English phrasal

verbs

In English traditional grammar, a phrasal verb is the combination of two or three words from
different grammatical categories – a verb and a particle, such as an adverb or a preposition – to
form a single semantic unit on a lexical or syntactic level.[1] Examples: turn down, run into, sit up.
There are tens of thousands of them, and they are in everyday, constant use. These semantic
units cannot be understood based upon the meanings of the individual parts alone, but must be
taken as a whole. In other words, the meaning is non-compositional and thus unpredictable.[2]
Phrasal verbs that include a preposition are known as prepositional verbs and phrasal verbs that
include a particle are also known as particle verbs. Additional alternative terms for phrasal verb
are compound verb, verb-adverb combination, verb-particle construction, two-part word/verb or
three-part word/verb (depending on the number of particles) and multi-word verb.[3]

Phrasal verbs are differentiated from other classifications of multi-word verbs and free
combinations by criteria based on idiomaticity, replacement by a single-word verb, wh-question
formation and particle movement.[4][5]

Examples

There are at least three main types of phrasal verb constructions depending on whether the verb
combines with a preposition, a particle, or both.[6] The phrasal verb constructions in the
following examples are in bold.
Verb + preposition (prepositional verbs)[7]
When the element is a preposition, it is the head of a full prepositional phrase and the
phrasal verb is thus prepositional. These phrasal verbs can also be thought of as transitive
and non-separable; the complement follows the phrasal verb.
a. Who is looking after the kids? – after is a preposition that introduces the prepositional
phrase after the kids.
b. They picked on nobody. – on is a preposition that introduces the prepositional phrase on
nobody.
c. I ran into an old friend. – into is a preposition that introduces the prepositional phrase into
an old friend.[8]
d. She takes after her mother. – after is a preposition that introduces the prepositional
phrase after her mother.
e. Sam passes for a linguist. – for is a preposition that introduces the prepositional phrase
for a linguist.
f. You should stand by your friend. – by is a preposition that introduces the prepositional
phrase by your friend
Verb + particle (particle verbs)
When the element is a particle, it cannot (or no longer) be construed as a preposition, but
rather is a particle because it does not take a complement.[9] These verbs can be transitive
or intransitive. If they are transitive, they are separable.
a. They brought that up twice. – up is a particle, not a preposition.
b. You should think it over. – over is a particle, not a preposition.
c. Why does he always dress down? – down is a particle, not a preposition.
d. You should not give in so quickly. – in is a particle, not a preposition.
e. Where do they want to hang out? – out is a particle, not a preposition.
f. She handed it in. – in is a particle, not a preposition.
Verb + particle + preposition (particle-prepositional verbs)
Many phrasal verbs combine a particle and a preposition. Just as for prepositional verbs,
particle-prepositional verbs are not separable.
a. Who can put up with that? – up is a particle and with is a preposition.[10]
b. She is looking forward to a rest. – forward is a particle and to is a preposition.
c. The other tanks were bearing down on my Panther. – down is a particle and on is a
preposition.
d. They were really teeing off on me. – off is a particle and on is a preposition.
e. We loaded up on snacks. – up is a particle and on is a preposition
f. Susan has been sitting in for me. – in is a particle and for is a preposition.
The aspect of these types of verbs that unifies them under the single banner phrasal verb is the
fact that their meaning cannot be understood based upon the meaning of their parts taken in
isolation: the meaning of pick up is distinct from pick; the meaning of hang out is not obviously
related to hang.

Distinguishing phrasal verb types

When a particle verb is transitive, it can look just like a prepositional verb.[11] This similarity is
source of confusion, since it obscures the difference between prepositional and particle verbs. A
simple diagnostic distinguishes between the [prepositional verb and the inseparable phrasal
verb], however. When the object of a particle verb is a definite pronoun, it can and usually does
precede the particle.[12] In contrast, the object of a preposition can never precede the
preposition.[13]

a. You can bank on Susan. – on is a preposition.

b. *You can bank Susan on. – The object of the preposition cannot precede the preposition.
a. You can take on Susan. – on is a particle.
b. You can take Susan on. – The object of the particle verb can precede the particle.
a. He is getting over the situation. – over is a preposition.
b. *He is getting the situation over. – The object of the preposition cannot precede the
preposition in the phrasal verb.
a. He is thinking over the situation. – over is a particle.
b. He is thinking the situation over. – The object of the particle verb can precede the
particle

Thus the distinction between particles and prepositions is made by function, because the same
word can function sometimes as a particle and sometimes as a preposition.

Terminology

The terminology of phrasal verbs is inconsistent. Modern theories of syntax tend to use the term
phrasal verb to denote particle verbs only; they do not view prepositional verbs as phrasal
verbs.[14] In contrast, literature in English as a second or foreign language ESL/EFL, tends to
employ the term phrasal verb to encompass both prepositional and particle verbs.[15]
Note that prepositions and adverbs can have a literal meaning that is spatial or orientational.
Many English verbs interact with a preposition or an adverb to yield a meaning that can be
readily understood from the constituent elements.

He walked across the square.

She opened the shutters and looked outside.

These more readily understandable combinations are not phrasal verbs, although EFL/ESL
books and dictionaries may include them in lists of phrasal verbs.[16] [17]

Furthermore, the same words that occur as a genuine phrasal verb can also appear in other
contexts, as in

1(a) She looked up his address. Phrasal verb.

1(b) She looked his address up. Phrasal verb.
2(a) When he heard the crash, he looked up. Not a phrasal verb.
2(b) When he heard the crash, he looked up at the sky. Not a phrasal verb.

The terminology used to denote the particle is also inconsistent. Sometimes it is called an
adverb and at other times an intransitive prepositional phrase.[18] The inconsistent use of
terminology in these areas is a source of confusion over what qualifies as a phrasal verb and the
status of the particle or a preposition.

Concerning the history of the term phrasal verb, Tom McArthur writes:

"...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 [19]."

The value of this choice and its alternatives (including separable verb for Germanic languages) is
debatable. In origin the concept is based on translation linguistics; as many single-word English
and Latinate words are translatable by a phrasal verb complex in English, therefore the logic is
that the phrasal verb complex must be a complete semantic unit in itself. One should consider in
this regard that the actual term phrasal verb suggests that such constructions should form
phrases. In most cases however, they clearly do not form phrases. Hence the very term phrasal
verb is misleading and a source of confusion, which has motivated some to reject the term
outright.[20]

Catenae
The aspect of phrasal verb constructions that makes them difficult to learn for non-native
speakers of English is that their meaning is non-compositional. That is, one cannot know what a
given phrasal verb construction means based upon what the verb alone and/or the preposition
and/or particle alone mean, as emphasized above. This trait of phrasal verbs is also what makes
them interesting for linguists, since they appear to defy the principle of compositionality. An
analysis of phrasal verbs in terms of catenae (=chains), however, is not challenged by the
apparent lack of meaning compositionality. The verb and particle/preposition form a catena, and
as such, they qualify as a concrete unit of syntax. The following dependency grammar trees
illustrate the point:[21]

The words of each phrasal verb construction are highlighted in orange. These words form a
catena because they are linked together in the vertical dimension. They constitute units of
meaning, and these units are stored as multi-part wholes in the lexicon.

Shifting

A complex aspect of phrasal verbs concerns the distinction between prepositional verbs and
particle verbs that are transitive (as discussed and illustrated above). Particle verbs that are
transitive allow some variability in word order, depending on the relative weight of the
constituents involved. Shifting often occurs when the object is very light, e.g.
 a. Fred chatted up the girl with red hair. – Canonical word order
b. Fred chatted her up. – Shifting occurs because the definite pronoun her is very light.
c. Fred chatted the girl up. - The girl is also very light.
d. ?Fred chatted the redhead up. - A three-syllable object can appear in either position for
many speakers.
e. ??Fred chatted the girl with red hair up. – Shifting is unlikely unless it is sufficiently
motivated by the weight of the constituents involved.
a. They dropped off the kids from that war zone. – Canonical word order
b. They dropped them off. – Shifting occurs because the definite pronoun them is very light.
c. ??They dropped the kids from that war zone off. – Shifting is unlikely unless it is
sufficiently motivated by the weight of the constituents involved.
a. Mary made up a really entertaining story. – Canonical word order
b. Mary made it up. – Shifting occurs because the definite pronoun it is very light.
c. ??Mary made a really entertaining story up. – Shifting is unlikely unless it is sufficiently
motivated by the weight of the constituents involved.

Shifting occurs between two (or more) sister constituents that appear on the same side of their
head. The lighter constituent shifts leftward and the heavier constituent shifts rightward, and
this happens to accommodate the relative weight of the two. Dependency grammar trees are
again used to illustrate the point:

The trees illustrate when shifting can occur. English sentence structures that grow down and to
the right are easier to process. There is a consistent tendency to place heavier constituents to
the right, as is evident in the a-trees. Shifting is possible when the resulting structure does not
contradict this tendency, as is evident in the b-trees. Note again that the particle verb
constructions (in orange) qualify as catenae in both the a- and b-trees. Shifting does not alter
this fact.

Similar structures in other languages

Phrasal verbs are represented in many languages by compound verbs. As a class, particle
phrasal verbs belong to the same category as the separable verbs of other Germanic languages.
For example, in Dutch, de lamp aansteken (to light the lamp) becomes, in a principal clause, ik
steek de lamp aan (I light the lamp on). Similarly, in German, das Licht einschalten (to switch on
the light) becomes ich schalte das Licht ein (I switch the light on).

A number of phrasal verbs exist in some Romance languages such as Lombard, spoken in
Northern Italy, due to the influence of ancient Lombardic:
Fa foeura (to do in: to eat up; to
squander);
Dà denter (to trade in; to bump into);
Borlà giò (to fall down);
Lavà sü (to wash up, as
in English);
Trà sü (to throw up, as in English);
Trà vìa (to throw away, as in English);
Serà sü (to
lock up, as in English);
Dà vià (to give away, as in English), and more.

Some of these made their way into Italian, for instance far fuori (to get rid of); mangiare fuori (to
eat out); andare d'accordo con (to get on/along with); buttare via (throw away).

Phrasal nouns

An extension of the concept of phrasal verb is that of phrasal noun, where a verb+particle
complex is nominalized.[22] The particles may come before or after the verb.

standby: We are keeping the old equipment on standby, in case of emergency.

back-up: Neil can provide technical backup if you need it.
onset: The match was halted by the onset of rain.
input: Try to come to the meeting – we'd value your input.

If the particle is in first place, then the phrasal noun is never written with a hyphen, if the particle
comes second, then there is sometimes a hyphen between the two parts of the phrasal noun.

The two categories have different values. Particle-verb compounds in English are of ancient
development, and are common to all Germanic languages, as well as to Indo-European
languages in general. Those such as onset tend to retain older uses of the particles; in Old
English on/an had a wider domain, which included areas now covered by at and in in English.
Some such compound nouns have a corresponding phrasal verb but some do not, partly
because of historical developments. The modern English verb+particle complex set on exists,
but it means "start to attack" (set itself means start a process). Modern English has no exact
verbal phrase equivalent to the older set on, but rather various combinations that apply different
nuances to the idea of starting a process—such as winter has set in, set off on a journey, set up
the stand, set out on a day trip, etc. Verb-particle compounds are a more modern development in
English, and focus more on the action expressed by the compound. That is to say, they are more
overtly verbal.

See also

Cliché

Collocation

Ergative verb

Lexical unit

Light verb

Noun phrase

Notes

1. Huddleston, Rodney; Quirk, Randolph; Greenbaum, Sidney; Leech, Geoffrey; Svartvik, Jan (June 1988). "A
Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language" (https://archive.org/details/comprehensivegra00e
nglrich) . Language. 64 (2): 345. doi:10.2307/415437 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F415437) .
ISSN 0097-8507 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0097-8507) . JSTOR 415437 (https://www.jstor.org/st
able/415437) .

2. That unpredictability of meaning is the defining trait of phrasal verb constructions is widely assumed.
See for instance Huddleston and Pullum (2002:273) and Allerton (2006:166).

3. Concerning these terms, see McArthur (1992:72ff.).

4. A Comprehensive grammar of the English language (https://archive.org/details/comprehensivegra00q

uir) . Quirk, Randolph. London: Longman. 1985. ISBN 0-582-51734-6. OCLC 11533395 (https://www.wo
rldcat.org/oclc/11533395) .

5. Biber, Douglas. (2012). Longman grammar of spoken and written English. Longman. ISBN 978-0-582-
23725-4. OCLC 809001730 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/809001730) .
 6. Declerck, R. Comprehensive Descriptive Grammar of English, A – 1991 Page 45 "The term multi-word
verb can be used as a cover term for phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs, prepositional phrasal verbs and
combinations like put an end to."

7. The Collins Cobuild English Grammar (1995:162) is a source that takes prepositional verbs to be phrasal
verbs. Many other grammars, in contrast, distinguish between prepositional verbs (the additional word is
a preposition) and phrasal verbs (the additional word is a particle).

8. Ron Cowan – The Teacher's Grammar of English: A Course Book and Reference 2008 Page 176

"The Adverb Insertion Test – Earlier, we saw that intransitive phrasal verbs usually do not permit the
insertion of an adverb between the verb and the particle, and the same is true of transitive phrasal verbs,
as (25a) and (25b) show. In contrast, prepositional verbs do permit adverb insertion, as (25c)
demonstrates.

(25) a. He turned quickly out the light. = separable phrasal verb.

b. He ran unexpectedly into his cousin = inseparable phrasal verb.

c. He stared intently at the target = prepositional verb.

The Relative Clause Test Relative clauses in which the relative pronoun is the object of a preposition
permit the two patterns shown in (26).

(26) a. The man [that they were waiting for] was late b. The man [ for whom they were waiting] was late.
In (26a), the preposition for is at the end of the relative clause enclosed by square brackets, but (26b)
shows that this preposition can also occur at the beginning of the clause before the relative pronoun
whom."

9. For a list of the particles that occur with particle phrasal verbs, see Jurafsky and Martin (2000:319).

10. Jeanette S. DeCarrico The structure of English: studies in form and function – Volume 1 – Page 80 –
2000 "4.6.3 Prepositional Phrasal Verbs – It is also possible to find phrasal verbs that are themselves
followed by a preposition. These structures are called prepositional phrasal verbs or multiword verbs.
Examples are put up with (e.g., I can't put up with) "

11. Farrell, Patrick (2005). "English Verb-Preposition Constructions: Constituency and Order" (https://eschol
arship.org/uc/item/6nq8q46n) . Language. 81 (1): 96–137. doi:10.1353/lan.2005.0017 (https://doi.or
g/10.1353%2Flan.2005.0017) . ISSN 1535-0665 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1535-0665) .
S2CID 119715102 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:119715102) .

12. For an example of the shifting diagnostic used to distinguish particle verbs from prepositional verbs, see
Tallerman (1998:129).

13. Concerning the difference between particles and prepositions with phrasal verbs, see Jurafsky and
Martin (2000:318).

14. For examples of accounts that use the term phrasal verb to denote particle verbs only (not prepositional
verbs), see for instance Tallerman (1998:130), Adger (2003:99f.) and Haiden (2006).
15. For example, the series 'English File' uses phrasal verbs in this way. This exercise on the English File
website features both types of verbs under the term "phrasal verbs". elt.oup.com (https://elt.oup.com/st
udent/solutions/advanced/grammar/grammar_01_022e?cc=global&selLanguage=en)

16. Oxford Phrasal Verbs Dictionary.

17. "English File Upper Intermediate Phrasal Verbs in Context" (https://elt.oup.com/student/englishfile/uppe

rint/g_phrasal/?cc=pt&selLanguage=pt) .

18. Huddleston and Pullum (2002:273), for instance, also use intransitive preposition to describe a particle.

19. Logan P. Smith (1925). "Words and Idioms" (https://verb.ru/what-are-phrasal-verbs#1) . p. 172.

20. Huddleston and Pullum (2002:274) reject the term phrasal verb because the relevant word combinations
often do not form phrases.

21. That constructions (including phrasal verb constructions) are catenae is a point established at length by
Osborne and Groß (2012).

22. Concerning the term phrasal noun, see McCarthy and O'dell (2007).

References
Adger, D. 2003. Core syntax: A minimalist approach. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Allerton, D. 2006. Verbs and their satellites. In The handbook of linguistics, ed. by B. Aarts and
A. McMahaon, 126–149. Malden, M.: Blackwell Publishing.

Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. 2012. Longman grammar of
spoken and written English. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

Collins Cobuild English Grammar 1995. London: HarperCollins Publishers.

Farrell, P. 2005. English verb-preposition constructions: Constituency and order. Language,

81(1), 96-137. doi:10.1353/lan.2005.0017 (https://doi.org/10.1353%2Flan.2005.0017)

Haiden, M. 2006. Verb particle constructions. In M. Everaert and H. van Riemsdijk, The
Blackwell companion to syntax, volume V. 344–375. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Juraffsky, D. and J. Martin. 2000. Speech and language processing. Dorling Kindersley, India:
Pearson Education.

Huddleston, R. and G. Pullum 2002. The Cambridge grammar of the English language.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Knowles, M. and R Moon. 2006. Introducing metaphor. London: Routledge, 2006.

Long, T. (ed.). 1979. Longman dictionary of English idioms. Longman Group Limited.

Macmillan phrasal verbs plus dictionary. 2005 Oxford: Macmillan Education 2005.

McArthur, T. 1992. The Oxford companion to the English language. Oxford University Press.

McCarthy M. and F. O'dell. 2007. English phrasal verbs in use. Cambridge University Press.

Osborne, T. and T. Groß 2012. Constructions are catenae: Construction Grammar meets
Dependency Grammar. Cognitive Linguistics 23, 1, 163–214.

Oxford phrasal verbs dictionary. 2001.

Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvik, J. 1986. A comprehensive grammar of the
English language. London: Longman.

Tallerman, M. 1998. Understanding syntax. London: Arnold.

External links
 Look up Category:English phrasal verbs in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Ordered list of phrasal verbs (http://www.uazone.org/friends/esl4rus/pvlist.html)

Write Back Soon (https://web.archive.org/web/20170822185524/http://radiolingua.com/sho

ws/english-efl/write-back-soon/) A course by Radio Lingua, which aims to help English
learners understand and practise their phrasal verbs.

Phrasal Verb Demon (http://www.phrasalverbdemon.com) . Making sense of phrasal verbs.

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