Sono i verbi seguiti da una preposizione che assumono un significato diverso dal verbo semplice senza preposizione aggiunta.
Spesso il significato di arrivo è molto distante da quello di partenza ed è difficile intuirne il senso.
Qui di seguito una selezione, cioè alcuni phrasal verbs che vengono usati di frequente.
L’elenco verrà via via arricchito.
We call "phrasal verbs" those verbs that add a preposition after the basic form and change their meaning according to the preposition used.
They are often very different from what the original meaning of the verb with no preposition would suggest.
Here you find a selection of phrasal verbs.
The list is going to be enriched and completed: so stay tuned!
| Verb/verbo | Meaning/significato | Example/esempio |
|---|---|---|
| account for | Spiegare | New electric-drive cars could account for 10-25% of sales by 2020 |
| act up | Comportarsi male | The way you’re acting up disappoints me |
| add up with | Ammontare | All his savings don’t add up to 100 dollars |
| agree with | Essere d’accordo | You never agree with me. We’re really different |
| ask someone out | Invitare qualcuno ad uscire | When Tom first asked Susy out to dinner, he feared she might answer no. |
| ask around | Chiedere a più persone la stessa cosa | Why don’t you ask around? Someone may have seen something. |
| add up to something | Ammontare a | On his journey, he bought presents for all his friends. His purchases added up to more than 1,000 euros |
| back something up | Fare retromarcia | Please, could you back your car up and let me get out? |
| back someone up | Sostenere | I couldn’t live without you. You always back me up over my decisions. |
| be about to | Essere lì lì per/sul punto di | We were about to leaving when a telegram came to tell us not to leave any more |
| blow up | Esplodere | Bombs are usually detonated by a timer or a cellular phone, so the terrorist who bring the bomb to a bus stop, for example, likely is not far away when it blows up. |
| blow something up | Gonfiare | Weather permitting, we plan to blow the dinghy up and make a run ashore in … |
| break down | Rompersi | His car broke down after a two miles’ drive and he called us for help |
| break down | Collassare/Crollare di nervi | Please, give yourself time, if you break down too who’s going to take care of her? |
| break something down | (Sud)dividere in piccoli pezzi | When a problem seems too difficult to be solved, just break it down into several small problems that you can solve |
| break in | Irrompere | The police broke in on him at his home and arrested him. |
| break in | Interrompere | Mr. Smith is working in his office, but he told that if we need him we can just break in on him |
| break something in | usare un nuovo dispositivo finché non funziona bene; indossare qualcosa, ad esempio un paio di scarpe, per adattarle al piede | These shoes hurt me because they’re new and have not been broken in yet |
| break in | Interrompere | The TV news broke in to give the news of the earthquake in Japan. |
| break up | Mettere termine a una relazione | It was not possible to go on that way, Mark and I broke up. |
| break up | Scoppiare a ridere | I couldn’t help breaking up when I heard his joke |
| break out | Fuggire/evadere | It’s not easy to break out of this jail: it’s top security |
| break out in something | Sviluppare una reazione allergica | I always break up in a bad rash whenever I eat strawberries |
| bring someone down | Intristire qualcuno/demoralizzare | This song is so sad that it’s bringing me down. |
| bring someone up | Crescere/allevare | After her parents’ death, she was brought up by her aunt Lisa |
| bring something up | Introdurre un argomento/mettersi a parlare di | When John brings up politics, we know he’s going to talk for hours |
| bring something up | Vomitare/tirar su | My cat often eats too fast, then he brings all what he eats up |
| call around | Chiamare in giro | It was very hard for us to find a good and not too expansive hotel, we had to call around but finally we found it |
| call someone back | Richiamare | I saw your number on my display, so I called you back but you didn’t answer |
| call for | Passare/andare/venire a prendere qualcuno | Mark will call for me at 7 o’clock, I’d better hurry up |
| call something off | Cancellare/annullare/disdire | Everything was already ready for the ceremony, but the wedding was called off at the very last moment./I think they’d better call the strike off |
| call off | Richiamare (far allontanare da qualcuno o qualcosa richiamando a sé) | Don’t you see children are playing in the garden? Please, call off your dog |
| call on someone | Richiedere/rivolgersi a | We often call on his services: he’s such a skilled lawyer |
| call on someone | Andare a trovare/fare visita | We called on the Jacksons last night |
| call out | Gridare/chiedere ad alta voce/richiedere l’intervento di qualcuno | What is that man calling out? / When we realized the situation was getting dangerous, we called out the police |
| call someone/something up | Telefonare/chiamare/rievocare | We’re so happy you’re in town, we’ll call you up for sure / Those pictures called so many memories up |
| calm down | Calmarsi/ritornare in sé | I don’t want you to call him now. You need to calm down before |
| (not) care for someone/something | (Non) gradire /(non) apprezzare / (non) voler bene, tenerci | Would you care for a good film tonight? / I must be honest with you: I don’t care for your insinuations / I’m sure Peter doesn’t care about Susy |
| catch up | Afferrare/raccogliere/capire/intuire | John is a very clever student: he catches up everything with no problem You’ll have to run faster than that if you want to catch up with Marty. |
| catch up | Raggiungere | Please, stay there, I’ll catch you up as soon as I can |
| Check in | Registrarsi (in un hotel, all’aeroporto…) | We’ve just arrived, let us check in first and then we’ll come |
| Check out | Lasciare un hotel/saldare il conto/ in senso figurato: morire (infomale) | In hotels you usually have to check out before 11.00 a.m. |
| Check someone/something out | Tenere sotto controllo | After last year’s bad episode, they check out all new people |
| Check out someone/something | Dare un’occhiata/buttare un occhio (informale) | Check out the crazy shoes that girl is wearing! |
| Cheer on | Incitare / incoraggiare | Before a match, trainers always cheer their players on |
| Cheer someone up | Rallegrare | I can’t stand seeing you so sad. Let’s go out tonight and cheer up |
| Chip in | Dare una mano/contribuire | If you want the work to be done by tomorrow, everyone must chip in |
| Clean something down | Pulire benissimo, da cima a fondo | Your room needs cleaning down |
| Clean out | Sgomberare/far piazza pulita / alla forma passiva: essere ripulito dei propri averi | There’s such a mess in the garage. I want to clean everything out / When he got out of the restaurant, he was cleaned up by a rascal |
| Clean up | Pulire / rimettere in ordine, anche in senso figurato | The head of the police says he wants to clean our city up |
| Come about | Succedere /accadere | I can’t believe all this came about! |
| come across something | Imbattersi/trovare per caso | It was such a surprise to come across my old diary while tidying the bookshelf |
| Come along | Spicciarsi (familiar) | Come along, Tom. It’s really very late |
| Come away | Staccarsi/venir via | The bottom was so loose that it simply came away by itself |
| Come down | Tramandare | Old legends have been come down to us |
| Come down with an illness | Prendersi qualcosa/buscarsi | Sorry I can’t come with you tonight, I’ve come down with a flu |
| Come forward | Farsi avanti/proporsi/presentarsi volunteer for a task or to give evidence | Is there anyone who wants to come forward for this delicate task? |
| Come into | Entrare in/entrare in possesso di ciò che spetta | Finally he came into his own |
| Come (a)round | Venire a trovare/passare | Come round when you’ve time, mum will be happy to see you |
| Count on someone/something | Fare conto su qualcuno, qualcosa/confidare | He’s a true friend to me, I can always count on him |
| Cross something off/out | Cancellare/eliminare | After their quarrel, Jack crossed Mark off his friends |
| Cut across | Tagliare (di percorso) | We can arrive earlier if we cut across the park |
| Cut back on something | Ridurre il consumo | You should cut back on sweets if you want to loose weight |
| cut in | Interrompere | He’s always cutting in with silly questions while I’m talking about something important |
| cut in | Tagliare la strada | The car overtook the bus and cut in. The bus driver had to swerve in order to avoid an accident |
| cut something off | Tagliare/mozzare | There was no hope of saving his arm, so doctors decided to cut it off |
| cut something off | Tagliare/sospendere una fornitura | If you don’t pay the bill, the company will cut off your gas |
| cut someone off | Diseredare | His father cut him off |
| cut something out | Ritagliare | Have a look at this article, I’ve cut it out of yesterdays’ paper |
| (to be) cut out for | Essere tagliato per | You’re really cut out for this job |
