Phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs

Stage 10 Stage 11 Stage 12 Stage 13   Phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs Be careful not to confuse the various parts of a phrasal verb, particularly a three-part phrasal verb. In the phrasal verb ‘look up to’, for example, ‘look’ is the verb, and ‘up’ is the particle; ‘to’ is the preposition. ‘Up’ is …

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Phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs

Be careful not to confuse the various parts of a phrasal verb, particularly a three-part phrasal verb. In the phrasal verb ‘look up to’, for example, ‘look’ is the verb, and ‘up’ is the particle; ‘to’ is the preposition. ‘Up’ is NOT the preposition in this phrasal verb – it functions as an adverbial particle. It does not refer to the direction or location of something; it serves instead to modify the verb ‘look’. The same is true of ‘live up to’.

 

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Two-word phrasal verb

To make this clearer, consider the following sentences. Let’s use two words for simplicity – ‘look up’.

  • 1. I looked up at the sky.
  • 2. I looked up his phone number in the directory.

    • In sentence 1, ‘up’ functions as a preposition. It describes the direction in which I look and so is in relation to the noun ‘sky’; it tells us about the position of the subject in relation to the object. It is not, in fact, a phrasal verb at all; rather it is called a prepositional verb.

    In sentence 2, ‘up’ functions as an adverbial particle because it changes the meaning of the verb ‘look’. To ‘look up’ means to consult a list or reference work in order to find particular information. It has nothing to do with the position of subject and object. So, in sentence 2, ‘look up’ is a phrasal verb.
     

    Three-word phrasal verb

    Another example, with a three-word phrasal verb this time: ‘look down on’.

  • 1. I looked down on the boys playing in the field below our house.
  • 2. He always looks down on the people who work for him.

    • Which sentence do you think contains the phrasal verb?

    That’s right, sentence 2.

    In sentence 1, ‘look’ is the verb and ‘down’ and ‘on’ are the prepositions, describing the location of the speaker (high, in the house) to the boys (low, in the field).

    However, in 2,’look’ is the verb and ‘down’ and ‘on’ function as adverbial particles, as they change the meaning of the verb ‘look’.

    To ‘look down on (someone)’ means to consider them to be inferior and treat them accordingly, i.e. to show them little or no respect.
    It could, technically, be used to describe a very tall boss, i.e. he looks down on them as he is over two metres tall! However, we can infer the context by the use of the time adverbial ‘always’, which suggests a habit rather than a condition.

     
    Therefore, when looking at phrasal verbs, try to work out if they could also be used as simple prepositional verbs. You will find that the majority of the time, they can.

     
    If you want to know more about phrasal verbs, don’t forget you can learn and practise more in our Stage 11, 12 and above Callan Method courses.

     

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    Joe Crowley
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