Extending or changing the meaning of a verb: phrasal verbs

SECTION A. INTRODUCTION 1. Match the verbs in the left column with their corresponding synonyms in the right column: to deal with to be after to plead for to carry on to provide for to ask for to account for to wait for to explain to demand to expect to treat to want to continue to request to supply

2. The secretary of a company is telling her friend about what happened in her office some days ago. Replace the underlined verbal phrases in the text with their corresponding synonyms from the list given here: endure, renounce, stop working, install, discover, exceed, start, arrive, cause. On Monday the fax machine in my office broke down. At first I opened it up and got down to fixing it but after one hour I found out that it was too difficult and gave up trying. I wanted to fit up the dispatched parts of the machine but of course I couldnt and thats when I realized that this mending job went beyond my competence. Then I decided to report the situation to my boss, who said that he wouldnt put up with such inconvenience which could bring about serious delays in our activity. So, we called up the repairman who turned up immediately and easily solved the problem.

SECTION B. STUDY The underlined constructions in Section A 2. are called phrasal verbs. This is a special group of verbs which consist of two or three words. They may take several forms: - a verb followed by an adverb: Our company has worked very hard to speed up delivery. After finishing his speech, the CEO sat down. All subscribers to our program must fill in this form in duplicate. - a verb followed by a preposition: Our industrial suppliers promised that they would fit us with the missing machine parts in a very short while. Searching through my old files, I came across the agreement he had mentioned. If we want to go to that conference abroad, we will have to pay for the services of a translator. - a verb followed by an adverb and a preposition: We look forward to meeting your sales representative at the trade fair. It was difficult for him to get this job because he ran up against strong competitors. If we invest in maintenance well be able to cut back on the excessive costs involved in buying new equipment too often. By combining a verb and an adverb or preposition in this manner, we can extend the usual meaning of the verb (to fall down has the same meaning as to fall, only emphasized) or create a new meaning, different from the one that the verb has on its own (to call = to make an appeal but to call off = to cancel, to abandon). Some phrasal verbs keep the individual meanings of their parts: My secretary has brought back the report. Would you like to see it? Other phrasal verbs have a different meaning from the individual parts: He made up a story to explain his delay in sending the goods.

Note that phrasal verbs are never written as a single word or with a hyphen. Here is a list of commonly used phrasal verbs which consist of two words: abide by abound in account for act for add up advertise for agree on/upon agree with aim at/for allow for answer for answer to apply for apply to approve of ask for auction off back up balance out be over be through be with belong to book in book up break down break in break off break up bring about bring back bring forward build up burn up buy out buy up call in call for call off carry on carry out catch up charge with check in check on check up close down close out close up close with compare to compare with congratulate on connect with consist of consist in correspond to/with count on count up cover against cut down deal in deal with decide on/upon defend against/from depend on/upon distribute to dress up embark on/upon entitle to excel in fall apart fill in find out fit out fit up fix up fold up get to go for go over hand in hand out hand over hire out hold on inquire about inquire into interfere with introduce to involve in keep on keep up know about/of leave for line up load up look for look up make up match with meet with object to occur to opt for owe to pay back pay for pay off pay up pick out pick up plead for plot against present with provide for provide with put forward refer to rely on/upon resign from result in return to ring up run for search for seek after/for sell out send for set about show off sign on sign over sign up sort out speak for speak up speed up stand for succeed in sum up take back take over think about/of think over trade for trade in treat with turn down turn in turn out turn up wait for weigh in/up work out Here is a list of three-word phrasal verbs: be in for be up to call out for catch up with come up to come up with cut back on date back to face up to fall back on fall in with get away with get down to get on with give up on go along with go in for keep up with lead up to live up to look down on look forward to look out for look up to make up for make up to match up to measure up to miss out on put down for put in for put up with read up on run out of run up against take up with talk down to talk out of zero in on

SECTION C. PRACTICE 1. Fill in the missing prepositions: to refer .. someone to look .. something to agree .. someone to allow .. something to approve .. something to insist .. something to wait .. someone to agree .. something to consist .. something to hear .. something to rely .. someone to apply .. something to apologize .. something to depend .. something

2. Here is an extract from a telephone conversation. Complete the gaps in this dialogue with the right phrasal verbs from the list below. Work in pairs. get down to, check on, hand in, catch up with, appeal to, go over, act for, keep up Jim: Im calling you because I need to the latest news on our advertising campaign. How is it going? Sam: Well, three days ago we decided to it seriously, so we the agency you had mentioned before leaving for the capital. Jim: Ok! Have you them to see if the plans for the campaign are ready? Sam: Yes, Alice has called them just an hour ago and they said that the outline was ready but they wanted to the details once again before them ... to us. Jim: Thats good news. Look, I need to stay here for a few more days in order to complete the market survey Ive been working on. Who is replacing me in the office? Sam: Alice has been you so far and I can assure you shes doing a very good job of it. Jim: All right! the good work. Ill join you in a couple of days. 3. Placing a tick next to them, indicate which verbs in each list have the same meaning as the phrasal verbs written in bold: to give away to surrender to betray to give free of charge

to bring about

to carry to cause to happen to transport to roll to appear to increase to show up to trade in to exchange to do business in to doublecross to export to dispose of the entire stock to sell things outside to endure to unload to put into practice to prefer to be different to arrange in categories to distinguish to give full attention to to focus on to cancel to decrease to prove to judge favorably to prefer to suggest to place in front of to propose

to turn up

to deal in

to sell out

to carry out

to sort out

to zero in on

to approve of

to put forward

to recommend to sum up to explain to amount to to summarize to increase to continue counting to check to rely on

to count on

4. Fill in the blanks with of, off, out or on according to the meaning: a) I couldnt buy any more paintings. The exhibition had been so successful that they were all sold .. . b) The refinery went bankrupt, so its owner was forced to auction .. all the equipment. c) Weve run .. .. ink for the printing machine. Will you go out and buy some? d) Duplicated material illustrating the lecture was handed .. to all the participants in the conference room. e) Do you all approve .. the new market strategy designed by our colleague? f) I think its time for us to decide .. whether to decrease the number of working hours or increase the workers wages. g) The shopkeeper improved his window space in order to show .. his goods and attract more customers. h) The manager of the football team signed .. some new players last week. 5. Combine three elements from the groups below so as to make up three word phrasal verbs and then use each of them in sentences of your own. Verbs: Adverbs: Prepositions: be, come, get, go, look, make, put, run, talk about, away, back, down, in, on, out, over, up against, for, of, on, to, with

6. Consider the following business situation: the manager of a travel agency in your town has just had a meeting with a foreign investor who is very interested in local tourism and wants to sponsor the agency by covering a significant percentage of the travel costs; unfortunately, when presenting the facts and figures about his agency to the investor, the manager realizes that the data provided by his secretary before the meeting is fairly incomplete, so he cannot answer some of the questions asked by the foreign team; since the contract is postponed and the secretarys job is at risk, she proposes to make up for her mistake by designing a web site in which to present online, in a professional manner, the activity of the travel agency. In groups of four, comment on the situation or make up a dialogue between the manager and his secretary, using phrasal verbs from the lists in SECTION B. Here are a few that might be suitable: account for, answer for, deal in, provide with, pay for, succeed in, plot against, count on, work something out, put forward, make up for 7. Which of the following sentences are mistaken? Cross them out. a) Where did you come upon the boss old files? Where did you come upon them? Where did you come them upon? b) The textile manufacturers had to give up their position on the market. They had to give their position on the market up. They had to give it up. c) Count up all the firms that took part in the trade fair. Count up them. Count all the firms that took place in the trade fair up. d) You had better go over your speech again. You had better go it over again. You had better go over it again. You had better go again it over. e) Ill call for the lawyer at his office. Ill call him for at his office. Ill call for him. f) All the staff look down on him for that insult. They look down for that insult on him. They look him down on for that insult.

They look down on him. g) John must provide for his younger brothers now that they are all orphans. He must provide them for. He must provide for them. h) I advise you to keep away from your boss when he is angry. I advise you to keep away from him. I advise you to keep him away from when he is angry. 8. Underline all the phrasal verbs in the following text taken from The International Herald Tribune (September 3, 2004) and then use the same verbs in a dialogue in which you comment on the contents of this article extract. Work in pairs. By one measure, Bush has presided over the largest expansion of government since his father and may yet beat him out in that category, which is not exactly one that conservatives like to boast about. That category is the share of national wage and salary income that comes directly from governments. And it turns out that this fact is largely responsible for the economic good news. In the Republican platform, most of the economic statistics referred to recent months. Over the last year, the Republicans stated, gross domestic product grew at one of the fastest rates in two decades. It reported that since August 2003, 1.5 million new jobs have been created. Such numbers ignore the recession at the beginning of the Bush administration, and the slow recovery that followed until growth took off in mid-2003, when one tax cut the child credit put significant cash into the pockets of parents just in time to make that years back-to-school shopping season a very good one. 9. Choose the correct prepositions: a) She warned him the possibility to miss the bus to work that morning. a. about b. of c. for b) Im taking care the organization of the seminar which is behind schedule. a. to b. for c. of

c) She apologized being so late, since the meeting had already started. a. at b. to c. for d) For years he had dreamt being the general manager. a. to b. of c. at e) They got the plane and took their seats. a. in b. to c. on f) The ring reminded her her mothers last request, so she was wearing it all the time. a. of b. about c. to g) Tom is thinking buying some new equipment for a future production line. a. to b. at c. of h) Youll have to send the repairman because the fax machine is broken. a. out b. to c. for i) We havent decided yet the theme of our new project. a. upon b. at c. on j) This house belonged someone in the royal family some centuries ago. a. with b. to c. at 10. Insert the correct forms of the suitable phrasal verbs chosen from the following list: take in, throw out, stand up for, tune in, take on, pay back, rely on, turn on, return to, look up.

a) I shouldnt Jim so much; he is ready enough with his promises, but often fails to carry them out. b) Well have to find a way to the loan in time. c) Translators often need to technical terms in specialized dictionaries. d) Apart from his main job he a lot of translations. How he manages to work so much is beyond me. e) The chameleon can the color of its background. f) The speaker urged the people to their rights. g) The shopkeeper was usually very polite, but this time he was forced to the man who caused such a disturbance in his shop. h) What time do you usually the radio to hear the news? i) With your permission, I shall this point later in my lecture. j) Switch on the TV and to channel five to watch the football match. 11.Translate the sentences into Romanian, paying attention to the meaning of the phrasal verbs: a) It took them two years to work up a new market for their products. b) Please book me up a ticket to the Friday morning flight to London! c) Let me now deal more fully with the important question that was touched on earlier. d) The chairman of the committee deliberately agreed to the proposal, realizing that it was in favor of his own policy. e) Bring the question forward at our next meeting; I think it is important for all the employees. f) It is rather expensive to have central heating installed, but it certainly pays off in the long run. g) The prices of clothes came down significantly last year. Local manufacturers had to bring them down because of the cheap Chinese imports. h) Hold on, please. Ill call the manager right away. i) Unfortunately, they went out of business last month because the market was too strong and competition too high. j) His project was much objected to in yesterdays meeting due to lack of funds, but he will soon put forward a new one. 12.Discuss the different meanings of come used as a phrasal verb in the following sentences:

a) The accident came about just when we were going to cross the bridge. b) While cleaning your desk, I came across the keys that you thought you had lost. c) When the sun came down behind the mountain we had already set the tent and made the fire. d) Come on, we have to reach the city by sunset and youre barely walking! e) I wonder what came over him hes been acting so weird lately. f) After a long crisis, her illness fortunately came to an end. g) Dont throw that box away. It might come in handy when we move out. h) I am her father, and I say that she cannot marry without my consent until she comes of age. i) We all hope that she will come to her senses when the effects of the drug fade away. 13.Complete the following sentences using these verbs: get, give, go, grow. a) He will never over the death of his wife. b) Please dont away my secret; you are my best friend and I trust you on this. c) The two kids broke a shop window by mistake and couldnt away with it because the shopkeeper came out immediately. d) My brother is old now, and he up his business. e) My cousin wants to in for journalism after he graduates from college. f) Some parents are so afraid that their children will up and leave them some day. g) It was out that Mrs. Brown herself was going to preside over the meeting. h) Its easy to on a horse and easy to off; its more difficult to stay on while it is moving. i) The years on and her former colleagues became gray haired grandparents. j) He is the type that doesnt make a good impression at the beginning, but he on you after a while. 14.Translate into English using the following phrasal verbs to replace the Romanian correspondents written in bold type in the text: call for, talk over, ask out, bring in, auction off, bring down, keep up, focus on, rely on

a) Te rog s-l chemi imediat pe director. Sunt un client important i a vrea s discut aceast problem direct cu el. b) De cte ori o invit pe secretar n ora, ea m refuz spunnd c are prea mult de lucru la birou i st peste program. c) - Ce venit crezi c va produce vnzarea acestor stocuri? - Dac licitm tot vom scoate destul de mult. d) Trebuie s reducem preul de pia al grului datorit recoltei bogate de anul acesta. Dac l meninem ridicat vom avea mari cantiti nevndute. e) E nevoie s te concentrezi pe finalizarea proiectului. Intreaga echip se bazeaz pe tine pentru prezentarea de sptmna viitoare.