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Today we return to a very common
verb form in English: phrasal
verbs. You will find one phrasal
verb in every 192 words of written
English. They will make your English
sound more natural once you begin
using them correctly. In an earlier
program, we explained how and why
English speakers use them.
verb form: forma(to) verbal;
in every 192 words: cada 192
palabras; sound more natural:
sonar más natural; once you begin:
una vez que empieces a; earlier:
anterior;
Today we look at some often-used
phrasal verbs. This type of phrasal
verb allows a direct object to come
between the verb and the preposition
or adverb. As you will hear, there
is a special rule that learners
should know about when using these
10 phrasal verbs.
often-used: de uso frecuente;
allows: le permite a; special
rule: regla gramatical especial;
THE STRUCTURE OF PHRASAL VERBS.
As you know, a phrasal verb is a
phrase with two or more words: a
verb and a
preposition
or adverb or both. We call the
preposition or adverb a
particle when it combines
with a verb. Here are two examples:
"Please put the lamp on the desk."
"I think you're
putting me on."
as you know: como ya sabes;
we call ... a particle: decimos
que ... es una partícula gramatical;
when it combines with: cuando
ésta se combina con; putting me
on: burlándote de mí, tomándome
el pelo;
In the first sentence, on
is a preposition showing the
position of the lamp. In the second
sentence, on is an
adverbial particle.
Put on
is a phrasal verb meaning "fool" or
"trick" in this sentence.
put on: burlarse, tomar el
pelo a alguien; fool = trick:
embaucar, engañar;
An important point is that a
regular verb+preposition
combination has two meanings. A
phrasal verb, that is, a
verb+particle, has a single
meaning within a sentence. Many
phrasal verbs have a number of
different meanings in different
situations. Yet the meaning of the
verb+particle can usually be
expressed with a single Latin-based
verb.
two meanings: dos
significados; a single meaning:
un único significado; within:
dentro de; yet: aun así;
with a single Latin-based verb:
con un único verbo de origen latino;
Here are two sentences with the same
meaning:
"They
tore down the old building."
"They demolished the old building."
tore down (phrasal verb)
= demolished (common verb):
demolieron;
The verb tear has its own
meaning, and so does the preposition
down. They can combine with
other words when they are alone. But
as a phrasal verb,
tear down,
they have one meaning: "destroy."
alone: aislados; tear down
= destroy: destruir;
In 1987, U.S. President Ronald
Reagan visited West Germany. He told
a crowd in the divided city of
Berlin, "Mr. Gorbachev,
tear down
this wall!"
West Germany: Alemania
Occidental; a crowd: una
multitud; tear down this wall:
derribe, demuela, destruya este
muro;
SEPARABLE PHRASAL VERBS.
Now for the tricky part. You know
that some verbs are
transitive, which means
they have a direct object. When such
verbs appear as phrasal verbs, an
object can either separate the
phrase or follow it.
Here’s an
example.
"I decided to
throw out my
old jeans."
"I decided to
throw my old
jeans
out."
now for the tricky part:
ahora vayamos a la parte complicada;
transitive: transitivos;
which means: lo cual significa
que; such verbs: tales
verbos, ese tipo de verbos;
appear as: aparecen como;
either ... or ...: o ... o ...;
throw out my old jeans = to throw my
old jeans out: tirar a la basura
mis viejos vaqueros (bluyines);
Both of these sentences are correct.
The object of the phrasal verb
throw out is jeans.
You can use a pronoun instead of
jeans and ask:
"Are you sure you want to
throw
them
out?"
throw them out: tirarlos a la
basura;
However, you cannot ask, "Are you
sure you want to
throw
out them?" Here, the pronoun
them must appear between
the verb and the particle.
however: sin embargo;
throw out them:
forma
incorrecta de usar el verbo frasal;
must appear: debe
aparecer, tiene que aparecer;
FINDING THE FREQUENT PHRASAL VERBS.
In recent years, language experts
began to use computers to examine a
large collection, or
corpus,
of written and spoken language. When
researchers
look for phrasal verbs,
they find that many deal with an
activity. They also find a few verbs
combine with many particles. Among
the most common verbs are come,
put, get, go,
pick, sit and take.
These combine with the adverb
particles up, out,
in, on, off,
and down
to make up a group
of very useful phrasal verbs.
large collection: extensa
colección; corpus:
recopilación de datos;
researchers: los investigadores;
look for: buscan; many deal
with an activity: muchos se
relacionan con una actividad;
they also find: también detectan
que; a few verbs: unos pocos
verbos; among the most common
verbs: entre los verbos más
comunes; to make up: para
formar; very useful:
sumamente útiles;
Now, let’s look at transitive
phrasal verbs. See the list at the
end of the article. The verb get
is part of many phrasal verbs. For
example, we use
get up to
mean "to wake oneself up" or "to
awaken someone." For example:
"My son loves to sleep late. I
got
him up on time to catch the bus this
morning."
get up: levantarse; wake
oneself up: despertarse; to
awaken someone: despertar a
alguien (del sueño); to sleep
late: quedarse en la cama,
dormir hasta tarde; I got him up
on time to catch: lo desperté
justo a tiempo para tomar;
Remember, the pronoun has to come
between the verb and the adverb, so
we cannot say, "I got up him."
I got up him:
forma
incorrecta de usar el verbo frasal;
Notice how the Norwegian group A-ha
uses a separable phrasal verb two
ways in their song, "Take On Me."
Which one is correct in formal
grammar?I'll be
coming for your love, OK?
Take on me, (take on me)
Take me on, (take on me)
I'll be gone... in a day or two...
notice how: observa cómo;
Norwegian group: conjunto
musical noruego; two ways: de
dos maneras diferentes; take on
me: tómame; take me on:
acéptame (esta es la forma
gramatical correcta); formal
grammar:
gramática formal; l'll be gone:
me habré ido;
Remember, singers and poets have the
right to use language as they
please.
For Learning English Everyday
Grammar, I’m Jill Robbins. And I’m
John Russell.
singers and poets: cantantes
y poetas; have the right to use:
tienen derecho a utilizar; as
they please: como más les agrada
o apetece. |
