Phrasal verbs may have two-word phrases made of;
Verb + adverb or verb + preposition
Just like other English vocabulary they should be studied as they are encountered, rather than trying to memorize many at once.
Take each phrasal verb as a separate verb with a specific meaning.
Phrasal verbs may have more than one meaning.
Phrasal verbs with put
An English verb together with two or more neighbouring words sometimes form a unit of meaning, different from the sum of the meaning of each word in the phrase.
They form phrasal verbs.
Thus, put out does not mean placing something outside, but it means extinguish, as in put out that fire!
Phrasal verb; put someone down
Meaning; insult, make someone feel stupid
Example; The students put the substitute teacher down.
Phrasal verb; put something off
Meaning; postpone
Example; We are putting our trip off until July because of the bad weather.
Phrasal Verb; Ask around
Meaning; Ask many people the same question
Example; I asked around but nobody had seen my wallet.
Phrasal Verb; blow up
Meaning; Explode
Example; The racing car blew up after it crashed into the fence.
Phrasal Verb; Break down
Meaning; Stop functioning (vehicle, machine)
Example; Their car broke down at the side of the Thika super highway in the rainstorm.
Another meaning; Get upset
Example; The woman broke down when the doctor told her that her son had died.
Phrasal Verb; Break in
Meaning; Force entry to a building
Example; Somebody broke into our house last night and stole our stereo.
Phrasal Verb; Break up
Meaning; To end or cause something to end.
Example; Police broke up the fight.
Phrasal Verb; Call on someone
Meaning; Ask for an answer or opinion
Example; The teacher called on me for question 1.
Phrasal Verb; calm down
Meaning; Relax after being angry
Example; You are still mad. You need to calm down before you drive the car.
Phrasal verbs with get
Phrasal verb; Get something across/over
Meaning; communicate, make understandable
Example; I tried to get my point across/over to the judge but she wouldn't listen.
Phrasal verb; get along/on
Meaning; like each other
Example; I was surprised how well my new driver and my sister got along/on.
Phrasal verb; get around
Meaning; have mobility
Example; My grandfather can get around fine in his new wheelchair.
Phrasal verb; get away
Meaning; go on a vacation
Example; We worked so hard this year that we had to get away for a week.
Phrasal verb; get away with something
Meaning; do without being noticed or punished
Example; Jason will never get away with cheating in his mathematics tests.
Phrasal verb; get back
Meaning; return
Example; We got back from our holiday last week.
Phrasal verb; get something back
Meaning; receive something you had before
Example; Liz finally got her Science notes back from her brother.
The image below shows more examples.
