Phrasal verbs 3:
verbs with prepositions
Phrasal verbs are idiomatic expressions that combine verbs and prepositions or adverbs ad prepositions..
Also called verb prepositions or prepositional verbs, these constructions typically combine verbs such as: go, come, take, bring, get etc with prepositions such as: into, up, down, away and through etc to describe events.
Phrasal verbs often appear in place of the full verb and may provide a similar meaning.
For example, typical phrasal verb constructions come down / go down are seen to replace the verbs fall, drop or descend.
Children! Could you come down (from your room) for your supper, it’s ready! Ok mum, we’re coming!
The Phrasal verb is often more accessible than the full verb.
Darling, please come in out of the rain and get out of those wet clothes. Quickly, before you catch cold!
get into – enter / leave a place or subject
I don’t want to get into an argument with you about this, but if we don’t…
If I get good exam results I would like to get into a good university such as Oxbridge or Yaleton
go ahead – commence planned action / put a plan into action
As I see it, all the plans are now in place. We can go ahead and start the company.
carry out – execute task
We still need to carry out a few tests to make sure that everything works well.
come up with – resolve / find a solution
What we have to do now is come up with a good name for the product, any ideas?
come around – convince
I want Erin to move here. I hope she’ll come round to my way of thinking.
end up – eventually did
We went out for a quiet meal, met some friends, went for a drink and ended up getting home at 3am.
figure out – finally understand / deduce
We tried to keep Sam’s birthday party a secret, but she figured out what we were doing. The party was great.
get through – complete / finish a task
I’m so tired and ill, I just have to get through this week of exams and then it’s the holidays.
give away – distribute
We’re giving away samples of our perfume, hoping that if people like it they’ll buy it.
go over – review / examine
I want to go over last month’s sales figures. Can we get together tomorrow and do that?
go through – review / recap
Ok, everyone, let’s go through each of the following steps one by one.
pick up – retrieve / acquire
I have so much to do this afternoon. I have to pick the kids up from school, pick Tom up from the station and pick up a pizza for supper. I’ll call you later.
point out – draw attention to / inform / indicate
I feel I need to point out that it’s always difficult branching out into foreign markets without local partners.
bring out – make available / display
Mark loves his job. Bringing (out) new music to the market brings out the best in his abilities.
send to / send out – despatch / distribute
You need to send the samples to them ASAP, before they send out the brochures; we’ve got 3 days to do it.
take over (business) – acquire / assume (manage)
My company takes other companies over, but we don’t take over the running of their operations.
take in – absorb / understand / assimilate
There was so much damage after the gas explosion it’s difficult to take in what had happened.
work out – resolve / calculate
I do hope that everything works out for you in your new job.
I can’t work out / figure out how much profit we’ll make in the first year. Are these figures correct?