Collins Cobuild English Grammar (74 page)

She
looked after
her invalid mother.
She
sailed through
her exams.
She
fell down
the steps and broke her ankle.

or a verb followed by an adverb and a preposition:

You may
come up against
unexpected difficulties.
I
look forward to
reading it.
Fame has
crept up on
her almost by accident.

By combining a verb and an adverb or preposition in this way, you can extend the usual meaning of the verb or create a new meaning, different from any that the verb has on its own. You cannot, therefore, always guess the meaning of a phrasal verb from the usual meanings of the verb and the adverb or preposition. For example, if someone says
I give up
they do not give anything to anyone, nor is there any upward movement involved.

In the case of a few phrasal verbs, the first part is not found independently as a verb at all. For example, there are phrasal verbs
sum up
,
tamper with
, and
zero in on
, but no verbs
sum
,
tamper
, or
zero
.

Note that phrasal verbs are never written as a single word or with a hyphen.

3.84
    Most phrasal verbs consist of two words. These are explained below in paragraphs
3.85
to
3.110
. Three-word phrasal verbs are explained in paragraphs
3.111
to
3.113
.

intransitive phrasal verbs with adverbs

3.85
    Some phrasal verbs are used without an object. These phrasal verbs are generally verb plus adverb combinations.

Rosamund
went away
for a few days.
The boys
were fooling around
.
She
must have dozed off
.

3.86
    Here is a list of phrasal verbs that consist of a verb and an adverb with no object:

back away

back down

back off

balance out

barge in

bear up

boil over

bounce back

bow down

bow out

branch out

break away

break out

butt in

camp out

cast about

catch on

change down

change up

check up

chip in

climb down

close in

cloud over

club together

come about

come along

come apart

come away

come back

come down

come forward

come in

come on

come out

come round

come to

come up

cool off

creep in

crop up

cry off

cuddle up

curl up

cut in

die away

die down

die out

dine out

double back

doze off

drag on

drop back

drop by

drop out

ease up

ebb away

end up

fade away

fade out

fall apart

fall away

fall back

fall behind

fall out

fall over

fall through

fight back

fizzle out

flare up

fool around

forge ahead

get about

get ahead

get along

get by

get up

give in

glaze over

go ahead

go along

go around

go away

go back

go down

go on

go out

go under

go up

grow up

hang back

hang together

hit out

hold on

land up

lash out

let up

lie back

lie down

live in

look ahead

look back

look in

loom up

make off

meet up

melt away

mount up

move off

move over

nod off

opt out

own up

pass away

pay up

pine away

play around

pop up

press ahead

press on

push ahead

push on

rear up

ride up

ring off

rise up

roll about

roll in

roll over

rot away

run away

run out

rush in

seize up

sell up

set in

settle down

settle in

settle up

shop around

simmer down

sink in

sit around

sit back

sit down

slip up

speak up

splash out

spring up

stand back

stand down

stand in

stand out

start out

stay in

stay on

stay up

steam up

step aside

step back

step down

step in

stick around

stock up

stop by

stop off

stop over

tag along

tail away

tail off

taper off

tick over

touch down

tune in

wade in

wait about

wait up

walk out

waste away