5.5 Section 5: Phrasal Verbs
5.5.2 Types of Phrasal Verbs
Discovery Activity 14: Testing for Phrasal Verbs Look at the following excerpts.
Use either the adverb insertion or substitution test to show how the italicized words are phrasal verbs.
A.
It was spring vacation, and wewere hanging outbecause we didn’t know what else to do. The night before, Istayed uptill midnight,working onmy scary story about the Blob Monster. I want to be a writer when Igrow up. [Stine, R.L. (1997).
Goosebumps: The blob that ate everything(p. 7). New York: Scholastic.]
B.
[Mom and Dad] love crossword puzzles. I’m not sure why. Both of them are terrible spellers…Lots of times, theyend upfighting about how to spell a word. Usually, theygive upand rip the puzzle to pieces. [Stine, R. L. (1997).Goosebumps: The blob that ate everything(p. 28). New York: Scholastic.]
C.
Iburst intothe classroom, eager to tell my spy story, but class had already started.
Another spelling bee. Iwent downon thefirst round with a hoot from Howard…I struggled withthe class through sentence diagrams, the Revolutionary War, and some word problems involving fractions and percentages. [Nolan, P. (2000).The spy who came in from the sea(p. 36). Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press.]
D.
I stared upward and immediately had the disorienting feeling I always did in here:
that the ceiling and wallswere closing inaround me…I looked down at my clasped hands and tried tofigure outhow I’d gotten intothis mess. [Mead, R. (2006).Last sacrifice (Vampire Academy #6, chapter1).Retrieved fromhttp://www.rednovels.
com/fantasticfiction/u6292.html]
Is there more than one type of phrasal verb?
Why do we need to know the different types of phrasal verbs?
The different types of phrasal verbs function differently grammatically, as we will explore.
5.5.2.1 Intransitive Inseparable
Like all intransitive verbs, intransitive phrasal verbs cannot take an object. They can be followed by a complement. These verbs are called inseparable because they do not allow the verb and preposition/adverb to be separated.
Intransitive Inseparable Phrasal Verbs
no complement with complement
Fitness buffswork out. Elena onlyworks outthree times a week.
Marcpassed away. Hepassed awayafter a long illness.
5.5.2.2 Transitive Inseparable
There are two types of transitive phrasal verbs, inseparable and separable. They are similar in that, like all transitive verbs, these transitive phrasal verbs take an object.
They differ in what they do with the object. In transitive inseparable phrasal verbs, the object must come directly after the entire phrasal verb. This is true whether it consists of a verb + one particle or a verb + two particles and whether the object is a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun.
Transitive Inseparable Phrasal Verbs
with object noun phrase with pronoun object Alisonran intoJack at the store.
The nurse islooking afterthe new patients.
It is important tostand up foryour beliefs.
They had troublecoming up withthe answer.
Sheran intohimat the store.
She islooking afterthem.
It is important tostand up forthem.
They had troublecoming up withit.
5.5.2.3 Transitive Separable
Transitive separable phrasal verbs tend to be the most difficult for ESL/EFL learners. Unlike the other two types, these phrasal verbs permit variable sentence position when the object is a noun or noun phrase. However, when the object is a pronoun, it must comebetweenthe verb and particle.
Transitive Separable Phrasal Verbs
with object noun phrase with pronoun object Jeremyfilled outan application.
Jeremyfilledan applicationout.
Jeremyfilleditout.
The companyis trying outa new drug.
The companyis tryinga new drugout.
The companyis tryingitout.
In these sentences, the object is a short object noun phrase and can come between or after the verb + particle. When an object noun phrase is long, the preferred position is after the verb + particle:
Jeremyfilled outan application to graduate school.
The companyis trying outa new long-awaited miracle drug.
Regardless of the length of an object noun phrase a pronoun is referring to, it must still occur between the verb and particle:
Jeremyfilleditout.
The company is tryingitout.
The last Discovery Activity in this chapter provides practice in recognizing phrasal verbs (the answers are in the Answer Key). You may find this activity difficult, but keep in mind that accurately recognizing phrasal verbs versus verbs + particles is not easy and when in doubt, consult a phrasal dictionary.
Discovery Activity 15: Identifying Phrasal Verbs Look at the following excerpts.
1. Underline the phrasal verbs. If a phrasal verb is
• intransitive and inseparable, label itI.
• transitive and inseparable, label itTI.
• transitive and separable, label itTS.
Example:
TS
Martha picked up her friends.
A.
When Shannon Dunn needs a break from snowboarding, she doesn’t exactly turn into a couch potato. Far from it…she packs up her surfboard and hits the beach… On quieter days, she settles for golf or tennis…[Layden, J. (2001).To the extreme (p. 30). New York: Scholastic.]
5.5 Section 5: Phrasal Verbs 149
B.
“Dude, you should’ve called me, I could have picked you up.”
“No big deal, I knew you were working. It was an easy trip.”
“Well, next time you need something don’t hesitate to ask. Family before work, okay? Are you getting settled in? Is Kent treating you okay?”
“He’s actually taking a nap.”
Lance went silent for a moment.“Yeah, he’s been doing that a lot lately. Are you sure you don’t need anything?…I can come over and talk your ear off to death.”He laughed. [Cherry, B. (2014). Art and soul. p. 2. Retrieved from http://www.
rednovels.com/book2/u6383_2.html]
C.
They might have been plumbers on a dinner break but a couple of guys got out, opened up the back, and lugged out a camera, a high-end video job. They spent aboutfifteen minutes setting it up, then one of them spoke on a cell phone. Ten minutes later, a shiny black van with the show’s log painted on it pulled up and parked on the street, and the cameramanfilmed it all. [Vaughn, C. (2009).Kitty raises hell. Kindle iPad Version. Retrieved fromamazon.com]
What makes phrasal verbs difficult for ESL/EFL learners?
• Learner difficulties
Phrasal verbs are difficult for ESL/EFL learners for several reasons. First, the meaning of a phrasal verb is generally not obvious. In addition, phrasal verbs can have multiple meanings.
Another difficulty is producing correct structures with phrasal verbs that are transitive and separable when the object is a pronoun. ESL/EFL learners need to remember that the object must come between the verb and particle.
This pattern is not easy for learners to remember.
Given the large number of phrasal verbs, their different meanings and uses, and the different structural patterns they follow, the best way to confirm whether or not a verb is a phrasal verb or not is to use a dictionary geared to learners of English. Dictionaries such as the Cambridge Phrasal Verbs Dictionaryor theLongman Dictionary of American English are useful.