phrasal verbs 1 We use phrasal verbs in

phrasal verbs (1) • We use phrasal verbs in everyday language rather than formal language. • We cannot usually guess the meaning from the combination of words. • Some of them have more than one meaning.

two part verbs: unsplittable verb + preposition We cannot put the object between the verb and preposition. We can sometimes guess the meaning.

• I came across this word in a magazine. • What are you getting at exactly? • I won't stand for this behaviour any longer! • It took me a long time to get over my illness.

• I came across this word in a magazine. (find by chance) • What are you getting at exactly? (suggest) • I won't stand for this behaviour any longer! (tolerate) • It took me a long time to get over my illness. (recover from)

• The police are looking into the robbery • Will you look after the baby? • Anna takes after her mother. • I ran into Tom the other day • Tom is heading for trouble. • When I laughed, everyone joined in. • Let's run through the details.

• The police are looking into the robbery (investigate) • Will you look after the baby? (take care of) • Anna takes after her mother. (Iook or behave like) • I ran into Tom the other day (meet by accident) • Tom is heading for trouble. (go in the direction of) • When I laughed, everyone joined in. (do the same activity) • Let's run through the details. (explain)

two part verbs: splittable verb + adverb particle We can put the object between the verb and particle, or after the particle. If the object is a large number of words we put it after the particle. If the object is a pronoun e. g. me, it, him, we put it between the verb and the particle. We can sometimes guess the meaning.

• Try to carry out a 'task analysis'. • • Can you give in your homework • now • Can you fill in this form? • You can leave out / miss out the • • next exercise. • We're trying to sort out the • problem. • You can work out the answer for • homework. • Don 't forget to turn off the • lights. (do a piece of work) (give it to the teacher) (write information on it) (don't do it) (deal with) (find the solution) (stop using)

• We have put off the match until next week. • The bus dropped off the students outside the school. • Our teacher told us off because we were noisy • Don't let down the team, will you! • We'll come and pick up the others at 6. 00. • Susan brought up three orphan children. • People say it's hard to give up smoking. • You have to look up these words. • (postponed) • (take to a place) • (criticize angrily) • (disappoint by not doing what was promised) • (collect in a car) • (Iook after a child until it becomes an adult) • (stop doing something) • (find in a dictionary)

Use a phrasal verb from the list to replace the words underlined. • • • came across looked after getting at looked into getting over running into heading for running through joined in took after

a A special committee investigated the government's actions, but found nothing wrong. b Everyone said that Richard was just like his father. c If things go on like this, the company is going in the direction of disaster! d Our neighbour took care of our cats while we were away. e When a man at the front started shouting, everyone else did the same. f I found this article while I was doing my project. g Listen carefully, the teacher is explaining the details again. h Maria is slowly recovering from her illness. i I don't understand what she is trying to say. j I keep meeting Harry in the library.

answers a looked into b took after c heading for d looked after e joined in f came across g running through h getting over i getting at j running into

Complete the sentence with a word from the list. Two words are used twice • • come get head join • • look run stand take

a We couldn't find anyone to ___ after our three pet fish while we were away. b Tony is disappointed to have lost the match, but he'll ___ over it in time. c I don't see much of David, but I occasionally ___ into him in the library. d Do you ___ after your father, or your mother? e Our teacher told us she wasn't going to ___ for more bad behaviour.

f Could you ___ through the programme again? I'm sure there's an error somewhere. g We made a complaint to the airline about our missing luggage, and they said they would ___ into matter. h Anna knew a lot about tropical fish, but she had never ___ across one like this one before. i When the other children play together, Peter seems too shy to ___ in. j When the alarm bell rang, everyone started to ___ for the exit.

Japanese folktale Once upon a time, a man had to a. ___ some work in another village. The work was difficult and there were many problems to b. ___ He was tired and was c. ___ a cold, so he decided to d. ___ finishing the work until the next day. It was late by the time he left and he had to walk home over the mountains. Soon it started

to get dark but luckily he e. ___ a tree where he could sleep. He was woken up in the middle of the night by strange noises. He couldn't f. ___ what was going on, so he decided to get up and g. ___ the situation. He was surprised and scared when he saw a group of elves singing and dancing around his tree, but they were having so much fun that he wanted to h. ___ The elves liked him and asked him to return, and as a guarantee they took the wart on his forehead. The man left feeling very happy because he didn't want his wart anyway.

On his way home, he i. ___ one of his neighbours, who also had a big wart on his forehead. He told the neighbour his story, and the neighbour decided he would go that night, and hopefully the elves would take his wart too. The next night the neighbour went to the tree and found the elves. They thought he was the man from the night before and gave him back his wart! Now he has two warts instead of one, and went home feeling very j. ___

answers a carry out b sort out c getting over d put off e came across f work out g look into h join in i ran into j let down

phrasal verbs (2) two-part verbs: no object verb + adverb particle • These verbs do not have an object (intransitive).

• The traffic builds up here every day • My car has broken down again. • It's important to speak out. • What exactly is going on? • The feeling of shock gradually wore off. • Stop showing off! • Jim always turns up late. • Everything turned out all right in the end. • (increase) • (stop working) • (be frank, give an opinion) • (happen) • (go away) • (behave to attract attention) • (arrive, often unexpectedly) • (have a particular result)

three-part verbs: unsplittable verb + adverb particle + preposition • The object always comes after the preposition

• Have you come up with any ideas yet? • When are you going to get round to your work? • We've come up against a problem. • She didn't get away with cheating in the exam. • Maria has gone down with a bad cold. • I can't put up with Alan! He annoys me! • We want to do away with school uniform. • I'm really looking forward to seeing you. • (think of) • (finally do something) • (met a difficulty) • (escape capture or detection) • (become ill with a disease etc) • (accept something / someone unpleasant) • (abolish) • (think with pleasure about the future)

verb + adverb particle + preposition + object or verb + particle (no object) • We've run out of milk again. The milk has run out. (have none left) • I’II catch up with you later. Anna can't catch up. (go faster to reach someone) • Do you get on with / along with David? Do you two get along? (have a good relationship with) • I can't keep up with the class. I'm finding it hard to keep up. (go at the same speed as)

Rewrite the sentence so that it contains a phrasal verb from the list instead of the words underlined. Change the tense etc if necessary. • come up against • get round to • come up with • go down with • do away with • keep up with • get away with • put up with • get along with • run out of

a I'm finding it difficult to find time for my geography project. b I'm afraid we've found ourselves facing a rather serious problem. c Tim thought he had escaped unpunished after cheating in the exam. d Have you thought of any good ideas yet? e The school got rid of end-of-year tests. f Unfortunately Helen fell ill with flu on the first day of her holiday. g I worked at the same speed as the rest of the class. h I'm sorry, but I really can't tolerate this terrible noise. i Tom used all his money three days before the end of the holiday. j Kate seems to be very friendly with her new teacher.

a I'm finding it difficult to get round to my geography project. b I'm afraid we've come up against a rather serious problem. c Tim thought he got away with cheating in the exam. d Have you come up with any good ideas yet? e The school did away with end of year tests. f Unfortunately Helen went down with flu on the first day of her holiday. g I kept up with the rest of the class. h I'm sorry, but I really can't put up with this terrible noise. I Tom ran out of money three days before the end of his holiday. j Kate seems to get on / along with her new teacher.