What is a Phrasal Verb

What is a phrasal verb? A phrasal verb is a type of verb that contains a main verb and either a preposition (as in Look at) or an adverb (as in Look down) or both (as in come up with).

Why learn phrasal verbs in English? There are two types of conversation: formal and informal. What do you understand by the two? The answer is straightforward. A formal conversation is the one used in formal situations such conferences, learning and teaching and business communication. On the other hand, informal conversation is the one we have with our relatives, friends and colleagues.

The interesting fact about these two types of conversation is that formal conversation is occasional, whereas informal conversation is frequent. You will be shocked to know that we engage in informal conversation more than we do in formal communication and that our informal conversation is filled with what we call phrasal verbs; therefore, you need to focus more on informal conversation than on formal communication; that is, you need to master and use the most common phrasal verbs to sound natural and fluent in English.

Therefore, we provide you below with the most frequent separable and inseparable phrasal verbs in English with meanings and example sentences. Go through, make out, mug them up and put them into practice instantly. But, before you go through them, you need to keep in mind the following points about phrasal verbs in English.

Types of Phrasal Verbs: Separable and Inseparable

1. Separable Phrasal Verb 

what is a separable phrasal verb? A separable phrasal verb is the one that can be used separately; that is, a separable phrasal verb can be separated with a noun or pronoun. Now, you need to remember two rules about the separable phrasal verb.

Rule 1: If a separable phrasal verb is separated with a noun, you may either separate it or not.

Examples: 

1. Correct: Why did you bring up the situation? (not separated)

2. Correct: Why did you bring the situation up? (separated)

Rule 2: If a separable phrasal verb is separated by a personal pronoun, you must separate it.

Examples:

1. Correct: You need to pick him up. (separated)

2. Wrong: You need to pick up him. (not separated)

List of Common Separable Phrasal Verbs

• Call off: We need to call the meeting off.
• Call up: He made sure to call me up.
• Pick up: Pick it up and put it in the bag.
• Drop off: She will drop him off on her way to gym.
• Bring up: Why did you bring it up?
• Hand in: Make sure that you hand your assignment in.
• Fill in: You need to fill a form in.
• Put on: I need to put my shirt on.
• Turn down: He decided to turn the job down.
• Take out: Take your pen out and give it to me.

2. Inseparable Phrasal Verb

What is an inseparable phrasal verb? An inseparable phrasal verb is the one that cannot be separated; that is, you cannot put any word between the phrasal verb and its particle. There's only one rule about inseparable phrasal verbs. 

Rule: An inseparable phrasal verb is an inseparable phrasal verb; that is, you cannot separate an inseparable phrasal verb, even when it is used with one particle or two particles or with personal pronouns.

Examples:

a. She looks after her mother.

b. I have come up with an interesting idea. 

c. You have to look after her. 

List of Common Inseparable Phrasal Verbs

• Look after: I will look after her baby.
• Break into: The thief broke into the bank last night.
• Come across: When scrolling down, I came across this reel.
• Look for: She is looking for his baby.
• Turn into: The metal magically turned into gold.
• Go out: Let's go out for dinner tonight.
• Look into: The policemen looked into the case.
• Get up: I usually get up early in the morning.
• Get rid of: We need to get rid of this issue. 
• Get on with: Please stop talking and get on with the job.
• Look forward to: I am looking forward to meeting you.

Phrasal Verbs Exercise

Question 1: According to the definition above, identify the correct statements about a phrasal verb.

1. A phrasal verb is only an irregular verb. (true or false)

2. A phrasal verb has a main verb along with a particle at least. (true or false)

3. A phrasal verb is frequently found in formal language. (true or false)

Question 2: Identify the wrongly used separable and inseparable phrasal verbs in the following examples.

1. I will anyhow get this issue rid of.

2. I am looking my dog for.

3. Drop him off on your way to gym.

4. The thief broke into the bank.

FAQs: Phrasal Verbs  

What is a phrasal verb?

A phrasal verb is a type of verb which contains a main verb along with a particle which can be either a preposition as in "look at", an adverb as in "look down" or both as in "come up with". Phrasal verbs are frequently used in informal communication with friends, family members and colleagues.

 

What is a separable phrasal verb?

A separable phrasal verb is a phrasal verb that can be separated by a noun or pronoun; that is, you can use a noun or pronoun in between the main verb and the particle of the phrasal verb as in "Pick him up".

What is an inseparable phrasal verb?

An inseparable phrasal verb is a type of phrasal verb that can not be separated by any noun or pronoun; that is, you can not use any noun or pronoun in between the main verb and particle of the phrasal verb as in "the metal turned into gold."