Phrasal verbs

Hello! Welcome to 6 Minute Grammar with me, Callum.

And me, Catherine. In this program we’re talking about multi-word verbs.

Yes, these are verbs that are made up of more than one word. There is a main verb followed by one or two particles, which might be adverbs or prepositions.

Multi-word verbs are incredibly important. They’re used all the time in spoken English and often in written English. So if you want to have a good understanding of English and want to be able to express yourself naturally, it’s a good idea to know your multi-word verbs.

There are different types of multi-word verbs and today we’re looking at four types of prepositional verbs and phrasal verbs. And to keep things simpler we’ll refer to them all as phrasal verbs.

Let’s start with a clip from Dave. And Dave is talking about his holiday.

And listen for the answer to this question: Why did Dave have to stay in bed?

It wasn’t the holiday I was expecting. On the first day, I picked up a nasty bug. I think I picked it up from something I ate. Anyway, I had to stay in bed. It took me a few days to get over that. Then my girlfriend and I split up . Well, we hadn’t been getting along well for some time. I guess we just couldn’t put up with each other for any longer.

Right, that was Dave using a lot of phrasal verbs. Now the question was: Why did Dave have to stay in bed, Callum?

And the answer is: Because he picked up a nasty bug.

Yes, picked up is a phrasal verb that means caught here. He picked up a nasty bug: he caught an unpleasant illness.

To pick up is an example of a type one phrasal verb. These phrasal verbs are transitive which means they always have an object. Without an object it doesn’t make sense so there has to be something that is picked up . In this example, the object of picked up is a nasty bug .

And with type 1 phrasal verbs, you can put the object after the particle or between the verb and the particle.

So you can say I picked up a nasty bug or I picked a nasty bug up .

But if you use an object pronoun like it , him, or her, it must go between the verb and the particle.

As we heard Dave say about the bug, he picked it up from something he ate. Not he picked up it.

Good. Now listen for another phrasal verb in this clip.

It took me a few days to get over that.

Now get over is our second type of phrasal verb. To get over something means to feel better after an illness or an upsetting event.

It’s transitive too, so it always has an object but unlike type 1 phrasal verbs the object or the object pronoun must come after the particle.

That’s right. You can’t separate the verb and the particle. Unlike Dave and his girlfriend! What phrasal verb does he use for that?

Then my girlfriend and I split up .

Right. It’s not very nice to split up on holiday, is it? And split up is a type three phrasal verb. What do we need to know about type threes, Callum?

Well, they’re intransitive. That means that they don’t have an object and you can’t split the two parts of the phrasal verb.

Dave used another type three. Listen again.

Well, we hadn’t been getting along well for some time.

Getting along is also intransitive. There ‘s no object. And what does it mean?

If two people get along it means that they like each other and have a good relationship with each other.

Next clip please.

I guess we just couldn’t put up with each other for any longer.

And there’s our fourth type of phrasal verb. There are three parts to it. There’s put followed by the particles up and with .

And there’s an object, each other . Like type two phrasal verbs the object must always come after the particles.

And finally some phrasal verbs are both type 3 and type 4.

Yes. Do you remember that Dave and his girlfriend hadn’t been getting along ? Well, you could also say that they hadn’t been getting along with each other. We can sometimes extend the type three phrasal verbs to become type four. So Catherine, how do you know which type a phrasal verb is?

Well, if you see it or hear it being used, you can usually work it out but also a good dictionary will tell you whether it’s transitive or not. So I recommend whenever you note a new phrasal verb you also write down some examples and what type it is.

It’s quiz time! Number one: right or wrong? When Dave got ill, it took him a few days to get it over.

And that’s wrong. It should have been get over it .

Excellent! Number two: finish the sentence. Dave’s off work. a) He picked up a cold. b) He picked a cold up. c) both a) and b) are possible.

And the answer’s c), both a) and b) are possible.

Number three: Which is correct? a) Dave and I get along well. b) I get along well Dave. c) I get Dave along well.

And the answer’s a) Dave and I get along well.

It is! And brilliant, well done if you got them all right.

There’s more about this at bbclearningenglish.com. Join us again soon for more 6 Minute Grammar.

Bye! Bye!