Course presentation on phrasal verbs for linguistic analysis class, MATESOL, the New School

1. PHRASAL VERBS
The words are so easy . . .
so why can’t I understand what’s going on?!
Sheri L Conner Gausepohl
Language Analysis: Grammar A Fall 2017
12.12.2017

2. Verb Phrase
DEFINITIONS
A verb combined with one or more auxiliary verbs (have, be, do, modals)
Examples:
I have been waiting for you.
We will return!
Should I call you?
Phrasal Verb
A verb that is combined with one or more adverbs or prepositions AND the
combination creates a new meaning
Examples:
I ran into Joe yesterday.
She made up the whole story.
I cannot put up with this behavior any more!

3. Non-separable: verb + two particles + object
CATEGORIES OF PHRASAL VERBS
 Get up.
 Anita works out . . . three times a week.
 Pass out. (= faint)
Intransitive: verb + particle (no object)
Non-separable: verb + particle + object
Separable (obligatory): verb + object + particle
 Take down (something); take (something) down.
 He filled out a grad school application.
 He filled it out.
Separable (optional): verb + (object) + particle + (object)
“Particle”
Preposition or adverb
combined with a verb
thus losing its
prepositional or
adverbial function
DeCapua (2008)
Common Particles
Up – increase, completion
Down – decrease, completion
Off – disconnection, completion
On – connection, continuation
Out – removal, change of state
Away – disconnection,
unrestrained action
Yule (1998)
Yule (1998), DeCapua (2008)
Transitive:
 It’s important to stand up for them (your rights).
 Care for (someone)
 She dropped in on Steve at the store.
 Go against (something)
 Find (someone) out
 Shut (someone) up
 Ask (someone) back

4. It’s hard, because . . .
TEACHING PHRASAL VERBS
“Take off” can mean:
When an airplane leaves the ground
To remove (“take off shoes”)
Make great progress (“sales have taken off”)
Informal (“I’m gonna take off now; see you later”)
 Meanings are idiomatic and can be multiple
 Different particles combine with verb to form different meanings; not always clear
which particle to use for a specific meaning
 “Take off shoes” v “Take up knitting”
 “Run up a bill” v “Turn down a promotion”
 “Take in a stray dog” v “Take over a building”
 Difficult to produce correct structures with phrasal verbs that are transitive and
separable when the object is a pronoun
“Rule”: “object must come between the verb and the preposition” (DeCapua, 2008)
He really turned her off.
He filled out the application; he filled it out.
BUT It’s time to hit back at them; we must hit them back.
BUT After they signed the contract, they backed out of it.

5.  Adverb Insertion
*We turned (quickly) off the lights [phrasal]
We turned (quickly) off the road.
*The car ran (slowly) down the squirrel. [phrasal]
The rain ran (slowly) down the roof.
 Substitution
Bring up children - Raise children [phrasal]
Fix up the old car - Repair the old car [phrasal]
Put off -Postpone
 Germanic roots and Informality
Similar lexico-grammatical phenomenon in German, Dutch, Scandinavian languages
 More common in spoken vs. written English
TIPS & TRICKS
DeCapua (2008)

6.  Best to learn phrasal verbs in context
Get up every morning
Hand out papers in class
 Best to learn phrasal verbs in groups
“Up” and “Down”
“Off”, “On”, “Out”, “Away”
 Area of language with lots of new lexical terms
Chill out
Spam out
 Check authentic sources
www.macmillandictionary.com
TIPS & TRICKS
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/rod-bolitho/phrasal-verb-neurosis-diagnosis-cure
Yule (1998)

7.  Yule, G., 1998. Explaining English Grammar. Chapter 3. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press
 DeCapua, A., 2008. Grammar for Teachers. A Guide to American English for Native and Non-Native
Speakers. Chapter 5. New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media, LLC
 https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/rod-bolitho/phrasal-verb-neurosis-diagnosis-cure (accessed on
12/3/2017)
SOURCES

8.  Prepositions provide extra information and are at the edge of the action
There’s a car in the garage.
Your cup is on the table.
 Particles are in the center of the action, they are part of the verb, are stressed and follow the
basic pattern “given before new”.
We left it out.
He tried them on; he tried on some new shoes.
 Adverb particles adhere semantically to the verb and modify its meaning either literally or
figuratively
Look up a word
Look up someone
 Preposition particles adhere semantically to the noun or noun phrase that follows to indicate
place, time, direction
He looked up the tree
TIPS & TRICKS
Yule (1998)