A Dictionary of Grammatical Terms in Linguistics
n. A lexical verb, particularly in English, which consists of a simple verb combined with one or more particles, the meaning of the whole being typically unpredictable from the meanings of its constituent elements. Examples include make up, take off, turn on, put down, walk out, take in, give up, ring up, put up with and do away with.
Phrasal verbs present notorious difficulties of analysis, not least because many (not all) of them permit the particle to be optionally separated from the simple verb: She took off her dress or She took her dress off. Quirk et al. (1972) distinguish phrasal verbs from prepositional verbs; see the remarks under that entry. According to Fowler (1965:451), the name was coined by the lexicographer Henry Bradley.
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