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Are these phrasal verbs?
I Think that a phrasal verb is a kind of verb that needs a preposition or an adverb and its meanings are different from the original meanings.
Take a look at these sentences:
I looked out of the window.
That depends on the context.
I wrote this letter to Justin.
In these cases, the verbs "to look; to depend; to write" need a normal preposition "out; on; to".
I would not call these verbs phrasal verbs, because this is the literal meaning.
When you say:
Look out! There's a big bull coming!
Did she ask after me?
The storm will "blow us away" if we don't do anything.
In this cases, there is no literal meaning, so these are phrasal verbs.
I don't know if I am right or not, but...
PS: If we are moving because of a cyclone, storm winds, is there any verb that can be used?
First when I saw this sentence "The storm will blow us away" I thought. Well, the wind blows, so when somebody is blown away, that person will be taked by the wind. But I found out the meaning, and "to blow sb away" can mean "to kill sb".
Thank you in advance!
Apr 10, 2012 9:23 PM
Answers · 3
1
I looked out of the window.
That depends on the context.
I wrote this letter to Justin.
These are NOT phrasal verbs, for the reasons you stated. They are verbs followed by propositional phrases.
blow us away = phrasal verb. It should be obvious. It has nothing to do with literal meaning or idiomatic meaning.
April 11, 2012
Yes phrasal verbs are the combination of a verb + a particle (preposition or adverb) resulting in a new word. The new unit is different from the two separate words.
More examples
She's looking after the kids
I've decided to give up smoking.
What will she say when she finds out?
April 11, 2012
If you are blown away by a gun, you are dead.
If you are blown away by someones talent, you are impressed.
If you are blown away by weather winds, you may be fine- we will see. It is like a leaf in the wind.
Those are phrasal verbs.
You can say a wind swept up a person, they were carried away by wind, blown away, sucked up by a tornado, thrown by the power of nature, and knocked off their feet by wind
April 11, 2012
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Brainer
Language Skills
English, Japanese, Portuguese
Learning Language
English, Japanese
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