English Phrasal Verbs in Use - Advanced, by Michael McCarthy and Felicity O'Dell

This reference and practice book contains 60 attractive two-page units featuring approximately 1,000 phrasal verbs. This new level of English Phrasal Verbs in Use is specifically designed for advanced level students looking to improve their knowledge of this often difficult area of the English language. The book includes many phrasal verbs useful to students preparing for the Cambridge CAE, CPE and IELTS examinations.

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English Phrasal Verbs in Use Intermediate, by Michael McCarthy and Felicity O'Dell

English Phrasal Verbs in Use is a comprehensive reference and practice book suitable for students from good intermediate level onwards. Over 1000 of the most useful and frequent phrasal verbs are clearly explained and practised in typical contexts. The material is designed for self-study, as well as classroom use, and has a student-friendly answer key.

The book has 70 two-page units. The verbs are presented on the left-hand page and are practised on the facing right-hand page. The verbs are divided into units by topic, function, concept, particle and verb. The language is presented in various ways, often in tables, showing the phrasal verbs in a range of natural contexts such as everyday dialogues, e-mails, cartoons and newspaper extracts. The book includes an invaluable mini dictionary, listing each verb with an easy-to-understand definition. This book is particularly useful for students preparing for a range of examinations.

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McGraw-Hill's Essential Phrasal Verb Dictionary, by Richard A. Spears (2nd Edition)

Phrasal verbs, also called two-word verbs, are idiomatic expressions wherein the second element of the verb (the adverb or particle) is not necessarily predictable. For instance, why the word up in call up a friend? Why not say call on a friend or call in a friend? Actually, those are three separate, unpredictable combinations, and they each mean something completely different. For example, you can call up a friend on the telephone, call on a friend to visit a friend’s home, and call in a friend to come help you with something. 

This dictionary is a compilation of 1,800 phrasal verbs consisting of either a transitive or intransitive verb and its particle or adverb. In many cases, additional prepositional phrases are shown as part of the entry, but the dictionary focuses on phrasal or two-word verbs. This second edition of the basic phrasal verb collection is based on McGraw-Hill’s Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. The format of the dictionary is designed to provide the information needed by learners who are attempting to read and write conventional American English.

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Really Learn 100 Phrasal Verbs, by Dilys Parkinson

A self-study book that presents one phrasal verb on one page. Examples and exercises show the most important meanings and the situations in which it is most commonly used.

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What's a Phrasal Verb?

First, I have to say Phrasal Verbs make our speaking sound colorful and natural. They are strictly seen as informal items, but we should have a second thought about this issue; we can see them in authorative and formal documents too. It's important to mention that phrasal verbs are made up by a verb plus a particle (adverb or preposition) and create an idiomatic meaning, in many cases, totally different from the single verb (eg: get + up).

    Let's read an explanation of Phrasal Verbs excerpted from Longman Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, by Jack C. Richards and Richard Schmidt. 3rd Edition, 2002.

Phrasal verb

a verbal construction consisting of a verb plus an ADVERB PARTICLE. A distinction may be made between phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs, and phrasal-prepositional verbs, according to the different grammatical patterns in which they occur. For example:

Particle               Turn OFF the                     Verb may             I’ll APPLY for the

may be               light.                                   be stressed                  job.

stressed

Particle can       Turn the light off.               Particle                *I’ll apply the job

occur after                                                      cannot                  for.

the object                                                     occur after

                                                                       the object

short                      Turn it off                        Pronouns             I’ll apply for it.

pronouns              (*Turn off it)                    occur after            (*I’ll apply it for)

occur                                                              the verb+

between                                                         particle

the verb

and the

particle

A phrasal-prepositional verb consists of a verb, an adverb particle, and a PREPOSITION:

We must cut down on expenses.

They put their failure down to bad advice.

The meaning of some of these verbal constructions can be guessed from the meanings of their parts (e.g. cut down on). But the meaning of others is idiomatic (e.g. put down to).

Nowadays the term “phrasal verb” is often used to include phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs, and phrasal-prepositional verbs.


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