Do you back up or back away or back down? Break away / Break down / Break up? Call back / call off/ call on? Do you find it difficult to differentiate among them? Then, welcome to Phrasal Verbs ! To start with, let’s find out the difference between ordinary usage and phrasal verbs,

(1) I got on the No. 8 bus at Banerjee Road. vs I boarded the No. 8 bus at Banerjee Road.

(2) I really need to get on with my paper! vs I really need to continue writing!

(3) We need to get on together to succeed. vs We need to understand each other to succeed.

(4) We?ll have to be getting on soon, or we?ll be late. vs We should leave soon, or we?ll be late.

As you can see the same meaning is conveyed by the pair of sentences but while one of them uses a single word, the other uses a phrasal verb.

Definition – A Phrasal Verb is a combination of words in any of the following forms :-

VERB + PREPOSITION

VERB + ADVERB

VERB + ADVERB + PREPOSITION

Very often the phrasal verb (PV) has a meaning which is quite different from the original verb. This makes it slightly difficult for the new learner because, even if he breaks down the phrasal verb into different words and looks up its meaning in the dictionary, he will not be able to understand the meaning of the phrasal verb itself. For example ‘look after’ as a PV means ‘take care of.’ However independently look would mean ‘see’ and ‘after’ means ‘next in order’! There are some resources on the web which help with understanding the meaning of phrasal verbs. Say – you come across the phrasal verb ‘keep up’ and want to know the usages of the phrasal verb.

Go to – http://www.phrasalverbdemon.com/corpus.htm and type in the phrasal verb ‘keep up’ in the Verb Search Box at the top

This will throw up the following results:

• You’re walking too fast. I can’t keep up with you.
• Life moves on. I just can’t keep up with it. In her first few weeks in her new job, she took some work home in order to keep up.
• The underwater pictures are unbelievable. Keep up the good work.
• The international community needs to keep up the pressure and maintain a visible presence in Cambodia during the critical transition period.

• You’re not being honest to yourself so you probably won’t even keep up the pretense for very long.

Some Rules for Phrasal Verbs

1) Verb + preposition / adverb

Example:

I ran into my teacher at the movies last night. So run + into = meet

2. Some phrasal verbs are intransitive. An intransitive verb cannot be followed by an object.

Example:

She suddenly showed up. ‘show up’ cannot take an object

3. Some phrasal verbs are transitive. A transitive verb can be followed by an object.

Example:

We made up the story. So ‘story’ is the object of ‘make up.’

4. Some transitive phrasal verbs are separable. The object is placed between the verb and the preposition.

Example:

I talked my mother into letting me borrow the car. Here mother is the object for the verb

5. Some transitive phrasal verbs are inseparable. The object is placed after the preposition.

Example:

I ran into an old friend yesterday.

Some Phrasal Verbs are discussed below to illustrate how different meanings can be obtained from the same word

BREAK

break down = fail to function

break in = interrupt a discussion; burgle

break off = discontinue (relationship etc.)

break out = escape from prison

break up = end a relationship

CALL

call back = return a phone call

call for = require

call off = cancel

call out = read names aloud

call on = request somebody to do something

call up = reach by phone

FALL

fall apart = fall into pieces

fall behind = fail to keep up pace

fall for = be in love with; deceived by

fall off = decrease

fall out with = quarrel with

fall through = fail, miscarry

What is the relevance of Phrasal Verbs in the CAT?

Phrasal Verbs are used quite frequently in everyday spoken English. That itself makes them very important! Apart from this, PV are tested in the CAT in the following form. A sample word is taken and and four different sentences are constructed using the sample word. One has to identify which of the sentences has incorrect usage.

Example:

Sample Word : Hand

1. I have my hand full I cannot do it today.

2. The minister visited the jail to see the breach at first hand

3. The situation is getting out of hand here.

4. When the roof of my house was blown away, he was willing to lend me a hand.

The most frequently used phrasal verbs are formed with the following words: break, bring, call, carry, come, do, fall, get, go, keep, look, make, put, run, set, take, turn.

Make sure that you research the above phrasal verbs from the sources given below and thoroughly understand the different ways in which these phrasal verbs can be used.

Sources for Practice:

“>http://www.stuff.co.uk/phrasal.htm

http://www.learn-english-today.com/phrasal-verbs/phrasal-verb-list.htm

http://www.phrasalverbdemon.com/quizzesintro.htm

Tanveer Ahmed is an alumnus of St Xaviers College, Kolkata and currently works with a people search firm as a recruiter. He is a visiting faculty with T.I.M.E. and also coaches and mentors CAT hopefuls online in the intricacies of the English language. (On LinkedIn)

If you think you have what it takes to write interesting articles of the above kind on CAT strategy and have a past record of 99 percentiles in mocks, we are looking for Freelance test prep writers. Feel free to apply and well be happy to hear from you!

Read More