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Let’s understand phrasal verbs with meaning in the easiest of manners possible to have comprehensive and all-encompassing understanding along with 10 very crucial phrasal verbs to use while speaking and writing the English language.
Meaning of phrasal verbs
A phrasal verb is a verb that gets combined either with a preposition or an adverb or, in many situations, with both of them to give rise to a new meaning.
For example, “look at,” which means “to observe or to watch,” is a phrasal verb and here “look” is a verb, and “at” is a preposition, which means “look at” is a combination of a verb and a preposition.
On the other hand, “stay away,” which means “to not go near or become involved with something or someone,” is a phrasal verb, and here “stay” is a verb, and “away” is an adverb, which means “stay away” is a combination of a verb and an adverb.
And at last, there is a third combination of a verb, an adverb, and a preposition for the purpose of a phrasal verb. For example, “look forward to,” which means “to anticipate or wait for something eagerly,” is a phrasal verb in which “look” is a verb, “forward” is an adverb, and “to” is a preposition. I hope that you have understood the explanation of phrasal verbs with meaning given above.
Four Types of phrasal verbs
1. Transitive Phrasal verbs: Those phrasal verbs that require an object to make a complete sense of a sentence are called transitive phrasal verbs.
For example: He is looking for the keys.
Here “look for” is a transitive phrasal verb.
2. Intransitive phrasal verbs: Those phrasal verbs that do not require an object to make a complete sense of a sentence are called intransitive phrasal verbs
For example: Now the plane will take off.
Here “take off” is an intransitive phrasal verb.
3. Separable phrasal verbs: Those phrasal verbs whose combination of words can be separated while using in a sentence.
For example:
Always turn on the light while studying. (Correct)
Always turn the light on while studying. (Correct)
4. Inseparable Phrasal Verbs: Those phrasal verbs whose combination of words cannot be separated while using in a sentence.
For example:
Give up smoking. (Correct)
Give smoking up. (Incorrect)
10 phrasal verbs to use while speaking and writing
While you are in the process of learning phrasal verbs with meaning, it is vital for you to keep this thing in your mind that one phrasal verb may have more than one meaning, but here I will give most often used meaning for you to excel in the vocabulary of English language. I will also give one sentence for each phrasal verb for you to practice better.
- Pull in: To earn
How much money do you pull in from this job?
- Pass up: To refuse
Did the neighbors pass up the invitation for dinner?
- Hold up: To wait
Please hold up a minute. I want to complete this task.
- Knock it off: To stop doing something
Please knock it off with playing the music because I’m sleeping.
- Ask after: To Inquire about health and progress
Did you ask after your grandmother? How is she?
- Break even: To have neither profit nor loss
After paying the rent of the house, we broke even.
- Come apart: To break into pieces or parts
This particular equipment has come apart.
- Come after: To follow
The dog was coming after an unknown person in the street.
- Come away: To distance oneself
Do you want to come away from the hustle and bustle of the city?
- Come down on: To punish
The government came down on the ministers very hard as they were found to be careless about their duties.
Final Point
You must have enjoyed all the phrasal verbs with meaning, and you can use them in daily conversation and writing wherever applicable and necessary. But make sure that you understand what phrasal verbs are so that you may never have any confusion about them. Using the phrasal verbs given above will become easier and easier with the continuous practice of yours. So make the phrasal verbs the important part of your English speaking and writing so that speaking and writing quality may be enhanced.
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I’m Mohammad Zahid Hussain, a Content Writer, Spoken English, IELTS and PTE Trainer. I’m also a Professional English-Hindi and Hindi-English Translator, Editor and Proofreader. I’m a graduate from Jamia Millia Islamia University, and I’m here to share my articles on a wide range of topics to help you enhance your insights into various things to provide you with factual information and creative analysis.
