Many of you may find phrasal verbs to be one of the most difficult concepts of English. However, there are many cases in which you can easily figure out how to use them, such as phrasal verbs for movement and handling things, which use very regular patterns.
In and out. On and off. Phrasal verbs for movement.
Out is the opposite of in, whereas off is the opposite of on. Have a look at the chart below:
Examples of phrasal verbs of movement:
You need an invitation get in.
Get out of the building.
Do you feel like going out?
Get off the branch of the tree, you kid!
You can get on the plane through the rear door.
Welcome home! Please come in.
Phrasal verbs for handling things
The opposite of put in is take out, whereas the opposite of put on is take off.
Examples of phrasal verbs for handling objects:
Put the tray in the oven.
I've put an ad on the board.
Can you take the dog out?
I took off those old posters.
Object pronouns fall in the middle:
Put on the jacket / Put it on
Take off your shoes / Take them off.
You can use many other location adverbs: up, down, back, around, through, aroung, over... as well as movement verbs: walk, run, drive, jump, climb, ... to create many phrasal verbs that work the same way.
We've been walking around the old town.
I ran back home to watch my favourite TV show.
You can get accross/over the road through/by the bridge.
The robbers got/drove away in a van.
He went/stepped/climbed up the ladder and fell off/down.
More examples of phrasal verbs for movement:
We're going out to the terrace.
Take the rubbish out.
I put them on the table.
Get out of here!
How many people can get in this lift?
Take off the skin and take out the nutshell.
Put the ticket in before going/walking through the turnstiles.
Don't run up the stairs.
I got/walked out through the back door.
I was walking down the street.
Can you think of any more examples?
