gerund phrasal verbs

FOCUS ON: gerund phrasal verbs In Section 10 we looked at gerunds as the objects of phrasal verbs.. Like ordinary verbs, gerund phrasal verbs can be the subject of a sentence: Narrowi

12 People have been talking about picture phones for years, but they've never

13 The boss me the new strategy

14 If you're not busy, would you like to for a while? We could watch TV or play cards

15 The crooks tried to steal a 747 by pretending to be pilots, but they couldn't it

16 I finished my letter, but I can't it because I'm out of toner

35 FOCUS ON: gerund phrasal verbs

In Section 10 we looked at gerunds as the objects of phrasal verbs Now we will look at phrasal verbs as gerunds themselves Like ordinary verbs, gerund phrasal verbs can

be the subject of a sentence:

Narrowing down the list will be difficult.

subject

the object of a sentence:

We discussed narrowing down the list

object

or the object of a preposition:

We talked about narrowing down the list.

object of preposition

How and when phrasal verbs can be separated is unaffected by their use as gerunds:

Narrowing it down will be difficult.

We discussed narrowing it down.

We talked about narrowing it down.

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fool around

fool around & fools around fooling around fooled around fooled around

1 fool around p.v When you waste time playing or doing silly or unimportant things,

you fool around Goof around is the same as fool around

My son is lazy He spends his time fooling around instead of looking for a job My boss said, "I'm

not paying you to fool around — get to work!"

1 fool around (with) p.v. When you fool around with something, you do something that may

be dangerous or foolish

Fooling around with drugs is pretty stupid.

You shouldn't fool around with the insides of your computer unless you know what you're doing.

3 foot around (with) p.v [informal] When two people fool around or fool around with each

other, they have sexual relations, even though one or both of them may be married to someone

else or even though their families or society may not approve

Sally's father caught her and Jim fooling around in the basement.

Her husband's been fooling around with his secretary, and everyone in town knows it.

go by

go by & goes by going by went by gone by

1 go by p.v. When people go by a place or thing, they pass near that place or thing When

a thing goes by or goes by you, it passes near you

We watched the parade go by.

I went by Jim's house to see if his car was in the driveway.

2 go by p.v When you go by a place, you go there so that you can do something or get

something

Let's go by Paul's house to get his tools before we work on your car.

You can forget about going by the dry cleaner to pick up your stuff— it's closed.

3 go by p.v. When a period of time goes by, it passes

/ can't believe that thirty years have gone by since I got out of high school.

As time went by, Betty moved up in the company until she was the head of the finance

department

4 go by p.v. When you go by a policy or standard, you use it as a reference or a guide in making decisions and determining your behavior When you go by the book,

you follow rules, policies, or laws exactly

Going by the book has always been my policy.

Jim told me to do one thing, and Tom told me to do another, but since Tom is the boss, I'm going to go by

what he says

5 go by p.v. When you go by a clock, you use it to tell the time

Don't go by the clock on the wall; it's fast Go by the clock on the desk.

No wonder I'm always late for work — the clock I've been going by is ten minutes slow.

Infinitive

hold against

hold against & holds against holding against held against held against

1 hold against p.v. When you hold things against people, you continue to blame

them for something and continue to be upset about it

Ten years ago I got a promotion that Ned thought he deserved, and he's held it against me ever since.

Jane tost her job because of a mistake Bob made, but she doesn't hold it against him.

leave behind

leave behind & leaves behind leaving behind left behind left behind

1 leave behind p.v. When you leave someone or something behind, you go to a different

place

The explorers left the mountains behind and entered the jungle.

The enemy soldiers retreated and left behind a city in ruins.

2 leave behind p.v. When you leave something or someone behind, you do not take them

with you because you forgot or because you cannot or do not want to take them

We packed too much luggage for our trip, so we had to leave some things behind.

Leaving our children behind at a gas station was pretty dumb.

3 leave behind p.v When you move, learn, or work faster than others in your group, you

leave them behind

My husband walks so fast that he always leaves me behind.

If you don't start working harder, you're going to be left behind.

Mark was so good at calculus that he soon left the rest of the class behind.

live with

live with & lives with living with lived with lived with

1 live with p.v. When you live with someone, you live at the same address When you say that one person lives with a person of the opposite sex, you mean that they live in the same

place but are not married

Living with my in-laws is driving me crazy.

Mike's been living with his girlfriend for five years Are they ever going to get married?

2 live with p.v. When you live with a disease or other problem, you endure or put up with it

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Living with this disease is not easy.

t can't change the situation, so I'll just have to learn to live with it.

3 live with p.v. When you live with shame, guilt, or a painful memory, you continue with

your life in spite of the shame, guilt, or painful memory

Jake committed suicide rather than live with the shame of what he had done.

He said he couldn't go on living with the knowledge that he had caused the death of 14 innocent people.

Infinitive

make of make of & makes of making of made of made of

1 make of p.v. What you make of something is your understanding or opinion of it

So what did you make of the prime minister's speech?

What he said was so strange that I didn't know what to make of it.

narrow down

narrow down & narrows down narrowing down narrowed down narrowed down

1 narrow down p.v. When you narrow down things or people in a list or group, you remove

some of them so that the number of things or people is reduced

All the candidates for the job have excellent qualifications Narrowing the list down won't be easy.

The detective narrowed the suspects down to the butler, the cook, and the maid.

trick into

trick into & tricks into tricking into tricked into tricked into

1 trick into p.v. When you trick people into doing something, you persuade them to do

something by fooling or deceiving them Con into is similar to trick into

The con artist tricked them into giving him their life savings.

I was an idiot to let Hank trick me into selling him my car for so little money.

EXERCISE 35a — Complete the sentences with phrasal verbs from this section Be sure the phrasal verbs are in the correct tense

1 The man who was killed in the accident a wife and three children

2 The prosecutor Jake admitting his guilt

3 I took a job in Japan, and six years before I returned to the United States

4 Paul's been his parents since his house burned down

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5 There were fifty contestants at the beginning of the contest, but the judges it to five finalists

6 Look at this strange letter I received Read it and tell me what you it

7 I was my parents'favorite, and my brother still it me

8 Frank's wife filed for divorce after she learned that he was with her best friend

9 The train always blows its whistle when it

10 diabetes means carefully monitoring your blood sugar

11 . your friends and family when you emigrate to a new country is very difficult

12 Todd failed the test because he _ _ all evening instead of studying

13 Sergeant Jones was very strict when he was in the Army He always the book

14 Don't let your kids with cigarette lighters; they might start a fire

15 How can you yourself after the terrible thing you did?

16 Melanie has my biology book, so on the way to school I need to her house to get

it

17 Mike wasn't ready for the advanced algebra class, and he was quickly by the rest of the class

18 I my wristwatch — not the wall clock — because it's more accurate

EXERCISE 35b — Write answers to the questions using phrasal verbs from this

section Be sure the phrasal verbs are in the correct tense

1 Her disease is incurable, so unfortunately she'll just have to learn to endure it What will she have to do?

2 Jim and I worked on a project together, but Jim told everyone that he did all the work, and I'm still angry about it How do I feel about what Jim did?

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3 Sally and her sister's husband go to a motel sometimes during their lunch hour What are they

doing?

4 My father has a lot of horrible memories from the war What does he have to do with them?

5 Bill made a list of cities that he might move to, and then he eliminated those that are too cold or have high crime rates What did Bill do to his list of cities?

6 When the boss isn't in the office, you just play computer games and make personal phone calls What

do you do when the boss isn't in the office?

7 Hank told his sister that he needed money for his wife's doctor bills, but he really wanted money to buy drugs What did Hank do to his sister?

8 The scientist asked her colleague his opinion of the test results What did the scientist ask her

colleague about the test results?

9 A police car passed me while I was driving What did the police car do?

10 Susie's parents are going to take a vacation without her What are Susie's parents going to do to her?

11 The last year passed quickly What did the last year do?

EXERCISE 35c — Write eight original sentences using phrasal verbs from this

section Try to make all the phrasal verbs gerunds and to use them as subjects,

objects, or objects of prepositions

1

2 _

3

4 _

5.

6

7 _

8

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EXERCISE 35d, Review — Complete the sentences with these phrasal verbs from previous sections Be sure the phrasal verbs are in the correct tense To check their meanings, review the section number given after each one

break up, 28 flip out, 29 lie around, 20 stand for, 34

come apart, 29 float around, 34 luck out, 29 stay up, 20

do over, 34 hang around, 20 mess up, 28 stick around, 34

end up, 20 lead up to, 34 run across, 29 take back, 34

1 The robber was only three feet away when he fired the gun at me, but the gun jammed and didn't fire I

really

2 Nancy said being sick wasn't so bad She in bed all day watching TV and eating ice cream

3 I'll if you drop my new camera in the swimming pool

4 Dan's daughter was very sick last night, so Dan all night with her

5 This is outrageous! I will not dishonesty in my company

6 I told Mark that I would never speak to him again if he didn't the nasty things he said

7 If you're looking for Hank, go to the bar on the corner That's where he

8 A number of minor events will the main event

9 I had a very busy day planned, but I got a flat tire and that everything

10 My boss is a jerk! I worked for three days on this, and just because he found one mistake he made me it

11 Sam has been very depressed since he with his girlfriend

12 Have you seen the dictionary? It's the office somewhere, but I can't find it

13 Don't stand on that chair — it's

14 Do you really have to leave now? Why don't you for a while

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15 Bill was talking about moving to Florida or Hawaii, but I'm not sure where he finally

16 Someone told me that Sarah is in town, but I haven't _ her yet

36 FOCUS ON: phrasal verbs with the particle

down

The particle down is used in many phrasal verbs and has many meanings Down can be used to say that something literally moves from a higher position to a lower position or from north to south:

Bob went down the ladder.

His friends came down from Canada.

Sit down; dinner is ready.

that something decreases in size, intensity, quantity, or quality:

Her fever has gone down to 100 degrees.

The doctor gave her a sedative to calm her down.

We've narrowed the list down to three choices.

that something or someone is fought, defeated, or overpowered:

Hank backed down when he saw my shotgun.

The police cracked down on street crime.

that something falls to the ground:

The boy was running and fell down.

The warehouse burned down.

Open the door or I'll break it down!

or that a process or activity is ending or has ended:

My car broke down on the highway

The FBI tracked down the spy.

The campaign is winding down.

Infinitive

back

down back down & backs down backing down backed down backed down

1 backdown p.v When one side in a disagreement stops making threats and lets the

other have what it wants or do what it wants, the side that stops making threats backs

down

The dictator didn't back down after the United Nations Security Council voted in favor of sending in troops.

The police officer tried to force me to pay him a bribe, but when I said I would report him to the chief of police,

he backed down.

Infinitive

calm down

calm down & calms down calming down calmed down calmed down

1 calm down p.v. When you calm down, you become less active, nervous, or

upset When you calm other people down, you do something to make them less

active, nervous, or upset Settle down is similar to calm down

I was very nervous about the test, but I calmed down when I saw how easy it was.

Mike tried to calm his sister down after she had a fight with her husband.

2 calm down p.v When a confused or violent situation becomes less confused or violent,

it calms down When you calm a confused or violent situation down, you make it less confused or violent and more calm Settle down is similar to calm down

The neighborhood where the riot occurred calmed down after the army started patrolling the streets.

A conference between the two sides was organized to try to calm the situation down.

fall down

fall down & falls down falling down fell down fallen down

1 fall down p.v. When people or things fall to the ground from a higher position, they fall

down

I slipped on some ice on the sidewalk and fell down.

All the dishes on that shelf will fall down if there's another earthquake.

go down

go down & goes down going down went down gone down

1 go down (to) p.v When you move to a lower level or position or from north to south,

you go down or go down to that place Go up is the opposite of go down

Toronto is too cold, so we usually go down to Mexico in the winter.

Going down the mountain was a lot easier than going up.

2 go down (to) p.v When the cost, rate, quality, quantity, or level of something

decreases, it goes down Go up is the opposite of go down

The temperature went down to zero last night.

The crime rate in New York City has gone down.

3 go down (to) p.v When something extends to a certain point that is farther south or at

a lower elevation, it goes down to that point Go up is the opposite of go down

How far south does this road go down?

Does this road go down to the south side of town?

After dinner we went down to the basement and played ping pong.

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4 go down p.v. When something goes down in a certain way, people react to or

perceive it in this way

The new no smoking policy didn't go down very well with the smokers in the office.

The judge's decision went down well with the prosecutor.

5 go down p.v When a computer or computer network stops working because of a

problem or because it has been disconnected, it goes down

Icouldn't withdraw any money at the bank because its computers had gone down.

If your computer terminal goes down, you can use the one in the next office.

6 go down p.v. When the sun goes below the horizon, it goes down

After the sun goes down, it'll get a little cooler.

The sun went down at 8:34 last night.

Infinitive

present tense -ing form past tense past participle

lay down

lay down & lays down laying down laid down laid down

1 lay down (on) p.v. When you lay something down, you put it on a horizontal

surface Put down is similar to lay down

Marsha laid the tray down.

The police ordered Jake to lay down his gun and surrender.

2 lay down p.v. When you lay down a new law, policy, rule, and so on, you create and

announce it

The IRS laid down several new tax regulations.

Congress decided against laying down any new campaign financing laws.

put down

put down & puts down putting down put down put down

1 put down p.v. When you put something down, you put something in your hand or

something that you are carrying on a horizontal surface

The suitcase was so heavy that I had to put it down and rest for a minute.

Susie, put that knife down It's dangerous!

2 put down p.v. When you put people down, you criticize them

Jim hates his stepfather and puts him down constantly I'm not inviting Sam to any more parties I hate

the way he puts everyone down.

put-down n, A put-down is an insult or critical remark

At the party Sam asked Nancy if she had made her dress from an old curtain

What a put-down!

3 put down (on) p.v. When you put money down or put money down on something, you pay a

portion of the cost of something you want to buy to be sure that it will still be available to you when you are able to pay the rest of the cost

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