Guide them to use phrasl verbs effectiverly and provide them some tipson learning phrasal verb

Graduation paper

Phrasal Verbs in English

Part A: INTRODUCTION

1. Statement of the topic
Each language has its own character, developed by the countless generations
who have used it. In spoken English, phrasal verbs are the most common verb
forms, they have the importance that lies in the fact that they form a key part
of everyday English. Phrasal verbs are frequently used by native speakers,
especially in casual, laid-back spoken English. The importance of multiword
expression to gain fluency in language learning has been asserted by many
researchers.
In fact, phrasal verbs are often a particular problem for learners of English.
Many students generally find great differences between their English with
native speakers. When using unfamiliar phrasal verbs, a lot of students of
English, struggle with finding the right preposition. Unfortunately,
preposition usage does not follow the set rules so everything must be
memorized. Moreover, the meanings of a phrasal verb often have no relation
to the meaning of either verb or preposition which is used with it and its
meaning is often unpredictable.
In the process of learning English at Dong Do University, my studying
provides me with very basic and vital knowledge. Nevertheless, phrasal verbs
are paid little attention. Thus, the thesis paper is focus on the usage of phrasal
verbs and the way to study them effectively. Especially, I would like to
present the analysis of verb – particle combination regarding to the structure
of both verb and particle. As a student, I have little experience on in – depth
studies in grammatical field. My knowledge is just what I obtained from the
lessons in class, my teachers, books as well as any information on the

Nguyen Thi Thuong Lan

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Graduation paper

Phrasal Verbs in English

Internet. Hope that this is also helpful to the students who would like to share
ideas with other fellow students of the same interest.
2. Reason for choosing the topic
As a big part of the English vocabulary is made up of phrasal verbs, if
students of English can learn and use common phrasal verbs, their vocabulary
will be bigger, their listening and reading comprehension will improve, and
their spoken English will be more fluent and native-like.
But "There are so many phrasal verbs in English, and they all look so
confusing. How should I go about learning phrasal verbs?" This is a common
question of the learners. But phrasal verbs are a specific kind of verbs. Their
meanings are mostly conceptual or even completely idiomatic, there are no
shortcuts to phrasal verbs. Learners have to memorize them and try to use
them as much as they can. The addition of this difficulty is having to
remember which particles must be used in combination with certain verbs and
their using of the wrong particles can distort meanings and mark writing as
non – native.
Darwin and Gray (1999) noted that the students prefer using a single to a
multiword verb; consequently, they tend to avoid phrasal verbs. The reason is
simply that it takes time to store so many verb – particle constructions without

any definite rules. Moreover, the teachers also put off teaching phrasal verbs
until the students are at highly advanced level. However, no one can deny the
crucial role of phrasal verbs in the English language. Exploring phrasal verbs
in English is one of the main factors which denote a true, colloquial speaker
of English.
Therefore, this thesis is to help students face with the challenge and enable
them to take the most advantage of it. This makes a small contribution,
especially with regard to the usages and types of phrasal verbs. In fact, do not
worry about phrasal verbs, call them whatever you want. The most important
Nguyen Thi Thuong Lan

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Graduation paper

Phrasal Verbs in English

thing is that you should understand as many phrasal verbs as possible and be
able to use them. For meanings or equivalent ‘normal’ verbs, you will need to
buy a good dictionary or a phrasal verb grammar book. Hopefully, this thesis
works well to everyone.
3. Aims of study
It is obvious that foreign learners have many difficulties in understanding and
using phrasal verbs in English. With my understanding, I would like to give
some information about this matter. The specific aims of study are to:
• Bring the most basic information on phrasal verbs in English.
• Help learners understand types of phrasal verbs.

• Guide them to use phrasl verbs effectiverly and provide them some tips
on learning phrasal verbs.
In short, I hope my graduation paper will provide more useful information for
all people who want to expand their knowledge about phrasal verbs,
especially English learners.
4. Methods of study
To finish this thesis, I have based on three main methods: synthetic, list,
analysis.
Firstly is Synthetic method. This means collecting informations about phrasal
verbs from many reliable book such as: “Oxford phrasal verbs” of Oxford
University Press, “Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written
English”… and on the internet then gathered together.
Secondly, it is listing method. I have listed many examples that I took from
books, internet and from my knowledges in university in this thesis.

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Graduation paper

Phrasal Verbs in English

Lastly, analysis method. After collecting and listing the informations and
examples, they are all analyzed for readers easy to undertand.
5. Outline of the paper
The paper consists of three main parts:

Part A – INTRODUCTION, it deals with the statement of the topic, the
reason for choosing topic and the outline of the paper.
Part B – DEVELOPMENT, it mentions to overview of phrasal verbs, types of
phrasal verbs and guides to use phrasal verbs
Part C – CONCLUSION, it gives summary of the thesis, remarks and
suggestions.
APPENDIX is added at the end of this paper to supply some exercises about
phrasal verbs, key to exercises and references

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Graduation paper

Phrasal Verbs in English

Part B: DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 1: OVERVIEW OF THE PHRASAL VERBS
I. What are the phrasal verbs?
1. Definition
In English, there is one particular aspect of the grammar and vocabulary:
combinations of two (sometimes three) parts; verbs with an adverbial or
prepositional particles. It can be a core verb plus one or two particles. They
are extremely common in English and these combinations are generally called
phrasal verbs.

Some phrasal verbs are easy to understand.
E.g. Tom asked Melanie to come in.
The man in front turned round and stared at me.
The meanings are clear if you know the words come, turn and round. But
many Phrasal verbs are considered as idioms because phrasal verbs don't
always make sense from the words used in the phrase.
E.g. Fortunately, the plan came off. (= succeeded)
Why did you turn down such a good offer? (= refuse)
I can’t make out if it’s a man or women over there. (= see clearly)
Sometimes a phrasal verb has the same meaning as a one-word verb as these
examples:
Find out

=

Discover

Go back

=

Return

Leave out

=

Omit

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Phrasal Verbs in English

Sentences may contain direct and indirect objects in addition to the phrasal
verbs. Phrasal verbs are particularly frequent in the English language. Like
many other verbs, a few phrasal verbs have many meanings, especially it
often has a meaning which is different from the original verb. Look at make
up in these examples:
Make up a list

=

Make a plan

Make up more than 50%

=

Account, amount

The meaning of some phrasal verbs is pretty apparent, but for many verbs, the
meaning is not what it seems. For example, the phrasal verb "wake up" does
not mean "rise from sleep at a higher point" as would be evident from wake

(rise from sleep) and up (at a higher point).
2. Identifying phrasal verbs
A phrasal verb is formed by a verb with a preposition, a verb with an adverb,
or a verb with both an adverb and a preposition (verb + preposition, verb +
adverb or verb + preposition + adverb), any of which are part of the syntax
of the sentence, and so are a complete semantic unit.
• Verb + adverb:
Take off

=

Leave quickly, fly away

Look up

=

Find words in dictionary

Run off

=

Escape

Find out

=

Learn, get information about

• Verb + preposition:
Come across

=

Find by chance

Set up

=

Establish

Step in

=

Interfere

Get up

=

Wake up

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Phrasal Verbs in English

• Verb + adverb + preposition
Look down on

=

Think little and scorn

Put up with

=

Tolerate

Come up with

=

Devise

Look up to

=

Respect

II. Difficulties in learning phrasal verbs
Phrasal verbs are often a particular problem for learners of English. There are
several reasons for this.
1. Difficult to understand meanings
In many cases, even though both the verb and the particles in the phrasal verb
may be familiar, students may not understand the meaning of the
combination, since it can differ from the meanings of the two words used
independently. For example:
Make

=

Produce something, often using a paticular material

Put

=

Move something or someone to the stated place

Out

=

Used to show movement away from inside of a

Off

=

Away from a place or position

place

The words above are all very common words which students encounter in
their first weeks of learning English, and yet these following combinations are
not transparent:
Make out

=

Perceive, imply

Put off

=

Postpone, deter

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Phrasal Verbs in English

Among other meanings of these phrasal verbs, these meaning are unrelated to
the meanings of the individual words in the combinations. The fact that
phrasal verbs often have a number of different meanings adds to their
complexity.
2. Grammatical problems
There are some particular grammatical problems associated with phrasal
verbs. For example, there are restrictions on the positions in which an adverb
can be placed in relation to the object of a verb.
Some particles, such as about, over, round and through can be used as both
adverbs and prepositions in particular phrasal verbs combinations, although in
other combinations they are used either adverbially or prepositionally.
Some phrasal verbs are not normally used with pronouns as objects, others are
normally only used with pronouns as objects.
3. Phrasal verbs tend to be informal
It is often said that phrasal verbs tend to be rather ‘colloquial’ of ‘informal’
and more appropriate to spoken English than written, and even that it is better
to avoid them and choose single-word equivalents or synonyms instead. Here
are examples of some informal phrasal verbs and their synonyms:
Go down

=

Decline, decrease

Fall down

=

Collapse, decrease

Grow up

=

Develop, rise

Yet in many cases phrasal verbs and their synonyms have different ranges of
use, meaning, or collocation.
E.g. Our lawyers will draw up a new contract. (= write)

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Phrasal Verbs in English

Can I ring you back in half an hour? (= phone again)
If we are spending too much money, we’ll have to cut back (= spend less)
In these above sentences, the words write, phone again and spend less are
synonyms of the phrasal verbs draw up, ring back and cut back but they
cannot be substituted appropriately for a phrasal verb.
III. Phrasal verb misunderstanding
1. Phrasal Verbs and other multi-word verbs

Phrasal verbs are part of a large group of verbs called "multi-word verbs".
Phrasal verbs and other multi-word verbs are an important part of the English
language. Multi-word verbs, including phrasal verbs, are very common,
especially in spoken English. A multi-word verb is a verb like "pick up",
"turn on" or "get on with". For convenience, many people refer to all multiword verbs as phrasal verbs. These verbs consist of:
1.1. a basic verb + another word or words
The other word(s) can be prepositions and/or adverbs. The two or three words
that make up multi-word verbs form a short "phrase" - which is why these
verbs are often all called "phrasal verbs".
The important thing to remember is that a multi-word verb is still a verb. "Get"
is a verb. "Get up", is also a verb, a different verb. "Get" and "Get up" are
two different verbs. They do not have the same meaning. So you should treat
each multi-word verb as a separate verb, and learn it like any other verb.
1.2. Verb + preposition phrase combinations
Many verb + preposition phrase combinations are idiomatic. Such combinations
function semantically as a unit that can often be replaced by a single lexical verb,
as in the following sentences:
E.g. I also have to bear in mind the interests of my wife and family.

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Phrasal Verbs in English

(= remember)
The triumph came as a surprise to many.
(= surprise)
You have to take into account where the younger shoots are dominant.
(= consider)
1.3. Verb + verb combinations
A second idiomatic category involves verb + verb combinations, such as:
E.g.

Patients had to make do with quiche or ham salad.
He was ‘very reluctant’ to let him go.
I think it is time to let it be.

1.4. Verb + noun phrase combinations
There are a few verbs such as: take, make, have and do that can be used for
many meanings. These verbs cam combine with noun phrases to form idiomatic
verbal expressions. In many cases, the combination also includes a following
preposition. For example:
E.g.

But you know how you make fun of me sometimes.
Let’s have a look at this.
Do you want me to do your hair?
Yes, I’ll take care of it.

2. Phrasal verbs and idioms.
Most commonly, literal phrasal verbs are verbs + directional prepositions,
such as “sit down” and “stand up”. But many phrasal verbs have idiom
meanings, they are called idiomatic phrasal verbs. That is, the meaning of the
whole verb is not related to the meaning of the parts of the verb. So we

always misunderstand and think that all the phrasal verbs are idioms.
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Phrasal Verbs in English

E.g. She opened her suitcase and packed all the clothes in (Literal
meaning)
He decided to pack his job in (leave his job) (Idiom meaning)
Sometimes a single phrasal verb can have both literal, non-idiomatic meaning
and one or more idiomatic or figurative meanings.
E.g. If you want to see the moon you have to look up at the sky
The word up here is used as a kind of adverb (adverb particle is the technical
term) and it doesn’t really change the meaning of the verb look — it just tells
us the direction you’re looking. Look means to use your eyes and up means
the opposite of down but the phrasal verb look up can have several different
meanings. For example in the sentence:
E.g. When you don’t know the meaning of a word and you look up the word
in a dictionary
There’s nothing directional about the word up. Look in this phrase still means
use your eyes, but the meaning of the phrase as a whole has a very specific
focus – searching for information in a reference book or online.
E.g. I’ll look you up next time I’m in London
Look up here means visit someone you have not seen for a long time. Or

another meaning in this following sentence: “Things are looking up”. It
means improve. So a phrasal verb can have some meaning, including literal
meaning and idiomatic meaning. These are some examples:
Take off your coat

=

Disengage

The aircraft/flight/pilot took off

=

Fly away

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Phrasal Verbs in English

The thief/boy/dog took off

=

The sales/product/economy took off =

Run away
Develop, increase

So we can see, not all the phrasal verbs are idiom. Only idiomatic phrasal
verb which has idiom meaning is a part of idiom. And other types of phrasal
verb are not. It is, however, the figurative or idiomatic application in everyday
speech which makes phrasal verbs so important.
E.g. I hope you will get over your operation quickly (= Overcome)
Work hard and get your examination over (= Stop worrying)

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Phrasal Verbs in English

Chapter 2: TYPES OF PHRASAL VERBS
I. Dividing by semantic
Phrasal verbs are common verb English. Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman
(1999), however, separated phrasal verbs into four semantic categories: literal,
aspectual, idiomatic, and polysemous.
1. Literal phrasal verbs
Literal phrasal verbs are the most commonly, their structure include verbs +

directional prepositions. Here are some examples:
Go ahead

=

Proceed

Come back

=

Return

Look down

=

Turn your eyes downwards

Set up

=

Make a machine

2. Aspectual phrasal verbs
Aspectual phrasal verbs, as defined by Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freemen
(1999), are phrasal verbs whose meaning is not as transparent as literal
phrasal verbs, but the meaning is not idiomatic either.
E.g. Get over

=

Go to a place

Flame out

=

Fail

Look after

=

Take care of

Call on

=

Visit someone for a short time

3. Idiomatic phrasal verbs
Idiomatic phrasal verbs are phrasal verbs whose meanings are idiom and their
whole meanings are different from the meaning of verbs or prepositions.
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Phrasal Verbs in English

E.g. Follow up

=

Take further action about something

Pass away

=

Die

Get over

=

Deal with, gain control

4. Polysemous phrasal verbs
The final semantic category of phrasal verbs called polysemous which can
have multiple meanings.
E.g. Pick up

=

Become better

=

Obtain or buy something

=

Collect things

Go through =

Pass through something from one end to the other

=

Experience or suffer something undergo something

=

Look at, check something closely and carefully

II. Dividing by structure
Most commonly, we often divide phrasal verbs into two major subcategories
based on its structure. Phrasal verbs may be either intransitive or transitive.
I. Intransitive phrasal verbs
• Structure: Verb + Particle
Intransitive phrasal verbs are phrasal verbs that are not followed by an object.

According to the “Student grammar of spoken and written English” of
Longman, conversation and fiction use phrasal verbs much more
frequently than news and academic prose do. This difference is
especially noteworthy for intransitive phrasal verbs. They are extremely
common in conversation and fiction, but extremely rare in news and
academic prose. One reason for this difference is that most phrasal verbs
are colloquial in tone.
In fact, the most common intransitive phrasal verbs are active verbs that are
used as directives. They often occur as imperatives. Since imperative

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Phrasal Verbs in English

clauses intransitive phrasal verbs are also most common on those
registers:
Shut up! Just forget it. (Conversation)
Go off to bed now. (Conversation)
Stand up straight! People are looking! (Fiction)
In declarative clauses, the common intransitive phrasal verbs usually have
human subjects (underlined below):
No, he came over to the study. (Conversation)
Crowe sat up and stared at Frederica. (Fiction)

I sat down behind my desk. (Fiction)
The intransitive combination come on in conversation is the most common
phrasal verb in any register. This verb has three major functions:
As an exclamation in a call for action:
E.g. Come on, let Andy do it. (Conversation)
As a pre-departure summons to move:
E.g. Come on, we better to go. (Conversation)
As the main verb in a clause, meaning ‘to start’ or ‘become activated’:
E.g. The heating didn’t come on this morning. (Conversation)
The intransitive phrasal verb go on is also extremely common. Go on is
similar to come on in having a number different functions. However,
unlike come on, go on used often in both written and spoken registers:
As an exclamatory call for action (like come on above):
E.g. It’s alright, rub it in. Go on! (Conversation)
To express continuation:
E.g. I just ignored her and went on. I didn’t have time to talk. (Conversation)
As time we went on, Liebig developed his thesis. (Academic)
To mark continuation of some general action (as a transitive verb with a
complement ing- or to-infinitive clause as direct object):

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Phrasal Verbs in English

E.g. Labor would go on getting the public’s support by constructing strong
unity of purpose. (News)
To mark an unspecified activity, with a meaning similar to ‘happen’:
E.g. Think what’s going on. It’s dreadful. (Fiction)
Here are some other examples of intransitive phrasal verbs:
Father promised that we would never come back to this horrible place.
Charles grew up to be a lot like his father.
He was hit on the head very hard, but after several minutes, he started
to come to again.
I woke up when the rooster crowed.
II. Transitive phrasal verbs
Transitive phrasal verbs are phrasal verbs that must take direct objects. They
are more evenly spread across written and spoken registers. Phrasal verbs
which take objects can be separable or inseparable and they can be divided
into 4 types. The following article discusses the 4 types of transitive phrasal
verbs in the English language as well as provides examples to narrate the
differences.
1. Inseparable transitive phrasal verbs
• Structure: Verb + Particle + Object
Of the transitive phrasal verbs, some are inseparable transitive phrasal verbs.
The preposition functioning as a particle must directly follow the verb in
inseparable transitive phrasal verbs. Examples of inseparable transitive
phrasal verbs include:
Come across

=

Discover

Get in

=

Enter

Get on

=

Mount

Keep at

=

Persevere

Lay in on

=

Criticize

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Phrasal Verbs in English

Run into

=

Encounter

Settle on

=

Decide

In the following table, we can see correct example and incorrect example of
inseparable phrasal verbs:
Come across
The librarian came across the missing book. (Correct)
The librarian came the missing book across. (Incorrect)
Lay in on
The manager really laid in on the lazy employee. (Correct)
The manager really laid the lazy employee in on. (Incorrect)
The manager really laid in the lazy employee on. (Incorrect)
Settle on
The painter settled on large canvas. (Correct)
The painted settled the large canvas on. (Incorrect)
With the following phrasal verbs, the lexical part of the verb (the part of the

phrasal verb that carries the "verb-meaning") cannot be separated from the
prepositions (or other parts) that accompany it.
E.g. The students went over the material before the exam. They should
have gone over it twice.
I ran across my old roommate at the college reunion.
Carlos ran into his English professor in the hallway.
It seemed strange to see my old boss wait on tables.
The old minister continued to call on his sick parishioners.
2. Optionally separable transitive phrasal verbs

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Phrasal Verbs in English

• Structure: Verb + Particle + Object
Verb + Object + Particle
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 the following sentences:
E.g. They turned down my offer.
They turned my offer down.
Other transitive phrasal verbs are optionally separable transitive phrasal verbs.

The preposition functioning as a particle can follow either the verb or the
direct object. Examples of optionally separable transitive phrasal verbs
include:
Call off

=

Cancer

Feel up

=

Grope

Hand in

=

Submit

Jack up

=

Raise

Pass on

=

Transmit

Rule out

=

Eliminate

Work out

=

Solve

The object may come after the following phrasal verbs or it may separate the
two parts. These are some example:
Turn off:

I turned off the light.
I turned the light off.

Do over:

You have to do over this paint job.
You have to do this paint job over.

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Call off:

Phrasal Verbs in English

The boss called off the meeting.
The boss called the meeting off.

Hand in:

All students must hand in their essay.
All students must hand their essay in.

Rule out:

The actress ruled out both movies.
The actress ruled both movies out.

3. Obligatorily separable transitive phrasal verbs
• Structure: Verb + Object (pronoun) + Particle
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":
John switched on the radio. (Correct)
John switched the radio on. (Correct)
John switched it on. (Correct)

John switched on it. (Incorrect)
Of the separable transitive phrasal verbs, others are obligatorily separable
transitive phrasal verbs. When the direct object is in the form of a pronoun,
the preposition functioning as a particle must follow the pronoun, not the
verbs in which the direct object is in the form of a pronoun. When the object
of the phrasal verbs: blow up, call off, give back, hold up, turn on, leave
out… is a pronoun (it / them / me / you / him / her / us), the two parts of the
phrasal verb must be separated. These are some correct examples and
incorrect examples:
Look up:

The student looked up the word. (Correct)
The student looked the word up. (Correct)

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Phrasal Verbs in English
The student looked it up. (Correct)
The student looked up it. (Incorrect)

Check out: The patron checked out the book. (Correct)
The patron checked the book out. (Correct)
The patron checked it out. (Correct)

The patron checked out it. (Incorrect)
4. Three-word phrasal Verbs (Transitive)
• Structure: Verb + Adverb + Preposition
This types of phrasal verbs are also called phrasal-prepositional verbs. This
type of phrasal verb consists of a lexical verb combined with both an
adverbial particle and a 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. (Conversation)
With the following phrasal verbs, you will find three parts, here are some
example of three-word phrasal verbs:
I was talking to Mom on the phone when the operator broke in on our call.
After our month-long trip, it was time to catch up with the neighbors
and the news around town.
The boys promised to check up on the conditions of the summer house
from time to time.
After years of giving nothing, the old parishioner was able to come up
with a thousand-dollar donation.
We tried to cut down on the money we were spending on
entertainment.
This table incldues some examples of transitive and intransitive phrasal verbs:
phrasal
verbs

Nguyen Thi Thuong Lan

Examples
Meaning

direct
object

20

N14A2- Dong Do University


Graduation paper

Phrasal Verbs in English

intransitive get up
phrasal
break
verbs
down
transitive
phrasal
verbs

put off

rise from
bed

I don't like to get up.

cease to
function

He was late because his

car broke down.

Postpone

We will have to put off

the
meeting.

They turned down

my offer.

turn down Refuse

Chapter 3: GUIDES TO USE PHRASAL VERBS
I. Parts of phrasal verbs
1. Verbs and particles
A phrasal verb often has a verb and a particle or two. Sometimes a phrasal
verb can create a noun or an adjective.
1.1. Verbs
Verb is a main part of a phrasal verb. One verb can combine with different
particles to create phrasal verbs with different meanings. Look at these
examples of phrasal verbs created by the verb put:
Put aside

=

Place something to one side

Put down

=

Come down to the ground (plane)

Put on

=

Wear clothes

Put about

=

Change direction (ship)

Put out

=

Move out to sea from a port

There are many verbs in English to create phrasal verbs but some verbs are
common and they are used more than other verbs. They are some key verbs,
such as: come, get, go, look, make, put, take…
1.2. Particles

Nguyen Thi Thuong Lan

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N14A2- Dong Do University


Graduation paper

Phrasal Verbs in English

Particles are smalls words known as prepositions (e.g. from, to, with) or adverbs
(e.g. out, up, about). In some phrasal verbs the particle has a clear basic
meaning. Look at the examples of different particles used with the verb invite:
Jack invited me out.

=

Let’s go out together.

Rosie invited me in.

=

Please come in!

Jill invited me over.

=

Come to our place.

Paul invited me round. =

Come to my house for dinner.

Mark invited me up.

Come upstairs to my flat.

=

Susie invited me along. =

Come with us!

Bill invited me back.

Come back home with me.

=

Most particles convey a number of different senses. For example, over can
have various meanings, including:
• Changing position, e.g. in fall over (fall to the ground) or move over
(change the place where you are sitting or standing to make room for
someone else)
• An idea of thoroughness, e.g. in read over (read throughly) or talk
over (discuss something thoroughly before making a decision).
There are some particles that are common in phrasal verbs and they
often express some status, for example:

Up
Out
Off

=
=

Expresses the idea of totally finishing something
Has basic meaning of movement from inside to

=

outside.
Has a wide variety of meanings. It is often used
with verbs of movement to indicate movement away

On
Around

=
=

from a place.
Expresses idea of further
Is meaning of movement in a circle or curve to face
in the opposite direction or to arrive at the other

Through

=

Nguyen Thi Thuong Lan

side of something
Gives an idea of going out from one side of
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N14A2- Dong Do University


Graduation paper

Phrasal Verbs in English
something to the other, or from the beginning to

Back
About

=

the end of something
Conveys the idea of returning to the place where

=

you were before or to an earlier time
Is often used to show the connection between the
verb and its object

2. Nouns and adjectives based on phrasal verbs

2.1. Nouns made from verb + particle
In English we often create nouns from verbs, e.g. to invite / an invitation. In
the same way it is sometimes possible to create a noun from a phrasal verb.
E.g. Her son dropped out of college last year. (gave up his course)
There were a lot of dropouts that year.
Somebody broke in last night and stole a computer from the school.
(entered by force to steal something)
That’s the second break-in this year.
The plural is formed by adding –s to the particle, not the verb as in break-ins,
dropouts, rip-offs… But there is an exception, it is goings-on (strange or
amusing events), which is always plural.
Verb + particle noun forms are sometimes written with a hyphen as in breakin, check-in, cover-up; and sometimes without as in dropout, checkout,
crackdown. Nouns with –out and –over are usually written as one word as in
dropout, lookout, check out, handout, changeover, leftovers. Nouns with –
in, –up and less common particles usually have a hyphen as in lie-in, mix-up,
put-down, run-through.
2.2. Nouns made from particle + verb
Some phrasal verbs have nouns forms where the particle is first. The stress in
pronunciation is usually on the particle. These are examples:
Phrasal verb Particle + verb noun
Set out
Outset

Example
I knew from the outset that there would

Nguyen Thi Thuong Lan

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N14A2- Dong Do University


Graduation paper

Fall down

Downfall

Look on

Onlooker

Phrasal Verbs in English
be problems. (beginning)
The economic crisis caused the
downfall of the government. (sudden
failure or end)
Cowds of onlookers watched as the
police arrested the man. (someone who
watches an event but doesn’t take part)

2.3. Adjectives
There are also adjectives which are based on phrasal verbs.
E.g. a broken-down vehicle (vehicle whose engine has stopped working)
a breakdown truck (truck which helps drivers who have broken down)
blocked-up drains (drains where the water cannot flow properly)
3. Pronunciation patterns of Phrasal verbs
The main pronunciation question with phrasal verbs concerns the
placement and distribution of stress on the verb, the particle and the other

words in the sentence. Here some guidelines to help you. With a few
exceptions, phrasal verbs have either one stress or two stresses.
3.1. Phrasal verbs with one stress
In phrasal verbs with one stress, the main stress is often on the verb, and no
stress on the particle.
E.g. He ‘makes for the door
She ‘looks at all the options
In the majority of phrasal verbs of this type, the particle is a preposition like
at, for, from, of, or to. These particles often have both a strong form, such as:
at /æt/

from /fr m/

of / v/

and a weak form, such as:
at / t/

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from /fr m/

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of / v/

N14A2- Dong Do University


Graduation paper

Phrasal Verbs in English

It is usually the weak form that is used in phrasal verbs with one stress.
However, if the particle comes at the end of a phrase, the strong form would
be used, though still unstressed:
E.g. What would you ‘care for?
What are you ‘looking at?
The speaker might also choose to stress the particle in order to convey a
particular meaning, for example an emphasis, or contrast, or correction. In
this case the speaker is following the normal rules of stress placement in
discourse.
E.g. I saw him ‘speaking to the president
 Yes, and later he spoke ‘for the president
3.2. Phrasal verbs with two stresses
These phrasal verbs have both a primary and a secondary stress. The primary
stress is on the second word, the particle. The secondary stress is on the first
word, the verb. The majority of phrasal verbs are like this.
E.g. How are you making ‘out in your new home?
I’ve set the oven to turn ‘on at 5 p.m
These phrasal verbs are 'separable': that is, the verb and the particle can be
separated, with the object of the verb coming between them. Separable
phrasal verbs can be used in three possible ways, and this affects where the
stress falls.
• When the object of a separable phrasal verb is a pronoun, it must
come between the verb and the particle. In this case, the primary stress is on
the particles, secondary stress is on the verb:
E.g. Can you 'make it 'out?
Please 'turn it 'on
Nguyen Thi Thuong Lan

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N14A2- Dong Do University