21/7/2015
Phrasalverbs:Introductionarticle|Onestopenglish
NumberoneforEnglishlanguageteachers
Phrasalverbs:Introductionarticle
ByLindsayClandfield
Level:Starter/beginner,Elementary,Preintermediate,Intermediate,Upperintermediate,AdvancedType:
Referencematerial
Introductoryarticleonapproachestoteachingphrasalverbs.
Introduction|Whatisdifferentaboutphrasalverbs?|Formality|Howtoapproachandteachphrasalverbs|
Introducingphrasalverbs
Introduction
Whatisaphrasalverb?Phrasalverb,multiwordverbortwopartverb?
DefinitionfromtheMacmillanEnglishDictionaryLanguageAwarenesssection**
APhrasalVerbisaverbformedfromtwo(sometimesthree)partsaverbandan
adverborpreposition.Mostareformedfromasmallnumberofcommonverbs(such
asget,go,come,putandset)andasmallnumberofadverbsandprepositions(suchasaway,out,off,upand
in)
Phrasalverbssometimeshavemeaningsthatcaneasilybeguessed(suchassitdownorlookfor).Butinmost
casestheirmeaningsarequitedifferentfromthemeaningoftheverbtheyareformedfrom:forexampleholdup
canmean'tocauseadelay'or'totrytorobsomeone'andhasnoobviousconnectionwiththeideaof'holding'
something.
Whatisdifferentaboutphrasalverbs?
Inonesense,youcansaythatphrasalverbsarejustmorewordsandshouldbetreatedassuch.However,there
areproblemsalsowiththegrammar.Differentphrasalverbshavedifferentgrammar.Hereisthegrammarof
phrasalverbs:
Therearefivetypesofphrasalverb.Theseare:
1. Intransitive(withnoobject):
You'redrivingtoofastyououghttoslowdown.
2. Transitiveverbswhoseobjectcancomeintwopositionsaftertheverboraftertheparticle:
IthinkI'llputmyjacketonORIthinkI'llputonmyjacket.
Iftheobjectisapronoun,however,itmustcomebetweentheverbandtheparticle:
IthinkI'llputiton(NOTIthinkI'llputonit).
3. Transitiveverbswhoseobjectmustcomebetweentheverbandtheparticle:
Itshighqualitydesignssetsthecompanyapartfromitsrivals.
4. Transitiveverbswhoseobjectmustcomeaftertheparticle:
Thebabytakesafterhismother.
Whydoyouputupwiththewayhetreatsyou?
5. Verbswithtwoobjectsoneaftertheverb,theotheraftertheparticle:
Theyputtheirsuccessdowntogoodplanning.
FromtheMacmillanEnglishDictionaryLanguageAwarenesssection**
http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/vocabulary/phrasalverbs/phrasalverbsintroductionarticle/144986.article
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21/7/2015
Phrasalverbs:Introductionarticle|Onestopenglish
Formality
Phrasalverbsaremoreinformal,andarefoundininformaltextsandinspokenlanguage.Manyphrasalverbs
haveaLatinateequivalent.Whenstudentsoptforthisequivalent,theysoundmoreformal.Conversely,a
studentwhousesaninformalphrasalverbinaformalsituation(likeabusinessletter)cansoundoutofplaceor
wrong.
HowNOTtoteachphrasalverbs
Oftenlearnerswilltellyouwithashakeoftheirheadthattheyreallyneedtodosomephrasalverbs.Thisarea
ofEnglishisoftenseenasextremelydaunting,difficultandtedious.Why?Perhapsitsbecausetheteachingof
phrasalverbshasbeendauntinganddifficultfortheTEACHER,andthereforetediousfortheLEARNER.
Trytoavoidteachingphrasalverbsinthefollowingways:
Bypresentinghugelists(infact,listsofwordsthecoverapageareunimaginativeanddauntingforany
itemofvocabulary,imaginehavingtolearnalltheanimalsbylookingatapagewiththeirnamesonit)
Byfocussingalwaysandexclusivelyontheverb(e.g.phrasalverbswithGET).Oftenthisresultsinalist
(admittedlyshorter)ofverbsthatareunrelatedandcanbeconfused.
Howtoapproachandteachphrasalverbs
Firstofall,stopcommunicatingtostudentsthatphrasalverbsareimpossible.Thiscanquicklybecomeaself
fulfillingprophecy.Themessageshouldbethatphrasalverbsarejustmorewords,thattheyarenotthat
difficulttolearn,andthatstudentshavealready(byanelementarystage)acquiredquiteafewwithout
realisingit(seethefirstlessoninthisseriesofphrasalverbsforexamplesofphrasalverbsthatstudentsquickly
pickupintheclassroom).
Thisstillleavesproblemsforyou,astheteacher.Howdoyouteachphrasalverbsinafun,motivatingway
whensomuchmaterialoutthereisdryanddifficulttoworkwith?Thatswhatthissectionisallabout.We
hopeithelps!
Introducingphrasalverbs
Whosaysphrasalverbsareonlyforintermediatelevelstudentsandup?Thelessonatthebottomofthepageis
forelementaryorfalsebeginnerstointroducesomecommonphrasalverbs.Itcanbeusedwithhigherlevels
whoaresufferingfromphrasalverbanxietyandneedtoberemindedthatitisnotthatdifficult!
**MacmillanEnglishDictionaryLanguageAwarenessSection
ThelanguageawarenesssectionofMEDincludesuptodateinformationontopicsthatarerelevanttoanyone
whohasanyinterestinthewaytheEnglishlanguageisbeingusedatthebeginningofthe21stcentury.They
areintendedtogiveyouadeeperunderstandingofsuchareasasSpokenDiscourse,Metaphor,andPragmatics.
TheyalsoincludearticlesonNumbers,PhrasalVerbs,AcademicWriting,ComputerWords,Sensitivity:
avoidingoffence,BritishandAmericanEnglish,BusinessEnglishandWordformation.
ThematerialsinthissectionarepreparedbyLindsayClandfield,aformerwinneroftheLessonShare
competition.AnchorPoint:bottom
Readers'comments(1)
Anonymous|Fri,13Sep20137:58pm
Thereisasixthtypeofphrasalverbwhichconsisitsoftheverbplustwoparticles.Theseverbscanbe
transitiveorintransitivebuttheindividualcomponentsareonlyseparatedbytheadditionofan
adjectivee.g.togetonwith,toputupwith,comeupwith,lookforwardtoetc.
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