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What is Grammar?
English Grammar Terms
The 8 English Parts of
Speech
These are the words that you use to make a sentence.
There are only
8 types of word - and the most
important is the Verb!
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Verbs |
be, have, do, work |
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Nouns |
man, town, music |
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Adjectives |
a, the, 69, big |
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Adverbs |
loudly, well, often |
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Pronouns |
you, ours, some |
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Prepositions |
at, in, on, from |
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Conjunctions |
and, but, though |
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Interjections |
ah, dear, er, um |
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Hot Links
Verbs
Passive voice
Modal verbs
Conditionals
Questions
Irregular
verbs
Going to
Gerunds
Phrasal Verbs
Tenses
Nouns
(Un) Countable nouns
Adjectives
Articles
Pronouns
Preposition List
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| Grammar Quizzes
Parts of Speech Quiz
Verb Classification Quiz
Main Verb Forms Quiz
Active or Passive Quiz
Subjunctive Quiz
Future Time Quiz
Continuous Tense Verb
Quiz
Used to do or Be used to
Quiz
Have to,
Must, Must not Quiz
Can, Could, Be able
to Quiz
Questions Quiz
Tag Questions
Quiz
Infinitive or
-ing Quiz
Gerunds Quiz
Phrasal Verbs
Quiz
Conditionals Quiz
For or Since Quiz
Present Simple
Present Continuous
Present Perfect
Simple
Present Perfect
Continuous
Past Simple
Questions
Comparative
Adjectives
Superlative
Adjectives
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Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs are a group of multi-word verbs made from a verb
plus another word or words. Many people refer to all multi-word verbs as
phrasal verbs. On these pages we make a distinction between three types of
multi-word verbs: prepositional verbs, phrasal verbs and phrasal-prepositional
verbs. On this page we look at phrasal verbs proper.
Phrasal verbs are made of:
verb + adverb
Phrasal verbs can be:
- intransitive (no direct object)
- transitive (direct object)
Here are some examples of phrasal verbs:
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phrasal verbs |
meaning |
examples |
| |
direct object |
| intransitive phrasal verbs |
get up |
rise from bed |
I don't like to get up. |
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| break down |
cease to function |
He was late because his car broke down. |
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| transitive phrasal verbs |
put off |
postpone |
We will have to put off |
the meeting. |
| turn down |
refuse |
They turned down |
my offer. |
Separable Phrasal Verbs
When phrasal verbs are transitive (that is, they have a direct
object), we can usually separate the two parts. For example, "turn down" is a
separable phrasal verb. We can say: "turn down my offer" or
"turn my offer down". Look at this table:
| transitive phrasal verbs are
separable |
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They |
turned |
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down |
my offer. |
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They |
turned |
my offer |
down. |
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However, if the direct object is a pronoun, we have no
choice. We must separate the phrasal verb and insert the pronoun between
the two parts. Look at this example with the separable phrasal verb "switch
on":
| direct object pronouns must go
between the two parts of transitive phrasal verbs |
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John |
switched |
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on |
the radio. |
These are all possible. |
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John |
switched |
the radio |
on. |
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John |
switched |
it |
on. |
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John |
switched |
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on |
it. |
This is not possible. |
| EnglishClub.com Tip |
| Separable or inseparable phrasal verbs?
Some dictionaries tell you when phrasal verbs are separable. If a dictionary
writes "look (something) up", you know that the phrasal verb "look up" is
separable, and you can say "look something up" and "look up something". It's a
good idea to write "something/somebody" as appropriate in your vocabulary book
when you learn a new phrasal verb, like this: |
- get up
- break down
- put something/somebody
off
- turn sthg/sby
down
This tells you whether the verb
needs a direct object (and where to put it). |
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Prepositional Verbs
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