He acted as if he were innocent.

We requested that Manish be called and take all our lectures.

The present tense of the subjunctive uses only the base form of the verb.
Manish suggested that they request Amitabh
She suggested that we be on time tomorrow.
Phrasal Verbs (Idioms)
Sometimes (more often than not) verbs are followed by a preposition or adverb and create a meaning that is
totally different form the meaning of the constituent words (e.g. to look after means to take care of). These
two-part verbs, also called phrasal verbs. (Remember they are different from verbs with helpers phrasal
verbs are idioms).
Phrasal verbs are an area of test in most competitive examinations. The way to master the idioms
(remember, English is said to be a highly idiomatic language) is to read well and to master them in the
contexts. You must have a good dictionary at hand.
The problem with phrasal verbs is that their meaning is often, at first, obscure, and they often mean several
different things. To make out, for instance, can mean to perceive or to see something; it can also mean to
engage in light sexual play. To make out, we are told, has ten different meanings (Merriam-Websters
Collegiate Dictionary).
Verbs combine with different prepositions and other words, sometimes with dizzying effect: stand
combines with out, up, in, off, by, fast, pat, down, against, for and connote different meanings. Use a
dictionary to research. Your mastery of the phrasal verbs or idioms tells me how much English you really
know!
In a phrasal verb, the word added to the verb is called its particle.
The tests include usage issues related to your awareness of meaning of phrasal verbs and their correct use,
e.g. some particles can be separated from the verb so that a noun and pronoun can be inserted, and some
particles cant be separated from the verb. In addition, some phrases are intransitive, meaning they cannot
take a direct object. These are briefly illustrated below. It is not possible, within the framework of this
book, to list or to examine phrasal verbs in detail. That must become your homework.
add up (to add) Separable
Correct: She added up the total in her notebook.
Correct: She added it up in her notebook.
get around (to evade) Inseparable
Correct: She always gets around the rules.
Incorrect: She always gets the rules around.
catch on (to understand) Intransitive (cannot take direct object)
Correct:

After I explained the maths problem, she began to catch on.

Incorrect: She began to catch on the maths problem. (catch on cannot take a direct object in this
meaning.)
Correct: She began to catch on to the maths problem. (the word to makes the maths problem an
indirect object, which is acceptable in this meaning.)

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