Phrasal Verbs in English

Abstract

A phrasal verb refers to a verb phrase that consists of a verb and a preposition, or an adverb that modifies or changes the meaning of the verb. In English there are a lot of non-phrasal synonyms which can be used interchangeably with phrasal verbs. According to their syntactic patterns, phrasal verbs can be classified into 3 categories; (1) Inseparable intransitive phrasal verbs (2) Separable transitive phrasal verbs (3) Non-separable transitive phrasal verbs. A phrasal verb may consist of a verb followed by either an adverb or a preposition, or a verb followed by two adverbs or prepositions. According to their semantic characteristics, phrasal verbs can be classified into 3 categories; (1) those that have a literal meaning, (2) a semi-idiomatic meaning, (3) an idiomatic (non-literal) meaning. Phrasal verbs are usually used like single verbs, namely, they need to display verb agreement and change their form according to the tense.