4. Phrasal verbs

A phrasal verb is a verb followed by a preposition or an adverb. Its meaning is often different from the meanings of its parts. Compare the meanings of the verbs get on and run away in (a) and (b) below. You can easily guess their meanings in (a) but in (b) they have special meanings.
a) • She got on at Agra when the bus stopped for breakfast.

• Dev Anand ran away from home when he was a teenager.

 

(b) • She’s eager to get on in life. (succeed)

• The visitors ran away with the match. (won easily)

 

Some phrasal verbs have three parts: a verb followed by an adverb and a preposition.
(c) Our car ran out of petrol just outside the city limits.
(d) The government wants to reach out to the people with this new
campaign.

 

1. The text you’ve just read has a number of phrasal verbs commonly used in English. Look up the following in a dictionary for their meanings (under the entry for the italicised word).

 

(i) plunge (right) in - go directly to the topic

(ii) kept back - not promoted

(iii) ramble on - speak or write without focus

(iv) get along with - have a good relationship with