Conjugation is also important for maintaining verb tense consistency if you’re using phrasal verbs in a list with other verbs. In this way, you can use phrasal verbs in all the verb tenses, so you’re able to communicate anything you want. Also notice how get, an irregular verb, uses its irregular forms to fit whichever tense it needs. Notice how only the word get changes, but the word up remains the same.

I have gotten up early too many times this month. However, this morning I got up at sunrise. The meaning of a phrasal verb is usually unrelated to the meanings of the words that comprise it, so think of a phrasal verb as an entirely new and independent word. What is a phrasal verb?Ī phrasal verb combines a normal verb with an adverb or a preposition to create an entirely new verbal phrase-the phrasal verb. To help simplify this complicated issue, what follows is our guide to understanding English phrasal verbs, including a list of the most common ones. In fact, many phrasal verbs are distinct variations on the same base verb, which can add to the confusion.įor multilingual speakers, in particular, phrasal verbs are one of the most difficult topics in learning English. Popular in spoken English, phrasal verbs can be quite confusing because their definitions aren’t always easy to guess-and there are thousands of them. For example, pick up means to “grab” or “lift,” very different from the definitions of pick and up alone. Phrasal verbs are two or more words that together act as a completely new word, with a meaning separate from the original words.

Fostering Hope by Mariah Kingsley