What are Phrasal Verbs? Denifition, List & Examples

Phrasal verbs are words that are formed by combining verbs and adverbs or verbs and prepositions. The use of phrasal verbs is common in English, and there are plenty of them in number that we use in our daily conversation.

For language learners, phrasal verbs are the most challenging part of English learning because they convey meanings different from those of verbs, which are used to form phrasal verbs.

In this article, you will learn everything about phrasal verbs, how to use them correctly in a sentence, and their conjugation in verb tenses. You will also find a list of the most commonly used phrasal verbs and example sentences in everyday conversation.

What are Phrasal Verbs?

A phrasal verb is a group of words made by combining a verb and an adverb or a verb and a preposition. A phrasal verb conveys a completely different meaning than that of a single verb. For instance, get up has a different meaning than the verb get alone.

Take a look at the following examples to understand how we use phrasal verbs in daily communication.

Examples:

• He gets up early in the morning.
• He moves around all the time.
• He put his shoes on.
• He keeps up his promises.
• He backs up from his promises.

Types of Phrasal Phrasal Verbs

There are four types of phrasal verbs in English.

• Transitive
• Instransitive
• Separable
• Inseparable

Transitive Phrasal Verbs

A transitive phrasal verb uses direct objects in the sentence. It is similar to the transitive verb, which also requires a direct object in the sentence. Therefore, a transitive verb works the same way as a transitive verb works in the sentence. See the following examples to clear the concept.

• I want you to lie down on the bed.
• They advised him to get out of this situation.
• He moves around with his friends.
• They don’t get along with each other.

Intransitive Phrasal Verbs

An intransitive phrasal verb doesn’t require a direct object in the sentence to convey its meaning. It is similar to an intransitive verb and works the same way as an intransitive verb works in the sentence. The object is not necessary for this type of phrasal verb to function in the sentence. Consider the following examples:

• He moves around with his friends. 
• The tree is falling apart. 
• The house is falling down.

Separable Phrasal Verbs

A separable phrasal verb is used as one unit or group and does not split in the sentence. For instance, we use the phrasal verb get ready in the sentence as it is and don’t break it into two parts and put it in different places. Instead, both words stay together in the sentence. Let’s look at some more examples to clear up the confusion.

• Put the shoes on.
• Take the shoes off.
• Turn the light on.
• Turn the light off.
• Turn the volume down. 
• He keeps up his practice to stay fit.
• Watch out. There is water on the floor.

Inseparable Phrasal Verbs

An inseparable phrasal verb is one that breaks or splits in the sentence. In the sentence, “he knocked him down,” we split the words “knock down” and put them in different places in the sentence. Let’s consider more examples to understand better how to use the inseparable phrasal verb correctly.

• He gets up early in the morning.
• He is looking for his keys. 
• He walked over to my house.
• He wakes up at 5 am.
• He stays up until late at night.

How to Use Phrasal Verbs

A phrasal verb is different from a standard verb in that it conveys a different meaning and provides more detail in the sentence. Using a phrasal verb and placing correctly in the sentence is easy becuase it just requires to use different verb forms to fit in the sentence.

Phrasal verbs are used in the same way as other verb forms. They can easily be used and placed in different sentence structures by changing the verb form of the phrasal verb. Only the first part of the phrasal verb, which is the base verb, changes its form to easily fit in the sentence.

Conjugation of Phrasal Verbs

As mentioned earlier, a phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and an adverb or preposition. To conjugate a phrasal verb in verb tenses is easy because we only use the different forms of the base verb to fit the phrasal verb in verb tenses.

Therefore, while conjugating a phrasal verb, you just have to focus on the verb part of the phrasal verb and conjugate the verb as we use to conjugate other verb forms in different sentences. Let’s take an example of the phrasal verb “get up” and conjugate it in different verb tenses.

Let’s take another example of the phrasal verb put on.

• He put his shoes on.
• He will put his shoes on.
• He is putting his shoes on.
• He was putting his shoes on. 
• He will be putting his shoes on.
• He has put his shoes on.
• He had put his shoes on.
• He will have put his shoes on.
• He has been putting his shoes on.
• He had been putting his shoes on.
• He will have been putting his shoes on.

List of Common Phrasal Verbs

As mentioned earlier, phrasal verbs are most frequently used in English communication. They are formed by combining verbs with adverbs or prepositions. Below are some of the most commonly used phrasal verbs in English. 

• Figure out
• Bring about 
• Bring up 
• Figure out
• Keep up
• Get along
• Get up
• Get over
• Lay down
• Layover
• Move around
• Push up
• Put up
• Shut up
• Sit down
• Stand up
• Turn off
• Turn on
• Turn over
• Wake up

Examples of Phrasal Verbs 

Learning the correct use of phrasal verbs is crucial for better and more effective communication in English. Because phrasal verbs are most commonly used in English. See some more examples of everyday sentences in which phrasal verbs are used. 

• The cake is falling apart.
• They both don’t get along.
• He knocked him down.
• He gets ready early in the morning.
• He stays up late at night.
• They figure out how to fix the stove.
• They are turning around at the corner.
• She has been wondering about his new dress.
• They knock at the door.
• She figured out how to fix the computer. 
• He walked over to the store. 
• Keep up your practice to pass the exam.
• She looked around and found nothing.

Final Thoughts

A phrasal verb is a verb formed of a verb and an adverb or a preposition. It is used the same way as the verb forms are used in different verb tenses. A phrasal verb has a different meaning than the verb alone. Using phrasal verbs is very challenging for language learners because phrasal verbs convey different meanings compared to the verb used to form a phrasal verb. 

Phrasal Verbs FAQs

What is a phrasal verb?

A phrasal verb is a group of words formed by combining verbs with adverbs or prepositions. 

How do phrasal verbs work in the sentence?

Phrasal verbs works the same way as the verb function in the sentence. Conjugation is phrasal verbs is similar to verb forms used in different tenses.

Are phrasal verbs and verbs the same?

Phrasal verbs convey different meanings than those of a verb alone. As mentioned earlier, they are formed by combining base verbs and adverbs or base verbs and propositions. For instance, get up is a phrasal verb, and its meaning differs from the verb get.

I hope this article helped you learn about phrasal verbs, the types of phrasal verbs, and how to use them in sentences. 

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