passive phrasal verbs 2

FOCUS ON: passive phrasal verbs, 2 When separable phrasal verbs are in the passive, they cannot be separated by the object of the verb because the object of the active verb is the subjec

28 FOCUS ON: passive phrasal verbs, 2

When separable phrasal verbs are in the passive, they cannot be separated by the object of the verb because the object of the active verb is the subject of the passive sentence — there is no object:

active : Jim called back Mike passive Mike was called back.

active : Jim called Mike back.

subject object

Infinitive

1 beef up p.v When you beef up security or some other arrangement to prevent or deal with a problem, you make this arrangement stronger

After the terrorist attack, security was beefed up at the embassy

The hospital decided to beef up its emergency facilities

The coach is planning to beef the defense up

beefed-up part.adj After security or some other arrangement to prevent or deal with a

problem has been made stronger, it is beefed-up

The ambassador is confident that the beefed-up security will prevent any further terrorist attacks

break up

break up & breaks up breaking up broke up broken up

1 break up p.v When you break up a fight, you stop the fight

Two students were fighting, and the teacher broke them up

There was no way I could break up the fight between the two dogs

2 break up p.v When a gathering of people separates, it breaks up When the police tell

people who are gathered together in a crowd to separate and leave the area, the police break the gathering up

The meeting should break up around 3:00

The police ordered the gang members to break it up

The demonstration was broken up by riot police

3 break up (with) p.v When two people end a romantic relationship, they break up When

you end a romantic relationship with another person, you break up with that person When other people cause a couple to break up, they break the couple up

Iwas sad to hear that Jim and Nancy had broken up

It was Jim's secretary who broke them up

breakup n When two people end a romantic relationships breakup occurs Nancy

is very upset about the breakup

4 break up p.v When something breaks into smaller pieces, it breaks up When you

break something into smaller pieces, you break it up

The meteor broke up when it entered Earth's atmosphere

Sally broke the cookie up before giving it to her baby

breakup n When something breaks into smaller pieces, a breakup takes place

The breakup of AT&T created several smaller telephone companies

5 break up p.v When something breaks up the day or some other period of time, it

interrupts that time and makes it less boring

The bank guard likes to chat with the tellers once in a while to break up the day

My day was broken up by a going-away party for one of my coworkers

Infinitive

call back

1 call back p.v When you call someone back, you call a person on the telephone who has called you earlier

Janice left a message asking me to call her back

Bob was called back by the salesman

2 call back p.v When you leave a place or walk away from a person and are then asked to

return, you are called back

/ remembered something after she walked away, and I called her back

Mike handed his letter of resignation to his boss, but he was called back after he left the office

call up

call up & calls up calling up called up called up

1 call up p.v When you call people up, you call them on the telephone

Nicole called me up and asked me to come to her party Every evening

I'm called up by charities asking for money

carry out

carry out & carries out carrying out carried out carried out

1 carry out p.v When you carry out a duty, task, assignment, or order, you do it

Sean will carry your duties out while you're on vacation

The boss was furious because his orders hadn't been carried out

2 carry out (of) p.v When you carry something out of a place, you hold it in your hands and take it from that place

It took four guys to carry the pool table out

David was so drunk that we had to carry him out of the bar

carryout n Food that you take from a restaurant and eat in another place is carryout or

carryout food Takeout and takeout food are the same as carryout and carryout food

We usually take carryout food when we go to visit Aunt Kathy

Infinitive

give away

1 give away p.v When you give something away, you give it to someone without asking for anything in return because you do not want it or because you want to help the person you are giving it to

This old furniture isn't worth very much, so I think I'll just give it away

He made nearly a billion dollars, but after he retired he gave most of his money away

2 give away p.v When you give a secret away, you accidentally reveal that

secret

/ haven't seen that movie yet, so don't give away the ending

You can trust me with the secret I haven't given it away,

3 give away p.v When you give yourself away, you accidentally reveal something secret

about yourself When something gives you away, it accidentally reveals something secret

about you

Mark tried to keep his affair a secret, but he was given away by his credit card bills

Toad claimed he didn't care about Sally anymore, but he gave himself away when he asked who she

had gone to the party with

giveaway n A giveaway is a statement or action that reveals secret information

/ knew I was going to be fired from my job when everyone stopped talking to me — that was the

giveaway.

mess up

mess up & messes up messing up messed up messed up

1 mess up p.v [informal] When you mess up a place, you make it dirty or

disorganized

Jim made spaghetti sauce, and he really messed up the kitchen

You kids can play in the living room, but don't mess it up

messed up part.adj After you mess up a place, it is messed up

It looks like Timmy was the last one in the bathroom — it's really messed up

2 mess up p.v [informal] When you mess up a situation, you create problems

When you mess up a plan or arrangement, you interfere with it and prevent it from happening as planned Mess up is similar to screw up

Everything was perfect until you messed it up

Our honeymoon was messed up by the airline strike

messed up part.adj When you interfere with a plan or arrangement and prevent it from

happening as planned, it is messed up Messed up is similar to screwed up

Bob changed my plan, and now it's totally messed up

Infinitive

1 stand up p.v When you stand up, you change from a sitting position to a standing

position Get up is similar to stand up

Everyone stands up when the judge enters the courtroom

When the students are sleepy, the teacher makes them stand up

2 stand up p.v [informal] When you stand people up, you do not arrive at their house

as you have promised or at a social event or meeting where you are expected

Heather had a date with Jim last Saturday night, but she was stood up

The senator was scheduled to speak at our meeting, but he stood us up

EXERCISE 28a — Complete the sentences with phrasal verbs from this section Be

sure the phrasal verbs are in the correct tense

1 If you a long airplane flight into two or three shorter flights, it isn't as boring

2 My workroom was clean and neat, but my brother did some work and he it

3 It's going to be a surprise party, so don't it

4 The neighborhood council asked the police to their patrols in high crime

neighborhoods

5 I haven't talked to Sam in a long time I think I'll _ him _ tonight

6 The general expects his orders to be immediately

7 In some countries, students always _ _ when they speak in class

8 The huge iceberg when it drifted into warmer water

9 Breaking my leg sure my ski trip

10 Janice didn't come to my house last night as she promised She _ me _

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11 Timmy and his friend were fighting, and Timmy's mother the fight

12 These boxes are really heavy Can you help me _ them _ of the house?

13 After the rally ended, the crowd quickly and went home

14 I'm too busy to talk on the phone now Can you me later?

15 Bob claimed to have an excellent education, but he was by his poor grammar

16 Mark is very upset His girlfriend just with him

17 Jim told the Girl Scouts that he didn't want to buy any cookies, but as they walked away he changed his mind and them

18 Instead of charging for the software program, the company decided to it free

EXERCISE 28b — Write three sentences using the objects in parentheses Be

sure to put the objects in the right place

1 The White House beefed up (security, it)

2 The police are breaking up (the protest, it)

3 A trained technician ought to carry our (the experiment, it)

4 The foundation gave away (the money, it)

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5 Susie always messes up (the bathroom, it)

6 Todd stood up (Heather, her)

EXERCISE 28c — Write answers to the questions using phrasal verbs and

participle adjectives from this section Make all the phrasal verbs passive

1 Dr Wood will do the test of the new drug What will happen to the test?

2 The statue was smashed by thieves What happened to the gold statue?

3 The children made the house dirty and disorganized What happened to the house?

4 In Question 3, how would you describe the house?

5 Mike's friend promised to come to his house, but he didn't What happened to Mike?

6 Karen called Sarah, but Sarah was at school Sarah didn't call Karen later What didn't happen to Karen?

7 A supermarket chain gave the food to charity and didn't receive any money for it What happened

to the food?

8 The palace is making security stronger What is happening to security at the palace?

9 In Question 8, how would you describe the security now?

10 The personnel manager will call all the candidates for the job What will happen to all the

candidates for the job?

EXERCISE 28d, 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

blow away, 15 hand out, 10 stick up, 14 track down, 13

drop off, 11 lay off, 10 take out, 11 wake up, 11

1 The hard disk is by the computer operator every day

2 The old buildings are being to make room for a new office building

3 The isn't any paper in the copier Someone it

4 Last night I was by a loud noise

5 I can't believe I was naive enough to be by him

6 The library book I wanted had already been

7 Something amazing happened yesterday You are going to be _ when I tell you about it

8 After the old house had been , it looked a lot better

9 Many employees are really worried that they're going to be

10 I was talking to my brother on the phone when I was suddenly

11 My shirt was when I fell off my bicycle

12 The entire building is by these four steel beams

13 The pamphlets will be in train stations and airports

14 The liquor store was again last night

15 The film was at the photo lab

16 The escaped prisoner was easily by the FBI agents

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29 FOCUS ON: phrasal verbs and might , may ,

Possibility: may and might

Both may and might are used to express a medium level of possibility When may and

might are used to express possibility in the present or future, their meaning is the same,

but may has a slightly more formal sound Might is slightly more common in everyday

American English:

Nancy might drop in tonight Nancy may

drop in tonight.

The speaker believes that the possibility that Nancy will drop in and the possibility that

she will not drop in are approximately equal

Requests: may and might

Both may and might are used to make requests May has a formal sound, and is less

common than might Can is the most common in American English:

most common: Can I drop in tonight?

formal: May I drop in tonight? very rare:

Might I drop in tonight?

Permission: may and can

May and can are also used to give permission In this case, may is much more formal

and is much less common than can Might is not used for this purpose:

You can drop in after dinner You may

drop in after dinner.

Infinitive

ask for

ask for & asks for asking for asked for asked for

1 ask for p.v When you ask for something, you tell someone that you want it

We asked the waiter for some more coffee

My wife might ask for more vacation time instead of a raise

2 ask for p.v When you say that people are asking for something or asking for it, you mean that they are doing or saying something that is likely to result in punishment or a negative consequence

I'm warning you — if you keep doing that, you're asking for trouble

You're asking for it! Don't say that again

come apart

come apart & comes apart coming apart came apart come apart

1 come apart p.v When something comes apart, the parts separate because it is old or in bad condition or because the parts were not strongly connected to each other

This toy airplane is such a piece of junk that it came apart in my hand

Be careful with this old book It's coming apart

drop in

drop in & drops in dropping in dropped in dropped In

l^drop in (on) p.v When you drop in on people, you visit them unexpectedly

If you're ever in my neighborhood drop in

Sally dropped in on Marsha last night

flip out

flip out & flips out flipping out flipped out flipped out

1 flip out p.v [informal] When you flip out, you become very upset or very angry

Bob flipped out when the city doubled his property taxes

Keep your hands off Jim's computer — he'll flip out if you screw it up

look out

look out & looks out looking out looked out looked out

1 look out (for) p.v When you look out or look out for something, you remain alert for

someone or something that is dangerous or important When you tell people to look out, you are warning them of possible danger Look out is the same as watch out

Look out for bears when you camp in the mountains.

There's a lot of ice on the road, so look out

lockout n A lockout is someone who looks out for someone or something that is

dangerous or important

The burglars had lockouts on every corner to warn them if the police came

luck out

luck out & lucks out lucking out lucked out lucked out

1 luck out p.v [informal] When you luck out, something good happens to you or you avoid something bad happening to you

Todd lucked out when he found that lottery ticket on the ground; it was a $ 1 million winner

I missed my flight, and the plane crashed I guess I lucked out

1 make out p.v When you can make something out, you can see it or hear it even though

Stop complaining — my food isn't as bad as you make it out to be

The critics made the film out to be a real bore, but I liked it

3 make out (to) p.v When you write the necessary information on the front of a check, you

make the check out When you write the name of a person, company, or other organization

on the check, you make the check out to that person, company, or organization

How should I make this check out?

There must be a mistake; this check is made out to my brother, not to me

Nancy made a check out to the IPS for $ 17,000

made out part.adj After the necessary information has been written on the front of a check, the check is made out

Is the check made out, or is it blank?

4 make out (on) p.v When you make out or make out on something, you do

something successfully or survive a situation even though it may be difficult

Karen had a job interview yesterday I wonder how she made out

Even though Jerry has lost his job, we'll make out somehow

How did you make out on the test yesterday?

run across

run across & runs across running across ran across run across

1 run across p.v When people or things run across a place, room, or building,

they move from one side to the other very quickly

The receiver ran across the field and caught the ball

It's crazy to run across the street through the traffic instead of waiting for the light

2 run across p.v When you run across people or things, you see or find them

without planning or expecting to Come across is similar to run across

/ don't go to that supermarket anymore because I may run across my ex-husband Bob ran across one of his army buddies at the baseball game

EXERCISE 29a — Complete the sentences with phrasal verbs from this section

Be sure the phrasal verbs are in the correct tense

1 Can you tell me what this says? I can't _ it _ without my glasses

2 The store we're going to is on the right side of the street, so for it

3 You didn't fix this very well; it's already again

4 Okay, I'll give you the money Who should I the check to?

5 I'm going to be in Dan's neighborhood tomorrow, so I might on him fora quick visit

6 Ann's going to when she sees this cigarette burn on her antique table

7 Sally thinks she okay on her driving test

8 I wasn't surprised when I Sam at the beach; he goes there a lot

9 That's enough! If you don't stop bothering me, you're it

10 A police officer stopped me for going forty miles over the limit, and all he did was give me a warning I really .didn't I?

11 Every night people call and money for one charity or another

12 Leticia was right about that restaurant It was just as good as she _ it to

be

EXERCISE 29b — Write answers to the questions using phrasal verbs and

participle adjectives from this section Be sure the phrasal verbs are in the

correct tense

1 You got very upset when I wrecked your car What did you do?

2 Timmy might tell Santa Claus that he wants a new bicycle What might Timmy do?

3 I unexpectedly met my college roommate at the airport this morning What did I do at the airport this morning?

4 Tom wrote all the necessary information on the check What did Tom do?

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