Skype English School

With some two-word verbs you must use a second particle when the verb has an object:

The criminal broke out.

The criminal broke out of prison.

 

Tom and Jerry don't get along.

Tom and Jerry don't get along with each other.

 

Sometimes, as with break out and break out of, there is no change in meaning. Sometimes, as with hang up and hang up on, there is a small change in meaning. And sometimes, as with hook up and hook up to, the second particle is necessary not when there is one object but only when there are two:

I hooked up my new CD player.

I hooked up my new CD player to my stereo.

 

There is no good way to always know which second particle must be used or if and how it will change the meaning of the verb. The best thing to do is to simply memorize each case.

 

Throughout this book, two-word phrasal verbs that require an additional parti¬cle when used with an object are shown with the second particle in parentheses:

 

break out (of).

Do not confuse two-word phrasal verbs that require an additional particle when used with an object with three-word phrasal verbs. Three-word phrasal verbs always have three words — there is no two-word version, or if there is a phrasal verb with the same verb and first particle, it has a different meaning and is classified as a different verb. For example, break out and break out (of) are included in one definition because they have the same meaning, but put up and put up with have different meanings and are classified separately.

 

Infinitive

 

present tense                  -ing form          past tense past participle

breakout & breaks out breaking out broke out          broken out

 

1. break out (of) p.v. When you escape from a place where you are a prisoner, you break out or break out of that place.

Bubba broke out of prison last month. 

The police have been looking for him ever since he broke out.

breakout n. An escape from prison is a breakout.

There hasn't been a successful breakout from the state prison in more than twenty-five years.

 

2. breakout p.v. When fighting begins suddenly, it breaks out.

Rioting broke out after the general canceled the election. 

Millions wilt be killed if nuclear war breaks out.

 

catch up

catch up & catches up catching up caught up caught up

 

1. catch up (with) p.v. When you move faster and reach the same level or place as people who had been moving faster or doing better than you were, you catch up or catch up with them.

We left an hour before Luis, but he drove fast and quickly caught up.

After missing several weeks of class, Raquel is so far behind that she'll never catch up.

Pepsi has caught up with Coca-Cola in some markets.

The mugger was running so fast that the angry mob couldn't catch up with him.

caught up part.adj. After you have moved faster and reached the same level or place as people who had been moving faster or doing better than you are, you are caught up.

When I was sick, I missed a lot of schoolwork, but I worked hard and now I'm caught up.

 

1. catch up (on) p.v. When you study or learn something you are interested in but have not had time for, you catch up on it.

I wonder what the latest gossip is. Let's call Michael so we can catch up. After I returned from vacation, I read the newspaper to catch up on the local news.

caught up part.adj. After you have studied or learned something you are interested in but have not had time for, you are caught up.

Now that I've read the newspapers I missed while I was on vacation, I'm caught up.

 

Infinitive

 

present tense                             -ing form         past tense   past participle

chicken out & chickens out chickening out      chickened out   chickened out

 

1. chicken out (of) p.v. [informal] When you do not do something because you are afraid, you chicken out or chicken out of it.

was going to ask Heather to go to the dance with me, but I chickened out. Miguel's mad at himself because he chickened out of asking his boss for a raise yesterday.

 

get along

get along & gets along getting along got along gotten/got along

 

1. get along (with) p.v. When you get along with people, you have peaceful, harmonious relations with them. Get on is similar to get along.

Jim and his cousin aren't good friends, but they get along.

I haven't gotten along with my neighbors for years.

 

2. get along p.v. When you are able to do some sort of work without any serious problems, you get along.

How are you getting along in your new job? 

Oh, I'm getting along okay, thank you.

 

give up

give up & gives up giving up gave up given up

 

1. give up (on) p.v. When you stop trying to do something because you think you will never succeed, you give up or give up on it.

Forget it! This is impossible — I give up!

 I've tried for years to have a nice looking lawn, but I've just given up on it.

 

2. give... up p.v. When you are running from or fighting with the police or enemy soldiers and you surrender, you give up or give yourself up.

When the bank robbers realized they were surrounded by police, they gave up. The suspect got tired of hiding from the police, and he gave himself up.

 

3. give ...up p.v. When you stop doing something you do regularly, such as a sport or a job, you give it up.

My father didn't give sky diving up until he was eighty-two.

 I had to give up my second job because I was so exhausted all the time.

 

hang up

hang up & hangs up hanging up hung up hung up

 

1. hang up (on) p.v. When you stop talking on the telephone and put down the receiver, you hang up the telephone. When you are angry and hang up the tele¬phone without saying good-bye to someone, you hang up on the person you are talking to.                                                                       

After I finished talking to her, I said good-bye and hung up. 

When he called me a moron, I got so mad I hung up on him.

 

2. hang ... up p.v. When you hang something in a high place so that it cannot touch the ground, you hang it up.

When I get home, the first thing I do is hang my coat up. 

Timmy never hangs anything up; he just leaves it on the floor.

hung up part.adj. After you have hung something in a high place so that it cannot touch the ground, it is hung up.

Timmy, why are your clothes on the floor and not hung up?

 

Infinitive

 

present tense              -ing form    past tense past participle

hook up & hooks up      hooking up    hooked up hooked up

 

1. hook... up (to) p.v. When you connect one electronic device to another, you hook it up or hook it up to something.

bought a new printer, but I haven't hooked it up yet.

I hooked my sound system up to my TV, and now the TV is in stereo.

hooked up part.adj. After one electronic device has been connected to another, it is hooked up.

There's a VCR on my TV, but don't try to use it because it's not hooked up. hookup n. A hookup is an electrical connection.

The cable TV hookup usually costs $20, but it's free this month.

 

2. hook up (with) p.v. [informal] When you meet people somewhere, usually after you have done some things separately, you hook up or hook up with them.

You do your shopping, I'll go to the post office, and we'll hook up around 2:30, okay?

 I'll hook up with you at 12:00 at the corner of State and Madison, and we'll have lunch.

 

work up

work up & works up working up worked up worked up

 

1. work up (to) p.v. When you gradually improve at something difficult that you do regularly, you work up to that improvement.

You can't lift 200 pounds on your first day of weight training. You have to work up to it. 

When I started running, I couldn't go more than a mile, but now I've worked up to five miles.

 

2. work up p.v. When you gradually develop the energy, confidence, courage, and so on, to do something difficult or something you do not want to do, you work up the energy, confidence, courage, and so on. When you gradually develop a feeling, you work up the feeling.

It took me a long time to work up the nerve to ask my boss for a raise.

If I work up some energy, I'll wash the car.

I really worked up a sweat in the gym today.

Raking leaves all day sure works up an appetite.

worked up part.adj. [informal] When you are anxious, worried, or upset about something, you are worked up or worked up about it.

Mark has been acting nervous all day. What's he all worked up about?

Relax, we're only a few minutes late. It's nothing to get worked up about.