The Only English Phrasal Verbs Handbook E-Book

Daniel B. Smith

• Herausgeber: Daniel B. Smith
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

This book has been written to help you take your knowledge of phrasal verbs to a more advanced level. It is intended for students who already have at least an intermediate level of English. 
In this book there are approximately 1,000 phrasal verbs and related nouns and adjectives. 
The book has 9 chapters, divided into multiple units. The first part of a unit explains the phrasal verbs that are presented in the unit. You will usually find an explanation of the phrasal verb, an example of it in use and some comments on when and how it is used. In the second part of a unit you will find execises that check if you have understood the information presented in the beginning.
This book has a key to all exercises so that you can check your answers. At the back of the book you will also find a useful Mini dictionary. It provides clear definitions of all the phrasal verbs and related noun and adjective forms that appear in this book.
Keep an eye on further releases and keep in mind that this book keeps it simple so as to offer a competitive price.
Good luck!

Leseprobe

The Only English

Phrasal Verbs Handbook

Daniel B. Smith

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, excepting the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Copyright © 2022

Table of contents

Introduction

1. Learning about phrasal verbs

2. Interesting aspects of phrasal verbs

3. Key particles

4. Concepts

5. Functions

6. Work, study and finance

7. Personal life

8. The world around us

9. Key verbs

Answer key

Mini dictionary

Conclusion

Introduction

This book has been written to help you take your knowledge of phrasal verbs to a more advanced level. It is intended for students who already have at least an intermediate level of English.

In this book there are approximately 1,000 phrasal verbs and related nouns and adjectives.

The book has 9 chapters, divided into multiple units. The first part of a unit explains the phrasal verbs that are presented in the unit. You will usually find an explanation of the phrasal verb, an example of it in use and some comments on when and how it is used. In the second part of a unit you will find exercises that check if you have understood the information presented in the beginning.

This book has a key to all exercises so that you can check your answers. At the back of the book you will also find a useful Mini dictionary. It provides clear definitions of all the phrasal verbs and related noun and adjective forms that appear in this book.

Keep an eye on further releases and keep in mind that this book keeps it simple so as to offer a competitive price.

Good luck!

1. Learning about phrasal verbs

Theory:

Phrasal verbs are verbs that consist of a verb and a particle (a preposition or adverb) or a verb and two particles (an adverb and a preposition, as in get on with or look forward to). They are identified by their grammar, but it is probably better to think of them as individual vocabulary items, to be learnt in phrases or chunks.

Phrasal verbs are extremely common in English. They are very frequent in newspaper headlines and are common in less formal English. You will also hear or see and need to use them in more formal contexts. Be aware that one of the special features of phrasal verbs is that some of them have many different meanings, for example, you can pick something up from the floor, you can pick up a language, the weather can pick up and so forth.

Some phrasal verbs take an object (transitive); others do not take an object (intransitive). Example:

With object (transitive):

They’re knocking down the old hotel.

The plumber soon sorted out the shower problem.

She tied her hair back so she could work better.

No object (intransitive):

The path branched off to the river.

The noise of the train died away.

In the winter the lake froze over.

Some verbs can be used both with and without an object, but the meaning may change. Use the context to decide if the verb has a different meaning from the one you are familiar with. Example:

Some phrasal verbs have three parts, the verb and two particles. The object comes last. Example:

I will not put up with such bad behaviour. (tolerate)

Other examples include look forward to, look down on, get on with, catch up on, face up to etc.

Like phrasal verbs, phrasal nouns consist of a verb combined with a particle. The particle may come before or after the verb. Here are some examples of phrasal nouns: standby, letdown, back-up, warm-up, onset, input, overkill. Phrasal nouns are frequently used in newspaper and informal conversation.

Some phrasal verb have related adjectives. Here are some examples: go on – ongoing, wear our – worn out, break down – broken-down.

Exercises:

1. Underline the phrasal verbs in these texts.

1. I decided to take up gardening, so I went to the library, took a book out and read up on the subject. I found out so many interesting things, such as the best time to plant a flower out for the summer and how to grow vegetables. I’ve really got into it now and spend four hours in the garden every weekend.

2. The other day we went off on a hike in the mountains. We put our wet-weather gear on as the weather forecast wasn’t good. We set off early to avoid the rush hour and soon reached the starting point for our walk. The whole walk took about three hours and when we got back we were exhausted.

3. I have to catch up on my coursework this weekend as I’ve fallen behind a bit. I worked on till midnight last night but I still have loads to do. I have to hand one project in on Monday and another one on Friday. I’m not sure whether I’ll make it.

2. Choose the correct particle to finish these song titles.

1. Can’t get you off from / out of / away from my head (Kylie Minogue)

2. Hold you against / down / at (Jennifer Lopez)

3. We can work it with / across / out (The Beatles)

4. Send from / in / with the clowns (Barbra Streisand)

3. Match the headlines with the sentences from the stories.

1. Big shake-up expected in education

2. Minister denies cover-up

3. Lockout continues at aviation plant

4. Breakaway group to form new party

5. Power plant shutdown leaves 3,000 homes in darkness

a) The dispute is now in its fifth week.

b) Unity was no longer possible, a spokesperson said.

c) The event happened at 6.45 pm with no warning.

d) There will be major changes at all levels.

e) There was no attempt to hide the truth, claimed Pamela Smith.

4. Do these sentences need an object? If they do, add an appropriate one in the correct place.

1. The sound of the violin slowly died away.

2. If you’re ready to leave now I can drop off at your office.

3. The river freezes over for several months each year.

4. He is so good at English that I think the teachers should move up to the class above.

5. I associate with that evening we spent together in Paris.

6. I was so tired that I dropped off in front of the TV.

5. Put the words in the correct order to make sentences.

1. pick / off / you / work / the / I / and / can / at / you/ from / airport / up / drop / then

2. from / that / put / teacher / she / The / not / would / said / with / such / up / class / rudeness / her

3. villages / The / off / several / have / mountains / in / cut / the / floods

4. your / doesn’t / the / improve / down / If / will / handwriting / mark / examiners / you

5. always / Maria / to / with / all / seems / her / cheerfully / problems / cope

6. Rewrite each sentence using the verb in brackets in an appropriate form

1. I’ll have to ask my cousin to get my Internet connection working. (sort)

2. I was so tired after work that I fell asleep in the train on the way home. (drop)

3. I was given a lower mark because my essay was far too long. (mark)

4. Bill has no right to despise me – I’m no worse than he is. (look)

5. Jenny doesn’t have a good relationship with one of her flatmates. (get)

6. You have to accept the fact that you will probably never see each other again. (face)

7. Maria has got a new job taking care of an old lady. (look)

8. If you don’t let the children get enough sleep, they won’t be able to concentrate at school. (deprive)

9. In this country we had to manage in some difficult driving conditions. (contend)

10. The road to our house leave the main road just after the petrol station. (branch)

7. Write answers to those questions using the phrasal verb in brackets.

1. What are your plans for the summer holiday? (look forward to)

2. What homework have you got to do this weekend? (catch up on)

3. If you’ve been away somewhere by train and arrive back late, how do you usually get home from the railway station? (pick up)

4. What is your favourite album and why do you like it? (associate with)

5. What sorts of things make you feel stressed? (contend with)

6. How easy do you find it to fall asleep at night? (drop off)

8. Complete these sentences using a phrasal noun from the list: standby, letdown, warm-up, input, back-up, overkill, onset.

1. The … of winter meant that there was less food for the animals and birds.

2. I thought having a 32-piece orchestra at their wedding really was …, personally.

3. The police officer radioed for … before entering the bank.

4. Let’s ask him what he thinks. I always find his … very useful in these matters.

5. TV producers find that studio audiences react better if they have a … to watch before a live programme.

6. Our holiday in the Mediterranean was a bit of a …. The hotel was second-rate and the food was awful.

7. Although Brian usually rides his new mountain bike to school now, he’s kept his old bike as a ….

9. Correct the mistakes with the phrasal nouns in these sentences.

1. There has been a stand-up for several days now in the talks between the government and the rebels. Neither side will make any concessions.

2. Last year there were 10,000 new Internet business start-offs, most of which only survived for a few months.

3. After years without releasing a song, she has staged a comeagain with her new collection of love songs.

4. Have you decided where you’re going this summer? Not really. It’s a toss-over whether it’ll be Spain or Portugal.

5. I met Jennifer and we just had a knockover on the tennis courts for half an hour.

10. Choose the correct phrasal noun in each sentence. Use a dictionary if necessary.

1. Putout/Output has increased this year and the factory is doing well.

2. One of the robbers acted as lookout/outlook while the others robbed the bank.

3. There was a sudden pourdown/downpour and we all got wet.

4. The breakout/outbreak of war in 1914 changed Europe for ever.

5. Lift-off/Off-lift is scheduled for 08.00 on Monday and the shuttle will arrive at the space station later that day.

6. There was a break-in/an in-break at our office last night. Two laptops were stolen.

11. Replace the adjective in each sentence with a phrasal adjective with the opposite meaning.

1. There was a new carpet on the stairs.

2. The newsletter has a list of recent activities at the tennis club.

3. What’s happened? You’re looking very cheerful!

4. Unlike her sister, Mary is very introverted.

5. I find the cover of this novel very attractive, don’t you?

6. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is, Brian always looks fresh.

7. We are not in the habit of going to such cheap restaurants.

8. When you meet my boss I think you’ll find him surprisingly uncommunicative.

12. Match the pairs of synonyms.

broken-downdiluted

exhaustedfuture

not workingongoing

outspokentired-out

candiddowncast

extrovertgo-ahead

obsoleteoutdated

repellentwatered-down

continuingdynamic

forthcomingmiserable

off-puttingoutgoing

shabbyworn out

13. Work out from the context what these phrasal adjectives mean and rewrite the sentences replacing the underlined words with a word or phrase that means the same.

1. If the union doesn’t accept our terms, what should we have as our fallback position?

2. Mary always feels left out when her brother’s friends come round to play.

3. Jenny is usually chatty but her brother is not very forthcoming.

4. You shouldn’t get so worked up about every little thing.

5. He met me at the airport with outstretched arms.

2. Interesting aspects of phrasal verbs

Theory:

Collocation means the way words combine with one another. When learning a phrasal verb it is important to note what kinds of words the verb is typically used with. For example, can it be used for both people and things, or only for people, or only for things? It is typically used with negative things or can it be used for both positive and negative things? Answer these questions when you learn a new phrasal verb.

Many phrasal verbs have more than one meaning. Often, the basic meaning relates to some physical action, while other meanings are metaphorical. Here are some examples of metaphors based on quick actions:

The price of petrol has shot up this year. (gone up rapidly and sharply)

I don’t want to just dive into a new job without carefully considering it. (start doing something suddenly and energetically without thinking about it)

The leader of the opposition party has hit out at the government’s new proposals on tax. (strongly criticised, typical of journalism)

There are also idioms using phrasal verbs. Read the text bellow and discover the examples:

How’s you new boss? Still planning a total reorganization of the office or have you persuaded her not to throw the baby out with the bathwater? Let me know if you need an evening out to let off steam – it’s about time we met up again.

We’ve been told at our company that we won’t be getting a salary increase this year. They took the sting out of it by giving a Christmas bonus but people are not happy.

My boss is still as difficult as ever. Her secretary’s resigned but I think that might be cutting off her nose to spite her face as she’ll find it hard to find anything else as well-paid. She can usually run rings round anyone so it must have been a shock for her to get a boss she couldn’t manipulate.

I badly need your advice. Brian’s beginning to turn up the heat in our relationship – he’s dropping hints about marriage. He invited me to meet his parents last weekend. We got on like a house on fire but I just don’t feel ready to put down roots yet. Should I stop seeing him? I don’t want to but maybe it’d be kinder? I can’t make up my mind. Let me know what you think.

Sometimes more phrasal verbs are needed. Firstly, social change demands new words. For example, developments in technology have given us the phrasal verb top up (pay money onto a top-up card which you spend when you use your mobile phone). Computers have given us scroll up/down (move up or down a computer screen) and copy somebody in (send someone a copy an email that you are sending to another person). Trends in the world of work also provide us with new phrasal verbs such as skill up (provide someone with the skills they need to be better at their job, by providing training, for example).

Secondly, phrasal verbs have specific stylistic qualities and for this reason are particularly popular with journalists. They simplify and enliven language in a very flexible way. For instance, it is more interesting to use the expression dump up (opposite of dumb down) than “raise one’s intellectual and cultural values”.

Finally, young people invent and use new phrasal verbs as a way of making their language different from that of their elders. Phrasal verbs like chill out (relax) and zone out (stop thinking about anything) for example, are strongly associated with young people.

Exercises:

14. Do the sentences below show appropriate collocations or not?

1. When we took our old dog to the vet, she discovered he was riddled with disease.

2. The pain in his leg seems to be beginning to ease off now.

3. You can always rely on Sam to hit upon an idea will never work.

4. Although she now has very conservative opinions, in her youth she flirted with left-wing politics.

5. I used to enjoy that TV series but I’ve gone off it a bit now.

6. It’s usually a good idea to keep in with your bank account.

15. Complete these sentences using the correct particles.

1. There is no point in hankering … your lost youth.

2. When Mary noticed that water was streaming … the basement, she dashed … to the station, hoping to catch her father before he boarded his train.

3. I always find job interviews really difficult but my brother seems to sail … them.

4. We’ll have to cut down that three – it’s riddled … disease.

5. When my sister was pregnant she drank a lot of milk but she completely went … tea and coffee.

6. He was bullied a bit when he started school but it seems to have eased … now.

7. You should apologize to her mother. It’s sensible to keep … … your future in-laws.

8. I’m flirting … the idea of retraining to become a police officer.

16. Rewrite each sentence using the verb in brackets in an appropriate form.

1. Mary easily passed her driving test. (SAIL)

2. I really don’t like coffee any more. (GO)

3. The wind is less strong than it was now. (EASE)

4. If I have a problem, I find a walk by the sea often helps me to find a solution. (HIT)

5. Masses of people entered the shop as soon as it opened, hoping to find a bargain in the sale. (STREAM)

6. There are a lot of holes in his argument. (RIDDLE)

17. Replace the phrasal verbs in the following text with verb from the list to make it more formal: meet, continue, complain, respond, remedy, investigate, achieve.

Thank you for your letter of 23 June 2005 going on about the bad service you experienced at this hotel. I promise you we will look into the problem at once and get back to you as soon as possible. We always try to go for the highest standards of service, and if we have failed to live up to those standards we will immediately seek to sort out the situation. Meanwhile we hope you will go on making Grand Hotels your first choice for all your business and leisure travel.

18. Use the phrasal verbs from the list to make the sentences less formal: go into, call in on, fall through, buy up, put out, get by, go over to, take on, look after, ask out. Use a dictionary if necessary.

1. Will you attend to Aunt Mary while I go and get the children’s supper ready?

2. He explored the subject in great detail in his lecture.

3. When the President died his son assumed the title of Great Leader.

4. I like her. Do you think I should invite her to go out with me?

5. During the war he defected to the enemy side and was killed in action.

6. She purchased all the shares in the company in 2004.

7. The local newspaper published a story about a strange animal seen in the city park.

8. I think I’ll visit my grandmother on the way home from work.

9. The deal collapsed at the last minute.

10. I managed to survive on about $30 a day when I was travelling.

19. Which professional registers are these phrasal verbs associated with? Put each of them into one of the three categories below.

Phrasal verbs: sell up, gloss over, turn over, sum up, boot up, bail out, log in, scroll down, carry forward, take over, base upon, square up, put forward, hack into, print off, back up.

Categories: Computer and technology, Academic lecturer/writing, Money and business.

20. Rewrite each sentence using the word in brackets in an appropriate form.

1. Despite his family’s poverty, Steven always has everything he needs. (WANT)

2. You must inform the police if you have evidence relating to the case. (BEAR)

3. James will have to use all his ingenuity to resolve the situation. (CALL)

4. The president believes his party’s victory is due to his leadership. (ASCRIBE)

5. The manager will deal with you enquiry without delay. (ATTEND)

21. Rewrite the underlined parts of these sentences, using a phrasal verb.

1. It’s not good for children to spend too much time just watching TV.

2. Choosing a university course is a matter of deciding what you want to do with your life.

3. I arrived at the stadium early and watched the other spectators entering in large numbers.

4. She reluctantly left the window and returned to her desk.

5. He was staring at Mary, listening intently to every word she said.

6. George dismissed all objections to his plan, saying they were unimportant.

22. Complete these sentences with a phrasal verb.

1. It is terrible how the world just … … and lets such terrible things happen!

2. Despite all his difficulties, Sammy does his best to bravely … … .

3. Willy reached into his pocket and … … his passport.

4. When I go to a new town I love … … the back streets.

5. You mustn’t let your social life … … your study time.

6. The politician simply … … the allegations being made against him.

7. When he was 28 Mark left his uncle’s business and … … on his own.

8. Our little house is … … a bank and a supermarket.

23. Based on the text in theory, answer these questions.

1. What should you not throw out with the bathwater?

2. What expression uses a burning house as a metaphor for a good relationship?

3. What expression uses steam as a metaphor for strong feelings?

4. According to the idiom, why might people cut off their own nose?

5. What idiom means “case an unpleasant situation” and refers to what bees can do?

6. Which phrasal verb idiom refer to circular motion?

24. Complete these sentences using expressions from 8.1.

1. Refusing that job offer just because you’re annoyed about the interview would be cutting … your … to … your … .

2. When she reached 30, Sarah decided it was time she … down … and she bought a little cottage not far from here.

3. The robbers … … round the police. It took two years to catch them.

4. The extra day’s holiday we offered should take the … our … the pay cut.

5. I felt as if I was just going … in … and getting nowhere.

6. We should keep the better parts of the old system when we move over to the new system. We don’t want to … the … out with the bathwater.

7. They … on like a … on fire; they’re great friends.

8. I don’t think he was really angry with you; he was just … steam.

25. Cross out the five mistakes in the following text.

After a year of travelling, I decided to put my act together and get a job. A friend who worked for a bank put in some good words for me. In fact he pushed in all the stops and arranged for me to have lunch with the CEO. I got on the wrong feet by saying I wasn’t ready to plant down roots yet; I think they were looking for someone to make a long-term commitment. I should have kept quiet!

26. Complete each sentence using a phrasal verb from the list (chill out, kick off, bump off). Use each phrasal verb twice.

1. The robbers threatened to … … the bank manager’s wife if he didn’t help them steal the money.

2. It was great to go on holiday and have time to just … … .

3. The game … … at 03:30, so should finish soon after 4 o’clock.

4. He was getting really stressed so I told him to … … .

5. I got … … the website and couldn’t get back on for an hour.

6. If the fans are not allowed in to the concert, they are sure to … … .

27. Match the headlines (1-4) with the sentences (a-d).

1. Market melt-up forecast

2. Someone is phishing for your bank details

3. Record click-through rate for new online store

4. Scientists sex down later breakthrough

a) Just one day after the site went live, 600,000 people had visited it.

b) They said they wanted to counteract the sensationalism that had surrounded the event.

c) The Treasury is discussing how the potential crisis may be kept under control.

d) Identity theft is the fastest-growing crime, according to a report published today.