Grammar: Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs are formed by a base verb followed by one or more particles, which are prepositions or adverbs. Their meaning is different from the base verb  and they often have more than one meaning.

For example:

- To bring (traer)
“Have you brought your toothbrush?” (¿Has traído el cepillo de dientes?)
- To bring up (sacar a relucir)
“Why did you have to bring that up?” (¿Por qué tuviste que sacar eso a relucir?)
- To bring up (criar)
“He was brought up by his grandparents.” (Lo criaron sus abuelos)

Phrasal verbs can be transitive (they need an object) or intransitive (they don’t need an object).

Transitive phrasal verbs
Transitive phrasal verbs are divided into two groups: separable and non-separable.

- Separable:
Separable phrasal verbs are those in which the object can be placed between the verb and the particle. For example:

“Put your shoes on”/ “Put on your shoes” (Ponte los zapatos)
“He gave his book away”/ “He gave away his book” (Regaló su libro)

*If the object is a pronoun, it is always placed between the verb and the particle.

Examples:

“Here are your shoes. Put them on.” (Aquí están tus zapatos. Póntelos.)
“I don’t need this book. I’m going to give it away” (No necesito este libro. Lo voy a regalar.)

Other examples of separable transitive phrasal verbs that are commonly used:

PRASAL VERB	MEANING	EXAMPLES
Bring up	Sacar un tema de conversación.	“Don’t bring that up again!” (¡No vuelvas a sacar ese tema!)
Bring up	Educar, criar.	“My sister was brought up by my grandma” (A mi hermana la crió mi abuela.)
Find out	Enterarse de, descubrir.	“Did you find out anything interesting?” (¿Os enterasteis de algo interesante?)
Give back	Devolver.	“When are you going to give me back my CDs?” (¿Cuándo me vas a devolver mis CDs?)
Hand in	Entregar.	“The students handed in their projects.” (Los alumnos entregaron sus trabajos.)
Look up	Buscar (en una lista).	“Look up these words in your dictionary.” (Busca estas palabras en el diccionario)
Put away	Guardar.	“I ironed my shirts and put them away.” (Planché mis camisas y las guardé.)
Put off	Posponer.	“The exam was put off till January.” (El examen se pospuso hasta enero.)
Put on	Ponerse.	“Let me put my glasses on.” (Deja que me pong alas gafas.)
Put out	Apagar, extinguir.	“Put out your cigarette, please.” (Apaga el cigarillo, por favor.)
Take off	Quitarse.	“Why don’t you take your jacket off?” (¿Por qué no te quitas la chaqueta?)
Try on	Probarse.	“Try these jeans on.” (Pruébate estos vaqueros.)
Turn down	Bajar (el volumen).	“Could you turn the radio down?” (¿Podrías bajar la radio?)
Turn off	Apagar (luces, aparatos).	“Don’t forget to turn the lights off.” (No te olvides de apagar las luces.)
Turn on	Encender (aparatos, luces).	“How do you turn this computer on?” (¿Cómo se enciende este ordenador?)
Turn up	Subir (el volumen).	“I couldn’t hear, so I turned it up a bit.” (No oía, así que la subí un poquito.)

- Non-separable:
Non-separable phrasal verbs are those in which the base verb cannot be separated from the particle. The object is always placed after the particle, even in the case of a pronoun. For example:

“Who looks after the children?” (¿Quién cuida a los niños?)
“Who looks after them?” (¿Quién los cuida?)

“He called on his friend Simon.” (Pasó a ver a su amigo Simon.)
“He called on him.” (Pasó a verle.)

Phrasal verbs that are formed by the structure “base verb + adverb + preposition” belong to this group.

Other examples of non-separable transitive phrasal verbs that are commonly used:

PHRASAL VERB	MEANING	EXAMPLES
Catch up with	Ponerse al día con.	“It took me a week to catch up with my e-mails.” (Me llevó una semana ponerme al día con mi correo electrónico.)
Drop out of (school)	Abandonar los estudios.	“He dropped out of school and got a job in a bank.” (Abandonó los estudios y consiguió trabajo en un banco.)
Get rid of	Quitarse de encima, deshacerse de.	“I couldn’t get rid of him. He’s such a bore!” (No me lo podía quitar de encima. ¡Es un pelmazo!)
Look down on	Menospreciar, despreciar.	“She felt they looked down on her because she was short.” (Sentía que la menospreciaban porque era bajita)
Look forward to	Estar deseando.	“I’m looking forward to seeing them.” (Estoy deseando verles.)
Look up to	Admirar.	“I have always looked up to my older sister.” (Siempre he admirado a mi hermana mayor.)
Put up with	Soportar, aguantar.	“We have to put up with each other.” (Tenemos que soportarnos mutuamente.)
Run out of	Quedarse sin.	“We have run out of coffee again.” (Nos hemos quedado sin café otra vez.)

Intransitive phrasal verbs

Some examples of intransitive phrasal verbs that are commonly used:

PHRASAL VERB	MEANING	EXAMPLES
Break down	Averiarse, romperse.	“The car broke down as we left Ávila.” (El coche se averió al salir de Ávila.)
Come back	Volver.	“When are you coming back?” (¿Cuándo volvéis?)
Come in	Pasar, entrar.	“Please, come in.” (Pasa, por favor.)
Come over	Venir (a visitar).	“They came over to see us last Friday.” (Vinieron a vernos el viernes pasado.)
Eat out	Salir a comer/cenar.	“We often eat out on Saturdays.” (A menudo salimos a comer los sábados.)
Get up	Levantarse.	“You don’t need to get up early tomorrow.” (No hace falta que te levantes pronto mañana.)
Go back	Volver.	“I want to go back home.” (Quiero volver a casa.)
Go on	Pasar, suceder.	“What’s going on?” (¿Qué pasa?)
Grow up	Crecer, hacerse mayor.	“What do you want to be when you grow up?” (¿Qué quieres ser cuando seas mayor?)
Keep on	Continuar, seguir (haciendo algo).	“Keep on working.” (Continuad trabajando.)
Wake up	Despertarse.	“I wake up at seven every morning.” (Me despierto a las siete todas las mañanas.)

By Sara de la Flor