phrasal

Everyday

1. Made of a phrase, or to do with phrases. tree →
2. In "phrasal verb": a verb made of a verb plus a small word like up, out, off or on, which together have a special meaning, like "give up" or "look after". tree →

In the lessons

In English grammar lessons "phrasal" almost always comes in "phrasal verb". Phrasal verbs are very common in everyday English: get up, put on, run out, find out. Their meaning is often not the sum of the parts: "give up" means stop trying, not give something upwards. Learners of English find them tricky.

Examples

• "Give up" is a phrasal verb. tree →
• "Look after" is a phrasal verb meaning take care of. tree →
• Our teacher made a list of phrasal verbs with "get". tree →
• "Run out of milk" uses the phrasal verb "run out". tree →
• Can you replace "find out" with one formal word? Yes: "discover". tree →
• English has thousands of phrasal verbs. tree →

Note

Pronounced FRAY-zal. Only an adjective. Phrasal verbs often have a formal one-word partner: find out = discover, put off = postpone, give up = quit. Some can be split (turn the light off / turn off the light), some cannot (look after the baby).