Phrasal Verbs: To split or not to split
What are phrasal verbs? Well, they are verbs with two or three prepositions. For example:
- wake up,
- move on,
- sit down,
- get along with,
- get rid of.
They are used A LOT in our speaking. In fact, if your goal is to sound like a native English speaker, then learning as many phrasal verbs as possible will help with that. Although you must remember that they are informal English, which means they are great for speaking, but not great for academic writing.
Learning phrasal verbs is a little more complicated than just memorising a new word. But, let me stress that memorisation is VERY IMPORTANT. In previous blogs about confusing words in English (click here to read them), the only way to learn the difference is with memorisation.
However, when you learn a new phrasal verb, there is a little bit of grammar to think about as well. For example, did you know that some phrasal verbs can be split* (transitive verbs) and some cannot be split (intransitive)? Look at the examples below:
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Transitive Verbs: Many can be split But some are not! |
Intransitive verbs: Cannot be split |
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Pick up · She picked up the pen. · She picked the pen up. · She picked it up.
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Hang out · Let’s hang out!
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Take off · I took off my shoes. · I took my shoes off. · I took them off. |
Go off (=starting sounding) · The alarm went off.
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The question that students often ask me is, ‘How do I know if I can split phrasal verbs or not?’. The answer is: You don’t. You have to learn this through example sentences and asking questions.
My suggestion is to always ask your teacher if the phrasal verb can be split. My free zoom class on phrasal verbs in December will be a great place to start. If you are not in classes, a good dictionary will have example sentences. You could start a table in your notebook like the table above and start to add your new phrasal verbs to it.
Another problem you might face is that sometimes the same phrasal verb can be both transitive and intransitive. It also means different things in different contexts. Look at the table below:
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Transitive Verbs: Can be split |
Intransitive verbs: Cannot be split |
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Give up (=quit a habit) · She gave up smoking. · She gave smoking up. · She gave it up.
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Give up (=surrender) · The race was too hot, so I gave up. There is no object after ‘gave up’ so I have ‘nothing’ to separate it with. |
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Make up (= invent a story) · I made up a story. · I made the story up. · I made it up. |
Make up (=finish a fight and become friends) · After their fight, they made up. There is no object after ‘made up’, so I have nothing to separate it with. |
So again, my advice, when learning new phrasal verbs, is to write a list of them and include example sentences. There is no easy way to do this, BUT I’m sure that you probably know many phrasal verbs already. If you are feeling inspired, I’ve made an activity for you to practise. Click here to access it.
*split means to separate