English Language Learners Stack Exchange
English Language Learners Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [phrasal-verbs]

a combination of a lexical verb and one or two particles having the same form as prepositions or adverbs, employed as a single verb. The term is sometimes reserved for combinations in which the particle may follow the object of the verb and is not fronted with a WH- relative object.

Further Reading

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what does "abstract away from" mean?

I'm reading a technical book about programming and I came across on this sentence, "A dependency abstracts functionality away from calling code. You don't need to worry too much about what a dependency is doing, much less how it is doing it, but…
rpmansion
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Scoot over - how to use

I was looking at the questions list and realized one hot question on the right-sidebar's list that I had never seen before, it was talking about the phrasal verb 'Scoot over' which means To move in order to give some space so that someone else can…
Davyd
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"turn down the volume" or "turn the volume down" - phrasal verb structure

I'm learning about phrasal verbs, but I'm not sure if I'll use them correctly. Which one of the following phrasal verb uses correct: -I don't know how to turn down the volume? -I don't know how to turn the volume down? I always think that they're…
Plain_Dude_Sleeping_Alone
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Is there any way other than cramming to guess meaning of a phrasal verb?

The meanings of some phrasal verbs can be guessed sometimes; like go after, give back, find out, etc. Some sentences: 1) Go after her quickly. 2) Give my wallet back. 3) Find out what I have lost. The reason being (how I understand) from the…
Mistu4u
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Rules for phrasal verbs

Are there any common rules for creating / figuring out the meaning of phrasal verbs, knowing the meaning of base verb? Ex. 'out' particle can obviously refer to something outside. leave OUT - omit something = leave something out of range miss OUT -…
Wawrzyn321
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Is it natural to use the phrase "run something by someone" in the sense of passing information on to someone?

Is it natural to use the phrase run something by someone in the sense of passing information on to someone? For example: You can give me a list of everything you want to buy and I'll run it by Kate so that she can pick it up on her way home. I'm…
Dmytro O'Hope
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What's the phrasal verb that asks the crowd to make way for me to move forward?

People often say "Coming through!" to announce their arrival and it's implied that the crowd should make room for them. There's a more direct phrasal verb that I can't recollect right now. What is it? What are the other ways to convey the same?
Satya
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check something out or check out something?

I think that term "check this out" is more natural than "check out this", while in contrast I think "check out this source code" is more natural than "check this source code out"; Would you please say is my feeling/conclusion right and is there a…
Mohsen Kamrani
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Phrasal verb and the position of the object

I was told that the first sentence is usual but the second one would be hardly said. He got his memory back thanks to the album. He got back his memory thanks to the album. And I think both are OK and actually used in the reality. But someone…
Englishy
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How to judge a phrase is a phrasal verb?

The families of the MH370 passengers in Kuala Lumpur huddled in conference rooms at a hotel. Selamat Omar, a 60-year-old Malaysian whose son was on the missing aircraft, prepared himself for bad news. "I am sad, but as a Muslim I accept what…
user48070
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What is the difference between "fold back" and "fold up"?

I am trying to describe how to form the shape shown in the above picture. The following is my example: Fold back/up a strip of paper several times such that the folds are stacked. According to my dictionaries, what I want to say corresponds to…
rama9
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show you to your room vs show you into your room

"I'll show you to your room" means I'll take you to your room. The question is: Can "to" be replaced by "into"? I have done a quick search and found out that "show someone into" is uncommon and it wasn't clear whether they are equal. My guess though…
learner
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turn OFF the light etymology

We know that most of the meanings of phrasal verbs can be traced back to the first, most basic meaning. Knowing that "off" originally conveyed the idea of "separation" (cut off my finger, my dog ran off etc) Can we assume that "turn OFF my computer"…
Mr. Past Progressive
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Is there a difference between "pile on" and "pile up"?

From the Cambridge Dictionary I got the following: Pile up: To increase in amount. The work was piling up, and I decided I had to go in to the office on the weekend. Pile on: to increase quickly. After she had the heart attack, the pounds piled…
Cyn Mar CZ
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Change to vs Change with?

I have looked on the internet regarding this issue and could not find a definitive answer so I posted the question here. Which one do I use if I want to change something to something else? Change that code to this code. or Change that code with…
Karlo Kokkak
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