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A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and a preposition, a verb and an adverb, or a verb with both an adverb and a preposition, any of which are part of the syntax of the sentence, and so are a complete semantic unit. Sentences may contain direct and indirect objects in addition to the phrasal verb. Phrasal verbs are particularly frequent in the English language. A phrasal verb often has a meaning which is different from the original verb.

According to Tom McArthur: "...the term ‘phrasal verb’ was first used by Logan Pearsall Smith, in “Words and Idioms” (1925), in which he states that the OED Editor Henry Bradley suggested the term to him."

Alternative terms for phrasal verb are ‘compound verb’, ‘verb-adverb combination’, ‘verb-particle construction (VPC)’, AmE ‘two-part word/verb’ and ‘three-part word/verb’ (depending on the number of particles), and multi-word verb (MWV).

Prepositions and adverbs used in a phrasal verb are also called particles in that they do not alter their form through inflections (are therefore uninflected: they do not accept affixes, etc.). Because of the idiomatic nature of phrasal verbs, they are often subject to preposition stranding.

Phrasal verbs in informal speech
Phrasal verbs are usually used informally in everyday speech as opposed to the more formal Latinate verbs, such as “to get together” rather than “to congregate”, “to put off” rather than “to postpone”, or “to get out” rather than “to exit”.

Literal usage
Many verbs in English can be combined with an adverb or a preposition, and readers or listeners will easily understand a phrasal verb used in a literal sense with a preposition:
 * "He walked across the square."

Verb and adverb constructions can also easily be understood when used literally:
 * "She opened the shutters and looked outside."
 * "When he heard the crash, he looked up."

An adverb in a literal phrasal verb modifies the verb it is attached to, and a preposition links the verb to the object.

Idiomatic usage
It is, however, the figurative or idiomatic application in everyday speech which makes phrasal verbs so important: The literal meaning of “to get over”, in the sense of “to climb over something to get to the other side”, no longer applies to explain the subject's enduring an operation or the stress of an examination which they have to overcome. It is when the combined meaning of verb plus adverb, or verb plus preposition is totally different from each of its component parts, that the semantic content of the phrasal verb cannot be predicted by its constituent parts and so becomes much more difficult for a student learning English to recognise. Attempts have been made, however, to identify some system in the way that a given particle contributes to the meaning of a phrasal verb, and it seems likely that an understanding of conceptual metaphor may be helpful here. As Lakoff and Johnson show, most particles have, initially, a literal meaning which is spatial or "orientational", and then metaphorical meanings attach to them in ways that are (fairly) systematic (see also Knowles & Moon 2006: 17 ). One phrasal verbs dictionary for learners of English, Macmillan Phrasal Verbs Plus, provides annotated charts for 12 of the most common particles used in phrasal verbs, tracing the way they develop non-literal uses on the basis of conceptual metaphor, and showing how the "meaning" of each particle in a phrasal verb is, to some degree at least, predictable.
 * "I hope you will get over your operation quickly."
 * "Work hard, and get your examination over with."

In her introduction to "Longman Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, What this dictionary contains", Rosemary Courtney includes as a third category "3. Idioms which are formed from phrasal verbs, such as let the cat out of the bag. These idioms are printed in heavy type. Idioms have a meaning which is different from the meaning of the single words, and usually have a fixed word order." Courtney then cites among many other examples in the dictionary such phrases as "to add insult to injury", "to add fuel to the flames", "to leave someone in the lurch", "to scare someone out of their wits", etc.

Phrasal verb patterns
A phrasal verb contains either a preposition or an adverb (or both), and may also combine with one or more nouns or pronouns.

Particle verbs
Phrasal verbs that contain a particle such as up (in some traditions called an adverb, in others a preposition) are called "particle verbs", and are related to separable verbs in other Germanic languages. There are two main patterns: intransitive and transitive. An intransitive particle verb does not have an object:
 * “When I entered the room he looked up.”

A transitive particle verb has a nominal object in addition to the particle. If the object is an ordinary noun phrase, it can usually appear on either side of the particle, although very long noun phrases tend to come after the particle:
 * Switch off the light.
 * Switch the light off.
 * Switch off the lights in the hallway next to the bedroom in which the president is sleeping.

With some transitive particle verbs, however, the noun phrase object must come after the preposition. Such examples are said to involve "inseparable" phrasal verbs:
 * The gas gave off fumes. (not *The gas gave fumes off.)

According to, still other transitive particle verbs require the object to precede the particle, even when the object is a long noun phrase:
 * I cannot tell the Beatles apart. (not *I cannot tell apart the Beatles.)
 * I cannot tell the various members of the band called the Beatles apart.

However, some authors would dispute this, arguing that the particle must be adjacent to the verb whenever the noun phrase is lengthy and complicated.

With all transitive particle verbs, if the object is a pronoun, it must, with just one type of exception, precede the particle:
 * Switch it off. (not *Switch off it.)
 * The smell put them off. (not *put off them)
 * They let him through. (not *they let through him)

The exception occurs if the direct object is contrastively stressed, as in


 * Figure out THESE, not THOSE''.

Gorlach asserts that the position of the noun phrase object before or after the particle has a subtle effect on the degree to which the phrase has resultative implication. For example, the simple verb eat makes no claim on whether or not the result of the eating is that the apple is completely consumed; whereas the phrasal verb eat up seems to make different claims on this result, depending on the position of the particle with respect to the object:


 * to eat the apple (neutral for ‘complete’ result)
 * to eat up the apple (greater possibility for ‘complete’ result)
 * to eat the apple up (compulsory claim for ‘complete’ result)

Prepositional verbs
Prepositional verbs are phrasal verbs that contain a preposition, which is always followed by its nominal object. They are different from inseparable transitive particle verbs, because the object still follows the preposition if it is a pronoun:
 * On Fridays, we look after our grandchildren.
 * We look after them. (not *look them after)

The verb can have its own object, which usually precedes the preposition:
 * She helped the boy to an extra portion of potatoes.
 * with pronouns: She helped him to some.

Prepositional verbs with two prepositions are possible:
 * We talked to the minister about the crisis.

Phrasal-prepositional verbs
A phrasal verb can contain an adverb and a preposition at the same time. Again, the verb itself can have a direct object:
 * no direct object: The driver got off to a flying start.
 * direct object: Onlookers put the accident down to the driver’s loss of concentration.

Phrasal verbs and modifying adverbs
When modifying adverbs are used alongside particle adverbs intransitively (as particle adverbs usually are), the adverbs can appear in any verb/particle/adverb positions:

The particle adverb here is "round" and the modifying adverb is "unhappily". ("Round" is a particle because it is not inflected — does not take affixes and alter its form. "Unhappily" is a modifying adverb because it modifies the verb "look").
 * “He unhappily looked round.”
 * “He looked unhappily round.”
 * “He looked round unhappily.”

With a transitive particle verb, the adverb goes either before the verb or after the object or particle, whichever is last:
 * “He cheerfully picked the book up.”
 * “He picked up the book cheerfully.” (not *picked cheerfully up the book)
 * “He picked the book up cheerfully.”

Prepositional verbs are different from transitive particle verbs, because they allow adverbs to appear between the verb and the preposition:
 * “He desperately looked for his keys.
 * “He looked for his keys desperately.
 * “He looked desperately for his keys.

Phrasal verbs combined with special verb forms and clauses
Courtney also includes special verb forms and clauses in phrasal verb constructions.


 * Phrasal verbs combined with wh-clauses and that-clauses: Sentences which include verb + particle + object(s) + wh-clauses
 * “The teacher tries to dictate to his class what the right thing to do is”
 * = transitive verb + preposition (dictate to) + indirect object (his class) + wh-clause (what the right thing to do is).


 * “My friends called for me when the time came”
 * = transitive verb + preposition (called for) + pronoun (me) + wh-clause (when the time came).


 * “Watch out that you don’t hit your head on the low beam”
 * = intransitive verb + adverb (watch out) + that-clause (that you don’t hit your head on the low beam).


 * Phrasal verbs combined with verb-ing forms:
 * “You can’t prevent me from seeing her”
 * = transitive verb + pronoun (prevent me) + preposition (from) + verb-ing form (seeing) + pronoun (her).