What are phrasal verbs?
Phrasal verbs are phrases that indicate actions. They are generally used in spoken English and informal texts. Examples of such verbs include: “turn down”, “come across” and “run into”.
Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and a preposition or an adverb:
Verb | Preposition/adverb |
get | up |
go | through |
write | down |
take | after |
Sometimes phrasal verbs consist of three elements:
Verb | Preposition adverb 1 | Preposition adverb 2 |
look | forward | to |
put | up | with |
sit | in | for |
When added to the verb, the preposition or adverb may completely change the meaning of the verb. Here are some examples:
Phrasal verb | Meaning |
look for | search/seek |
look up to | have a great deal of respect for a person |
look forward to | to wait eagerly with pleasure |
look up | to try to find a piece of information of looking in a book or on a computer |
Here are a few pages and worksheets to help you understand how to use them. 😊
Comments