By Phrasal verbs, Constructions

Whew! Go easy on the colors!There are no phrasal verbs here. It doesn't need forms the main clause.need governs infinitives, so an infinitive follows (to be).be can act as a linking verb to a noun or adjective, so an adjective can follow. (open) be can also govern past participles of...

AmE Several verbs (suggest, recommend, ask, etc) require the subjunctive after them: I suggested she go to the library. BrE The subjunctive is avoided in such constructions, and the should + infinitive is used: I suggested she should go to the library. or ordinary present and past...

I think maybe one of the other forum members would be better at this terminology. For example, I am not familiar with "unreal phrasal verbs". I would not call the b) sentences prepositional verbs. I would call "to talk someone into something" a causative -- conceptually. The grammatical...

Good morning Jim, So should I call the verbs in sentences (b) "ordinary / plain verbs" or "prepositional verbs" (with a literal sense) as opposed to "phrasal verbs" (= with an idiomatic sense) ? If the prepositional verbs in your list are separable is it not because they have a literal meaning...

Dear teachers, I've just realized that just as a phrasal verb can be a combination of a verb + preposition OR adverb, a ...... verb (which is not a phrasal verb) can also be followed by a preposition OR adverb. So I shouldn't call it a "prepositional verb". What do we call it then? eg 1: a)...

What you call a "phrasal verb with a preposition" doesn't seem correct. A verb-plus-preposition structure like expand on is usually called a prepositional verb. Only a verb-plus-adverb structure like catch on is usually called a phrasal verb. These are the terms I'll use below. In...

Grammarian-bot wrote: Well thats exactly my question. How would one know when a word like by is used as an adverb and when it's used as a preposition in a phrasal verb? GB Well that is what is the problem in the given example. The rule of thumb for phrasal verbs is if you have an...

In #1, the verb is in the passive voice, the past perfect tense. In the active voice, it would be The gas explosion had blown out all the shop's windows. Blown out is a phrasal verb; had been blown out is a verb with auxiliaries.In #2, had is the (whole) verb and blown out is a past participle...

MichalS wrote:Hi, I'm a new member on the forum. My name's Michal and I'm from Poland. I've been learning descriptive grammar of Enlgish lately. Reading LONGMAN Grammar of Spoken and Written English, I've come across a couple of problems which are hard for me to overcome. I hope that you will...

hanuman, If you want to learn British English you should follow the advice in British dictionaries. I'm sorry if my American English confused you! My American dictionary, which shows onto as a single word, has this note: To indicate motion to a position the prepositions on and onto...