Курсовая работа: Phrasal verbs
The meaning of a phrasal verb with a postposition is usually idiomatic, that is, different from the literal meanings of its components, for example:
This question is too difficult, I give up.
Watch out! The bus is coming!
The phrasal verb "give up" is idiomatic, because it means "stop trying to do something", not the sum of the literal meanings of the words "gives" and "up". The phrasal verb "watch out" is idiomatic, because it means "be careful", not the sum of the literal meanings of the words "watch" and "out".
A verb with a postposition may be without any noun after it, or there may be a direct or indirect object after it, for example: [2]
They broke in.
They broke in the door.
They broke in through the window.
When a pronoun is used instead of a noun, it usually stands between the verb and the postposition:
They brought up their three sons in Italy
They brought them up in Italy
Fill out the form. Fill it out.
In spoken English, a direct object in the form of a short noun or someone's name may also stand between the verb and the postposition:
Let in Anna Blake. Let Anna Blake in.
But the postposition shouldn't be placed too far from the verb or separated from it by intonation, because they create the meaning of the phrasal verb together.
Many verbs with postpositions, especially the verbs of motion, are also used in the literal meaning of the phrasal verb:
Put your boots out, I'll clean them.
Don't forget to put out the light before you leave.
Look up the new words.
He stopped reading and looked up.
The phrasal verb "put out" in the first sentence literally means "put outside" and is the sum of the meanings of "put" and "out". The phrasal verb "put out" in the second sentence is idiomatic, because it means "extinguish (the light, fire or cigarette)" and is not the sum of the literal meanings of "put" and "out".
The phrasal verb "look up" in the first sentence is idiomatic, because it means "find in a reference book" and is not the sum of the literal meanings of "look" and "up". The phrasal verb "look up" in the second sentence literally means "look up" and is the sum of the meanings of "look" and "up".
The literal meanings of verbs with postpositions present no difficulty for understanding. The literal meanings of the postpositions in such phrasal verbs often correspond to the meaning of prefixes in Russian verbs, for example: come in, go out, run out, give away, turn away, etc.
But verbs with postpositions very rarely, if ever, have only the literal meaning or only one meaning. Verbs with postpositions are verbs with several idiomatic meanings, and this means that they can be used in different situations instead of more specific verbs.
Verbs with postpositions are mostly used in simple tenses. Verbs with postpositions are usually less formal than their one-word synonyms and because of that they are widely used in conversational English.
There is a variation (or combination) of the two basic structures described above, in which a verb with a postposition takes a preposition and a suitable noun after it, for example:
I'm looking forward to your letter.
She walked out on him.
He is through with the report.