Phrasal Verbs

Guidelines for cracking the phrasal verb code

The guidelines listed below may be used as a reference to simplifying the complicated process of 'cracking the phrasal verb code' and rendering multi-word verb learning a more feasible endeavor EFL students.

(a) Verbs of motion tend to be transparent (i.e, literal):
 

He went up to the top floor
The cat ran down the tree.
She walked out of the room.

(b) As mentioned multi-word verbs can be either opaque (i.e, idiomatic) or transparent (i.e, literal). Briefly, a phrasal verb may be said to be transparent if its meaning can be deduced by defining its individual parts. If it cannot, it is opaque.The following pairs illustrate the distinction.

opaque types:
The enemy gave up. (opaque = 'surrendered')
He called off the meeting. (opaque = 'cancelled')

transparent types:
The guests came in. (transparent = literal meaning)
She went out. (transparent = literal meaning).

(c) Verbs which are separable are those which, under certain conditions, may have an item inserted between the verb and particle. These conditions are as follows:
 

If the object of a separable phrasal verb is a noun, the particle may proceed or follow the noun. He picked the book up. OR He picked up the book.

If, however, the object is a pronoun, the particle must follow it.
He picked it up.

(d) With transitive phrasal verbs, there is a greater likelihood of the particle preceding the noun phrase if opaque (i.e, idiomatic).
 

They covered up the crime.
They covered the body up.

(e) It is useful to remember that although it is possible to decide in almost any sentence whether a particle is an adverb or a preposition, an important characteristic of many particles is that they can function as either. Though it is not always the case, most phrasal verbs are made up of a verb + adverb rather than a verb + preposition. Examples include 'in' and 'up':
 

Sue sat in the chair. (preposition)
Sue came in. (adverb)
He climbed up the ladder. (preposition)
She got up early. (adverb).

(f) The particle may be an adverb or a preposition. If there is an object pronoun, the adverb occurs after the pronoun and the preposition before it. This rule represents an important key to constructing correct word order when using phrasal verbs.
 

He ran it up. (the bill)
He ran up it. (the hill)