Essay On Phrasal Verbs

The normal position of an adverbial modification is after the verb but only a few particles are capable of coming before the verb to form combination these are over, under, out, up, less commonly used particles are for, with and back : forhear , forbid , forcast , forego , foretell , withdraw , withhold ,backbite , etc.

When the word order of some particles is reversed ,the result is phrasal verbs or prepositional verbs , where the particle follows the verb but written separately. Generally speaking , phrasal verbs are formed by adding various particles to verbs. If the particle is anadverb , it is called a phrasal verb, like takeover , give in and if it is a preposition , it is called a prepositional verb like call on, approveof, depend

Phrasal verbs often arise from casual uses of the language and eventually work themselves into the mainstream of language use. Phrasal verbs are both intransitive (The children were sitting around, doing nothing. The witness finally broke down on the stand.) And transitive in meaning (Our boss called off the meeting. She looked up her old boyfriend.) The word that is joined with a verb in this construction (often a preposition) is called a particle (Bolinger,1975: 123).

Value of the Study

This study isvery significant for both teachers and text – book writers and to those who are interested specially, those who are concerned with English as a foreign language. It also helps students understand verb –particle combination and the problems related to them.

The value of the investigation undertaken in this study is twofold: theoretical and practical .Thetheoretical value which concerns the researcherto identify the positions and functions of the different forms and uses of English participle constructions. In practice , the study is expected to make the following pedagogical contributions