Phrasal Verbs: Form and Meaning

A.  Formation

      A phrasal verb is a verb plus a preposition or adverb which creates a meaning different from the original verb.

      Example:
I ran into my teacher at the movies last night. (run + into = meet)
He ran away when he was. (run + away = leave home)

B.  Meaning

Sometimes the meaning of a phrasal verb is similar to the base verb, and the adverb just emphasises the meaning of the base verb, e.g. cut down, write down, clean out. But more often, the meaning of a phrasal verb is very different from the base verb, e.g. look for is different from look, but the meaning from look for is similar with search.

C.  Multiple meaning

Many phrasal verbs have more than one meaning, so you must be careful when you see a phrasal verb you think you know, or look up the meaning in a dictionary. The examples marked *, the phrasal verb is much more natural than the explanation in brackets.

ü  My alarm clock didn’t go off (= ring ) this morning.

ü  The bomb could go off (= explode ) at any minute.