Intransitive phrasal verbs

X subject X verb particle X.

Immediately he came over.

He immediately came over.

He came over immediately.

Separable phrasal verbs

X subject X verb particle object X.

X subject X verb object particle X.

Angrily she ripped up the paper.

Angrily she ripped the paper up.

She angrily ripped up the paper.

She angrily ripped the paper up.

She ripped up the paper angrily.

She ripped the paper up angrily.

Nonseparable phrasal verbs

X subject X verb X particle object X.

Slowly we headed into town. We slowly headed into town. We headed slowly into town. We headed into town slowly.

Three-word phrasal verbs

X subject X verb? particle? object X.

Eventually I grew out of the sweater.

I eventually grew out of the sweater.

I grew out of the sweater eventually.

Placing adverbs within three-word phrasal verbs is sometimes possible, but it can be problematic. Sometimes an adverb between the verb and first particle sounds acceptable and other times it does not. Sometimes, an adverb placed

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between the two particles sounds acceptable, and other times it will not. This is more a matter of style than of what is correct or incorrect, so unless you are sure it sounds okay, it is better not to place adverbs within three-word verbs.

Infinitive
	present tense	-ing form	past tense	past participle
come over
	come over & comes over	coming over	came over	come over

1. come over (to) p.v. When people move from one side of a place to the other, where you are, they come over or come over to where you are.

Come over here and say that again.

When he saw me, he immediately came over to my table and said hello.

2. come over (to) p.v. When people come to your house for a visit, they come over or come over to your house.

Would you like to come over tonight?

Jim comes over to my house every night.

3. come over p.v. When people cross a river or cross the ocean from east to west or west to east, they come over.

My grandparents came over from Sweden in 1904.

The ferry comes over to this side of the lake every day at 5:30 p.m.

fall apart

fall apart & falls apart falling apart fell apart fallen apart

1. fall apart p.v. When the parts of something become completely separated because it is old or in bad condition, it falls apart.

These old shoes are starting to fall apart.

There's no way to fix this thing. It has completely fallen apart.

2. fall apart p.v. When a plan, arrangement, system, or agreement fails, it falls apart.

After five difficult years, their marriage totally fell apart.

The peace agreement is slowly falling apart.

3. fall apart p.v. When people suddenly lose control and start laughing or become very upset or emotional, they fall apart.

Sally fell apart when she heard the tragic news.

Tom was so funny at the party last night that I just fell apart laughing.

get back at
get back at & gets back at	getting back at	got back at	gotten/got back at

1. get back at p.v. When you get back at people, you do something bad to them because they have done something bad to you.

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John won't forget what you did to him. He'll definitely get back at you someday.

She wants to get back at her ex-husband for the way he treated her.

Infinitive
	present tense	-ing form	past tense	past participle
go about
	go about & goes about	going about	went about	gone about

1. go about p.v. When you go about something or go about doing something, you begin or continue to follow all the steps necessary to do it.

/ have no idea how to go about opening a restaurant. Everyday he quietly went about his business and never caused any problems.

grow out of
grow out of & grows out of	growing out of	grew out of	grown out of

1..grow out of p.v. When people become too tall or too big to wear an item of clothing, they grow out of the item of clothing.

/ bought Susie's shoes one size too big, but she's quickly growing out of them.

Do you want these clothes for your daughter? Mine has grown out of them.

2. grow out of p.v. When people become too mature for a toy, for an interest, or for a form of behavior, they have grown out of it.

Judy had a big crush on a rock star when she was in high school, but after a while she grew out of it.

Jim's son is going through a difficult stage, but he'll grow out of it in a couple of years.

head into head into & heads into heading into headed into headed into

1. head into p.v. When you head into or are headed into a place or area, you begin to enter it.

/ almost had an accident as I was heading into town.

We scared away the bear, and it headed slowly into the woods.

Jim was headed into Ashland when his car broke down.

rip up

rip up & rips up ripping up ripped up ripped up

1. rip ...up p.v. When you tear paper or cloth into many pieces, you rip it up.

Nancy was furious when she read Tom's letter, and she angrily ripped it up. Always rip up a check before you put it in the wastebasket.

ripped up part.adj. After a piece of paper or cloth has been torn into many small piece, it is ripped up.

After the kids opened their Christmas presents, the floor was covered with ripped up paper.

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Infinitive
	present tense	-ing form	past tense	past particip
wear down
wear down & wears down		wearing down	wore down	worn down

1. wear... down p.v. When something wears down or when someone wears something down, the top or surface gradually disappears because of friction.

The feet of thousands of visitors a year have worn down the marble steps.

The mechanic told me that my car's brake pads have worn down badly and need to be replaced.

worn down part.adj. After the top or surface of something has gradually disappeared because of friction, it is worn down.

The marble steps are very old and worn down.

The tread on these tires is dangerously worn down.

2. wear ... down p.v. When people wear you down, they gradually persuade you, through persistent pressure, to change your mind about a decision.

He wouldn't tell me the answer, but little by little, I wore him down.

She still will not give us permission, but I think we're wearing her down.

EXERCISE 17a — Complete the sentences with phrasal verbs from this section. Be sure the phrasal verbs are in the correct tense.

1. I waved to Jim when I saw him across the street, and he ________ ________ and talked to me.

2. This company has been ________________ since that idiot was made the manager.

3. Don't leave the newspaper where the dog can get it. He'll totally________ it

4. We need a lot of things from the supermarket. When are you _______ _________ town?

5. Jake told the boss I was drinking on the job, and I got fired, but I ________ ________ ________ Jake — I told his wife about his girlfriend.

6. During the American Revolution, the French fleet ________ ________ and helped the Americans fight the British.

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7. The heels on my boots have ________ ________ badly, and I need to get them replaced.

8. Can you help me get hooked up to the Internet? I have no idea how to ________ ________it.

9. Don't spend a lot of money on baby clothes — she'll ________ ________ ________ them in a few weeks.

10. I need a new car. This piece of junk is ________ ________.

11. Sally asks her parents for a pony about a hundred times a day. She's trying to ________ them ________.

12. When his wife said she wanted a divorce, he just ________ ________.

13. If you're not busy tonight, would you like to ________ ________ and watch TV?

14. My four-year-old son thinks it's really funny to say bad words. I hope he ________ ________________it.

EXERCISE 17b — Rewrite these sentences and place the adverb in parentheses in two possible positions.

1. (frequently) Ms. Taylor comes over. ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________

2. (sometimes) These cheap toys fall apart. ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________

3. (nervously) He went about making the bomb. ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________

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4. (eventually) Sally will grow out of her childish behavior ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________

5. (reluctantly) Jim headed into the swamp. ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________

6. (suddenly) Pat upped up Mike's letter. ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________

7. (soon) Frank will getback at Todd. ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________

8. (gradually) He wore down my resistance. ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________

EXERCISE 17c — Write answers to the questions using phrasal verbs and participle adjectives from this section. Be sure the phrasal verbs are in the correct tense.

1. The contract was torn into many small pieces. What was done to the contract?

2. In Question 1, how would you describe the contract?

3. Her plan is not working properly, and there's a lot of confusion. What is happening to her plan?

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4. My friends visited me last night. What did my friends do last night?

5. Mike doesn't know anything about applying for a mortgage. What doesn't he know?

6. Tomorrow we're going to drive from the country to the city. What are we going to do tomorrow?

7. When Judy was a teenager, she was very shy, but she's not shy anymore. What did she do to her shyness?

8. The old lion's teeth are not as sharp or as long as they used to be.What has happened to them?

9. In Question 8, how would you describe the lion's teeth?

10. I did something bad to my brother, and now he has done something bad to me. What has my brother done to me?

11. The Vikings crossed the ocean before Columbus. What did the Vikings do before Columbus?

12. The teacher walked across the room and looked at your paper. What did the teacher do?

13. Jim became very sad and lost control when he heard that his brother had died. What did Jim do?

14. This sweater will be too small for my daughter soon.What will my daughter do to the sweater soon?

15. The pages are coming out of this old book. What is the book doing?

16. The police are pressuring the suspect to tell the truth. What are the police trying to do to the suspect?

EXERCISE 17d, Review — Complete the sentences with these phrasal verbs from previous sections. Be sure the phrasal verbs are in the correct tense. To check their meanings, review the section number given after each one.

boil down to, 6	fight back, 8	hear of, 8
chicken out of, 9	find out, 5	kick back, 10
come down with, 6	get along, 9	monkey around with, 6
come up, 12	go ahead,10	set up, 5
fall over, 8	go through with, 6	work in, 8

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1. I don't know when the train to Boston leaves. I'll ask the ticket agent and ________ _________.

2. I don't like our neighbors, and they don't like me. We don't_______ _________.

3. Julia was nervous about bleaching her hair blond, and she decided not to ________ _______ _________it.

4. Sarah was nervous about bleaching her hair blond, and she ________ ________ ________it.

5. The ambassador will try to ________ ________ a meeting between the president and the rebel leader.

6. We have a really busy day planned, but I'd like to ________ ________ a visit to the museum.

7. If someone hits you, you have to________________.

8. I missed a week of work when I ______ ______ ______ German measles.

9. Having a mechanic fix my car will cost a lot of money, so I'll ________ ________ ________ it to see if I can fix it myself.

10. The owner of the construction company was ________ ________ thousands of dollars to the mayor.

11. Are you kidding? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever _______ ________.

12. The country's economic problems are very complicated. Can you tell me what it _______ __________ _______?

13. I'm sorry I have to cancel our lunch date, but something very important has ________ ________, and I have to return to my office immediately.

14. After the car hit the telephone pole, the pole _____ _____ and crushed the car.

15. I was so angry at my boss that I told him I was going to quit, and he said,"________ ________, I don't care!"

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