Động từ đa thành tố trong tiếng Anh những lỗi học sinh trường THPT chuyên Nguyễn Huệ thường thắc mắc và những giải pháp khả hữu

Vietnam National University, Hanoi
University of Languages and International Studies
FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES




NGUYỄN THỊ LIÊN NINH


M
M
U
U
L
L
T
T
I
I
-
-
W
W
O
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R
D
D

V
V
E
E
R
R
B
B
S
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I
N
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G
G
L
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S
S
H
H
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E
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M.A THESIS

Field: English Methodology
Code: 60. 14. 10


Hanoi - 2010


Vietnam National University, Hanoi
University of Languages and International Studies
FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES




NGUYỄN THỊ LIÊN NINH


M
M
U
U
L
L
T
T
I
I
-
-
W

W
O
O
R
R
D
D


V
V
E
E
R
R
B
B
S
S


I
I
N
N


E
E
N

N
G
G
L
L
I
I
S
S
H
H
:
:


E
E
R
R
R
R
O
O
R
R
S
S


C

C
O
O
M
M
M
M
O
O
N
N
L
L
Y
Y


M
M
A
A
D
D
E
E


B
B
Y

Y


S
S
T
T
U
U
D
D
E
E
N
N
T
T
S
S


A
A
T
T


N
N
G

G
U
U
Y
Y
E
E
N
N


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H
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E


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F
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E
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D

D


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C
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O
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L
L


A
A
N

N
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M.A THESIS


Field: English Methodology
Code: 60. 14. 10
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Võ Đại Quang

Hanoi - 2010

- vii -


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration p. i
Acknowledgements ii
Abstract iii
List of abbreviations iv
List of tables and figures v
Glossary of linguistic terms vi
Table of contents vii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale of the study 1
2. Aims and objectives of the study 1
2.1. Aims of the study 1
2.2. Objectives of the study 1

3. Significance of the study 1
4. Scope of the study 2
5. Organization of the thesis 2
PART B: DEVELOPMENT 3
Chapter 1: Literature Review 3
1.1. An overview of multi-word verbs in English 3
1.1.1. Definition of multi-word verb 3
1.1.2. Classifications and characteristics of multi-word verbs 4
1.1.2.1. Phrasal verbs 5
1.1.2.2. Prepositional verbs 9
1.1.2.3. Phrasal – Prepositional verbs 14
1.1.2.4. Other multi-word verb constructions 15
1.2. Error and Error Analysis 16
1.2.1. What is “error”? 16
1.2.2. What is “error analysis”? 16
1.2.3. Classification of errors 17
- viii -

1.2.4. Possible causes of errors in second language learning 18
1.2.4.1. Causes of interlingual errors 18
1.2.4.2. Causes of intralingual and developmental errors 19
1.3. Summary 19
Chapter 2: Research Methodology 20
2.1. The context of the study 20
2.2. Research method 20
2.2.1. Research questions 20
2.2.2. Instrumentation 21
2.2.2.1. Test 22
2.2.2.2. Interview 23
2.2.3. Participants 23

2.2.4. Data collection procedures 23
2.2.4.1. Data collection 23
2.2.4.2. Techniques of analysis 23
2.3. Summary 23
Chapter 3: Findings and Discussion 24
3.1. Scoring and evaluation of students’ performance in doing test 24
3.2. Number and types of students’ actual errors 26
3.3. Errors and their causes 28
3.3.1. Intralingual errors 30
3.3.2. Interlingual errors 32
3.3.3. Mixed causes 33
3.4. Summary 33
Chapter 4: Possible solutions to the students’ errors in using English 34
multi-word verbs
4.1. Possible solutions to the errors commonly made by students 34
at Nguyen Hue Gifted High school in using multi-word verbs.
4.2. Suggestions for teaching and learning multi-word verbs in English 34
4.2.1. Suggestions for teaching 35
- ix -

4.2.2. Suggestions for learning 35
4.3. Summary 37

PART C: CONCLUSION 38
1. Conclusions 38
2. Recommendations for further research 39
References 40
Appendices I
Appendix 1: Written grammar test I
Appendix 2: Answer key V

- iv -


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS

E.g.
For example
i.e.
That is
L1
First language
L2
Second language
NP
Noun phrase
O
Object
Od
Direct object
Oi
Indirect object
Part.
Particle
Prep.
Preposition
p.
Page
Qty
Quantity

V
Verb
V
intr
Intransitive verb
V
phr
Phasal verb
V
phr.prep
Phrasal-prepositional verb
V
prep
Prepositional verb
V
tr
Transitive verb
=
Equal to / the same as
*
An asterisk signifies that what follows it is incorrect
^
Caret indicates omissions

- v -


LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1:

Table 2:
Table 3:
Table 4:
Table 5:

Figure 1:
Figure 2:
Figure 3:
Differences between prepositional verbs and verbs with prepositional
phrases (p.11)
Differences between phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs (p.13)
Evaluation of the students’ performance in doing the exercises (p.25)
Numbers of errors committed by the students (p.27)
Taxonomy of errors and their causes (p.29)

Non-pass and pass students (p.26)
Causes of error (p.30)
Intralingual errors (p.32)

- vi -


GLOSSARY OF LINGUISTIC TERMS

Code
The systems (grammar, meaning and sound) of a language.
Error
A systematic deviation from the accepted code.
Global error
An error which affects the meaning of the whole sentence.
Local error

An error which only affects the meaning of the clause in which it is
found.

L1 transfer
Use of what the learner knows about his first language to try and
assist expression in the target language.
Interference
from L1
The effects of ‘habit’ formed in the speaker’s first language acting
upon the target language. (This is the phenomenon of borrowing
and transferring learner’s native language patterns into the target
language).
Target language
The language which the learner is learning.

Over-
generalisation
A failure by the learner to apply restrictions where appropriate to
the application of a rule. (It is learners’ previous mother tongue
experience that is considered as a means of organizing the second
language data.)
L1
First language (usually the mother tongue).
Ignorance of
rule restrictions
The second language learners “fail to observe the restrictions of
existing structures’’.
Intralingual
errors
are those which reflect the general characteristics of rule learning.
Developmental
errors
are those which illustrate the learner’s attempting to build

hypotheses about English language from his limited related
experience.





- 1 -

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale of the study
Multi-word verbs are said to be one of the most important and complicated elements of
English. In modern English, many multi-word verbs come into existence and cause a lot of
troubles for users, especially non-native speakers.
As a teacher of English at a secondary school in Hanoi, I found that my students have
faced many problems when they learn English multi-word verbs. They often fail to
understand the meaning of multi-word verbs and make errors in using them.
Therefore, the idea of doing something useful for my colleagues and students has urged me
to do the research on “Multi-word verbs in English: Errors commonly made by students
at Nguyen Hue gifted High school and possible solutions”. The study is expected to make
a great contribution to improve the quality of teaching and learning English at Nguyen Hue
gifted High school.

2. Aims and Objectives of the study
2.1. Aims of the study
 To help teachers and students gain an insight into multi-word verbs in English.
 To facilitate the teaching of multi-word verbs to Vietnamese learners of English.
2.2. Objectives of the study
 To identify the students‟ common types of error in using English multi-word verbs.

 To find out the causes of error committed by Nguyen Hue Gifted High school
students when learning and using multi-word verbs.
 To work out possible solutions to the problem identified.

3. Significance of the study
The study will be useful not only to the author and her colleagues in improving the
teaching quality, but students will also benefit from it. The result of the study will serve as
a foundation for the possible solutions to students‟ errors in using English multi-word



- 2 -

verbs. Furthermore, the study will make some contribution to the field of teaching
methodology.

4. Scope of the study
• English multi-word verbs in terms of: (1) structural organization, (2) Meanings and
usages, (3) Integrity, motivated and non-motivated idiomaticity.
• Types of error made by 50 twelfth-form students at Nguyen Hue Gifted High school
in using English multi-word verbs. Once problems have been identified, it will be possible
to make suggestions for improvement.

5. Organization of the study
The study has three main parts as follows:
Part A: Introduction
This part introduces the rationale, the aims, the objectives, the significance, the scope and
the organization of the thesis.
Part B: Development
This part consists of four chapters:

Chapter 1 provides literature review focusing on the issues related to multi-word verbs in
English, error and error analysis in second language learning.
Chapter 2 presents the methodology applied in this work. It also includes an overview of
the context of the study.
Chapter 3 discusses the findings of the study based on the test and interview results.
Chapter 4 offers possible solutions to errors commonly made by students at Nguyen Hue
Gifted High school. Some suggestions for teaching and learning English multi-word verbs
are also provided.
Part C: Conclusion
This part summaries all the major issues in the previous parts with conclusions drawn from
the findings. Some recommendations for further research are also included.
PART B: DEVELOPMENT



- 3 -

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
The following issues are to be dealt with in this chapter:
- Definition of multi-word verb
- Classification of multi-word verb
- Error and Error Analysis
- Classification of errors
- Possible causes of error in second language learning

1.1. An overview of multi-word verbs in English
1.1.1. Definition of multi-word verb

Multi-word verbs may be defined differently. According to Seidl, multi-word verb is
“…a general term for all combinations of verb + adverbial particle and / or preposition.

Some examples are fall through, pack something in, put up with someone/ something.”
Jennifer Seidl (1990. Exercises on Phrasal Verbs, p.7)

Martin Parrot, in a narrow view, states that multi-word verbs are made up of a verb (e.g.
come, get, give, look, take) and one or more particles, one preposition or one particle and
one preposition to make combinations. For example: give up, come across (V + particle);
look after (V + preposition); get on with (V + particle + preposition).
Martin Parrot (2000. Grammar for English Language Teachers, p.108)

Beaumont and Granger (1989. The Heinemann English Grammar, p.281), define that
“multi-word verbs are verbs which change their meaning in some way by adding
particles”. For example, the verb look can combine with a large number of prepositions or
particles to form new verbs: look after (= take care of), look down on (= regard someone/
something as inferior), look into (= investigate), look out (= be careful). Also, a single
combination can have different meanings, depending on the words which accompany it,
i.e. its „collocations‟. Here are some of the collocations and meanings of take off:
+ The aircraft / flight / pilot took off. (= left the ground)
+ The boy / thief / dog (people or animals) took off. (= ran away in a hurry).



- 4 -

+ The sales / the economy / the new product took off. (= began to improve greatly, make a
big profit).
Jennifer Seidl (1990. Exercises on Phrasal Verbs, p. 8)
From the points above, it can be seen that the scholars share the same ideas in defining
multi-word verb. These definitions are the guidelines for the researcher to select exercises
for the students‟ written test of this study.

1.1.2. Classification of English multi-word verbs
English has a large number of multi-word verbs, which consist of a verb and one or two
other elements. These multi-word verbs fall into four classes:

 Phrasal verbs (e.g. carry out, find out, or pick up)
 Prepositional verbs (e.g. look at, talk about, listen to, wait for, depend on, etc.)
 Phrasal-prepositional verbs (e.g. put up with, get away with, keep up with, etc.)
 Other multi-word verb constructions (e.g. take into account, bear in mind, etc.)
(2009. Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English, p.123-124)

According to Jennifer Seidl (1990. Exercises on Phrasal Verbs, p.7), there are three basic
combinations of verb, adverbial particle and preposition. These combinations have the structures as
follows:
• Verb + Particle: Phrasal Verbs (Vphr)
• Verb + Preposition : Prepositional Verbs (Vprep)
• Verb + Particle + Preposition: Phrasal-prepositional verbs (Vphr.prep)
I‟ll pick you up at six. (Collect)
How can we deal with the traffic problem? (Take action to solve a problem)
You are going too fast! I can‟t keep up with you! (Stay in the same place as)
Michael Vince (1993. First Certificate Language Practice, p.158-152-151)
 Other multi-word verb constructions.
- Verb + prepositional phrase combinations
You have to take into account where the younger shoots are dominant.
(= consider)
- Verb + verb combinations



- 5 -

You have to make do, don‟t you?
- Verb + noun phrase combinations
Do you want to have a look?
Douglas Biber et al (1999. Grammar of Spoken and Written English, p.427- 1029)
Each class of verb is to be clearly described in terms of both syntactic and semantic
characteristics in this chapter.

1.1.2.1. Phrasal verbs
The concept of “Phrasal verb” has been defined differently by many authors.
In this study, I would like to focus on the definition of phrasal verb by Geoffrey Leech et
al in “Grammar of Spoken and Written English”. According to him, “Phrasal verbs are
multi-word units consisting of a verb followed by an adverbial particle” (e.g. carry out,
find out or pick up). “These adverbial particles all have core spatial or locative meanings
(e.g. out, in, up, down, on, off); however, they are commonly used with extended
meanings”. (1999, p.403)
(Adverbial particles are called “adverbs” in many books).
These verbs have the structure:

Phrasal verbs = Verb + Adverbial Particle (V + Part.)

Verb
Particle
Example
Meaning
Look
Up
You can look up any new words
in your dictionary.
You can find the meaning
of any new words in your

dictionary.
Get
Through
I tried to phone her but I couldn‟t
get through
I tried to phone her but I
couldn‟t get a connection.
1.1.2.1.1. Phrasal verbs can be idiomatic and non-idiomatic in terms of usage.
 Phrasal verbs are used non-idiomatically. This means the meaning of the verb is
the combination of the two elements: E.g. Find out (discover); Look over
(inspect), Set up (organize), sit down. The verb and the particle keep their
individual lexical meanings; therefore, the meaning of these verbs is often
deducible from their parts.



- 6 -

 Phrasal verbs are idiomatic or highly idiomatic. This means the total meaning of
the combination may bear no relationship to the meaning of the individual words
combined. Those verbs have a special meaning which can not be easily guessed
from the meaning of separate words. E.g. take in (= deceive / cheat sb).
Here is an example using the phrasal verb pack something in. In the following sentence it
has a non-idiomatic meaning:
+ She opened her suitcase and packed all the clothes in.
However, in the sentence:
+ She decided to pack her job in.
The individual meanings of pack and in do not convey the idiomatic meaning, which
(here) is „leave‟. Because of this, phrasal verbs have to be learnt and practised in their
combinations.

Jennifer Seidl ( 1990. Exercises on Phrasal Verbs, p.7)

As shown above, semantically a phrasal verb can have a non-idiomatic and an idiomatic
meaning.
 Some phrasal verbs have several idiomatic meanings, depending on the words that
accompany them. Take the verb put and particle out as an example:
Put out your cigarettes. (= extinguish)
We put out a request for volunteers. (= issued)
They are putting the programme out tomorrow. (= broadcasting)
This stuff will put you out in no time. (= make you unconscious)
Alexander, L.G (1988. Longman English Grammar, p.153)
1.1.2.1.2. Basing on the types of complementation, phrasal verbs are put into two
groups: Transitive and Intransitive phrasal verbs.
■ Transitive phrasal verbs (V
tr
) are those that always take a direct object. The position of
the direct object varies. They have the structures as follows:

Transitive Phrasal verb = Verb + Direct object + Particle
(V
tr
+ Od + Part.)
Transitive Phrasal verb = Verb + Particle + Direct object
(V
tr
+ Part. + Od)
E.g. She tore up the letter. (V
tr
+ Part. + Od)

- 7 -

She tore the letter up. (V
tr
+ Od + Part.)
Colin McIntosh (2001. Oxford Phrasal Verbs, p. 12)
- The position of direct object depends on whether it is a noun / noun phrase or a pronoun
(me, him, it, us, etc.)
- When the direct object is a noun or noun phrase, it can stand either before the particle or
after the particle:
(a) He took George Bush off. (i.e. imitate someone in a humorous way)
(b) He took off George Bush.
- If the noun phrase is long (as a guide-line four words or more), the particle is not placed
too far away from the verb. Look at the length of the noun phrases and their positions in
the following sentences:
He took George Bush off. or He took off George Bush.
but He took off George Bush and some other politicians.
Jennifer Seidl (1990. Exercises on Phrasal Verbs, p. 20)
She tore up all the letters he had sent her
Colin McIntosh (2001. Oxford Phrasal Verbs, p. 12)
- When the direct object is a pronoun (me, you, him, her, it, us, them), it must stand before
the particle:
She brought six boys up
or She brought up six boys (i.e. She raised / reared them.)
but She brought them up Not *She brought up them.
Jennifer Seidl (1990. Exercises on Phrasal Verbs, p.20)
- Transitive phrasal verbs can be seen in their acceptance of passivization
E.g. The rest of the food was thrown away

The house was pulled down
- Transitive phrasal verbs can be used with the pronominal form with “who” or “whom”
for people and with “what” for things.
E.g. Who(m) did John call up? (= summon)
What did John pick up?
Quirk (1972, p. 813)
- When the Transitive phrasal verb is in isolation, the stress is always on the particle. The
stress is also on the particle when the direct object is a pronoun:
E.g. She packed it `in. (= leave or end something)



- 8 -

They took him `off. (= imitate)
Sentence stress applies in other cases:
She has packed her `job in and has gone to `India
He can take George `Bush off `beautifully.
■ Intransitive phrasal verbs (V
intr
) can not be followed by an object. They have the
structure as follows:

Intransitive phrasal verb = Verb + Particle (V
intr
+ Part.)
E.g. We set off early. (V
intr
+ Part.)
(= begin a journey)

They had an argument, but they've made up now.
(= end a quarrel)
- Transitive can be seen in their acceptance of passivization, whereas passive constructions
are impossible with intransitive verbs because they do not take an object.
All the lights in the house have been turned off. (V
tr
)
Alexander, L.G (1988. Longman English Grammar, p.156)
but Not *The house was walked past by him (V
intr
)
- Some intransitive patterns can become transitive by the addition of a direct object:
The driver slowed down. (V
intr
)
The driver slowed the car down. (V
tr
)
Note however that the patterns are not always related in meaning, as with take off, take
something off and take someone off.
The plane took off. (= It left the ground)
He took his coat off. (= He removed his coat)
He took Mrs Thatcher off. (= She imitated Mrs Thatcher)
- When the intransitive phrasal verb is in isolation, the stress is always on the particle.
Within a sentence the stress is also on the particle when the phrasal verb stands alone at
the end of a sentence (or clause) as in the following:
The lorry slowed `down and came to a halt.
Do Tom and the new man get `on?
What time did the flight eventually take `off?
- In other cases, especially when an adverb follows the phrasal verb, the usual rules for

sentence stress apply:



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The lorry slowed down i`mmediately.
Tom and the new man get on `well?
Jennifer Seidl (1990. Exercises on Phrasal Verbs, p.11)

1.1.2.2. Prepositional verbs
The concept of “prepositional verbs” has so far been defined by many authors as follows:
“a prepositional verb is a verb + preposition”.
The patient asked for a glass of water.
I‟m writing to my sister.
John Eastwood (2006. Oxford Practice Grammar, p.304)

In “A University Grammar of English” by R. Quirk & Greenbaum”, prepositional verbs
are defined as “the combinations of a verb and a particle which functions as a preposition
which takes an object”.
In this part, we adopt the second definition and consider prepositional verbs to be
transitive and have the following structure:

Prepositional verb = Verb + Preposition + Object (V + Prep. + O)
I‟m waiting for my boyfriend or I‟m waiting for him
Everyone laughed at the joke
Tom‟s neighbors apologized for the noise
John Eastwood (2006. Oxford Practice Grammar, p.304)
- The particles of the prepositional verbs can not be separated from the verbs
I look after my babysister carefully.

Not * I look her after carefully.
However, the separation is sometimes possible in relative clauses and questions.
The picture at which you are looking was bought at an auction.
“To whom is John talking?”
- Prepositional verbs allow an inserted adverb after the verb and a relative pronoun after
the preposition:
They called early on the man (= visit)
The man on whom they called



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- Prepositional verbs can be seen in their acceptance of passivization, whereas verbs with
prepositional phrases do not admit of the passive.
They called on the man ~ The man was called on
Not * Lunch was called after. (Non-V
prep
)
- Prepositional verbs accept pronominal question form with who(m) for personal and what
for non-personal objects.
Who did you come across yesterday?
What are you looking for?
Sometimes, it is very difficult for learners of English to distinguish prepositional verbs
and prepositional phrases. Let‟s consider the following sentences:
He looked at the girl
This sentence can be given two analyses. In one, there is an intransitive verb (looked)
followed by a prepositional phrase (at the girl) as adverbial. In the other, the prepositional
verb (looked at) is a transitive verb and (the girl) is direct object.
Quirk, R. (1973. A University Grammar of English, p. 350

Analysis 1:
V A



He looked at the girl.


V O
Analysis 2:
The two analyses can be regarded as different but equally valid ways of looking at the
same sentence.
- In his research, Chalker (1984. Current English Grammar, p.213) points out the
differences between Prepositional verbs and Verbs with prepositional phrases basing
mainly on syntactic and phonological features. Those differences are illustrated as follows:

Prepositional verbs
(What? Who?)
Verbs with prepositional phrases
(Where? When?)
He ran up huge telephone bills.
He ran up the hill
He turned down my offer
They turned down the lane



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We joined in the celebrations

We joined in April 1980
She waited for her boyfriend
She waited for a long time
He looked at his watch
I looked at six o‟clock

TABLE 1: Differences between Prepositional verbs and
Verbs with prepositional phrases
Syntactically, prepositional verbs can be divided into monotransitive and ditransitive:
■ Monotransitive prepositional verbs take only one object.
The police are searching for the escaped prisoner.
- For this kind of verbs, the preposition must always precede its complement or object.
I ran into an old friend yesterday. (= met by chance)
I ran into her yesterday.
- Some of them can take (a gerund) or a (Wh-clause) as their objects
Don‟t look out of the window. Concentrate on studying!
It depends on what he does.

■ Ditransitive prepositional verbs are the verbs whose direct object must be introduced by
a preposition. Verbs of this kind have the form:
Verb + X + Preposition + Y
With most of the verbs X is usually a person and Y is usually a thing, so preposition of
ditransitive prepositional verbs is separated from its verb and is placed right after the
indirect object. For example, congratulate on, convince of, introduce to, remind of…
When I heard that he had passed his examination, I phoned him to congratulate him
on his success.
I love this music. It always makes me feel very happy. It reminds me of a warm spring day
Raymond Murphy (1985. English Grammar in Use, p.258- 261)
However, there are some exceptions. In some structures, X could be a thing and Y may be
a person.

I didn‟t have any money. I have to borrow some from a friend of mine.
The teacher explained everything clearly to her students.




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Semantically, like phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs are used in their normal sense (e.g.
consist of, tell someone about, thank someone for, believe in) or they can vary in their
idiomaticity as in go into (a problem) (= investigate), get over (an illness) (= recover).

Verb
Preposition
Example
Meaning
Call
In
Please call in and see us when
you are next in town.
Visit a place or person for a
short time, usually when you
are going somewhere else.
Go
With
That shirt goes really well with
your blue jacket.
If one thing goes with
another, they suit each other.

- For prepositional verbs, when the prepositions are monosyllabic, the stress usually falls
on the verb “He `called on the man”. But when the prepositions have two syllables, the
preposition is usually stressed “Look `into something.”
* The difference between Phrasal Verbs and Prepositional Verbs
According to Quirk, R et al (1972. A Grammar of Contemporary English, p. 815-816),
Phrasal Verbs and Prepositional Verbs display certain phonological and syntactical
differences:
+ Phonologically, the particle in phrasal verbs is normally stressed and, in final position,
bears the nuclear tone, whereas the particle in the prepositional verbs is normally
unstressed and has the „tail‟ of the nuclear tone on the lexical verb.
E.g. He called `up the man ~ The man was called `UP
He `call on the man ~ The man was `called on
+ Syntactically, the particle of a phrasal verb can often stand either before or after the
noun, but it can only stand after a personal pronoun: Call up the man, call the man up, call
him up, but not *call up him. Table 2 shows these and other criteria that distinguish the
two classes of verbs. Those differences are summarized in the table below:

Phonological and
syntactic features.
Prepositional verb
Call on = „visit‟
Phrasal verb
Call up = „summon‟
Stress placement

They `CALL on the man.
They call `UP the man.

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Position of personal
pronoun object
They call on him.
* They call him on.
* They call up him.
They call him up.
Position of noun object
* They call the man on.
They `call on the man.
They call the man up.
They call up the man.
Position in relative
clause
The man on whom they call.
* The man up whom they call.
The man who they call up
Adverb insertion
They call `early on the man.
* They call early up the man.
They call up the man early.

TABLE 2: Differences between Phrasal verbs and Prepositional verbs
1.1.2.3. Phrasal – Prepositional verbs
The third major type of multi-word verb shares characteristics of both phrasal and
prepositional verbs. “Phrasal-prepositional verbs consist of a lexical verb combined with
both an adverbial particle and a preposition”.
(2009. Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English, p.123-124)
They have the structure as follows:

Phrasal prepositional verb = Verb + Particle + preposition.

For example, „look forward to’ has the lexical verb look, the adverbial particle forward,
and the preposition to:
I‟m looking forward to the weekend
. You should look up to your teachers
Phrasal-prepositional verbs are always transitive because they end with a preposition and
must therefore be followed by an object.
I don‟t know how you put up with these conditions.
Alexander (1988. Longman English Grammar, p.158)
+ Some verbs can be used in the passive but others cannot.
All the old regulations were done away with. (passive)
I find it difficult to keep up with you. (no passive)
+ Adverbs cannot be inserted immediately before the object of these verbs but can be
placed between the particles.
*He puts up with willingly that secretary of his.



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He puts up willingly with that secretary of his.
We look forward eagerly to your next party.
Quirk (1973. A University grammar of English, p.351)
+ In relative clauses and questions, the particles are positioned after the verb.
The party which we were looking forward to so eagerly.
Who(m) does he put up with willingly?
Or (less commonly) the final particle can be brought into initial position:
The party to which we were looking forward so eagerly.
With whom does he put up willingly?

+ Phrasal–prepositional verbs function as a semantic unit and can sometimes be replaced
by a single transitive lexical verb with similar meaning. For example:
Put up with such treament (= tolerate such treatment)
Get out of it (= avoid it)
Come up with a proposal (= make a proposal)
(2009. Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English, p.133)
+ Like phrasal and prepositional verbs, verbs of this group can be used with their literal
meaning (e.g. stay away from, walk up to, run away with, come up to) or they vary in
their idiomaticity like put up with (= tolerate), run out of (= use up), look up to (=
respect), look in on (= visit). Each verb conveys a single, indivisible meaning.
Why don‟t you look in on me next time you‟re in town? (= visit)
We‟re always running out of matches in our house.
I‟m not prepared to put up with these conditions any longer.
+ The stress of phrasal-prepositional verbs often falls on the particle when the verb is in
isolation or when the object is a pronoun „Did he take you `up on it?‟. When the object is
a noun, the stress applies as followed: „Did he take you up on your invi`tation?‟.(= accept
someone‟s offer)

1.1.2.4. Other multi-word verb constructions
In addition to the three types of multi-word verbs discussed above, verbs are also used in
relatively fixed or idiomatic multi-word constructions:

Verb + prepositional phrase combinations
Verb + verb combinations



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Verb + noun phrase combinations

+ Many verb + prepositional phrase combinations are idiomatic. These include
combinations like bear in mind, fall in love, take into account, take into consideration.
Such combinations function semantically as a unit that can often be replaced by a single
lexical verb, as in the following sentences:
I also have to bear in mind the interests of my wife and family. (= Remember)
The triumph came as a surprise to many. (= Surprised)
The organization had to take into consideration human feelings. (= Consider)

+ A second idiomatic category involves verb + verb combinations, such as make do
(with) and let NP go / be:
Patient had to make do with quiche or ham salad.
He was very reluctant to let him go.
+ There are a few verbs – such as take, make, have, and do – that can be used for many
meanings. These verbs can combine with noun phrases to form idiomatic verbal
expressions. In many cases, the combination also includes a following preposition. For
example:
Yes, I‟ll take care of it.
Let‟s have a look at this.
But you know how you make fun of me sometimes.
Douglas Biber et al (1999. Grammar of Spoken and Written English, p. 427)
You have to study harder to keep pace with your classmates.
I haven‟t sent letters to her for a long time. In fact, we have lost touch with each other.
I‟d like to take advantage of this opportunity to explain the difficulty I‟ve met
English 12 (2007, p. 89)

In short, English multi-word verbs have been described and classified into phrasal verbs,
prepositional verbs, phrasal-prepositional verbs and other multi-word verb constructions
with their own syntactical, semantic and phonological features. A clear understanding of
the different types of multi-word verbs provides a basis for teachers in analyzing students‟

errors. It also enables teachers to better organize the teaching of these special verbs.




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1.2. Error and Error Analysis
1.2.1. What is “error”?
In language teaching literature, various definitions of errors have been presented by
experts. John Norrish in his book (1983. Language Learners and their errors, p. 7) calls a
„systematic deviation‟, when a learner has not learnt something and consistently „gets it
wrong, an „error‟.
We, for the purpose of this study, adopt the definition of error by Richards stated in
Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. (2002, p. 184)
“…Error (in the speech or writing of a second language learner) is the use of a
linguistic item (e.g. a word, a grammatical item, a speech act, etc.) in a way which a fluent
or native speaker of the language regards as showing faulty or incomplete learning”.

1.2.2. What is „error analysis‟?
According to Richards, “Error analysis is the study and analysis of the errors made by
second and foreign language learners". Emerged in the 1960s, Error analysis may be
carried out in order to:
a) Identify strategies which learners use in language learning.
b) Try to identify the causes of learners‟ errors
c) Obtain information on common difficulties in language learning as an aid to
teaching, or in the preparation of teaching materials.
Jack.C.Richards & Richard Schmidt (2002. Longman Dictionary of language
Teaching and Applied Linguistics, p. 184-185)

1.2.3. Classification of errors

A number of different categories for describing errors have been identified. According to
Corder, S.P (1973. Introducing Applied Linguistics), errors fall into four categories:
Omission of some required element; Addition of some unnecessary or incorrect element;
Selection of an incorrect element; and Misordering of the elements. Corder also includes
the linguistics level of the errors under the sub-areas of morphology, syntax, and lexicon.

John Brian Heaton divides errors into two main types: Global and Local errors.
According to him: “Those errors which cause only minor trouble and confusion in a



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particular clause or sentence without hindering the reader‟s comprehension of the
sentence are categorized as Local errors”. “Global errors are usually those which involve
the overall structure of a sentence and result in misunderstanding or even failure to
understand the message which is being conveyed”.
J. B. Heaton (1998. Dictionary of Common Errors, p.154)
Richards, Jack C. (1984. A Non-Contrastive Approach to Error Analysis, p.172-188)
distinguishes three major types of errors: Interlingual errors, Intralingual errors and
Developmental errors.
Richards, J.C. (1992. Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics) defines
“Interlingual errors as being the result of language transfer, which is caused by the
learner‟s first language”. Interlingual errors may occur at different levels such as transfer
of phonological, morphological, grammatical and lexico-semantic elements of the native
language into the target language.
“Intralingual errors are those which reflect the general characteristics of rule learning,
such as faulty generalization, incomplete application of rules, and failure to learn

conditions under which rules apply”.
“Developmental errors illustrate the learners‟ attempt to build up concepts and hypotheses
about the target language from their limited experience of it in the classroom or textbook”.
Richards, J.C. (1974. “A Non-Contrastive Approach to Error Analysis”, p. 174-175)
In this study, the researcher would like to adopt the Richards‟ error classification theory to
predict and analyze students‟ errors in using English multi-word verbs because sufficient
types of errors and causes of errors were much taken into account in his theory.
 Distinction between „error‟ and „mistake‟
According to Richards, a learner makes a mistake when writing or speaking because of
lack of attention, fatigue, carelessness, or some other aspects of performance. Mistakes
can be self-corrected when attention is called. Whereas, error is the use of linguistic items
in a way that a fluent or native speaker of the language regards it as showing faulty or
incomplete learning. In other words, it occurs because the learner does not know what is
correct, and thus it cannot be self-corrected.
Richards, J.C. (2002. Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistic, p.184)

1.2.4. Possible causes of errors in second language learning