Phrasal verbs are usually two-part verbs consisting of a verb plus adverb, or a verb plus preposition. Take, for example the verb “to grow”. This is a typical action verb. By adding one word, this changes the verb: “to grow up”, “to grow in” or “to grow out”.
Phrasal verbs can also often have more than one meaning, for example “to throw up” means to throw something in the air, to vomit or to suggest something, ie: the discovery of the body threw up all kinds of questions.
Examples of phrasal verbs
Here we have taken a simple infinitive and added the various particles that may go with it to form phrasal verbs:
Bring + about, along, back, forward, in, off, out, round, up
Buy + out, up
Call + off, up
Carry + off, out
Cut + back, down, off, out, up
Give + away, back, off
Hand + back, down, in, on, out, over, round
Knock + down, out, over
Leave + behind, out
Let + down, in, off, out
Pass + down, over, round
Point + out
Push + about, around, over
Put + across, away, down, forward, off, on, out, through, together, up
Read + out
Set + apart, aside, back, down
Shut + away, in, off, out
Take + apart, away, back, down, in, on, over, up
Think + over, through, up