Phrasal verbs

A phrasal verb is a verb followed by a preposition or an adverb. Its meaning is often different from the meaning of its parts.

Compare the meanings of the verbs gets on and run away in (a) and (b) below. You can easily guess their meanings in (a) but in (b) they have special meanings.

(a) She got on at Agra when the bus stopped for breakfast.

Dev Anand ran away from home when he was a teenager.

In (a) i.e. the first sentence, she got on refers to the movement of a person

Whereas

In the second sentence, it says that Dev Anand ran away i.e. left his house

(b) She’s eager to get on in life. (Succeed)

The visitors ran away with the match. (Won easily)

In (b) i.e. the first sentence, it refers to climbing the ladder of success

Whereas

In the second sentence, it refers to winning the match (ran away with the match)

Some phrasal verbs have three parts: a verb followed by an adverb and a preposition. For Example:

(c) Our car ran out of petrol just outside the city limits.

(d) The government wants to reach out to the people with this new campaign.

A. Look up the following in a dictionary for their meanings (under the entry for the italicized word).

(i) Plunge (right) in (ii) Kept back

(iii) Ramble on

(iv) Get along with

What do these statements tell you about Anne Frank as a person?

(i) We don’t seem to be able to get any closer, and that’s the problem. Maybe it’s my fault that we don’t confine in each other.

(ii) I don’t want to jot down the facts in a diary the way most people would, but I want the diary to be my friend.

(iii) Margot went to Holland In December; I followed in February When I was plunked down on the table as a birthday present for Margot.

(iv) If you ask me, there are so many dummies that about a quarter of the class should be kept back, but teachers are the most unpredictable creatures on earth.

(v) Anyone could ramble on and leave big spaces between the words, but the trick was to come up with convincing arguments to prove the necessity of talking.

Look at the following words.

These words are compound words. They are made up of two or more words.

Compound words can be:

•Nouns (a word that identifies a person, a place, an animal or a thing): headmistress, homework, notebook, outbursts

•Adjectives (a word that gives the description of a noun or a pronoun): long-awaited, stiff-backed

•Verbs( Verbs can be described as words that describe actions): sleep-walk, baby-sit

(Compound word)

Match the compound words under ‘A’ with their meanings under ‘B’. Use each in a sentence.

Phrasal verbs

A phrasal verb is a verb followed by a preposition or an adverb. Its meaning is often different from the meaning of its parts.

Compare the meanings of the verbs gets on and run away in (a) and (b) below. You can easily guess their meanings in (a) but in (b) they have special meanings.

(a) She got on at Agra when the bus stopped for breakfast.

Dev Anand ran away from home when he was a teenager.

In (a) i.e. the first sentence, she got on refers to the movement of a person

Whereas

In the second sentence, it says that Dev Anand ran away i.e. left his house

(b) She’s eager to get on in life. (Succeed)

The visitors ran away with the match. (Won easily)

In (b) i.e. the first sentence, it refers to climbing the ladder of success

Whereas

In the second sentence, it refers to winning the match (ran away with the match)

Some phrasal verbs have three parts: a verb followed by an adverb and a preposition. For Example:

(c) Our car ran out of petrol just outside the city limits.

(d) The government wants to reach out to the people with this new campaign.

B. Now find the sentences in the lesson that have the phrasal verbs given below. Match them with their meanings. (you have already found out the meanings of some of them.) Are their meanings the same as that of their parts? (Note that two parts of the phrasal verb may occur separated in the text.)

Idioms

Idioms are groups of words with a fixed order, and a particular meaning different from the meanings of each of their words put together. (Phrasal verbs can also be idioms; they are said to be ‘idiomatic’ when their meanings are unpredictable). For example, do you know what it means to meet one’s match in English? It makes to meet someone who is as good as oneself, or even better, in some skill or quality. Do you know what it means to let the cat out of the bag? Can you guess?

A. Here are a few sentences from the text which have idiomatic expressions. Can you say what each means? (You might want to consult a dictionary first.)

(i) Our entire class is quaking in its boots.

…………………………………………………………..

(ii) Until then, we keep telling each other not to lose heart.

…………………………………………………………….

(iii) Mr. Keesing was annoyed with me for ages because I talked so much.

…………………………………………………………………..

(iv) Mr. Keesing was trying to play a joke on me with this ridiculous subject, but I’d make sure the joke was on him.

…………………………………………………………………..