Lesson 4:
Verbs--Phrasal Verbs, Verb Phrases, and Conditionals
4.1 Phrasal Verbs and other Multi-word Verbs
Phrasal verbs are part of a large group of verbs called “multi-word verbs.” Multi-word
verbs, including phrasal verbs, are very common, especially in spoken English. A
multi-word verb is a verb like “pick up,” “turn on” or “get on with.” For convenience,
many people refer to all multi-word verbs as phrasal verbs.
These verbs consist of a basic verb + another word or words. The other word(s) can be
prepositions and/or adverbs. The two or three words that make up multi-word verbs
form a short “phrase”--which is why these verbs are often all called “phrasal verbs”—that
usually has an idiomatic meaning.
The important thing to remember is that a multi-word verb is still a verb. Get is a verb.
Get up, is also a verb, a different verb. Get and get up are two different verbs. They do
not have the same meaning. So you should treat each multi-word verb as a separate verb,
and learn it like any other verb.
4.2 3 types of multi-word verbs:
There are three types of multi-word verbs: phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs and
phrasal-prepositional verbs.
single-word verb
multi-word
verbs
phrasal verbs
She gets that
for me.
get
get up
verb + adverb
I would like to
get up at 7 am.
prepositional verbs
phrasal-prepositional
verbs
look after
look
forward
to
verb +
Who is looking
preposition
after the baby?
verb + adverb +
preposition
I look forward
to meeting you.
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(I know, it’s hard to differentiate which word is an adverb and which is a preposition. Just
to give you a feel of the frustration, of the four words (up, after, forward, to) used as
examples here, each word has multiple identities of different parts of speech. Up is an
adverb, a preposition, an adjective, a noun, and a verb. After is an adverb, a preposition,
an adjective, a conjunction, and a noun. Forward is an adverb, an adjective, a verb, and a
noun. To is an adverb, as well as a preposition. Confused? You have every right to. I
would suggest that we need to know that grammarians have made differentiation of the
phrasal verbs; and like many, just treat all three types as phrasal verbs.)
4.3 2 Differences between the 3 types of multi-word verbs.
4.3.1 Transitive and Intransitive:
4.3.1.1 Phrasal verbs can be transitive (with direct object) and intransitive (no
direct object).
4.3.1.2
Prepositional verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs all end with a
preposition, and since a preposition always has an object, so all these
verbs have direct objects. They are all transitive verbs.
4.3.1.3 Examples:
4.3.1.3.1


Intransitive phrasal verbs:
I would like to get up at 7 am.
He was late because his car broke down.
4.3.1.3.2 Transitive phrasal verbs:


We will have to put off the meeting.
They turned down my offer.
4.3.1.3.3


Prepositional verbs:
Godard is looking after the dog.
Are you talking about Jane?
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4.3.1.3.4


Phrasal-prepositional verbs:
I look forward to meeting you.
George doesn't get on with his colleagues.
4.3.2 Separable and Inseparable:
4.3.2.1 Transitive phrasal verbs can usually be separated by the object. And if
the direct object is a pronoun, the phrasal verb must be separated by
the pronoun.
4.3.2.2 Prepositional verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs are inseparable.
4.3.2.3 Examples:
4.3.2.3.1 Transitive phrasal verbs:

We will have to put off the meeting.

We will have to put the meeting off.
They turned down my offer.




They turned my offer down.
They turned it down. (Not: They turned down it.)
We will put it off. (Not: We will put off it.)
4.3.2.3.2 Prepositional verbs:


Godard is looking after the dog. (Not: Godard is looking the dog after.)
Are you talking about Jane? (Not: Are you talking Jane about?)
4.3.2.3.3 Phrasal-prepositional verbs:

I look forward to meeting you. (Not: I look meeting you forward to. / I look

forward meeting you to.)
George doesn't get on with his colleagues. (Not: George doesn't get his
colleagues on with. / George doesn't get on his colleagues with.)
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4.4 Verb Phrases
A verb phrase is a phrase consisting of a verb + object(s) and/or complement(s) and/or
other modifiers. Eg.



The students should be done with the exam by noon.
(should be done with the exam by noon is the verb phrase)
I walked to the shops.
(walked to the shops is the verb phrase; walked is the verb; to the shop is its
prepositional complement)
She sent me a lovely birthday card.
(sent me a lovely birthday card is the verb phrase)
4.5 Conditionals*
Condition means “situation or circumstance.” If a particular condition is true, then a
particular result happens.


If y = 10 then 2y = 20
If y = 3 then 2y = 6
There are 3 basic conditionals that we use often. There are some more conditionals that
we do not use so often. Here, we will just cover one other called zero conditional.
4.5.1 First Conditional: real possibility.
In first conditional sentences, we are talking about the future. It is about a particular
condition or situation in the future, and the result of this condition. There is a real
possibility that this condition will happen. For example, it is morning. You are at home.
You plan to play tennis this afternoon. But there are some clouds in the sky. Imagine
that it may rain. What will you do?

If it rains I will stay at home.
Notice that we are thinking about a future condition. It is not raining yet. But the sky is
cloudy and you think that it could rain. We use the present simple tense to talk about
the possible future condition. We use WILL + base verb to talk about the possible
future result. The important thing about the first conditional is that there is a real
possibility that the condition will happen.
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Sometimes, we use shall, can, or may instead of will, eg:

If you are good today, you can watch TV tonight.
4.5.2 Second Conditional: unreal possibility or dream.
The second conditional, like the first conditional, is still about the future. We are
thinking about a particular condition in the future, and the result of this condition. But
there is not a real possibility that this condition will happen. For example, you do
not have a lottery ticket. Is it possible to win? No! But maybe you will buy a lottery
ticket in the future. So you can think about winning in the future, like a dream. It's not
very real, but it's still possible. Eg:

If I won the lottery I would buy a car.
Notice that we are thinking about a future condition. We use the past simple tense to
talk about the future condition. We use WOULD + base verb to talk about the
future result. The important thing about the second conditional is that there is an
unreal possibility that the condition will happen.
Sometimes, we use should, could or might instead of would, eg:

If I won a million dollars, I might stop working.
4.5.3 Third Conditional: no possibility
The first conditional and second conditionals talk about the future. With the third
conditional we talk about the past. We talk about a condition in the past that did not
happen. That is why there is no possibility for this condition. The third conditional
is also like a dream, but with no possibility of the dream coming true.
Last week you bought a lottery ticket. But you did not win. So you could say:

If I had won the lottery last week I would have bought a car.
Notice that we are thinking about an impossible past condition. You did not win the
lottery. So the condition was not true, and that particular condition can never be true
because it is finished. We use the past perfect tense to talk about the impossible
past condition. We use WOULD HAVE + past participle to talk about the
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impossible past result. The important thing about the third conditional is that both the
condition and result are impossible now.
Sometimes, we use should have, could have, might have instead of would have, eg:

If you had bought a lottery ticket last week, you might have won.
4.5.4 Zero Conditional: certainty
We use the so-called zero conditional to express a certainty, a universal statement, a
law of science.
Take some ice. Put it in a saucepan. Heat the saucepan. What happens? The ice melts
(it becomes water). You would be surprised if it did not.


If you heat ice it melts.
If you don't eat for a long time, you become hungry.
Notice that we are thinking about a result that is always true for this condition. The
result of the condition is an absolute certainty. We are not thinking about the future or
the past, or even the present. We are thinking about a simple fact. We use the present
simple tense to talk about the condition. We also use the present simple tense to
talk about the result. The important thing about the zero conditional is that the
condition always has the same result.
We can also use when or whenever instead of if, for example:

When I get up late I miss my bus.
4.5.5 Summary
Here is a chart to help you to visualize the basic English conditionals. Do not take the
50% and 10% figures too literally. They are just to help you.
probability
100%
conditional
example
time
zero
conditional
If you heat ice, it melts.
any
time
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50%
first
conditional
If it rains, I will stay at home.
future
10%
second
conditional
If I won the lottery, I would buy a
car.
future
0%
third
conditional
If I had won the lottery last week, I
would have bought a car.
past
* Adapted from http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-conditional.htm.
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