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Grammar - Everyday Grammar - Our Top 10 Separable Phrasal Verbs |
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| Our Top 10 Separable Phrasal Verbs |
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 Our
Top 10 Separable Phrasal Verbs
The lesson includes a video program, an audio program
explaining this grammar topic, the script for the audio
program, a words in this story section,
and other important information. |
Video Program
Watch the video program explaining this grammar topic.
Then listen to the audio program explaining this grammar topic. |
Audio Program
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topic. Then read the following written information. |
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Our Top 10 Separable Phrasal
Verbs |
Welcome back to Everyday Grammar from VOA Learning
English.
Today we return to a very common verb form in English –
phrasal verbs. You will find one phrasal verb in every
192 words of written English. They will make your
English sound more natural once you begin using them
correctly. In an earlier program, we explained how and
why English speakers use them.
Today we look at some often-used phrasal verbs. This
type of phrasal verb allows a direct object to come
between the verb and the preposition or adverb. As you
will hear, there is a special rule that learners should
know about when using these 10 phrasal verbs.
The structure of phrasal verbs
As you know, a phrasal verb is a phrase with two or more
words: a verb and a preposition or adverb or both. We
call the preposition or adverb a particle when it
combines with a verb. Here are two examples:
"Please put the lamp on the desk."
"I think you're putting me on."
In the first sentence, on is a preposition showing the
position of the lamp. In the second sentence, on is an
adverbial particle. Put on is a phrasal verb meaning
"fool" or "trick" in this sentence.
An important point is that a regular verb+preposition
combination has two meanings. A phrasal verb, that is, a
verb+particle, has a single meaning within a sentence.
Many phrasal verbs have a number of different meanings
in different situations. Yet the meaning of the
verb+particle can usually be expressed with a single
Latin-based verb.
Here are two sentences with the same meaning:
"They tore down the old building."
"They demolished the old building."
The verb tear has its own meaning, and so does the
preposition down. They can combine with other words when
they are alone. But as a phrasal verb, tear down, they
have one meaning: "destroy."
In 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan visited West
Germany. He told a crowd in the divided city of Berlin,
"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
Separable phrasal verbs
Now for the tricky part. You know that some verbs are
transitive, which means they have a direct object. When
such verbs appear as phrasal verbs, an object can either
separate the phrase or follow it. Here’s an example.
"I decided to throw out my old jeans."
"I decided to throw my old jeans out."
Both of these sentences are correct. The object of the
phrasal verb throw out is jeans. You can use a pronoun
instead of jeans and ask,
"Are you sure you want to throw them out?"
However, you cannot ask, "Are you sure you want to throw
out them?" Here, the pronoun them must appear between
the verb and the particle.
Finding the frequent phrasal
verbs
In recent years, language experts began to use computers
to examine a large collection, or corpus, of written and
spoken language. When researchers look for phrasal
verbs, they find that many deal with an activity. They
also find a few verbs combine with many particles. Among
the most common verbs are come, put, get, go, pick, sit
and take. These combine with the adverb particles up,
out, in, on, off, and down to make up a group of very
useful phrasal verbs.
Now, let’s look at transitive phrasal verbs. See the
list at the end of the article. The verb get is part of
many phrasal verbs. For example, we use get up to mean
"to wake oneself up" or "to awaken someone." For
example:
"My son loves to sleep late. I got him up on time to
catch the bus this morning."
Remember, the pronoun has to come between the verb and
the adverb, so we cannot say, "I got up him."
Notice how the Norwegian group A-ha uses a separable
phrasal verb two ways in their song, "Take On Me." Which
one is correct in formal grammar?
I'll be coming for your love, OK?
Take on me, (take on me)
Take me on, (take on me)
I'll be gone
In a day or two
Remember, singers and poets have the right to use
language as they please.
For Learning English Everyday Grammar, I’m Jill Robbins.
And I’m John Russell.
Dr. Jill Robbins and Adam Brock wrote this story for
Learning English. George Grow was the editor. |
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Words in This Story |
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transitive - grammar.
of a verb. having or taking a direct object
- adverb
– grammar. a word that
describes a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a
sentence and that is often used to show time,
manner, place, or degree
-
preposition – grammar.
a word or group of words that is used with a noun,
pronoun, or noun phrase to show direction, location,
or time, or to introduce an object
- object
- grammar. a noun, noun
phrase, or pronoun that receives the action of a
verb or completes the meaning of a preposition
- corpus
– n. a collection of
writings, conversations, speeches, etc., that people
use to study and describe a language
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Additional Information |
| Here’s our list of
10 useful phrasal verbs: |
| Phrasal Verb |
Meanings |
Example |
| put on |
wear, produce, fool, pretend |
That cannot be true. You must
be putting me on. |
| put off |
postpone, disturb |
The report is due today. Stop
putting it off and turn it in. |
| put down |
criticize, write |
Her boss was always putting her
down so she resigned. |
| give up |
surrender, stop trying |
Your singing is beautiful –
don’t give it up. |
| give away |
give, offer |
That radio station gives
turkeys away for Thanksgiving. |
| give back |
return, restore |
I got so much help from the
town, I want to give something back. |
| get off |
leave, finish, send |
Please get the letter off to
them today. |
| get up |
awaken, rise |
Mom had to get us up every day
for school. |
| pick up |
collect, lift, learn, bring,
clean |
I picked the living room up
before our guests arrived. |
| take on |
assume, fight |
The union took on the huge oil
company. |
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Now it’s your turn. Write a sentence that uses a
separable phrasal verb in the Facebook comments section
below. |
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Source: Voice of America |
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Grammar Tips |
Can You Catch These Native Speaker Mistakes?
(Beginner - Listening)
An audio lesson to
help with your understanding of common mistakes. The English is
spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Click here to visit the lesson page with the written script for this
audio program. |
Commonly Confused Words: Part One
(Beginner - Listening,
reading)
A video lesson to
help with your understanding of commonly confused
words.
The English is
spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Click here to visit the lesson page. |
Commonly Confused Words: Part One
(Beginner - Listening)
An audio lesson to
help with your understanding of commonly confused
words. The English is
spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Click here to visit the lesson page with the written script for this
audio program. |
Commonly Confused Words: Part Two
(Beginner - Listening,
reading)
A video lesson to
help with your understanding of commonly confused
words.
The English is
spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Click here to visit the lesson page. |
Commonly Confused Words: Part Two
(Beginner - Listening)
An audio lesson to
help with your understanding of commonly confused
words. The English is
spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Click here to visit the lesson page with the written script for this
audio program. |
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