A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and a preposition, a verb and an adverb, or a verb with both an adverb and a preposition.
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“Login” or “log in”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“log in to” or “log into” or “login to”
Is there accepted terminology for the process of logging in?
As a verb, would you say "Go to ...
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2answers
4k views
What is the difference between “maybe” and “may be”?
What is the difference in meaning and usage between maybe and may be? Are they synonymous?
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5answers
3k views
What does 'sucker for' mean?
I recently came across a couple usages of 'sucker for' which indicates that it means 'crazy about', 'enthusiastic for', or 'interested in'. For example, 'I am a sucker for sports.', seems to say, 'I ...
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4answers
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Burn up or burn down?
What's the difference between "burn up" and "burn down"? Or is there a difference at all?
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2answers
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Does “filling out” equal to “filling in”?
I quoted the following from a pamphlet:
Please read the instructions carefully before filling out the application
form. The application will be returned to you and the registration may be
...
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5answers
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“Writing things down” vs. “writing things up”
Is there any difference in the usage of "writing things down" vs. "writing things up"? Are they both correct?
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6answers
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Difference between “run into”, “come upon” and “come across”
These phrasal verbs have a similar meaning (please correct me if not):
run into
come across
come upon
Are there any nuances to choose between them? For example, I might be wrong but I mostly see ...
12
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6answers
729 views
What is the origin of the phrase “turns out”?
What is the origin of "turns out" as it appears in the phrases below:
It turns out
As it turns out
Let me know how it turns out
What is turning, what is coming out, and from where?
I can't find ...
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6answers
3k views
“Speak to” vs. “Speak with”
What are the differences between these two phrasal verbs and what are the best situations to use each?
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4answers
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“Fill out a form” or “fill in a form”
Does one fill out a form or does one fill in a form? I've gotten different answers from the people I've asked.
Google search results:
fill in a form — 14,200,000
fill out a form — ...
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5answers
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Why “go off”, as in “alarm went off”?
I was wondering why does something goes off, when it in fact does the opposite
bomb goes off - it blows up
alarm goes off - it turns on
Why not goes on?
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3answers
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What's the meaning of 'out' when it comes after a verb ?
What's the difference between a verb like read and read out or shout and shout out and so on? How does "out" change the meaning of verbs?
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2answers
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“put X down to” vs. “put down X to”: subjects of verbs with two particles
I expect I would have to put down many coats to do the job. (SOURCE)
One factor to distinguish phrasal verbs from prepositional verbs is particle movement. Phrasal verbs can place the particle ...
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4answers
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How can I learn to get collocations right?
I read an article about collocation which includes an example:
We can say highly sophisticated, and we can say extremely happy.
highly happy and extremely sophisticated would be wrong.
How can I ...
6
votes
2answers
277 views
What's the meaning of “dummy up”?
What does "dummy up" mean here?
The cops wouldn't tell me who the owner was, but we're a military town, so I took a chance. Called my insurance (USAA) and as luck would have it, that was the other ...
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3answers
2k views
Why do we use 'up' as adverbs for verbs?
Why do we use up as adverbs for verbs? For example, 'wake up', 'throw up', etc.
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5answers
277 views
Is to “tell off” a particularly British expression?
I'm translating a short story from Spanish into English. A small child says (literally):
Why don’t we knock?” I asked. “They’re gonna tell us off.”
(The Spanish is: Nos van a regañar.) I've ...
6
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2answers
174 views
Which would be correct: “outputs” or “puts out”?
Which word should I use in the following context? Is the required before data?
Any algorithm first reads data, processes (the) data and finally [outputs|puts out] the processed data.
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3answers
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Difference between “she cut her hair” and “she cut her hair off”?
Why are we using off here? What additional meaning does it add?
The meaning of off from http://tfd.com/off that suits this sentence is: "away (from a place, time etc.)".
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3answers
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“Climbed up over …” vs. “climbed over …”
I found that climbed up over is used in the following sentence of the 'excerpt' “The Amber Spyglass” in The New York Times.
“Ama and her daemon climbed up over the rock shelves and around ...
5
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3answers
424 views
Is there any rule about splitting phrasal verbs?
I thought of this question right after I posted a tweet about a service upgrading me to a free student account since I am in college. I said "That really helps a broke college student out." I actually ...
5
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5answers
648 views
What does “turn off” mean here?
Could it be a typo for "and one by one they will be turned off"? CNN:
Many of the existing space telescopes, Hubble included, are nearing the end of their lifetimes, and one by one they will turn ...
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5answers
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What is the origin and earliest recorded usage of 'cock-up'
In informal British English, the expression 'cock-up' (c.f. the US English 'fuck-up') is used to indicate an error or problem in a situation.
What is the origin of this expression and its etymology? ...
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2answers
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Do you use “pore over”?
As in, I spent all night poring over those legal documents.
Or, do you use pore through?
Not to be confused with pour (some sugar).
5
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3answers
152 views
Developing a crush or infatuation
For "crush" in meaning:
2 informal a brief but intense infatuation for someone, especially someone unattainable
What word would replace the terribly technical developing a crush?
Does one only ...
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5answers
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Is there any difference between “talk to someone” and “talk with someone”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“Speak to” vs. “Speak with”
Well, the question is in the title. I always had the impression that "talk to someone" refers to situations when some ...
5
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3answers
6k views
“Differ to”, “differ with” or “differ from”
In what ways are differ to, differ with and differ from different?
Providing examples would be really appreciated.
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3answers
231 views
“Went” vs. “went along”
At work, he made up lies as he went along.
At work, he made up lies as he went.
Is one of the above wrong?
5
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3answers
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Phrasal Verbs. Rules and Tricks
Are there any rules or tricks that might explain how phrasal verbs are formed to understand their meanings?
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2answers
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2answers
648 views
Etymology of “end up” and “wind up”
What is the etymology of the phrase "end up", and of the meaning of "wind up" that means essentially the same thing?
To clarify, I mean the specific meaning of "wind up" that means the same as "end ...
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6answers
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How can I explain to people that the phrase “off of ” is grammatically incorrect?
How can I explain to people that the phrase off of is grammatically incorrect?
I‘ve heard this phrase used a lot, especially by Americans (though they aren't the only ones).
In my understanding, ...
4
votes
8answers
373 views
How to express misusing a tool
I am not a native English speaker. I was wondering how to express the situation in which one uses a tool for something other than what it was meant to be, and in a bad way so that you are not doing ...
4
votes
2answers
429 views
What do “wonk” as against performer and “Wonking out” mean?
Time magazine’s October 22nd issue carries the article titled “Paul Ryan on the campaign trail: More performer than wonk.” The article begins with the following lines:
“Mitt Romney's running mate ...
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3answers
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Meaning of “run around doing something”
What does run around doing something mean?
For example:
I can't see any reason to run around deleting the recovery partition.
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5answers
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Looking for the opposite of “drill down”
I am a programmer working on a chart component that allows to drill down on selection of a node. Drilling down will show the details of that node (like its children etc.). But I am struggling to find ...
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2answers
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What does “scratch below the surface” mean?
In Outlier: The Story of Success Chapter 2 Section 4, there is a sentence saying
Is the ten-thousand-hour rule a general rule of success? If we scratch below the surface of every great achiever, ...
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5answers
956 views
Should we say “borrow from” instead of “borrow off”?
I hear and read the term "borrow off" frequently however I say "borrow from" as that makes more sense to me. Is it grammatically incorrect to say, "may I borrow the book off your friend"? In my mind ...
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1answer
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What are the origins of “take you up on it”
A common English idiom "take you up on it" is apparently used to indicate a general willingness or predisposition to accept something that is offered or granted. For example,
If you make an offer ...
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4answers
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Why use 'step down' instead of 'resign'? Is there any difference?
Ozzie announced his plans to step down from his role at Microsoft on October 18, 2010
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3answers
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Distinguishing whether “up” is a preposition or a part of a phrasal verb in this case
In the sentences below, “bill” and “hill” are both nouns.
He ran up a big hill.
He ran up a big bill.
Can someone explain how one distinguishes whether “up” is a preposition or a part of a ...
3
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3answers
547 views
Correct use of “wake up”
English isn't my native language (Spanish is), so this question may be very basic, but it is worse not to ask.
Which of these two phrases is the correct one?
I'm trying to wake and get up from ...
3
votes
3answers
462 views
Does 'throttle up' mean accelerate?
Can one say 'throttle up'? The OED only lists 'throttle down':
(throttle back or down) reduce the power of an engine or vehicle by use of the throttle.
3
votes
3answers
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“… is about to …” vs. “… is going to …”
I found that is about to is used in the following sentence of the news article titled “Tech belt sees hiring surge” in The Boston Globe.
“The company is about to go on a hiring spree, from ...
3
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3answers
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Does the phrase “who's in?” or “I'm in!” exist in (informal) English?
I really think I've heard it in some American sitcom/sitcoms, meaning something like participating in. "I want to play football. Who's in?" — "Great idea, I'm in!" Does it really exist, or am I wrong? ...
3
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5answers
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Is there any phrasal verb to mean “teeth are falling out because one is getting older”?
The sentence would be:
He is Xing now.
Where X means "losing teeth" or "teeth are falling out" because he is getting older. I am assuming such phrasal verbs or words exist because it would be ...
3
votes
4answers
695 views
What is the difference between “check something” and “check on something”
For example if in answer to the question, "what time does the shop close?" a tourist information officer might say, "I'll check on that for you."
Why wouldn't they say, "I'll check that for you."?
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4answers
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Throw away/in/out for rubbish?
Is it best to use "throw away" or "throw in" for an expression when you ask someone not to throw something, like "Don't throw them away/in/out (the rubbish bin)."
Specifically, if one doesn't know ...
3
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3answers
838 views
“Build out” versus “build up”
How are these two different?
Build [something] out
vs.
Build [something] up
