Phrasal Verbs are usually two worded phrases consisting of
Verb & adverb or Verb & preposition.
Mostly phrasal verbs consist of two words but a few consist of three words which always stay together.
Examples:
We should act on the advice of our parents.
They hit upon a plan to get out of the trouble.
We went across the river in a boat.
Consider the following sentences:
1. He brought a watch for me.
2. His uncle brought up the child.
In the first sentence bring is a transitive verb and it means 'to fetch'. But in the second sentence, another word 'up' is added to it which changes its meaning altogether. Such a word is called a phrasal verb.
Examples : Abide by, bring up, come off, fall out, give up, make up, put on & put off etc.
Phrasal Verbs are of two types : Transitive & Intransitive.
Transitive Phrasal Verb is a verb having an object e.g.
We were alarmed at his weakness.
The hunter aimed at the bird.
John gave up smoking.
The child hit upon a plan.
The principal presided over the meeting.
He quarrelled with me over a trifle.
Children take after their parents.
The words in italics in the above sentences are Transitive Phrasal Verbs because these all are followed by an object.
Intransitive Phrasal Verb is a verb which is not followed by an object e.g.
Friends fall off in adversity.
He broke down during his speech.
Both the brothers fell out over a trifle.
The autumn season has set in.
I get up at 5 O'clock in the morning.
Fire broke out in the factory.
The words in italics in the above sentences are Intransitive Phrasal Verbs & these all are not followed by any object.
EXERCISE NO 1.
Out of the given options, choose one which best expresses the meaning of the bold & in italics idiom/phrase in the sentence.
1. John joined the class late in the middle of the session but soon he was able to catch up with other students.
1. To excel others
2. To differ from others
3. To be jealous of others
4. To come to level of others.
2. His father toiled hard to establish his new business but his all plans fell through for want of funds.
1. To be successful
2. To progress slowly
3. To fail.
4. To acclaim high appreciation.
3. The young boy worked hard and was sure to succeed but he drew blank before the interview committee.
1. went through successfully
2. showed no interest in appearing
3. was confused and puzzled.
4. was very serious in appearance.
4. The sudden windfall of riches upon his father has completely turned off his head.
1. To become too haughty.
2. to fall sick.
3. to undergo a big change.
4. to be very thoughtful.
5. He was critical of the boss but for this he had to face the music and lose his promotion last year.
1. To lose interest
2. To bear the consequences.
3. To enjoy others' hostility
4. To show interest in music
6. The boss took John to task last week as he never attends to his duty seriously.
1. allotted more work.
2. To reprimand.
3. To assign important job
4. To win favour of others
7. Apprehending the arrival of police on the scene, the culprit took to his heels.
1. To walk leisurely
2. To run away.
3. To conceal one self
4. To prepare for a fight
8. The recent comments published in the newspapers about the budding artist run him down.
1. To disparage someone.
2. To publicise against someone
3. To make someone week
4. To feel week and tired
9. Her father tried hard to bring her round but she paid no heed to him.
9. Her father tried hard to bring her round but she paid no heed to him.
1. To make one agree/to attend to.
2. To punish someone/to undergo a change
3. To praise someone/to accept the offer
4. To take out for a walk/to accompany someone
10. He left no stone un-turned in making his effort to achieve the target but all this ended in smoke.
1. To make a futile attempt/to gain cheap popularity
2. To make all out efforts/to go waste.
3. To win favour/to lose interest
4. To go stray/to lose the job
EXERCISE NO 2.
In the following sentences four alternatives are given for the idiom/phrase used in the sentence.Out of the given options, choose one which best expresses the meaning of the idiom/phrase.
1. To win undue favour
2. To have no say in the affairs.
3. To be insignificant
4. To attract wrath
2. His brother promised to stand by him through thick and thin but he backed out at the eleventh hour.
1. To support earnestly
2. To feel helpless
3. To show no interest
4. To vacillate from a promise.
3. The indifferent and negligent attitude of the elder son towards family affairs will bring about doom for the family one day.
1. To play an important role
2. To be cause of the.
3. To be helpful
4. To make it difficult
4. He was adamant on his decision in the matter but with the intervention of the boss in the matter he gave in.
1. yielded.
2. To go stronger
3. To bring forth
4. To make feasible
5. As the consensus alluded the matter the boss called an urgent meeting of the staff members to put the heads together.
1. To show strength
2. To make someone agree
3. To discuss.
4. To seek help of others
6. The doctor has advised him take along morning walk to work off the excess fat present in his body.
1. To show off
2. To get a treatment
3. To get rid of.
4. To escape criticism
7. The chairman was a little nervous and anxiously tumbled to lead off the proceedings of the meeting.
1. To enjoy oneself
2. To keep a secret
3. To start.
4. To control administration
8. The young man did not want to juggle with the lady by telling a lie about his wealth.
1. To exaggerate
2. To show off
3. To deceive.
4. To force someone
9. The young entrepreneur wanted to surpass his competitor in his business but his rival turned tables on him.
1. To accuse someone
2. To quarrel with
3. To reverse someone's action.
4. To hinder someone's action
10. The clever boy passed off the base coin to the dealer in darkness.
1. To push off wrongly.
2. To win a favour
3. To earn livelihood
4. To pay bribe
EXERCISE NO 3.
Out of the given options, choose one which best expresses the meaning of the idiom/phrase.
1. To meet one's waterloo.
1. To be a martyr in war
2. To fight till one's end
3. To meet one's final defeat.
4. To die an ignoble death
2. To take with a grain of salt.
1. To talk in a sensible way
2. To make a correct judgement
3. To listen to someone with a considerable doubt.
4. To make both ends meet with difficulty
3. To eat a humble pie.
1. To eat food of low quality
2. To make a strong request
3. To have to apologise.
4. To be ashamed of
4. To sow wild oats
1. To harvest a good crop
2. To enjoy irresponsible pleasure in youth.
3. To suffer losses in crops
4. To face great difficulties
5. To give the devil his due.
1. To encounter with an evil spirit
2. To give credit to a notorious person even.
3. To have relation with wicked person
4. To show mercy on an undeserving person
6. To end in a fiasco.
1. To have an abrupt end
2. To end as an utter failure.
3. To meet with a nice end
4. To have no effect
7. To mince matters
1. To confuse issues.
2. To flatter someone
3. To criticise someone
4. To make a clever statement
8. To throw down the glove.
1. To win laurels
2. To be victorious
3. To accept defeat.
4. To challenge the rival
9. To put cart before the horse.
1. To do things in wrong order.
2. To do a mean job.
3. To irritate someone
4. To be angry with someone
10. To lay hands on
1. To extend a helping hand
2. To take possession of.
3. To steal something
4. To gather some information
EXERCISE NO 4.
Out of the given options, choose one which best expresses the meaning of the idiom/phrase.
1.To zero in on
1. To suffer big losses
2. To become a pauper
3. To focus attention on.
4. To show indifference
2. To touch upon
1. To make mention.
2. To show much interest
3. To have sympathy for
4. To make a favour
3. To straighten out
1.To report to authority
2. To make clear and resolve.
3. To iron clothes
4. To speak in plain terms
4. To reach out to
1. To arrive somewhere late
2. To extricate someone
3. To ask for help.
4. To stretch one's arm
5. To go off with
1. To steal something.
2. To rush to
3. To make haste
4. To follow someone
6. To fiddle about
1. To tell tales
2. To make statement
3. To waste time doing silly things.
4. To show love for someone
7. To face off
1.To show off
2. To pretend to be
3. To confront.
4. To be afraid of
8. To drop over
1. To visit for a short time.
2. To fall down
3. To suffer losses
4. To stoop
9. To boss about
1. To use excessive authority.
2. To show path
3. To guide someone
4. To give wrong expression
10. To answer for
1. To be held responsible.
2. To make response
3. To judge something
4. To make hasty decision
EXERCISE NO 5.
In the following sentences four alternatives are given for the idiom/phrase used in the sentence.Out of the given options, choose one which best expresses the meaning of the idiom/phrase.
1. To shout loudly
2. To praise.
3. To give away
4. To complain about
2. The enquiry officer tried to get at facts of the case.
1. To establish
2. To arrive at/obtain.
3. To conceal/cover up
4 To deface
3. The poor beggar had nothing with him to fall back upon in his old days.
1. To have recourse to.
2. To make arrangement for
3. To seek help from others
4. To support someone
4. All the young children looked up to him as their leader.
1. To consider/respect.
2. To expect to be
3. To pose as a
4. To make a show of
5. The young leader always stood up for better standard of living for the poor.
1. To go against
2. To defend.
3. To oppose
4. To praise
(Answers: Hint: The correct answer choice ends with a full stop)
