Phrasal Verbs are combinations of a verb and an adverb, like break away.
Or, a verb plus a preposition, like turn on.
Here are some other types of phrasal verbs.
Some phrasal verbs may include three parts.
In this lesson we'll look at phrasal verbs in two parts.
Part I- Types of Phrasal Verbs.
And, Part II- Problems With Phrasal Verbs.
There are different types of phrasal verbs, transitive and intransitive, and separable and inseparable.
First, let's review what transitive and intransitive means when talking about verbs.
It means that after the verb comes the adverb and preposition, what goes with the specific verb.
And then the direct object, meaning, the who or what receiving the action.
The direct object must be included with transitive phrasal verbs.
Trans means to cross, so the action of the verb, adverb or preposition combination, needs to cross into a person or thing.
But with intransitive phrasal verbs no direct object is needed.
So let's look at some examples of both transitive and intransitive verbs.
The teacher called on the sleeping student.
The sleeping student is the direct object.
The police are looking into the the crime.
The crime is the direct object.
With intransitive, we often eat out.
However, it does not have a direct object.
He was too tired to get up, also doesn't need a direct object.
Be careful, some phrasal verbs can be transitive and
intransitive, but with different meanings.
For instance, look up, as a transitive verb can mean, check a dictionary for a word.
As in, Stan looked up the new word.
Or look up can be intransitive and can mean improve.
As in, Maria lost her job but now things are looking up.
Here are some other examples of transitive phrasal verbs.
And some examples of intransitive phrasal verbs.
Check a good learners' dictionary, online or in a book, to find out if a phrasal verb is transitive or intransitive if you aren't sure.
Some phrasal verbs can be separated by the direct object, and some cannot.
Instead, the direct object separates the verb and adverb or preposition.
These are called separable verbs.
But only transitive verbs can be separable or inseparable, since transitive verbs need direct objects.
For example, blow up can mean explode like a bomb or in anger.
The army blew up the mine.
Where the mine is the direct object after the verb blew, and adverb, up.
Or we can say the army blew the mine up.
Where now the direct object separates the verb and adverb.
Call off means to cancel an event.
As in, the manager called off the meeting.
Or, the manager called the meeting off.
Pick out means to choose or select.
We can use either sentence like, Janet picked out her wedding dress.
Or, Janet picked her wedding dress out.
With these sentences we can replace the direct object with a pronoun.
In these sentences we use, it.
When we use a pronoun we must separate the verb from the adverb or preposition if the phrasal verb is separable.
With really long direct objects, separable phrasal verbs should stay with their adverb or preposition.
For instance, Margo turned down a job because it didn't pay enough money.
A job is the direct object in very short.
Now let's look at the sentence, Margo turned down a job that offered her half of her current salary.
That offered her half of her current salary describes a job and makes the object very long.
It's easier to keep the verb, turned, and adverb, down, together as a group.
But with inseparable verbs, the verb and
adverb preposition cannot be separated from each other.
They must go together without interruption.
For example, come by means to find by accident.
As in the sentence, Walt came by a hundred-dollar bill,But we cannot say, Walt came a hundred-dollar bill by.
Live on means to support oneself.
For instance, some people live on very little.
But we can't use, some people live very little on.
Take after means to look like or resemble someone else.
We could use the sentence, George takes after his mother.
But not, George takes his mother after.
So in this lesson, we reviewed the types of phrasal verbs, which are transitive and intransitive, and separable and inseparable.
