1. Phrasal Verbs And Meanings In Malayalam
2. Phrasal Verbs And Meanings In Alphabetical Order

Before You Start: Prepositions

In this lesson you'll be learning about phrasal verbs, but before we get started, it's important to learn a little bit about prepositions.

Definition: A preposition shows a relationship of some kind. You use prepositions all the time even though you may not realize it. They typically answer questions such as which one, what kind, how much, how many, where, when, how, and to what extent.

The cow jumped over the moon.
Where did the cow jump? Over the moon.

Animals Phrasal Verbs in English (With Meanings & Examples) A number of phrasal verbs are formed by adding particles to the names of animals or verbs associated with animals.

We went to the movies after school.
When did we go to the movies? After school.

Don't worry if you don't quite have a handle on prepositions yet. You'll learn more about them in Module 6. For this lesson, you just need to be able to recognize them. Here are a few prepositions that are commonly used in phrasal verbs.

at	by	for	away	from	after	around	across
on	to	out	over	with	along	behind	through
in	up	off	down	into	about

Phrasal Verbs

Definition:Phrasal verbs are made up of a verb and one or more prepositions. They are called phrasal verbs because it takes two words or more (a phrase) to complete their meaning. The verb and preposition work together to form a new verb whose meaning is different from those of the individual words.

Please fill out these forms so I can find out more about you.
If you fall behind in your homework, your parents will hear from your teacher.
If you blow up at your friends, it makes it harder to get along with them.

Many phrasal verbs are idiomatic, which means that you can't interpret them literally. The original meanings of the verb and preposition are often altered. For example, if you tell someone to shut up (which we know is rude), what up are they supposed to shut? Native speakers of any language understand phrasal verbs because they use them all the time, but it can be challenging for non-native speakers to understand and learn these verbs.

Separable and Inseparable Phrasal Verbs

With some phrasal verbs, it's possible to separate the verb and the preposition without affecting the meaning of the sentence, but with others, separation is not possible.

Separable Phrasal Verbs: Transitive

Separable phrasal verbs are always transitive, which means they always have a direct object. If the direct object is a noun or a noun phrase,¹ you can choose to put it after the preposition or between the verb and the preposition. However, if the object is a pronoun, it must go between the verb and the preposition.

Correct: You will need to work outthe problem on your own.
Correct: You have workedthe problemout.
Correct: You have workeditout.
Incorrect: You have worked out it.

Because it is a pronoun, you have to put it between the verb and the preposition, not after the preposition.

Hint:

Just because all separable phrasal verbs are transitive does not mean that all transitive phrasal verbs are separable.

Correct: Make sure you look after your little brother.
Incorrect: Make sure you look your little brother after.

Look after is transitive, but it is not separable. You can't put the direct object, your little brother, between the verb and the preposition.

Inseparable Phrasal Verbs: Transitive or Intransitive

Inseparable phrasal verbs can be either transitive or intransitive. With transitive inseparable phrasal verbs, the direct object must always follow the preposition.

Correct: We went overthe answers.
Incorrect: We went the answers over.

With intransitive phrasal verbs, it's common to try to separate the verb and the preposition, but this is not correct. Because intransitive verbs don't have direct objects, there's nothing you can put between the verb and the preposition.

Correct: You will have to catch up on your homework.
Incorrect: You will have to catch your homework up.

Your homework is not the direct object of the verb catch up, so it can't go between the verb and the preposition.

Note:

The preposition on in the example above isn't part of the phrasal verb catch up. When you're unsure of whether or not a preposition is part of a phrasal verb, you can always look up the phrasal verb in the dictionary.

1. A noun phrase includes the noun plus other elements such as articles (the, a, an), possessive pronouns (my, your, his, etc.), or demonstrative adjectives (this, that, these, those). Noun phrases can also include adjectives (describing words).

   Noun	Noun Phrases
   dog	my dog, a dog, the dog, this dog, those dogs, the little spotted dog

Practice What You've Learned

Alphabetical lists of commonly-used phrasal verbs in English.

Alphabetical List - A

• abide by
  • Respect or obey (the law, a decision, a rule...).
    'If you want to stay at this school, you must abide by the rules.'
    
• account for
  • Give a reason or an explanation.
    'I hope you can account for all the money you spent!'
    
• ache for
  • Want someone or something very much.
    'He was so lonely he ached for the sound of a human voice.'
    
• act on
  • Take action as a result of something.
    'The police decided to act on the anonymous call they received.'
    
• act out
  • Demonstrate something with gestures and actions.
    'The children acted out the scene in the classroom.'
    
• act up
  • Cause pain or annoyance by functioning badly.
    Dad's poor knee is acting up again.'
    
• add up
  • Make sense; seem reasonable.
    'She explained what happened but the details she gave just don't add up.'
    
• adhere to
  • Support; follow; act in accordance with.
    'All contestants must adhere to the rules.'
    
• advise against
  • Recommend not to do something.
    The doctor advised him against carrying heavy loads.
    
• agree with
  • Have the same opinion as some else.
    'I agree with you. I think she deserves the award too.'
    
• aim at
  • Direct towards a target.
    'The policeman aimed his gun at the hijacker.'
    
• allow for
  • Take into consideration; include in a calculation.
    'It will take longer. You have to allow for heavy traffic at rush hour.'
    'We must allow for food expenses too. Let's add 20€ per person.'
    
• allude to
  • Mention or make reference to something in an indirect way.
    'I don't understand. What problem is she alluding to?'
    


• amount to
  • Reach; be equivalent to.
    'The total repair work will amount to 1200€.
    'His statement amounted to a confession.'
    
• angle for
  • Try to obtain somethiing by hinting or suggesting.
    'From the way he's speaking I suspect Tom is angling for a free ticket.'
    
• answer back
  • Reply rudely to someone in authority when you are expected to remain silent.
    'I'm your teacher. Don't answer back !'
    
• answer for
  • Be held responsible for something.
    'Normally parents have to answer for their children's behaviour.'
    
    
  • Speak on behalf of someone.
    'I agree to your proposal, but I can't answer for my associate.'
    
• answer to
  • Be responsible to/be controlled by (someone)
    'Who do you answer to in your job?'
    
• appeal to
  • Plead or make an earnest request.
    'The organisers appealed to the crowd to stay calm.'
    
  • Be attractive or interesting.
    'The idea of camping in the woods doesn't appeal to me at all.'
    
• apply for
  • Make a formal request for something (job, permit, loan, etc.)
    'When he saw the advertisement he decided to apply for the job.'
    
• arrive at
  • Reach (an agreement, a decision, a conclusion)
    'It is hoped that they will arrive at an agreement at the end of the meeting.'
    
• ask after
  • Enquire about someone's well-being.
    'My mother is always asking after you.'
    
• ask around
  • Mention it to people you see or meet.
    'I'll ask around and see if anyone has seen your cat.'
    
• ask in
  • Invite someone to come inside.
    'I couldn't leave her standing outside in the cold so I asked her in.'
    
• ask out
  • Invite someone to lunch, dinner, the cinema ...
    'John has asked Mary out several times.'
    
• attest to
  • Prove to be true; bear witness to
    'The number of visitors attest to the popularity of the website.'
    
• avail (oneself) of
  • Take advantage of something (an opportunity)
    'When the sales begin you should avail yourself of the opportunity and buy that coat.'
    
• average out at
  • Result in an average(amount)
    'The price of lunch averages out at 10€ per person.'
    

More Phrasal Verbs:

Phrasal Verbs And Meanings In Malayalam

Phrasal Verbs And Meanings In Alphabetical Order

Please note that British English spelling is used on this website.