A phrasal verb is combination of a verb and a preposition or an adverb or both.

Hence, a phrasal verb consists of a verb and one or two words such as on, in, up, off, about, down, away, after, with, etc.

Examples: give up, bring up, look after, turn down, pass away, break down, break into, carry on, carry out, put off, put out, look forward to, put up with, look down on.

A phrasal verb has a meaning which is different from the original meaning of the verb. See the following examples with the meaning of the phrasal verb given in front of the sentence.

Read the following example with the meaning for each phrasal verb given in front of the sentence.

• She was brought up by her stepmother. (bring up: to raise a child).
• The old man passed away.         (pass away: to die).
• Our car broke down on highway. (break down: stop functioning).
• The nurse was looking after the patient. (look after: to take care of).
• He is trying to give up smoking.  (give up: to quit).
• Never look down on poor people. (look down on: to consider someone inferior).
• They set off for London.              (set off: to start a journey).
• They put off the meeting due to absence of some members. (put off: to cancel).

There are four types of phrasal verbs:

1. Transitive Phrasal Verb
2. Intransitive Phrasal Verb
3. Separable Phrasal Verb
4. Inseparable Phrasal Verb

A phrasal verb that requires an object in the sentence is called a transitive phrasal verb. Without an object, a sentence having a transitive phrasal verb cannot give a complete meaning.

Read the following examples where red words are transitive verbs and blue words are objects. ithout the object, the sentence cannot make a complete sense.

The meaning of the phrasal verbs used in following examples are as follows: (look after: to take care of), (carry on: to continue), (bring about: to cause something), (call off: to cancel), (give up: to quit) and (turn down: to reject or refuse).

Examples:

• She looks after her children.
• They carried on their work.
• The flood brought about a huge disaster.
• They called off the meeting.
• He gave up smoking.
• She turned down his proposal.

A phrasal verb which does not require an object in the sentence, is called an intransitive phrasal verb. Without an object, a sentence having an intransitive phrasal verb can make a complete sense.

The following sentences do not have an object in them, but these sentences can still express a complete meaning.

The meaning of the phrasal verbs used in the following examples are as follows: (pass away: to die), (get up: to wake up from sleep), (run away: to escape or leave), (grow up: to develop into an adult), and (break down: stop functioning).
Examples.

• The patient passed away.
• When do you get up?
• The thief ran away.
• The kid is growing up.
• The car broke down.

These are the phrasal verbs whose words (e.g., verb and preposition) can be separated to be used at different places in a sentence. Such phrasal verbs can be used both in its joined form as well as in its separated form.

• Please turn on the heater.
• Please turn the heater on.
• He was trying to cut down his expenses.
• He was trying to cut his expenses down.
• Due to absence of some members, they had to call off the meeting.
• Due to absence of some members, they had to call the meeting off.
• I will pick up you from the airport.
• I will pick you up from the airport.
• The doctor advised her to cut down her sugar intake.
• The doctor advised her to cut her sugar intake down.
• Can you please fill in this questionnaire?
• Can you please fill this questionnaire in?

Note. Some of the transitive verbs are separable and some of them are inseparable.

These are the phrasal verbs whose words cannot be separated for using them at different places in a sentence. Its verb and preposition cannot be separated. They generally remain together.

See the following examples. The meaning of some phrasal verbs in the following examples are as follows: (break into: to enter forcibly), (check in: to arrive at the hotel or airport and inform them that you have arrive), (check out: to pay bill and leave a hotel), and (come across: to find something, particularly by chance).

• You should stay away from bad friends.
• They carried on their tasks.
• The nurse looks after the patient.
• A thief broke into the shop.
• Constant stress brought about negative changes in his behaviour.
• He is trying to give up his bad habits.
• The patient passed away yesterday.
• He gets up early in the morning.
• We have checked in at the hotel.
• They have checked out of the hotel.
• How did you come across such a good book?
• They set off for Paris.

Note. All the intransitive verbs are inseparable.