How to improve your grammar phrasal verbs

Author: Diane Hall Page 1 of 55

r: Katie J ones.
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By Diane Hall












Introduction
Phrasal verbs are considered to be one of the most problematic areas of English language teaching. Why is
this? To my mind, there are three main reasons:
1 the word order varies between different types of verb some can separate the verb and particle
(preposition or adverb) and others cant.
2 as the meaning of the verb in phrasal verbs often differs from the usual meaning of the verb,
they can be difficult to remember.
3 the fact that phrasal verbs tend to be used in less formal environments can cause the occasional
problem.
So what can we do about these issues?

What is a phrasal verb?
Lets go back to basics. There are actually phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs. A phrasal verb is a verb
followed by an adverb; a prepositional verb is a verb followed by a preposition. (Both are referred to as
particles in many grammar books.) These types of verb behave differently, which can cause problems. The
types can be divided as follows:

How to improve your grammar phrasal verbs

Author: Diane Hall Page 2 of 55
r: Katie J ones.
Pearson PHOTOCOPIABLE
Type Structure Particle can go
after object
Examples
A prepositional verb +
preposition
no Ill look after your bags.
Ill look after them.
I dont feel like going out.
I dont feel like it.
B phrasal verb +
adverb
yes Take off your coat.
Take your coat off. / Take it off.
We picked up Sam from the station.
We picked Sam up. / We picked him up.
C phrasal-
prepositional
verb +
adverb +
preposition
no Were looking forward to our holiday.
Were looking forward to it.
I cant keep up with Sally.
I cant keep up with her.

So, the main cause of difficulty and the important point to remember is that with prepositional verbs, we
cannot separate the preposition from the noun or pronoun that follows it.
We say: He asked for some water. / He asked for it.
We cant say: He asked some water for. / He asked it for.
With phrasal verbs we can choose whether to put the adverb before or after the noun object: Weve
given up smoking. / Weve given smoking up.
But, when we use a pronoun with a phrasal verb, we have to separate the adverb and the pronoun: Weve
given it up. (We cant say: Weve given up it.)
Some phrasal verbs are intransitive, i.e. they have no object, e.g. Come on! The lesson went on late today.
We do not separate the three parts of the verb in phrasal-prepositional verbs.

We usually use phrasal verbs in neutral or informal English; we rarely use them in formal writing. For many
phrasal verbs there is a more formal equivalent that can be used when appropriate, e.g. take off remove;
turn down reject; make out understand.

How to improve your grammar phrasal verbs

Author: Diane Hall Page 3 of 55
r: Katie J ones.
Pearson PHOTOCOPIABLE
How can I learn and remember phrasal verbs?
These verbs are not difficult to learn, as they can be learned as lexical items, but they may be difficult to
remember. Before learning and recording them, it is essential to know which type a verb is. You can often
work this out from the context, but any good dictionary will show you. Look at these examples from the
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English:

Type A (prepositional)
look after sb/sth to take care of someone ... Dont worry. Ill look after the kids tomorrow.

Type B (phrasal)
look sth up if you look up information ... you try to find it Look the word up in your dictionary.

Type C (phrasal-prepositional)
look forward to sth to be excited and pleased about something ... Im really looking forward to our
vacation.
The position of sb or sth shows which type of verb you are dealing with.

1 Tables
Record them according to type in a table, with an example showing the word order:
verb type example
give up

give off
phrasal verb

prepositional verb
Its difficult to give up smoking.
Its difficult to give it up.
The candle gave off a lovely vanilla smell as it burnt.







How to improve your grammar phrasal verbs

Author: Diane Hall Page 4 of 55
r: Katie J ones.
2 Word maps
You can record different phrasal verbs based on a single verb in a word map:

3 Adverb meaning
It is sometimes possible to work out the meaning of a phrasal verb from the adverb, for example, up can
mean completion (write your notes up, finish your dinner up), off can mean stopping a connection (cut off
the gas, turn the TV off). So, it is possible to record some phrasal verbs by their adverb:
down (collapse, downward movement)
fall down He fell down and hit his head.
knock down They knocked the old sports centre down.
run down The business was failing so they ran it down.

How can I teach phrasal verbs?
Its possible to present phrasal verbs as purely lexical items, like any item of vocabulary. However, it is
useful to focus on both grammar and meaning, to teach the different word orders possible. Some simple
ways of doing this are:
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How to improve your grammar phrasal verbs

Author: Diane Hall Page 5 of 55
r: Katie J ones.
Pearson PHOTOCOPIABLE
1 Jumbled word exercises
To check that your students use word order appropriate to the type of verb:
the garden I across it came in (I came across it in the garden.)
the garden I up it picked in (I picked it up in the garden.)

2 Gap-fill
A simple check whether the student understands which particle to use:
This new diet involves giving up fat and sugar.
Or the same can be done with error correction:
This new diet involves giving in fat and sugar. up

3 Matching meanings
Students select the verb from a list that means the same as a phrasal verb, e.g.
Sally still hasnt got over her illness. (remove / tolerate / recover / surrender)
The reverse is also possible:
Sally still hasnt recovered from her illness. (got up / got into / got through / got over)

4 Formality switching
Students change the formality of texts to use phrasal verbs, e.g. paraphrasing notices to make them less
formal:
[hotel sign: Guests are requested not to arrive later than 20.00]
We arent supposed to turn up later than eight oclock.
[Notice in college library: All books must be returned before the end of term]
We have to give all our books back before the end of term.