General Information about Phrasal Verbs

A phrasal verb is a single semantic unit formed by combining two – a verb and particle – or sometimes three words – a verb and two particles (an adverb or preposition). For example, the phrasal verb look up to is formed by a verb look and two particles – up and to. The key distinctive feature of a phrasal verb is that its meaning does not correspond to the meaning of its components.

Phrasal verbs have traditionally been characterized as word-groups communicating a single concept (whereas in free word groups each word stands for a separate concept). They can often be substituted with a one-word synonym. For example, look up to means respect (My brother looks up to our father). You can go over the definition of phrasal verbs or you can review it. Phrasal verbs certainly help you sound more native, but it is best not to use them much in written speech, as they are considered to be informal.

Separable vs. Inseparable Phrasal Verbs

A phrasal verb is separable when you can insert other words between the verb and the particle. Most transitive verbs are separable; however, we cannot simply determine whether the verb is separable or inseparable, we would have to look it up in the dictionary. If the phrasal verb is separable, then the object can be placed either after the verb or between the verb and particle(s). Take a look at the following examples:

• ✔️ The teacher asked me to write down everything she says.
• ✔️ A writer rushed home to write his ideas down.
• ✔️ I was supposed to meet her, but she called off the meeting yesterday.
• ✔️ I was supposed to meet her, but she called the meeting off yesterday.

A phrasal verb is inseparable if you cannot insert a direct object into the middle of the phrasal verb. This means that the verb and the particle cannot be separated with an object as we saw in the previous examples.

Consider the following examples of inseparable words:

• ✔️ I’m in a hurry, I must get on the plane now.
• ❌ I’m in a hurry, I must get the plane on now.
• ✔️ Could you look after my hamster while I’m away?
• ❌ Could you look my hamster after while I’m away?
• ✔️ Do not worry, we are looking into the problem.
• ❌ Do not worry, we are looking the problem into.

Intransitive vs. Transitive Phrasal Verbs

There are transitive and intransitive phrasal verbs. When a verb is transitive, it means it needs an object to make complete sense. With a transitive phrasal verb, you can either put the object between the verb and the particle or put it afterward. This would not influence the meaning. In the next sentence, put down is a transitive phrasal verb and the noun book is a direct object.

Example:

✔️ She looked at the book in her hands and then put it down.

And logically, an intransitive phrasal verb is the opposite of a transitive phrasal verb. Intransitive phrasal verbs can express a complete thought without a direct object.

• ✔️ Her aunt passed away yesterday.
• ✔️ I got up at 6 a.m. this morning.

Some phrasal verbs can be both transitive and intransitive, as we can see in the following example with the verb take off:

When the phrasal verb take off means ‘to leave the ground and start the flight,’ it is intransitive.

Example:

✔️ Mom told me that her plane took off an hour ago.

The verb take off with the above meaning is intransitive since it has no object. When take off means ‘to remove something’ it is transitive – it transfers the action on an object:

Example:

✔️ When my brother came into the house, he quickly took off his shoes and ran upstairs.

Difference between Phrasal Verbs, Collocations and Idioms

Why do we say make tea and not do tea? And why do we go on a bus but in a taxi? The reason is collocation. Collocation is the term for word combinations commonly used in English. Every phrasal verb is a collocation, but not every collocation is a phrasal verb. Collocation can be a word group that consists of different parts of speech (noun plus verb, adjective plus verb, etc.), while phrasal verbs are coined only with verbs and particles. There are different types of collocations in the English language:

• adverb + adjective: utterly stupid (NOT wholly stupid)
• adjective + noun: heavy traffic (NOT weighty traffic)
• noun + noun: a bar of soap (NOT a stick of soap)
• noun + verb: snow was falling (NOT snow was dropping)
• verb + noun: commit a crime (NOT make a crime)
• verb + preposition: to be responsible for (NOT to be responsible about)
• verb + adverb: badly damage (NOT incorrectly damage)

Phrasal verbs are a kind of collocation that combines a verb and a particle(s). It is a good idea to memorize a few common collocations for phrasal verbs when learning them. Using those collocations will make your speech sound more natural.

Now, an idiom is a combination of words with a meaning that differs from the usual meaning of each word. Idioms express a single concept and are used as one portion of a phrase, much like words. Many idioms in English are examples of strong collocations, which means they have a set word order. Idioms are characteristic or peculiar to a language. For example, hold one’s horses (to be patient).

Idioms cannot be directly translated into another language. They are usually lost in translation or substituted by a phrase that comes closest to its meaning. Sometimes we can figure out the meaning of an idiom by the meaning of its components, but often it is not the case. A couple of idioms in English are kick the bucket (to die), crying over spilled milk (worrying over past events).