Phrasal Verbs Essay

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Phrasal Verbs Phrasal verbs are a group of multi-word verbs made from a verb plus another word or words. Many people refer to all multi-word verbs as phrasal verbs. On these pages we make a distinction between three types of multi-word verbs: prepositional verbs, phrasal verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs. On this page we look at phrasal verbs proper. Phrasal verbs are made of: verb + adverb Phrasal verbs can be: * intransitive (no direct object) * transitive (direct object) Here are some examples of phrasal verbs: | phrasal verbs | meaning | examples | | | | | direct object | intransitive phrasal verbs | get up | rise from bed | I don't like to get up. | | | break down | cease to function | He was late because his car broke down. | | transitive phrasal verbs | put off | postpone | We will have to put off | the meeting. | | turn down | refuse | They turned down | my offer. | Separable Phrasal Verbs When phrasal verbs are transitive (that is, they have a direct object), we can usually separate the two parts. For example, "turn down" is a separable phrasal verb. We can say: "turn down my offer" or "turn my offer down". Look at this table: transitive phrasal verbs are separable | | They | turned | | down | my offer. | | | They | turned | my offer | down. | | However, if the direct object is a pronoun, we have no choice. We must separate the phrasal verb and insert the pronoun between the two parts. Look at this example with the separable phrasal verb "switch on": direct object pronounsmust go between the two parts of transitive phrasal verbs | | John | switched | | on | the radio. | These are all possible. | | | John | switched | the radio | on. | | | | | John | switched | it | on. | | | | | John | switched | | on | it. | This is not possible. | Separable or inseparable phrasal verbs?
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