Do you know what are phrasal verbs And its importance in English?
Now I want to explain to you about Phrasal Verbs.
Phrasal verbs are phrases that indicate actions. They are generally used in spoken English and informal texts. Examples of such verbs include: turn down, come across, and
run into.
Def: A Phrasal verb is a verb that is made up of the main verb together with an adverb or a preposition or both.
When added to the verb the preposition or adverb may change completely the meaning of the verb. Here are some examples:
- Look for means Search for. For Eg: He is looking for his keys.
- Look up to means Have a great deal of respect for a person. For Eg: Dr.BR Ambedkar is my role model. He is the person I look up to.
- Look up means to try to find a piece of information by looking in a book or on a computer.For Eg : She didn’t understand the word. So she looked it up in her dictionary.
I want to let you know some more like this.
1. Account for: Give Good reason for
Eg: You must account for what you spend.
2. Allow for: Take into account
Eg: You must allow for damages in the transport.
3. Answer back : Answer a reproof impudently
Eg: She insulted me in the public and so I wanted to answer back.
4. Back out : Withdraw, refuse.
Eg: He promised to help me but he backed out later.
5. Back up : Support Morally
Eg: My friend did not back me up in my difficulty
6. Call at : Visit
Eg : I called at my friend at the temple.
7.Call for : Ask someone to give an explanation
Eg: The principal called him for an explanation.
8. Call in : Drop in
Eg: The technician called in and rectified the defect of our TV set.
9. Call on : Visit a person, ask someone to do something
Eg: The P.M. called on the President yesterday.
10. Call off : Cancel something
Eg: The workers called off the strike.
11. Catch up with : Overtake
Eg: Indians must try to catch up with other nations in technology.
12. Fall in with : Accept, agree with plans
Eg : I fell in with my friend on the issue.
13. Hang back : Show unwillingness to act
Eg : My friend hung back, when I asked him for help
14. Hang on to :Retain, keep
Eg : My Grandfather wanted to hang on to the old house because he was born there.
15. Let down : Disappoint
Eg : My friend always tries to let me down in everything.
16. Pay up : Pay money in full
Eg: Don’t worry about your money, I will pay up soon.
17. Pull through : Recover
Eg : She pulled through her illness completely and felt better.
18. Lay up : Store carefully
Eg: The merchant laid up a large quantity of sugar and rice to sell in black market.
19. Pull off : Succeed
Eg: The electronic company pulled off the project and earned huge profits.
20. See off : Accompany someone to a train/boat/plane
Eg : I saw my friend off at the airport.
21. See over : meet a person at a place
Eg : Please see me over at my place
22. See through : Discover hidden attempt
Eg: He tried to kill his wife but she saw through his cruel intention
23. Take after : Resemble
Eg: Radha takes after her mother
24. Wink at :pretend not to notice
Eg : Most politicians wink at poverty in India.
25. Watch over : Look carefully
Eg: She decided to watch over her servant.
Finally I want to conclude that sometimes, it is difficult to understand the meaning of phrasal verbs. Before looking them up in a dictionary, it would be helpful to use the context to understand them.
Thank you.
