Imparare i phrasal verbs è sopratutto un problema di lessico, ad esempio, wake up = svegliarsi, get up = alzarsi.
A volte un dato verbo può avere significati meno ovvie, o tanti significati diversi. L’inglese fa ridere, vero?
Ma poi, anche la grammatica cambia, e se il significato è diverso, può cambiare anche la grammatica.
Quindi vale la pena considerare anche la grammatica quando imparerai nuovi verbi.
Con questo breve articolo (e i prossimi 3) approfonderai il problema della grammatica di phrasal verbs.
Quattro tipi di phrasal verbs
Ci sono 4 “tipi” di phrasal verbs. Oggi parliamo del primo, i verbi intransitivi.
“Intransitivo” significa che il verbo non ha un oggetto.
Prendiamo come esempio il verbo “take off”, che può significare sia “togliere (vestiti)” che “decollare”.
“Tolgo le scarpe” = “Take of your shoes”, ma
“L’aereo è decollato” = “The plane took off”.
Nel primo esempio, il verbo è transitivo: l’oggetto è “your shoes” (le scarpe).
Nel secondo esempio, il verbo è intransitivo. L’aereo è decollato è basta. Niente oggetto.
Phrasal verbs intransitivi sono facili!
Quando scopri un nuovo phrasal verb intransitivo, non avrai le difficoltà grammaticale, almeno. Sono facili!
C’è una bella lista qui.
Dalla lista, ti ho scelto questi tre esempi da studiare:
“cheer up” = (più o meno) “tiriti su” (di umore): “It’s a Tuesday in November and it’s raining, but CHEER UP, Christmas is coming!”
“get on” = “fare progresso): “I’m studying English at imprarareinglese.com and GETTING ON very well.” (“get on” va spesso collocato con “well” o “badly” per significare fare un bel progresso o fare poco progresso. “My daughter is getting on well at her new school”.
“grow up” = “crescere” (ma per una persona, il cambio da bambino in adulto). “I grew up in a small town in England.”
Il modo più semplice di imparare nuovi phrasal verbs è di memorizzare la frase intera, non il verbo con la traduzione.
“The plane took off” dovrebbe essere più facile da riccordare che “take off” = “decollare”.
Compiti
Scrivi due righi (in inglese, naturalmente) usando qualche verbo dalla lista. Ti correggo eventuali errori… (Non c’è bisogna che fai la stessa per il mio italiano, grazie!)
Vai qui per scrivere il tuo compito.
Troverai gli altri articoli su phrasal verbs qui:
Cosa sono i phrasal verbs?
Phrasal verbs: intransitivi.
Phrasal verbs: transitivi.
Phrasal verbs: con tre parti.
Il significato di phrasal verbs.
P.S. Il corso di scrittura in inglese procede alla grande! I primi studenti hanno già scritto un curriculum in inglese, ora stanno lavorando per imparare come scrivere le mail in modo “informale”, perfetto per lavoro o per stare in contatto con amici all’estero. Puoi partecipare per solo €50. Avrai, via e-mail, 5 compiti da fare (senza limiti di tempo per farli). Ti correggo gli errori, cosa saprai migliorare! Dettagli qui.
stefania dice
correction:
‘…this is the meaning I wanted to USE IN THE SENTENCE’
sorry
stefania dice
Hi Daniel,
thanks for your reply.
I always use WordReference when I have doubt about words and I saw that ‘clear out’ can be translated with “fare fagotto” that’s the meaning I wanted to do to the sentence. Probably it means more ‘go away forever’..which is not the case of my niece!!
is ‘Stand by’ not correct to mean ‘stare in attesa’? Maybe the meaning is more physical..!? What do you think?
thanks
Daniel dice
Hi Stefania,
wordreference.com is useful, but much more so when you are translating INTO your own language.
Suppose you’re looking for the correct meaning of “fare fagotto”, well you’ll find no specific translation into English (ask yourself why…) but this forum discussion. If you read it, you’ll see that they come to a different conclusion from you…
Going the other way, from English to Italian, wordreference.com does indeed translate “clear out” to “fare fagotto”, but it’s not the first option.
To be sure, you should double check in a good monolingual English dictionary, as phrasal verbs can be very context specific….
A search for “clear out” on the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary gives this result, which you’ll see is only a noun.
Conclusion? Don’t translate from English to Italian, find an Italian equivalent, and use the phrasal verb as you would have used the Italian word…. It’s very likely not to work.
Instead, search for examples of your phrasal verb, study the example to understand the meaning, then use it when appropriate. Google “clear out” and you’ll see it’s frequently a noun, or a TRANSITIVE verb (clear out the garage).
Have a nice day!
P.S. The final post in this series will be about the meaning of phrasal verbs…
rosalba dice
Hi Daniel, I don’t know if this mail will arrive because it’s the first time I’m writing to you. What
do you think about my exemples?
– I don’t understand well, can you back down your opinion?
– It’s up two weeks I didn’t eat cakes, I hope fell off.
Daniel dice
Hello Rosalba,
Yes I can see it.
Thanks for joining it.
Not sure about your two examples though. I’m guessing you mean “explain” or “repeat” for the first one, and “lose weight” for the second?
“back down” means “retreat from a potential conflict”, or something like that
“fell off” a bicycle and hurt himself
Sorry! Keep trying though.
stefania dice
Hi Daniel,
late but here I am.
“Last wednesday my niece came over (or flew over) to visit me from Milan.
She’s exhausted of her a busy life: university, sports, work (or job?)…that’s why she needed to ‘clear out’ and change air.
She’s growing up so fast that I’m always so glad to spend time with her.
She’s as beautiful as a model (that’s her job) but she doesn’t show off at all. She’s a good girl!
Unfortunately time is over and she’s flying back tomorrow, the plane takes off at 3 p.m.
I’ll stand by the next visit.”
Please correct my numerous mistakes. Thanks
Daniel dice
Hi Stefania,
Sorry it took me a few days to answer you. I’ve had a virus…
Good piece of work!
exhausted BY (or ‘as a result of’ or ‘because of’).
Not sure about the use of “clear out” in line 2, or “stand by” in the last line. The meanings are close, but not exactly right.
That’s often the problem with phrasal verbs…. very specific meanings. You can always google it, though.
Lucia dice
Can I say:
I just don’t remember the best way to get from Stansted to your place. Can you please brush me up on this?
Daniel dice
No.
You BRUSH UP ON SOMETHING (the subject you wish to refresh your memory about). Here’s the wordreference.com page.
Roberta dice
Hi Daniel,
thank you for you time!
This is my exercise about phrasal verbs .
I put on weight, so I need to cut down chocolate and junk food.
I drank too much and I threw up all the night.
Daniel dice
Hi Roberta!
“Put on” is transitive in this case, but never mind, your use of it is fine.
However, “cut down” here should be “cut down on” (reduce) or “cut out” (eliminate).
“Throw up” is intransitive here, and your example is correct, but can also be transitive. “The cat threw up her dinner again!”
Have a pleasant evening…
Daniel
Rita dice
Hi Daniel!
Here my homework
– This year the winter has blown in and I am not ready for the cold
– I often get angry at job and my collegue says me: Rita calm down!!!!
– Every days newspapers, radios, and tv tell us that in Italy unemployment il picking up constantly
Thanks for your corrections!
bye
Rita
Daniel dice
Hi Rita,
Thanks for contributing.
Corrections:
my COLLEAGUE TELLS me
the meaning of “pick up” IS “increase” but in the sense of “get faster”, so you can say “The economy is picking up” (that’s a good thing) but not “Unemployment is picking up” (a bad thing).
OK?
clara dice
Hi Daniel,
my home work
– During a lesson I was lost in abstruse explanations when a student shouted at me: clear up please, I am not understanding anything
– last week in the morning I went to visit my mother in her village and in the early in the afternoon I drove back home. I had to prepare my luggage: my plane will take off at 5 in the morning
– I become upset and my engagement lets up when, during meetings, conferences and also social gatherings, there is somebody that turns the table in his favor
Daniel dice
Hi Clara,
Thanks for contributing.
“Clear up” means “mettere in ordine”, for example after a party. So you probably need to rethink your first example.
In the second example, take off is correct.
“lets up” means “stop” or better “ease”. For example “It rained all day and didn’t let up until the evening.”
Have a nice day!
Daniel
Giusy dice
Hi ie
here you are my homework about phrasel vers,
When I come back from my work, I have to cook, after all at 9 at night, I go out to go for a wolk
what do you think about this
I wish you a nice day giusy
Daniel dice
Hi Giusy,
Sorry for not having replied earlier.
Your examples seem fine. Well done!
Daniel
Serena dice
Hi Daniel,
I woke up early this morning so I will lie down as soon as possible, but not before to have got through my English homework.
Thanks,
Serena
Daniel dice
Excellent, Serena!
All the phrasal verbs are used correctly. There’s one grammar issue though: after “before” and “after” (prepositions), you need a noun or a gerund, not an infinitive.
So it should be “not before having got through my English homework.”
Hope that helps!
Fabrizio dice
Hi Daniel,
thanks for this opportunity to write in English, I feel that I’m getting on so well that I’m ready to write an English letter.
Have a good day
Daniel dice
Hi Fabrizio!
Yes you are GETTING ON well!
NB when writing a letter in English, after the “Dear Name,” use a CAPITAL LETTER.
Yes, I know. There’s a comma (,) after “Dear Name,”
But still, the next line should start with a CAPITAL.
Everyone makes this mistake. Literally, everyone in Italy. You could be the first to get it right!
A presto!
Daniel
Lucia dice
I keep on trying and trying to get where I want to, but I’m seriously giving out. When one does not pan out, does he have to hold out or give up?
Thanks Daniel!
Daniel dice
“I’m seriously giving out” – not sure that’s right, Lucia. The rest are OK though. Well done!
Definition of “give out” here: http://www.wordreference.com/enit/give%20out
You meant “cedere” or “mollare” I assume…..
Lucia dice
I meant to use this : give out (become exhausted)
Daniel dice
I think it’s more used for things finishing, not people. As in this quote, the origin of which you can check in Google.
But Mr. Worple in his spare time was what is known as an ornithologist. He had written a book called American Birds, and was writing another, to be called More American Birds. When he had finished that, the presumption was that he would begin a third, and keep on till the supply of American birds gave out.
Lucia dice
Got it!!!