What Is a Phrasal Verb?
Phrasal verb is one of those obscure grammar terms that few non-linguists even remember learning. But phrasal verbs are common in everyday English. They can confuse English learners and English speakers just learning formal grammar, but once you learn to spot them, they are simple and interesting.
Not a Verb Phrase
You might recall what a verb phrase is: a verb consisting of a main verb and one or more auxiliary (or helping) verbs. Examples would include:
- Bob is balancing on a llama.
- A third eye has emerged on Stan’s forehead.
- I have been kidnapped twelve times by aliens.
But despite the similarity of the terms, a phrasal verb is different from a verb phrase. Don’t blame me. I didn’t come up with the names.
A phrasal verb is a verb that consists of a verb and a particle. Okay, so what’s a particle? Basically, a particle is a word that doesn’t seem to fit neatly into any of the normal parts of speech categories. In the case of a phrasal verb, it almost always looks like a preposition, but functions more like an adverb…but not exactly. Clear as mud, right?
Examples
Maybe some examples will help. Here are some common phrasal verbs in action:
- Will you please look up the word miasma in that Webster’s?
- The CIA might be tapping in to this conversation.
- I’ll be fine; just go on without me.
Observe how these verbs are all constructed: a regular verb (look, tap, get) with a preposition (up, in, on) attached. That’s a phrasal verb.
Only the “prepositions” don’t really function like prepositions. Remember that a preposition always shows relationship between two nouns or pronouns. These words don’t do that. If anything, they function like adverbs, modifying the main verb. That’s why they are sometimes called prepositional adverbs, or adverbial particles.
But they don’t work like regular adverbs either — at least not in any literal way. For example, when we use the phrasal verb look up, the word up does not indicate direction like it normally does. It doesn’t mean “to look in an upward direction.” It’s an idiomatic use of up — one that isn’t literal, but is intuitively understood by English speakers.
Think about these sentences:
- Look up at the beautiful blue sky.
- Who is tapping in the basement?
- Does this gnome figurine go on the shelf?
We find the same words together here: look up, tapping in, and go on. But none of these are phrasal verbs. In the first sentence up is used as an adverb, modifying the verb look. We actually are being told to look in the up direction. In the second two sentences, in, and on are serving as regular prepositions, showing relationship and introducing prepositional phrases.
A Whole New Word
Here’s the key to understanding a phrasal verb: the addition of the particle turns the verb into an entirely different verb. Phrasal verbs are words working as a unit with a distinct meaning. A phrasal verb is not a verb plus an adverb or a verb plus a preposition. It’s a verb all by itself.
The verb shut, for example, means “to close.” But shut up does not mean “to shut in an upward direction.” When you add up to shut, you create a whole new verb that means “be quiet.” Voila! A phrasal verb.
Phrasal Verb Phrases
Now, a phrasal verb can be a part of a verb phrase too:
I will be backing out of my obligation.
I’ve underlined the whole verb phrase: will be backing out. Will and be are auxiliary verbs and the main verb is the phrasal verb backing out.
Don’t Bother Memorizing Lists
All this reminds me again why I don’t like the idea of memorizing the prepositions when learning grammar. I wrote before about how sometimes words in the list of prepositions are used as adverbs. Now we see that sometimes they are used as adverbial particles in the formation of phrasal verbs. Grammar is all about figuring out how words and word groups function to create meaning, and because words that look like prepositions aren’t always functioning as prepositions, it only causes confusion with those who’ve memorized the list.
There are hundreds, maybe thousands (I haven’t counted) of phrasal verbs in English. Here’s a short list of some of the more common ones:
add up to
back up
blow up
break down
break in
break up
bring up
call off
call on
calm down
catch up
check in
check out
cheer up
chip in
come across
come down with
count on
cross out
cut back on
cut in
cut off
do over
do away with
drop back
drop in
drop off
drop out
eat out
end up
fall apart
fall down
fall over
figure out
fill in
fill up
find out
get along with
get around
get away with
get back at
get around to
get together
give away
give in
give up
go after
go out with
grow back
hand down
hand over
hang on
hang out
hang up
hold back
hold on
keep out
keep up
let down
let in
let up
look after
look down on
look over
look forward to
look into
look up
look up to
make up
pass away
pass out
pass up
*****
You know that thought you have in your head right now? You should leave it as a comment below. For real.
According to the online American Heritage Dictionary, both “plug in” and “plug into” are phrasal verbs. This leads me to a question. In the following sentences, is “in” an adverbial particle (thus forming a phrasal verb), with “to” acting as the preposition (instead of “into”): “He drifted in to the bar”; “John Lennon and Paul McCartney leaned in to the microphone”; “He tucked his arm in to his stomach”; “He headed in to the house”?
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I love learning something new! Thanks.
My pleasure, Connie. 🙂
I have a question. Can a person end a sentence with a phrasal verb and still be grammatically correct? (e.g.: “That is not the correct cabinet to look in.”) It just sounds like a grammatically incorrect practice to me. Sometimes things sound incorrect when they are correct though.
Hi Corey, thanks for the question.
Yes, it’s perfectly fine to end a sentence with a phrasal verb. In fact, no matter what anyone tells you, it’s perfectly fine to end a sentence with any kind of word you like. There is an enduring myth that one ought not to end a sentence with a preposition, but there has never been a good reason to insist on this, and excellent speakers and writers have been breaking the “rule” for centuries. I write about it here: http://blog.writeathome.com/index.php/2012/05/never-end-a-sentence-with-a-preposition/
By the way, your example doesn’t actually contain a phrasal verb. “In” in this case is a preposition (the object is “cabinet”). It’s fine grammatically, but it probably sounds funny to you because you’ve been taught not the end a sentence with a preposition.
It would be fine with a phrasal verb at the end too:
I wish you would grow up.
Stan is somebody I just cant get along with.
Let meet up. Come over. We can hang out.
All normal, common, acceptable ways to speak English.
I had never heard of this before. 🙂 So if you were diagramming a phrasal, would you put the whole thing in the predicate spot?
Thanks for enlightening me!
Yes, verb phrases and phrasal verbs go in the predicate spot when diagramming. The folks at Grammar Revolution back me up on this too: http://www.english-grammar-revolution.com/phrasal-verbs.html
The first clear explanation I’ve heard. Thank you.
Or read. 🙂
Nice to hear, Gail. Thanks.
Very helpful. Thank you!
You’re welcome. 🙂
Yeah, this was fascinating.