Phrasal verbs

 

Phrasal verbs: these are structures composed by a verb and a preposition or an adverb. Some phrasal verbs may be formed by three words. There are four groups of phrasal verbs:

·         Group 1. No object: the verb and the preposition/adverb can’t be separated. E.g. The meeting went on for hours.

·         Group 2. With an object. In this group,  the verb and the preposition/adverb can be separated. Here, we need to be careful:

§  If the object is a noun, it can go after both parts of the phrasal verb or between them.                                                                              

E.g. Take off your shoes or Take your shoes off.

§  If the object is a pronoun it must go between the two parts. 

E.g. Take them off. Never Take off them.

·         Group 3: With an object, but the verb and the preposition/adverb can’t be separated. 

E.g. She looks after her young sister at weekends. Never She looks her young sister after at weekends.

·         Group 4: With two prepositions or adverbs, They can’t be separated. 

E.g. We are looking forward to our holiday. Never We are looking forward our holiday to.

Download the document titled “Phrasal verbs revision” and do activities 1a, 2a and 3 based on the previous explanation. Read the difference between separable and non-separable phrasal verbs in section 4.