The Phrasal Verb in English

Abstract

This paper concentrates on the syntactic structure of the phrasal verb and presents eight tests to isolate this verbal structure from other non- phrasal verbal combinations. The tests are usefully channeled to express themselves in regularities underlying phrasal and non-phrasal verbs. It highlights some severe collocational restriction that obtain with the phrasal structure whose practical is unequivocally realized as an adverbial. The paper also maintains that between and within phrasal and non-phrasal structures are varying degrees of idiomaticity, distinguishing, the most idiomatic (ie the least transparent) structure from the least idiomatic (ie the most transparent) one. It enunciates that although some verbs appear to be of one category than another, there is continual process of idiomatic ascent that eventually converts marginal and non-phrasal verbs into phrasal ones.