2.2. Types of English phrasal verbs according to the structure Phrasal verbs are a really important part of the English language, especially for spoken English. They are part of a large group of verbs called "multi-word verbs". These verbs and other multi-word verbs are an important part of the English language. Multi-word verbs, including phrasal verbs, are very common, especially in spoken English.
A multi-word verb is a verb like "pick up", "turn on" or "get on with". For convenience, many people refer to all multi-word verbs as phrasal verbs. These verbs consist of a basic verb + another word or words. The other word can be prepositions or adverbs. The two or three words that make up multi-word verbs form a short "phrase" - which is why these verbs are often all called "phrasal verbs"7. The important thing to remember is that a multi-word verb is still a verb. "Get" is a verb. "Get up", is also a verb, a different verb. "Get" and "get up" are two different verbs. They do not have the same meaning.
So we should treat each multi-word verb as a separate verb, and learn it like any other verb. Look at these examples. You can see that there are three types of multi-word verb: 1) Single-word verb “look” direct your eyes in a certain direction: You must look before you leap. 2) Multi-word verbs prepositional verbs - look after, take care of: Who is looking after the baby? 3) Phrasal verbs - look up, search for and find information in a reference book: You can look up my number in the telephone directory. 4) Phrasal-prepositional verbs - look forward to, anticipate with pleasure: I look forward to meeting you.
Traditionally, phrasal verbs have been divided into three types. It should be immediately noted that there are a lot of names used in traditional texts to refer to these types often create confusion rather than clarity: Type 1: Prepositional verbs (ex. to believe in, to look after smth. or smb., to talk about smth. or smb., to wait for smth. or smb.) also called non-separable or transitive phrasal verbs. Constituted by basic verb + preposition. Type 2: Adverbial verbs (ex. get up, break (smth. or smb.) down (*), put (smth. or smb.) off (*), turn (smth. or smb.) down (*)) also called phrasal verbs, or separable phrasal verbs. Constituted by basic verb + adverb. Type 2: a) is transitive, takes direct object (write smth. down); type 2: b) is intransitive, no direct object (work out). Type3: Adverbial-prepositional verbs (ex. get on with, put up with, look forward to, run out of ) also called phrasal-prepositional verbs, or three-word verbs, sometimes grouped with type 1 as non-separable. Consituted by basic verb + preposition + adverb.
Phrasal-prepositional verbs are a small group of multi-word verbs made from a verb plus another word or words. Many people refer to all multi-word verbs as phrasal verbs. Here it is a distinction between three types of multi-word verbs: prepositional verbs, phrasal verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs. Phrasal-prepositional verbs are made of: Verb + adverb + preposition.
Let’s look at these examples of phrasal-prepositional verbs: