Phrasal verb dictionaries for both British and American English.

Take is a common verb in English: few people ever have to look it up. But check out the many verbs we put together by adding on a word: take in, take out, take on, take off, take up, take down, take over, take under, take back, take aback, take along, take to, take away … These are phrasal verbs and the takeaway is they mix people up a lot.

Also phrasal verbs: look up, check out, put together, add on, and mix up. Adding complexity, many nouns come from phrasal verbs, for example takeaway.

Elements of Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs are idiomatic expressions with their own special grammatical considerations. They consist of a verb and a particle—a preposition or an adverb that gives them new meanings. (Keep in mind, often the particle looks like a preposition but functions as an adverb, which can lead to confusion when capitalizing titles. Note the phrasal verb size up in the title above; up is capped because it’s an adverb, not a preposition.)

Like other idioms, English phrasal verbs are difficult to learn because there are so many of them. Many also have multiple meanings. For instance take in can mean “understand” (take in the lesson), “deceive” (taken in by a crook), “detain” (by police), “watch” (a film), “let someone stay in your home” and more.

Equally troublesome, they may be used differently in different places, with different meanings or different words. In American English we tend to look around and walk around whereas in British English look about and walk aboutare more common.

More trouble: like regular verbs, phrasal verbs may be transitive, intransitive, or either one (Take off your coat. I have to take off now). Also, some can be split, with objects placed in  the middle, while other cannot (Take off your coat; take your coat off).

We can’t get away with failing to add that some phrasal verbs contain three words, as we see in take off on, meaning “to abandon” (Don’t take off on me!). More examples are look up to, look down on, get back to, and get away with.

Finally, many phrasal verbs are informal or slang, such as hang out (with a friend) and turn on (music turns me on), but many phrasal verbs have no suitable replacement, as we see with hang out (the clothes) and turn on (the light).

Nouns from Phrasal Verbs

Many nouns are formed from phrasal verbs, such as takeaway, makeover, takeout and makeup. These nouns are sometimes hyphenated and sometimes spelled as one word, which brings another takeaway: Check your dictionary to avoid mix-ups (variant: mixup).

A quick lookup is essential since dictionaries may disagree and your style guide may have its own call. What’s more, treatment of these words changes, sometimes using hyphens first, then in time closing the words up.

It’s worth noting, these nouns are a source of widespread mistakes. Too often you see the noun form used in place the phrasal verb—a spelling error with roots in grammar, or lack of paying attention to it, at least. How often do we see the message “Login to your account” or “Click to logout”? In both cases, we need the open compound.

Takeaway: These nouns are hyphenated or closed up; the verb forms must be open.

With all these difficulties, a solid phrasal verb dictionary can be a great resource for a writer or editor’s desk, and there are many to choose from.

Parts-of-Speech Confusion

In idiom dictionaries that have parts-of-speech labels, phrasal verbs are typically listed as just verbs (v.) or as phrasal verbs. However, other idioms that function as verbs are likely listed as verb phrases (v. phr.). For instance, take in, take out, and take on (Verb + Adjective) are phrasal verbs, while take a hint, take a joke, take a fancy to, and take care of are verb phrases.

Phrasal Verb Dictionaries

Numerous free online sources cover phrasal verbs and other English idioms, but it is best to stick to dictionaries, online or print, that are produced by major publishers and put together by experts.

One of the best dictionaries for phrasal verbs is the Cambridge Phrasal Verbs Dictionary, by Cambridge University Press. This volume has detailed notes on how its phrasal verbs are used and whether they are used mainly in certain countries—in American English, British English, or Australian English.

Another great choice is the Collins Cobuild Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, part of the Collins Cobuild line of English dictionaries. This line promises to help “learners with real English,” since the example sentences in these dictionaries are taken from real sources. Collins Cobuild also offers detailed parts-of-speech labels to help students better understand how the phrases are used grammatically.

The Oxford Phrasal Verbs dictionary adds a useful feature: synonyms for many entries (infuse with = imbue with, chalk up to = attribute to). That feature alone makes it useful for writers and editors.

Other titles include The American Heritage Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, National Textbook Company’s (NTC’s) Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, and Longman’s Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.

Be sure to check out Part 5 of Better Know Your Dictionaries, which looks at reference works for English slang. Incidentally, check out, here a phrasal verb meaning “to look at and evaluate,” is also a slang term meaning to die.

Better Know Your Dictionaries

(C) 2019, by John Sailors. All rights reserved.