Verb patterns · CEFR B1 · Independent

Phrasal verbs — English verb patterns

A verb plus a small word, with a new meaning together.

The shape

verb + particle (look for, give up)

Use the two-word verbs people actually say.

In Hindi

क्रिया के साथ छोटा शब्द — दोनों मिलकर नया अर्थ बनाते हैं।

CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.

The mistake to fix first

The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.

Commonly said	Correct English
Please switch off it.	Please switch it off. A pronoun goes in the middle, not at the end.

Commonly said

Correct English

Please switch off it.

Please switch it off.

A pronoun goes in the middle, not at the end.

Easy to confuse with

Close enough to be mixed up with this one. Knowing the difference is most of knowing either.

Questions people ask

What is the phrasal verbs used for?: A verb plus a small word, with a new meaning together. In practice: use the two-word verbs people actually say.
How do you form the phrasal verbs?: verb + particle (look for, give up).
What is the most common mistake with the phrasal verbs?: Saying “Please switch off it.” instead of “Please switch it off.”. A pronoun goes in the middle, not at the end.

Where phrasal verbs fits

Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.

Phrasal verbs is a CEFR B1 structure — the independent band — and it belongs to verb patterns. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.

Reading it is not the same as saying it.

CoCap turns this page into practice: Hindi sentence in, English sentence out, corrected one thing at a time. Free, no card.

Practise the phrasal verbs →

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