Language Chunks, Phrasal Verbs

Topic 1: Language Chunks

Phrasal Verbs

A phrasal verb is another type of language chunk. A phrasal verb is a verb with one or two particles. Particles look like prepositions but do not always act like them or carry the same meaning.

Many phrasal verbs are idiomatic, or like idioms. In other words, the meaning of the verb plus its particle is different from the meaning of the verb and the particle alone. For example, you can see in the chart below that sit has a different definition than sit around or sit out.

Students need to know that verbs can change meanings when used with different particles. Read the phrasal verbs for sit and run in the chart below. Then look at the picture on your screen. Which phrasal verbs do the pictures illustrate? (Pictures are a good way to help students learn meanings of new words or phrases, especially visual learners.)

Verb Definition

sit to rest on a chair or other surface

sit around to spend time not doing much

sit out to not be involved in something

sit back to wait for something to happen

run to move quickly on one's feet

run into to meet someone unexpectedly

run out of to have nothing left of something

run along to go away

To know and use a word means to know what other words it often goes with. Learning how language is chunked, such as in common collocations, idioms, and phrasal verbs, will help students to sound more fluent and natural.