Phrasal Verbs

Intransitive Phrasal Verbs
Intransitive phrasal verbs can be categorized as pure or ergative.
Pure Intransitive Phrasal Verbs
Examples of pure intransitive phrasal verbs are take off (from an airport runway),
come over (visit), and get together (meet). Pure intransitive phrasal verbs can be
followed by a prepositional phrase. When this occurs, they become phrasal
prepositional verbs (discussed below), also known as three-word phrasal verbs
(except when to changes to into, resulting in a phrasal verb that superficially
remains a two-word phrasal verb. Contrast break out of with break into).
Ergative Intransitive Phrasal Verbs
An ergative verb (phrasal or otherwise) is a verb whose action is experienced by
the subject. A few are only ergative (die down), but most have a transitive
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counterpart (burn down, blow up, wear out). You can burn down a building, or a
building can burn down.
Phrasal Prepositional Verbs
This category is a hybrid; phrasal prepositional verbs, more commonly known as
three-word (phrasal) verbs, consist of a verb + particle + preposition. Examples
include look up to, come up with, and get out of. All are transitive, with some
allowing for gerund complements (I look forward to seeing you). Because the
term phrasal prepositional verb is cumbersome (and is also used sometimes to
describe inseparable transitive phrasal verbs) and would be meaningless to most
ESL students, I use (and recommend that you use) the term three-word verb.
A small number of phrasal prepositional verbs, such as put up to and screw out of,
are permanently separated because they require two objects. These are not two-
word separable phrasal verbs used with an optional preposition because without
the preposition, they have no meaning or have a completely different meaning.