It has nothing to do with the verb to hold. For example, one meaning of the phrasal verb to hold up is to assault someone with a weapon in order to steal money or valuables. This is definitely a challenge for students of English. As with idioms like to kick the bucket, which is an impolite way of saying to die, the meaning of phrasal verbs doesn’t always make sense from the words used in the phrase. Phrasal verbs are often considered idioms or components of idioms (2). I imagine phrasal verbs are called that because the two (or sometimes three) components make up a phrase, and this set of words acts as a single verb unit. Some other common ones are to give up, to break down, and to run out of. What Is a Phrasal Verb?Ī phrasal verb is a verb that comprises more than one word, often a verb and a preposition, such as to back off or to hold up (1). Even those of you who are native speakers might not know what a phrasal verb is, but you probably use one at least every hour. Phrasal verbs always seemed to stump my students when I taught English as a second language in Tokyo, Japan. Listen up, everyone ! Today’s topic is phrasal verbs, as in to listen up.Ī listener, Paulino from Minneapolis, would like to know what phrasal verbs are and why they are called that.
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