Ch 7 · Lesson 15English · Chapter 7 · Lesson 15 · Grammar primer
Phrasal verbs: give up, find out, go on
Give up does not mean give, and find out is not about finding. The phrasal verbs you have to learn as new words, and why the small word often explains them.
The short version
The small word often carries an idea
.
Why?Hide
Many particles add the same idea to the verbs they join. Up often means completely, out means until none is left, back means returning, on means continuing. Learn the idea once and whole families make sense; learn the rest, like give up, as words.
Inseparable verbs never split, not even for pronouns
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Why?Hide
With an inseparable phrasal verb the particle stays glued to the verb, and the object always follows it, pronoun or not. So work out whether a verb is separable first, then remember that pronouns force the split on separable verbs and never break an inseparable one. A good dictionary marks each verb.
Phrasal verb meanings: the particle carries the logic
When many verbs take the same particle, it is often not random. particle , and once you know the ideas, whole families of phrasal verbs make sense.
| Particle | Idea | Examples |
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| , | | |
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| , | | |
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This is also why one phrasal verb can have several meanings. Take off has three, and all three link back to the idea of leaving:
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| . | |
| . | |
| . |
The coat leaves your body, the plane leaves the ground, and a business that takes off climbs like a plane.
The idea does not explain everything. Give up and look up do not fall out of any rule. Use the ideas where they work, and learn the rest as words.
Going further: What is a phrasal verb? and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
Practise this lesson
10-question session
One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
New words in this lesson
- give up/ˌɡɪv ˈʌp/To stop trying to do something, or to stop doing something you did often.
- find out/ˌfaɪnd ˈaʊt/To learn a fact or some news that you did not know.
- go on/ˌɡəʊ ˈɒn/To continue doing something, or to happen; also, to go on a trip or holiday is to take one.
- come on/ˌkʌm ˈɒn/To start working (of a light, heating or a machine); also said to hurry someone or to encourage them.
- come out/ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/To leave a place and appear outside; also, to become available for people to buy or see.
- hold on/ˌhəʊld ˈɒn/To wait for a short time, or to keep holding something tightly.
- grow up/ˌɡrəʊ ˈʌp/To change from a child into an adult.
- hurry up/ˌhʌri ˈʌp/To move or do something more quickly.
- run away/ˌrʌn əˈweɪ/To leave a place quickly, often to escape from someone or something.
- look after/ˌlʊk ˈɑːftə/To take care of someone or something.
- look up/ˌlʊk ˈʌp/To raise your eyes to look at something above you; also, to find information in a book or online.
- get in/ˌɡet ˈɪn/To enter a car, a house or water; also, of a train or bus, to arrive.
- get on/ˌɡet ˈɒn/To go onto a bus, train or plane; also, to have a friendly relationship with someone.
- get off/ˌɡet ˈɒf/To leave a bus, train or plane, or to move off something you are on.
- get back/ˌɡet ˈbæk/To return to a place or an activity, or to receive something again.
- run out/ˌrʌn ˈaʊt/To have none of something left because it has all been used; also, to leave a place by running.
- carry on/ˌkæri ˈɒn/To continue doing something.
- call back/ˌkɔːl ˈbæk/To telephone someone again, or to return a call you missed.
- slow down/ˌsləʊ ˈdaʊn/To start to go more slowly, or to make something go more slowly.
- calm down/ˌkɑːm ˈdaʊn/To stop feeling angry, worried or excited, or to help someone stop feeling that way.
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