Phrasal verbs = Verbi fraseologici
Una caratteristica dei verbi inglesi è che insieme alla proposizione, articolazione o avverbio formano un nuovo verbo, che in base al suo significato si differenzia dal verbo d’origine. Il verbo fraseologico è quindi una combinazione del verbo e della proposizione, articolazione o avverbio. Non è possibile dedurre il significato del verbo fraseologico dalla base delle singole parole che lo formano. I verbi fraseologici perciò causano delle difficoltà ai parlanti italiani e a coloro che non sono di madrelingua inglese.
Si può dedurre il significato di alcuni verbi in base alla combinazione con le diverse articolazioni/preposizioni/avverbi. I significati di queste combinazioni sono diversi gli uni dagli altri. Se prendiamo come esempio il verbo “look”:
- My sister looked after me when I was a toddler. = Mia sorella badava a me, quando ero bambino.
- Look at you! You look stunning in this blouse! = Guardati! Sei così bella in questo camicetta!
- I am looking for my wallet. Have you seen it anywhere? = Sto cercando il mio portafoglio. Lo hai visto da qualche parte?
- Tom started looking down on everyone when he got promoted. = Quando Tom è stato promosso ha cominciato a guardare tutti dall’alto.
- I really look forward to hearing from my family. = Non vedo l’ora di ricevere notiyie dalla mia famiglia.
LA TABELLA CON ALCUNI VERBI FRASEOLOGICI FREQUENTI
VERBO FRASEOLOGICO | DEFINIZIONE | ESEMPIO | TRADUZIONE |
ask out | invite on a date | Tim asked
Liz out to dinner. |
invitare a uscire |
back up | support | When Nick decided to start his own company, his father backed him up. | sostenere |
blow up | explode | The CIA agent found the boy who wanted to blow up the building. | esplodere |
break down | stop functioning (machine, vehicle) | My
iPhone broke down last week. |
rompersi |
break in | force entry to a building | The young junkie tried to break in but did not succeed. | scassinare |
break up | end a relationship | Helen broke up with her partner. | interrompere una relazione |
bring someone down | make unhappy | Novels with miserable endings always bring me down. | rattristarsi |
bring someone up | raise a child | My mother brought me up to respect others. | educare |
bring something
up |
start talking about a subject | Tim is always bringing up his health problems. | menzionare |
call off | cancel | They called
off the conference at a fortnight’s notice. |
annullare |
calm down | relax after being angry | Try to calm down as panicking only makes things worse. | tranquillizzarsi |
not care for someone/something | not like (formal) | Happy people don’t care for what other people think. | non interessarsi |
catch up | get to the same point as someone else | Jim stopped and waited for his wife to catch up. | prendere (arrivare allo stesso punto di qualcun’altro) |
check in | arrive and register at a hotel or airport | We checked in just in time to catch the flight. | effettuare il check in |
check out | leave a hotel | We reluctantly checked out of the hotel. | effettuare il check out |
check someone/something out | look at carefully, investigate | The crime investigator is checking out the alibi. | controllare |
cheer up | become happier | Eva cheered up when Luke had finally arrived. | rallegrarsi |
come across something | find unexpectedly | You seldom come across anything more enjoyable than a happy person. | incontrare |
count on someone/something | rely on | Lucy is positive she can count on her brother whenever she needs help. | contare su |
cut back on something | consume less | My co-worker should cut back on cigarettes. | limitare il consumo |
do away with something | discard | Let’s do away with all our bad habits. | gettare |
dress up | wear nice clothing | Lucy dressed up and went on a date. | vestirsi bene |
drop in/by/over | come without an appointment | Mandy can drop in/by/over at my office in the afternoon. | fare visita |
drop out | quit a class, school, course | Ally dropped out of college last year. | lasciare (es. la scuola) |
eat out | eat at a restaurant | Whenever we decide to eat out we go to Alinea Restaurant. | mangiare fuori |
fall apart | break into pieces | Tim’s bike is so old that it is already falling apart. | disgregarsi |
figure out | understand, find the answer | Can you figure out the meaning of this sign? | constatare, ricordarsi di qualcosa |
fill in | to write information in blanks | Fill in the form and return it a.s.a.p. | compilare |
find out | discover | I found out what I was looking for. | scoprire, constatare |
get along/on | like each other | Linda gets along/on with her boss despite his weird character. | andare d’accordo |
get away | go on a vacation | After graduation I finally got away. | andare in vacanza |
get away with something | do without being noticed or punished | This time Henry won’t get away with lying. | cavarsela senza che qualcuno ti veda, non essere punito |
get over something | recover from an illness, loss, difficulty | Get over that man. He is not worth your tears. | superare |
get round to something | finally find time to do | Hopefully, I will get round to finishing my thesis this month. | trovare il tempo per qualcosa |
get together | meet (usually for social reasons) | It’s time to get together and celebrate! | incontrarsi |
get up | get out of bed | We got up two hours before the sunrise. | alzarsi dal letto |
get up | stand | Stop whining, get up and try again. | alzarsi |
give away | ruin a secret | Lucy gave away the news in a Facebook post. | rivelare un segreto |
give away | give something to someone for free | In last issue of the magazine, they were giving away a free DVD. | dare in beneficienza |
give in | reluctantly stop fighting or arguing | My sister didn’t want to admit anything but then she gave in. | arrendersi (in una lite) |
give up | quit a habit | Kim has reluctantly
given up smoking. |
smettere con un’abitudine |
give up | stop trying | Don’t give up! The project is almost finished. | arrendersi (smettere di provare) |
go after someone | follow someone | The witness went after the assailant. | seguire qualcuno |
go against someone | compete, oppose | Don’t go against your father. He’s only trying to help you. | opporsi a qualcuno/ qualcosa, competere |
go ahead | proceed | Now that we’re full we can go ahead with out work. | continuare |
go back | return to a place | Lucy went back to her hometown. | tornare |
go out | leave home to go on a social event | Kim is going out to celebrate the successful work week. | uscire |
go out with someone | date | How long have you been going out with your present partner? | uscire con qualcuno |
go over something | review | I went over my thesis three times before submitting it. | controllare |
go without something | suffer, lack, deprive yourself of | I had to go without breakfast this morning as I was already late for work. | non avere, essere senza |
grow apart | stop being friends over time | They used to be good friends at college but have since grown apart. | andare per la propria strada |
grow back | regrow | My nails always grow back so quickly. | ricrescere |
grow up | become an adult | Our children grew up to become successful artists. | crescere |
hand something in | submit | Lucy handed her report in late again. | consegnare |
hand something over | give (usually unwillingly) | The old man handed over the money to the robbers. | consegnare
(in genere controvoglia) |
hang in | stay positive | Hang in there. The rescuers are on their way. | resistere (rimanere ottimista) |
hang on | wait a short time (informal) | Hang on a second. I’ll connect you with Jim Smith. | aspettare |
hang out | spend time relaxing together (informal) | Tim usually hangs out in the local pub. He’s there most weekends. | frequentare |
hang up | end a phone call | After minutes of quarrelling on the phone, the man just hung up. | riagganciare |
hold someone back | prevent from doing/going | Lack of money held
our project back. |
trattenere (qualcuno/
qualcosa) |
hold back something | hide an emotion | It was impossible to hold back the tears. | trattenere |
hold on | wait a short time | Please hold on. Mr Black will be here any time. | aspettare |
hold up | rob | A teenager held up a bar last week. | fermare e rapinare |
keep on doing | continue doing | Keep on trying and you will make ti. | continuare |
keep something from someone | not tell | They kept the news from everyone to avoid panick. | nascondere |
keep out | stop from entering | The dogs should be kept out of this park. | non lasciare entrare |
let down | fail to support or help, disappoint | Be sure not to let Mary down. She does not deserve that. | deludere (qualcuno) |
let in | allow to enter | The doorstaff did not let Jim in the club because he was carrying a bottle. | lasciare entrare qualcuno |
look after | take care of | His aunt looked after Danny when his parents were on a business trip. | stare attento |
look down on | think less of, consider inferior | Sarah looks down on her sister because she is unemployed. | guardare qualcuno dall’alto, disprezzare |
look for | try to find | I’m looking for my purse and have no idea where I have lost it. | cercare |
look forward to | be excited about the future | Stella really looks forward to going to the seaside. | non vedere l’ora |
look into | investigate | Amanda was looking into the possibilities of launching the product. | esplorare |
look out | be careful, vigilant and take notice | Look out for the icicles. | stare attenti |
look over | check, examine | When looking over my article, I spotted two mistakes. | controllare |
look up | search and find information in a reference book or database | Can you look this word up in the dictionary to make sure you know its meaning. | cercare |
look up to | have a lot of respect for | I looked up to my brother when I was younger. | ammirare (qualcuno) |
make something
up |
invent, lie about something | You have to made up a really good excuse for being late this time. | inventarsi qualcosa |
make up | forgive each other | Make up with your boyfried as you belong to each other. | riconciliare |
make up | apply cosmetics to | I really have to make my face up for this event. | truccare |
mix up | confuse two or more things | I mix the twins up every time I see them. | confondere |
pass away | die | After his neighbour passed away of lung cancer, Jim stopped smoking. | morire |
pass out | faint | When Liz heard the news, she passed out. | svenire |
pay back | return owed money | I’ll pay you back as soon as I meet you again. | restituire il denaro a qualcuno |
pay for | be punished for doing something bad | At last, Jim had to pay for his sins. | pagare |
pick out | choose | There was so much choice that it was hard to pick out just one pair of shoes. | scegliere |
point out | indicate with your finger | Can you point your secret admirer out
when she arrives here? |
indicare (col dito) |
put something down | put what you are holding on a surface or floor | Lucy put her bag down and went to her room. | posare |
put down | insult, make someone feel stupid | The old lady was putting
her neighbour down for being gay. |
offendere qualcuno |
put off | postpone | The picnic will have to be put off because of the weather. | rinviare |
put up with someone/something | tolerate | Linda put up with her room-mate for one month. | sopportare |
put something on | put clothing/ accessories on your body | I put on a nice dress and hurried out on a date. | indossare |
run into someone/something | meet unexpectedly | Jen ran into her ex while shopping. | imbattersi |
run over someone/something | drive a vehicle over a person or thing | The drunk driver ran over an old man. | investire |
run out | have none left | Our neigbours ran out of milk again and borrowed some from us. | mancare |
shop around | compare prices | Kim has been shopping around for hours now. | paragonare i prezzi (nei negozi) |
show off | act extra special for people watching (usually boastfully) | He would be a nice guy if he did not show off so much. | vantarsi |
sleep over | stay somewhere for the night (informal) | My friend was sleeping over at his relative when in Rome. | passare la notte (informale) |
stick to | continue doing something, limit yourself to one particular thing | Stick to your plan and do not let anyone disturb you. | attenersi a, limitarsi a una cosa |
switch off | stop the energy flow, turn off | I switched off the radio and enjoyed some time in peace. | spegnere |
switch on | start the energy flow, turn on | Can you switch on the TV? It’s news time. | accendere |
take after | resemble a family member | Kim takes after her mother. They are both resourceful. | assomigliare a (qualcuno – per carattere) |
take apart | purposely break into pieces | John took the laptop apart and fixed it. | smontare |
take back | return an item | I took my camera back as it had broken down after one week of use. | restituire |
take off | start to fly | The plane took off and we flew to Jamaica. | decollare |
take off | remove something (usually clothing) | My boyfriend helped me take off my blouse. | spogliare |
take out | remove from a place or thing | I took out
dozens of books from the library to study for the exam. |
tirare fuori |
take out | pay for someone to go somewhere with you | Jim took us out to a club to celebrate his birthday. | portare qualcuno fuori |
think over | consider | After carefully thinking it over I said “yes” to his offer. | riflettere |
throw away | dispose of | They threw away half of the food after the picnic. | gettare |
turn down | decrease the volume or strength (heat, light, etc.) | After turning the heater down, we could finally fall asleep. | ridurre (suono, calore, luce) |
turn down | refuse | I turned her invitation down because I was busy. | rifiutare |
turn off | stop the energy flow, switch off | Johhny, turn the computer off and tidy up your room. | spegnere |
turn on | start the energy flow, switch on | Tim wanted to turn on washing machine but the electricity was cut off. | accendere |
turn up | increase the volume or strength (heat, light, etc.) | It’s so cold in here. Please, turn the central heating up. | aumentare (suono, temperatura, luce) |
turn up | appear suddenly | Kim turned up in the middle of the meeting with some bad excuse for being late. | apparire |
try on | sample clothing | Sam tried the suit on and it fitted perfectly. | provare (l’abito) |
try out | test | Linda should try this gadget out to see how useful it is. | provare (in una verifica) |
wake up | stop sleeping | Kim should wake up earlier tomorrow morning to catch the train. | svegliarsi |
warm up | prepare body for exercise | After warming up we started with the training. | scaldare |
wear off | fade away | Lucy’s make-up wears off before she even notices it. | dissolvere |
work out | exercise | Tim works out on regular basis. | fare ginnastica |
work out | be successful | Stay positive. Everything will work out in the end. | concludere con successo |
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