nice man at the party, but I never found out his name.
I met a nice man at the party, but I never found out what his name was.
I was surprised when I found out that he can speak 14 languages.
I was surprised when I found out he can speak 14 languages.
I tried to get the information, but I couldn’t find it out.
Infinitive: hand back
PRESENT TENSE
-ING FORM
PAST TENSE
PAST PARTICIPLE
hand back & hands
back
handing back
handed back
handed back
1. hand . . . back (to) p.v. When you return something to a person by holding it in your hand
and extending your arm, you hand it back or hand it back to that person.
The teacher will hand the tests back in third period.
The guard handed my ID card back to me.
Infinitive: look at
PRESENT TENSE
-ING FORM
PAST TENSE
PAST PARTICIPLE
look at & looks at
looking at
looked at
looked at
1. look at p.v. When you focus your eyes on people or things, you look at them.
I looked at her and told her I loved her.
Look at me when I talk to you!
vk.com/englishlibrary

---

2. look at p.v. When you examine something or a situation and decide what to do about it,
you look at it.
The mechanic looked at my car but couldn’t find anything wrong with it.
Your finger might be broken. You should have Dr. Smith look at it.
3. look at p.v. When you think a certain way or when you have an opinion about something,
that is the way you look at it.
The way I look at it, Congress is to blame for this situation, not the President.
What should be done about this situation depends on how you look at it.
4. look at p.v. [informal, always continuous] When you say that people are looking at an
amount of money or a length of time, you mean that this is how much you think
something will cost or how long something will take.
That was a serious injury. You’re looking at months and months of physical
therapy.
Putting a new roof on this house isn’t going to be cheap. You’re looking at at
least $15,000.