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2.1: Two-word Verbs

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    108065
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    Two-Word Verbs

           Two-word verbs are verbs that are made up of two or three words combined together to have one meaning.  [I will call all of these verbs as two-word verbs whether they are two or three words.  For example, the two-word verb put off means to delay or postpone (not do something now but wait to do it later on).  I put off doing my homework until Sunday evening.  Another example is the three-word verb catch up with which means overtake or become equal toI was absent from school for one week, but I studied everything I missed and caught up with the other students in the class.  Most of the time native speakers of English use two-word verbs in normal speech and writing.  Unfortunately for non-native speakers, there are thousands of two and three-word verbs in English.  Luckily, with experience with the English language, many of these words are learned by non-native speakers just by natural exposure to the language.  Non-native speakers gain an understanding of or feeling for these words by listening to people use them and then eventually using them themselves as often as necessary.

           Two-word verbs are called separable (S) or non-separable (NS).  By separable, I mean that the two words can be kept together or separated with nouns or pronouns, either coming after them or between the parts of the verb.  For example, look up means to find information from a book, a dictionary, online, a bus schedule, etc.  For example, I can say, “I looked up the new word in a dictionary.”  Or I can say, “I looked the new word up in a dictionary.”  Or I can say, I looked it up.”  All three forms are examples of good English.  On the other hand, by non-separable I mean that the two words cannot be separated.  For example, look at means observe or direct one’s eyes at.  For example, I can say “I looked at the two children playing on the beach.”  Or I can say, I looked at them playing on the beach.”  However, I can not say “I looked the children at playing on the beach.”  As well, I cannot say, I looked them at playing on the beach.”  Many times in English if a speaker uses non-separable, two-word verbs as separable two-word verbs, a native speaker will not have any idea what the non-native speaker is trying to say.  It can be very confusing for a native speaker.

           Two-word verbs can either be transitive or intransitive.  Transitive means that the verb can have an object.  Most two-word verbs are transitive.  For example, in the sentences, The boy handed in his homework, his homework is the object of the verb hand in.  Also in, “I looked for the teacher in room CAS 210,” the teacher is the object of the verb looked for.  Intransitive means that the verb cannot have an object.  For example, in the sentences, “I always get up at 6:00 AM when I have to go to work,” get up cannot be followed by a noun.  Also in, I got up and went to the bathroom last night, got up cannot have an object.  Basically, in transitive sentences, the subject of the sentences does the action, the verb is the action, and the object receives the action.  In intransitive sentences, the subject does the action, the verb is the action and THE SUBJECT ALSO RECEIVES THE ACTION.  Other examples of intransitive verbs are as follows: 

    boil over    The water in the pot boiled over onto the stove.

    cloud up    The sky is clouding up.  I looks like it will rain soon.

    come over         We told the boys to come over for dinner on Wednesday.

    get together      We always get together at our grandmother’s house for dinner on Sundays.

    head out    After dinner, we always headed out to other places.

           Two-word verbs always have a preposition as part of the verb phrase.  When prepositions are part of a two-word verbs, they are called particles, not prepositions.


    This page titled 2.1: Two-word Verbs is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Don Bissonnette.

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