GUIDE ENGLISH GRAMMAR BOOK

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231 Verbs with adverbs and prepositions
231 Verbs with adverbs and prepositions
1 Verb + adverb
A verb + adverb is called a 'phrasal verb'.
Come in and sit down.
I threw away my old briefcase.
These adverbs are sometimes called 'particles'. They combine with verbs to form
phrasal verbs, e.g. call in, walk on, fall over, go under, climb up, fall down, watch
out, set off, hurry back, run away, squeeze through, fly past, pass by, turn round,
get about.
2 Verb + preposition
A verb + preposition is called a 'prepositional verb'.
I was looking at the photo.
We didn't go into all the details.
Prepositions combine with verbs to form prepositional verbs, e.g. believe in, look
into, insist on, hint at, see to, come from, look after, cope with, consist of, hope for,
feel like.
The preposition always has an object: believe in God, look into the matter, insist
on absolute silence. For more details about prepositional verbs, • (4).
NOTE
Sometimes an adverbial can come between the verb and preposition.
I was looking carefully at the photo./I was looking at the photo carefully.
3 Word order with phrasal verbs
a
b
Some phrasal verbs are intransitive, but others have an object.
Intransitive: Suddenly all the lights went out.
Transitive: Someone turned out the lights.
When a phrasal verb has an object, the adverb can usually go either before or after
the object.
I threw away my old briefcase. We woke up the neighbours.
I threw my old briefcase away. We woke the neighbours up.
The word order depends on what is the point of interest. Is it the object (the neighbours), or is
it the action of the phrasal verb (woke up)?.
We must have disturbed everyone in the street. We certainly woke up the neighbours.
There were lights coming on everywhere. We woke people up.
But in many contexts either order is possible.
But when the object is a pronoun, the adverb goes after it.
My old briefcase was falling to pieces. I threw it away.
The neighbours weren't very pleased. We woke them up.
Neil borrowed some money from Maureen and never paid her back.