Some verbs are made up of two parts; a verb and a particle:
Make + up -...are made up...
Grow + up
He is growing up into a smart young boy.
The particle often gives the verb a new meaning:
Take + in
It's difficult to take in so much information.
It's difficult to remember/absorb so much information.
Take + after
Sarah takes after her mother.
Sarah looks or behaves like her mother.
Some phrasal verbs are two part transitive verbs which only have one pattern
She takes after her mother.
She takes after her mother
Noun (subject) verb + particle noun (object)
I can count on my brother
My father comes from London
Some phrasal verbs are two part transitive verbs which have two different patterns
She gave the money back
She gave the money back
Noun verb noun particle
He knocked the glass over
They will be leaving their cat behind
But sometimes these verbs have a different pattern
She gave back the money.
She gave back the money
Noun (subject) verb + particle noun (object)
He knocked over the glass
They will leave behind their cat
When the object is a personal pronoun these verbs always have this pattern:
Noun + verb + noun + particle
She gave it back.
He knocked it over.
They will leave it behind.
Most phrasal verbs are transitive however some phrasal verbs can be intransitive:
He hasn’t woken up.
The money ran out.
Lesson by Tristan, English teacher at EC Malta English school
Choose the right explanation for the phrasal verbs in the following:
