Two word phrasal verbs

TIP Sheet
TWO-WORD (PHRASAL) VERBS

Verbs can be single words or can have «helpers» such as has, have, had, is, am, was, or were. Verbs can be accompanied by modals such as could, would, might, or may. As if that were not confusing enough, there exists another kind of verb, phrasal verbs, which look like verbs with prepositions (or adverbs) attached: hand in, check up on, cracked up, fill out, blow up. Some are three words: come up with, check up on.

You probably have run into many verbs like these without experiencing any discomfort. You might never even need to know that phrasal verbs exist. However, if you have learned to identify the subject and verb of a sentence by crossing out all the prepositional phrases (up the stairs, out the door), then phrasal verbs may be problematic. For instance, in the phrasal verb come up with, is with a preposition? Then where is the object of the preposition? Or is it part of the verb?

Take, for example, this sentence: «You have run into verbs like these.» It would be easy to make the mistake of calling the verb run, and identifying into verbs as a prepositional phrase. In fact, the verb is run into, meaning encountered; verbs is a direct object: what you encountered. You have not run. You have encountered.

Phrasal can look like a verb + preposition (look into), or a verb + adverb (get away), or a verb + adverb + preposition (get away from). An Internet search turns up exhaustive discussions of phrasals (they are separable, inseparable, transitive, intransitive) and word order related to phrasals, but in general, phrasal verbs have the following general characteristics:

• They are informal; usually there exists another, more «proper» word with the same or similar meaning.
• They are idiomatic; that is, you cannot easily make out the meaning of the verb by adding up the meanings of its parts.
• They are, nevertheless, often sensible, even if not obvious; phrasals do make a certain amount of sense, depending on how you understand the particle, or preposition-like attachment.

Informal
Phrasal verbs are informal, though perfectly acceptable in most academic papers. However, some phrasal verbs contain «filler» words that do not add meaning (keep on going means the same thing as keep going, for example; fell off of means the same as fell off). Some are vague or somewhat cliché. In order to attain vivid writing, you will sometimes want to substitute other, stronger verbs.

For example, here are some phrasal verbs and possible substitutes:

Phrasal verb	Substitution
Hand in	Submit
Check out	Examine or borrow
Look up to	Admire

Some phrasal verbs are difficult to replace. It’s hard to think of a better way, for example, to say, «I had to look up the word in the dictionary.» And if you happen to be writing dialogue, the informality of phrasals may be more authentic than stuffier language.

There are a great many phrasal verbs, far too many to list or memorize. For lists of phrasal verbs with their corresponding meanings, try searching the Internet using the keyword «phrasal verbs.»

Idiomatic
Phrasal verbs are idiomatic. For example, even if you know the meanings of blow and up, you cannot add them together to arrive obviously at the intended meaning of blow up, which means explode or erupt with force. Blow + up might just as easily refer to a gentle updraft of wind.

Because they are idiomatic, phrasals and their meanings might vary depending on where the speaker lives. This TIP Sheet uses meanings commonly understood in the United States, specifically in California, and even more specifically in a rural area of Northern California. Speakers of British English or even speakers from other regions of the U.S. might understand some of these expressions differently. For example, while an American might call you up on your cell phone, a Brit would ring you up to tell you he needed to kip down (stay temporarily, the American equivalent of crash) in your apartment. In the southern U.S., one might scoot down the car; in California one would hose it down with water.

The website Phrasal Verb Demon offers a great discussion of phrasals. At the same time, it illustrates the idiomatic nature of phrasals, giving definitions as they are commonly understood in Great Britian; some of these may be new to U.S. readers (whose computers, for example, usually freeze up, while British computers pack up.)

Sensible
Even though they are idiomatic, many phrasals do make a certain amount of sense, depending on how you understand the particle, or preposition-like attachment. A single preposition/particle can carry any of a multitude of meanings, and the meaning of a phrasal verb like blow up depends largely on which meaning of up you choose. For example, up can refer to increase (freshen up = increasing freshness); to movement (boil up = move about in a chaotic way); or to not being in bed asleep (stay up = remain awake and out of bed).

For example, in the case of blow up, you might understand up as relating either to increase (as a fireball increases, perhaps), or to movement (for chaotic movement of air and debris). (Up in blow up, on the other hand, has nothing whatever to do with staying awake and out of bed.)

It is largely the particle that changes the meaning of a phrasal verb. For example, the word break usually means a sudden stopping, bursting, or loss of function. On the other hand, the website Phrasal Verb Demon lists seven different senses of the word up, nine different senses of out, and ten of down. Break up is a phrasal verb meaning to end a personal relationship (up = completion). Break down means to stop functioning (down = failure), and break out means to happen suddenly (out = appearance).

Phrasals frequently are figurative; there is often an underlying metaphor that can help you make sense of them. In the case of blow up, the metaphor compares the movement of air created by a bomb to the movement of boiling water in a kettle. (In addition, blow up is frequently itself used in a figurative sense, as in, «The issue of the councilman’s overspending blew up once the newspapers ran the story.» Here, the sudden public revelation and subsequent discussion of the councilman’s overspending is compared to an explosion.)

For more discussion of phrasals and their underlying logic, see www.phrasalverbdemon.com.

With
some two-word verbs you must use a second
particle when the verb has an object:

The
criminal
broke out.

The
criminal
broke
out
prison.

The
criminal
broke out
of prison.

Tom
and Jerry don’t
get along.

Tom
and Jerry don’t
get along
each other.

Tom
and Jerry don’t
get along
with
each other.

Sometimes,
as with break out
and break out
of,
there is no change in meaning. Sometimes, as with
hang up and
hang up on, there
is a small change in meaning. And sometimes, as with
hook up and
hook up to, the
second particle is necessary not when there is one object but only
when there are two:

I
hooked
up
my new CD player.

I
hooked up
my new CD player my stereo.

I
hooked up
my new CD player to
my stereo.

There
is no good way to always know which second particle must be used or
if and how it will change the meaning of the verb. The best thing to
do is to simply memorize each case.

Throughout
this book, two-word phrasal verbs that require an additional
parti­cle when used with an object are shown with the second
particle in parentheses:

break
out (of).

Do
not confuse two-word phrasal verbs that require an additional
particle when used with an object with three-word phrasal verbs.
Three-word phrasal verbs always have three words
— there is no
two-word version, or if there is a phrasal verb with the same verb
and first particle, it has a different meaning and is classified as a
different verb. For example,
break out and
break out (of) are
included in one definition because they have the same meaning, but
put up and put
up with have
different meanings and are classified separately.

53

Infinitive
	present tense	-ing form	past tense	past participle
break out
	breakout & breaks out	breaking out	broke out	broken out

1.
break out (of) p.v.
When you escape from a place where you are a prisoner, you break
out or
break out of that
place.

Bubba
broke out
of prison last month.

The
police have been looking for him ever since he
broke out.

breakout
n.
An escape from prison is a
breakout.

There
hasn’t been a successful
breakout
from the state prison in more than twenty-five years.

1.
breakout p.v.
When fighting begins suddenly, it
breaks out.

Rioting
broke out
after the general canceled the election.
Millions wilt be killed
if nuclear war
breaks out.

catch up
	catch up & catches up	catching up	caught up	caught up

1.
catch up (with)
p.v.
When you move faster and reach the same level or place as people who
had been moving faster or doing better than you were, you
catch up or catch
up with them.

We
left an hour before Luis, but he drove fast and quickly
caught up.

After
missing several weeks of class, Raquel is so far behind that she’ll
never
catch up.

Pepsi
has
caught up
with Coca-Cola in some markets.

The
mugger was running so fast that the angry mob couldn’t
catch up
with him.

caught
up part.adj.
After you have moved faster and reached the same level or place as
people who had been moving faster or doing better than you are, you
are caught up.

When
I was sick, I missed a lot of schoolwork, but I worked hard and now
I’m caught
up.

1.
catch up (on) p.v.
When you study or learn something you are interested in but have not
had time for, you
catch up on it.

I
wonder
what the latest gossip is. Let’s call Michael so we can
catch up. After
I returned from vacation, I read the newspaper to
catch up
on the local news.

caught
up part.adj.
After you have studied or learned something you are interested in but
have not had time for, you are
caught up.

Now
that I’ve read the newspapers I missed while I was on vacation, I’m
caught up.

54

Infinitive
present tense	-ing form	past tense	past participle
chicken out
chicken out & chickens out	chickening out	chickened out	chickened out

1.
chicken out (of)
p.v.
[informal] When
you do not do something because you are afraid, you
chicken out or
chicken out of it.

/
was
going to ask Heather to go to the dance with me, but I
chickened out. Miguel’s
mad at himself because he
chickened out
of asking his boss for a raise yesterday.

get along
get along & gets along	getting along	got along	gotten/got along

1.
get along (with)
p.v.
When you get along
with people, you have peaceful, harmonious relations with them.
Get on is similar
to get along.

Jim
and his cousin aren’t good friends, but they
get along.
I
haven’t gotten
along
with my neighbors for years.

2.
get along p.v.
When you are able to do some sort of work without any serious
problems, you get
along.

How
are you
getting along
in your new job?
Oh, I’m
getting along
okay, thank you.

give up
	give up & gives up	giving up	gave up	given up

1.
give up (on) p.v.
When you stop trying to do something because you think you will never
succeed, you give up
or give up
on it.

Forget
it! This is impossible
—
I
give up!
I’ve
tried for years to have a nice looking lawn, but I’ve just
given up
on it.

2.
give…
up
p.v.
When you are running from or fighting with the police or enemy
soldiers and you surrender, you
give up
or
give
yourself
up.

When
the bank robbers realized they were surrounded by police, they gave
up. The
suspect got tired of hiding from the police, and he
gave
himself up.

3.
give …up
p.v.
When you stop doing something you do regularly, such as a sport or a
job, you
give
it
up.

My
father didn’t
give
sky diving
up
until he was eighty-two.
I had to
give up
my second job because I was so exhausted all the time.

hang up
	hang up & hangs up	hanging up	hung up	hung up

1.
hang up (on) p.v.
When you stop talking on the telephone and put down the receiver, you
hang up the
telephone. When you are angry and
hang up the
tele­phone without saying good-bye to someone, you
hang up on the
person you are talking to.

55

After
I finished talking to her, I said good-bye and
hung up.
When
he called me a moron, I got so mad I
hung up
on him.

2.
hang
… up
p.v.
When you hang something in a high place so that it cannot touch the
ground, you hang
it up.

When
I get home, the first thing I do is
hang
my coat
up.
Timmy
never
hangs
anything
up;
he just leaves it on the floor.

hung
up part.adj.
After you have hung something in a high place so that it cannot touch
the ground, it is
hung up.

Timmy,
why are your clothes on the floor and not
hung up?

Infinitive
	present tense	-ing form	past tense	past participle
hook up
	hook up & hooks up	hooking up	hooked up	hooked up

1.
hook…
up (to) p.v.
When you connect one electronic device to another, you hook
it up
or hook
it up
to something.

/
bought
a new printer, but I haven’t
hooked
it
up
yet.
I
hooked
my sound system
up
to my TV, and now the TV is in stereo.

hooked
up part.adj.
After one electronic device has been connected to another, it is
hooked up.

There’s
a VCR on my TV, but don’t try to use it because it’s not
hooked up. hookup
n. A hookup
is an electrical connection.

The
cable TV
hookup
usually costs
$20,
but it’s free this month.

1.
hook up (with) p.v.
[informal] When
you meet people somewhere, usually after you have done some things
separately, you hook
up or
hook up with them.

You
do your shopping, I’ll go to the post office, and we’ll
hook up
around
2:30,
okay?
I’ll
hook up
with you at
12:00
at the corner of State and Madison, and we’ll have lunch.

work up
	work up & works up	working up	worked up	worked up

1.
work up (to) p.v.
When you gradually improve at something difficult that you do
regularly, you work
up to that
improvement.

You
can’t lift
200
pounds on your first day of weight training. You have to work
up
to it.
When I started running, I couldn’t go more than a mile,
but now I’ve
worked up
to five miles.

2.
work up p.v.
When you gradually develop the energy, confidence, courage, and so
on, to do something difficult or something you do not want to do, you
work up the

56

energy,
confidence, courage, and so on. When you gradually develop a feeling,
you work up
the feeling.

It
took me a long time to
work up
the nerve to ask my boss for a raise.
If I
work up
some energy, I’ll wash the car.
I really
worked up
a sweat in the gym today.
Raking leaves all day sure
works up
an appetite.

worked
up part.adj.
[informal] When
you are anxious, worried, or upset about something, you are
worked up or
worked up about it.

Mark
has been acting nervous all day. What’s he all
worked up
about?
Relax, we’re only a few minutes late. It’s nothing to get
worked up
about.

EXERCISE
9a
—
Complete the sentences with phrasal verbs from this section. Be sure
the phrasal verbs are in the correct tense.

1.
My elbow has gotten so bad that I think I might have to
________ ________
tennis.

2.
After several years of tension between the two countries, war
________ ________ in
1972.

3.
Maria, how are you
________________
at your new job?

4.1
am so lazy today. I just can’t
________ ________
the energy to finish my school project.

5.
The murderer was tired of running from the police, and he
________
himself________.

6.
The other runners were so far ahead that I couldn’t
________ ________.

7.
Susie,________________your
clothes right now!

8.
For a long time I could type only around twenty-five words per
minute, but I’ve slowly ________
________ to
sixty.

9.
I’m really behind in my work. If I don’t take work home with me, I’ll
never
________ ________.

10.
Lydia is a nice, easygoing person. You won’t have any trouble
________ ________ her.

11.
I tried and tried to learn to speak Japanese, but I
finally________________.

12.
Hello Mark? I’m really angry, and I’ve got some things to tell you,
and don’t you dare ________________on
me!

57

13.
Dan is so shy. He was supposed to give a speech today at school, but
he
________ ________.

14.
Okay, here’s the plan: You go to the bookstore, I’ll get my laundry,
and we’ll
________ ________
around
11:00.

15.
I wonder what’s been happening while we were on vacation. I think
I’ll read the newspaper so I can ________
________.

16.
This is a maximum security prison. No one has ever
________ ________.

17.
Bob tried to
________ ________
my new dishwasher, but he didn’t do it right, and he flooded the
kitchen.

EXERCISE
9b
—
Complete the sentences with the correct second particles.

1.
I called my girlfriend to apologize for forgetting her birthday, but
she hung
up
_______ me.

2.
When I started lifting weights, I could lift only thirty kilograms,
but little by little I worked
up ________fifty.

3.
He’s very sick, but the doctors haven’t given
up
________ him
yet.

4.
Sofia was going to bleach her hair, but she chickened
out________
it.

5.
Don’t invite Carmen to Rosa’s birthday party. They don’t get
along
________ each
other.

6.
The bank robber was carrying
2,000 quarters,
so it was easy for the police catch
up ________
him.

7.
No prisoner has ever broken
out
________ this
prison.

8.
I need a different cable to hook
my monitor up
________ my
computer.

9.
You’ve been gone a long time, and you have to catch
up
________ a lot
of things.

EXERCISE
9c
— Write
three sentences using the objects in parentheses. Be sure to put the
objects in the right place.

1.
Tonight I’m going to try to hook
up. (my fax
machine, it)

58

2.
After my accident, I had to give
up.
(scuba diving, it) ________
________

________ ________.

3.
You can hang
up
in the closet, (your coat, it) ________
________

________ ________.

EXERCISE
9d
— Write
answers to the questions using phrasal verbs, participle adjectives,
and nouns from this section. Be sure the phrasal verbs are in the
correct tense.

1.
When I went on vacation three weeks ago, my sister and her husband
were talking about getting a divorce. Now that I’m back from
vacation, I want to know what happened while I was gone. What do I
want to do?

2.
Lydia has to stop driving because her eyesight is so bad. What does
Lydia have to do?

3.
Susie was walking with us, but she stopped to look in a store window,
and we continued walking. What does Susie need to do now?

4.
I
spilled wine on your white carpet, and you became angry and upset.
How would you describe yourself?

5.
Connecting a printer to a computer is easy. What is easy?

6.
In Question
5,
how would you describe the printer after it is connected to a
computer?

7.
Several prisoners are going to try to escape from the state prison
tonight. What are the prisoners going to try to do tonight?

8.
In Question
7,
if the prisoners are successful, what would their escape be called?

9.
Linda and Nicole don’t like each other, and they argue sometimes.
What don’t Linda and Nicole do?

59

10.
We argued with our daughter for months, but we stopped trying to get
her to stop smoking. What did we do?

11.
Fights start in that bar all the time. What happens in that bar all
the time?

12.
Paul slowly developed the courage to ask his boss for a raise. What
did Paul do?

13.
In Question
12, what didn’t
Paul do?

14.
The police told the robber to surrender. What did the police tell the
robber?

15.
Karen is trying to gradually be able to lift
100 pounds. What
is Karen doing?

16.
Betty was so angry with her boyfriend that she put the telephone
receiver down without saying good-bye. What did Betty do to her
boyfriend?

EXERCISE
9e, Review
—
Complete the sentences with these phrasal verbs from previous
sections. Be sure the phrasal verbs are in the correct tense. To
check their meanings, review the section number given after each one.

burn out, 8	find out, 5	pick out, 8	ring up, 8
cheat on,4	hand back, 5	pile up, 5	run into, 1
fall over, 8	hear of, 8	point to, 4	tear down, 8
fight back, 8	look at, 5	put to, 4	work in, 8

1.
Who is he? I’ve never
________ ________
him before, and I don’t know anything about him.

2.
My mail
________ ________
while I was on vacation.

3.
Thanks for all your help. I’m sorry to
________ you
________ so much
trouble.

4.
That dead tree is rotten. I’m surprised it hasn’t
________________yet.

5.
I
________ ________
several cars last weekend, but I can’t decide which one to buy,

6.
Can you help me
________ a tie
________ to wear
with this shirt?

7.
What a surprise! I
________ ________
my fifth grade teacher at the mall today.

8.
Charles
________ ________
a beautiful Mercedes-Benz across the street and said it was his.

9.
Okay, class, you’ve got until the bell rings. When you’re finished
with your tests,_______
them ________
to me.

60

10.
Everyone in town knows that Jake has been
________ ________
his wife for years.

11.
I’m not sure if there will be time to meet with you today, but I’ll
try to
________ it

12.
The invasion was so sudden that there was no way to
________ ________.

13.
The cashier________________our
stuff and said, «That comes to
$142.56.»

14.
Bob’s not in a good mood today. He just
________ ________
that he needs surgery.

15.
It was fun to visit my hometown, but I was sad to see that my old
house was being

16.
I need to buy a new
100-watt bulb;
this one
________ ________
yesterday.

10.
FOCUS ON: phrasal verbs used as nouns, 1

Many two-word phrasal verbs
can be used as nouns. All the verbs in this section have a noun form.
Notice that the two-word noun is sometimes written with a hyphen:

verb:
go ahead

noun:
go-ahead

and sometimes as one word:

verb:
lay off

noun:
layoff

Unfortunately, there is no rule that will help you
to always know which form to use. Also, not everyone agrees which
nouns should be hyphenated and which should be written as one word,
so you will occasionally see a noun written both ways.

Infinitive
	present tense	-ing form	past tense	past participle
fall off
	fall off & falls off	falling off	fell off	fallen off

1.
fall off p.v.
When people or things drop to a lower level from a higher place, they
fall
off the place where they were.

The
dish
fell off
the table and broke.
Be careful you don’t
fall
off your bicycle.

61

Handouts
of food and clothing were given to the homeless people.
Even
though my father was poor, he was too proud to ask for a
handout.

handout
n.
Printed material given to students or other people to provide them
with important information.

The
teacher prepared a
handout
for his students.
There are several
handouts
on a table by the library entrance.

Infinitive
	present tense	-ing form	past tense	past participle
kick back
	kick back & kicks back	kicking back	kicked back	kicked back

1.
kick back (to) p.v.
When you kick back
money or kick back
money to businesspeople or government officials, you illegally and
secretly give them a percentage of the money that they spend with
your company as a reward for giving you the business.

The
prosecutor said that
5
percent of every contract was
kicked back
to the head of the purchasing department.

She
offered to
kick back
10
percent if I’d switch to her company.

kickback
n.
Money you illegally and secretly give to businesspeople or government
officials as a reward for giving you business is a
kickback.

The
FBI agent heard the governor asking for a
kickback. The
reporter discovered that the loan was really a
kickback.

2.
kick back p.v.
[informal] When
you kick back,
you relax.

It’s
been a tough week. Tonight I’m going to buy a case of beer and
kick back.
Let’s
kick back
and watch the football game tonight.

lay off
	lay off & lays off	laying off	laid off	laid off

1.
lay…
off p.v.
When a company no longer needs workers because it does not have
enough business, it temporarily or permanently
lays off the
workers.

Ford
laid
off
20,000
workers during the last recession. My wife had to go back to work
after I was
laid
off from my job.

layoff
n.
Jobs cut by a company because it does not have enough business are
layoffs.

The
company said there wouldn’t be any
layoffs,
despite the decline in profits.

2.
lay off p.v.
[informal] When
you lay off
people, you stop criticizing, teasing, or pressuring them.

You’ve
been bugging me all day. If you don’t
lay off,
you’re going to be sorry.
Lay
off Nancy
—
she’s having a bad day.

64

3.
lay off p.v.
When you lay off
something, such as a food or an activity, you stop consuming the
food, or doing the activity.

Listen
to the way you’re coughing. You’ve got to
lay
off cigarettes.
After Ned had a heart attack, he
laid
off cheese and butter sandwiches.

Infinitive
	present tense	-ing form	past tense	past participle
screw up
	screw up & screws up	screwing up	screwed up	screwed up

1.
screw…
up p.v.
[informal] When
you damage something or do something wrong or badly, you
screw up or you
screw up what you
are doing.

/
tried
to fix my computer, but I couldn’t do it, and I just
screwed
it
up
instead.
Mark sent his wife a letter that he wrote to his
girlfriend. He sure
screwed up.

screwed
up part.adj.
When people or things are
screwed up, they
are damaged or confused.

My
back is so
screwed up
I can’t even walk.
George was a nice guy, but a little
screwed up
in the head.

screwup
n.
A problem or confused situation caused by someone’s mistake is a
screwup.

Two
babies were switched because of a
screwup
in the maternity ward. There was a
screwup
in the finance department, and the bill was paid twice.

2.
screw…
up p.v.[informal]
When people make a mistake that causes a problem for you, they
screw you
up.

The
travel agent forgot to reconfirm my flight, and it really
screwed
me
up.
You
really
screwed
me
up
when you lost my car keys.

EXERCISE
10a
—
Complete the sentences with phrasal verbs from this section. Be sure
the phrasal verbs are in the correct tense.

1.
The teacher asked me to
________ the
exams
________.

2.
Why don’t you let a mechanic fix the car? If you try to do it
yourself, you’ll just
________ it_______.

3.
Nobody likes the new priest in our church, and attendance has
________ ________.

4.
My feet were killing me a couple of weeks ago, so I
________________
jogging for a while, and now they’re fine.

5.
It really
________ me
________ when
you told my boss what I said about him.

65

6.
The Ortega’s won’t take a vacation this year because Mr. Ortega has
been
_______ ________
and they need to save money.

7.
When Mother was
________ ________,
there wasn’t any TV. People went to the movies or read instead.

8.
The head of purchasing at my company went to jail because he made all
the suppliers ________
________ $2,000
of every contract.

9.
My husband told me my plan to enter medical school was crazy, but I
________ ________
with it anyway.

10.
The secretary in the human resources department said/Here’s an
application. Take it and ________
it
________.»

11.
If you want to borrow my car tonight,
________ ________.
I’m not going anywhere.

12.
The other mountain climbers are nervous about Jim because they think
he’s going to ________
________ a
cliff.

13.
You’ve been criticizing me for the last three hours! Will you
______ ________!

14.
The manager asked his assistant to
________ him
________ about
the problems in the warehouse.

15.
It’s Friday night. Let’s buy some beer and
________ ________.

16.
I can’t work tomorrow. Can you
________ ________
for me?

17.
You’re acting like a big baby.
________ ________!

EXERCISE
10b
—
Complete the sentences with nouns from this section.

1.
At the party, the children ate in the living room, and the
___________ ate
in the dining room.

2.
The boss said, «One more
___________ and
you’re fired.»

3.
The reporter discovered that the mayor was taking
___________ from
the construction company.

4.
Every year at this time the king gives
___________ to
the poor.

5.
Ned will be my
___________
while I’m on my honeymoon.

66

6.
The teacher prepared a
___________ to
give to the students.

7.
The CEO said he regretted the
___________ but
that there was no other way for the company to avoid bankruptcy.

8.
The team lost every game of the season and suffered a
60 percent
____________ in
attendance.

9.
The president called General Chambers and gave him the
___________ for
the attack.

EXERCISE
10c
— Write
three sentences using the objects in parentheses. Be sure to put the
objects in the right place.

1,
You haven’t
filled in. (all
the spaces, them) ___________
___________

2.
Is the teacher handing
out? (the tests,
them) ___________
___________

3.
The company is going to lay
off. (my
brother, him) ___________
___________

4.
I’m sorry I screwed
up.
(your plan, it) ___________
___________

EXERCISE
10d
— Write
answers to the questions using phrasal verbs, participle adjectives,
and nouns from this section. Be sure the phrasal verbs are in the
correct tense.

1.
I wasn’t sure if my plan would work, and I thought about it for a
long time before I finally decided to try it. What did I do with my
plan?

2.
The secretary gave me an application and told me to put the correct
information in the spaces, What did the secretary tell me to do?

3.
In Question
2, how would you
describe the application after I put the correct information in the
spaces?

4.
The mechanic is trying to fix my car’s transmission, but she’s making
a lot of mistakes. What is the mechanic doing to my car’s
transmission?

5.
In Question
4, how would you
describe the transmission after the mechanic finishes fixing it?

6.
You give
$3,000 to the
mayor every month so that he will give your company city business.
What do you do every month?

7.
In Question
6, what is the
$3,000 that you
give to the mayor every month?

8.
Business is bad at Nancy’s company, and they told her that they don’t
need her anymore. What happened to Nancy?

9.
The hotel clerk forgot to call me in the morning to wake me up, and I
was late for a very important meeting. What did the hotel clerk do to
me?

10.
I was born in Hawaii, and I lived there until I was eighteen. What
did I do in Hawaii?

11.
Sally’s parents told her she can’t watch a TV show because it’s for
adults. What did Sally’s parents tell her about the TV show?

12.
New home construction will decrease if there is a recession. What
will new home construction do if there is a recession?

13.
In Question
12, if there is
a decrease in new home construction, what would it be called?

14.
Timmy was teasing Susie all day until his mother told him to stop.
What did Timmy’s mother tell him to do?

68

15.
All is doing Omar’s job while Omar is on vacation. What is Ali doing?

16.
Blankets and boxes of food will be given to the people whose homes
were destroyed by the tornado. What will be done with the blankets
and boxes of food?

17.
Sarah had to answer the phone while she was watching a movie. After
she returned to the TV room, Sarah’s friend Sally told Sarah
everything she had missed. What did Sally do for Sarah?

EXERCISE
10e,
Review
—
Complete the sentences with these nouns from previous sections. To
check their meanings, review the section number given after each one.

breakdown, 5 breakout, 9

holdup, 7 hookup, 9

put-on, 1 setup, 5

takeoff, 1

1.
The pilot said that the
___________
would be on time.

2.
There was a
___________ on
the highway, and traffic was barely moving at all.

3.
A cable
___________ is
usually
$39.95, but this
month it’s free.

4.
The guards suspected the prisoners were planning a
___________.

5.
Waiter, we’ve been waiting for our dinner for an hour. What’s the
___________?

6.
I told my lawyer that it was a
___________ and
that I was innocent.

7.
When the detectives came and arrested Hank, we didn’t think it was
real
—just a big

EXERCISE
10f,
Review
—
Complete the sentences with these phrasal verbs from previous
sections. Be sure the phrasal verbs are in the correct tense. To
check their meanings, review the section number given after each one.

catch up, 9 chicken out, 9

get along, 9 give up, 9

hook up, 9 pick out, 8

talk down to, 3 work up, 9

1.
Don’t try to run ten miles at first; you have to
________ ________
to it.

2.
After searching for three days without any luck, the rescue team
________ ________
on finding any survivors.

3.
The police showed me some pictures to see if I could
________ ________
the guy who mugged me.

4.
You go to the bank, I’ll go to the post office, and we’ll
________ ________
with each other at the corner in forty-five minutes.

5.
I wasn’t happy about having Nancy for a partner on the project. I
don’t
________ ________
with her.

6.
Just because you went to college and I didn’t, doesn’t make it okay
for you to
_______ ________________me.

7.
The teacher said, «Your daughter has missed a lot of school, and
she’ll need to work hard to ________
________ to the
rest of the class.»

8.
Maria got scared and__________of
jumping off the high diving board.

Recommended textbook solutions

Many English verbs can be followed by prepositions or adverb particles.

• Do sit down.
• Alice ran down the road without looking at anybody.

Some verbs and prepositions / particles are regularly used together. Examples are: look at, listen to, stand up and switch off. These combinations are rather like two-word verbs. In grammars these are often called phrasal verbs.

The meaning of a two-word verb can be very different from the meanings of the two-parts taken separately.

• The meeting had to be put off. (The meaning of put off is not the same as the meanings of put and off.)

Some verbs can be used with both an adverb particle and a preposition.
Examples are: get on with, put up with and look out for.

The two parts of a phrasal verb made with a verb + adverb particle are often separable. That means the particle can go before or after noun objects.

• Can you switch off the light? OR Can you switch the light off?

Note that adverb particles can only go after pronoun objects.

• She turned it off. (NOT She turned off it.)

The preposition in a verb + preposition combination usually goes with the verb. It can’t be separated from the verb.

• He fell off the ladder. (NOT He fell the ladder off.)