EXERCISE 9d — Write answers to the questions using phrasal verbs, participle adjectives, and nouns from this section. Be sure the phrasal verbs are in the correct tense

1. When I went on vacation three weeks ago, my sister and her husband were talking about getting a divorce. Now that I'm back from vacation, I want to know what happened while I was gone. What do I want to do?

2. Lydia has to stop driving because her eyesight is so bad. What does Lydia have to do?

3. Susie was walking with us, but she stopped to look in a store window, and we continued walking. What does Susie need to do now?

4. I spilled wine on your white carpet, and you became angry and upset. How would you describe yourself?

5. Connecting a printer to a computer is easy. What is easy?

6. In Question 5, how would you describe the printer after it is connected to a computer?

7. Several prisoners are going to try to escape from the state prison tonight. What are the prisoners going to try to do tonight?

8. In Question 7, if the prisoners are successful, what would their escape be called?

9. Linda and Nicole don't like each other, and they argue sometimes. What don't Linda and Nicole do?

10. We argued with our daughter for months, but we stopped trying to get her to stop smoking. What did we do?

11. Fights start in that bar all the time. What happens in that bar all the time?

12. Paul slowly developed the courage to ask his boss for a raise. What did Paul do?

13. In Question 12, what didn't Paul do?

14. The police told the robber to surrender. What did the police tell the robber?

15. Karen is trying to gradually be able to lift 100 pounds. What is Karen doing?

16. Betty was so angry with her boyfriend that she put the telephone receiver down without saying good-bye. What did Betty do to her boyfriend?

EXERCISE 9e, Review — Complete the sentences with these phrasal verbs from previous sections. Be sure the phrasal verbs are in the correct tense. To check their meanings, review the section number given after each one.

burn out, 8	find out, 5	pick out, 8	ring up, 8
cheat on,4	hand back, 5	pile up, 5	run into, 1
fall over, 8	hear of, 8	point to, 4	tear down, 8
fight back, 8	look at, 5	put to, 4	work in, 8

1. Who is he? I've never ________ ________ him before, and I don't know anything about him.

2. My mail ________ ________ while I was on vacation.

3. Thanks for all your help. I'm sorry to ________ you ________ so much trouble.

4. That dead tree is rotten. I'm surprised it hasn't ________________yet.

5. I ________ ________ several cars last weekend, but I can't decide which one to buy,

6. Can you help me ________ a tie ________ to wear with this shirt?

7. What a surprise! I ________ ________ my fifth grade teacher at the mall today.

8. Charles ________ ________ a beautiful Mercedes-Benz across the street and said it was his.

9. Okay, class, you've got until the bell rings. When you're finished with your tests,_______ them ________ to me.

10. Everyone in town knows that Jake has been ________ ________ his wife for years.

11. I'm not sure if there will be time to meet with you today, but I'll try to ________ it

12. The invasion was so sudden that there was no way to ________ ________.

13. The cashier________________our stuff and said, "That comes to $142.56."

14. Bob's not in a good mood today. He just ________ ________ that he needs surgery.

15. It was fun to visit my hometown, but I was sad to see that my old house was being

16. I need to buy a new 100-watt bulb; this one ________ ________ yesterday.

10. FOCUS ON: phrasal verbs used as nouns, 1

Many two-word phrasal verbs can be used as nouns. All the verbs in this section have a noun form. Notice that the two-word noun is sometimes written with a hyphen:

verb:go ahead

noun:go-ahead

and sometimes as one word:

verb: lay off

noun: layoff

Unfortunately, there is no rule that will help you to always know which form to use. Also, not everyone agrees which nouns should be hyphenated and which should be written as one word, so you will occasionally see a noun written both ways.

Infinitive
	present tense	-ing form	past tense	past participle
fall off
	fall off & falls off	falling off	fell off	fallen off

1. fall off p.v. When people or things drop to a lower level from a higher place, they fall off the place where they were.

The dishfell off the table and broke.
Be careful you don'tfall off your bicycle.

Handouts of food and clothing were given to the homeless people.
Even though my father was poor, he was too proud to ask for ahandout.

handout n. Printed material given to students or other people to provide them with important information.

The teacher prepared ahandout for his students.
There are severalhandouts on a table by the library entrance.

Infinitive
	present tense	-ing form	past tense	past participle
kick back
	kick back & kicks back	kicking back	kicked back	kicked back

1. kick back (to) p.v. When youkick back money orkick back money to businesspeople or government officials, you illegally and secretly give them a percentage of the money that they spend with your company as a reward for giving you the business.

The prosecutor said that 5 percent of every contract waskicked back to the head of the purchasing department.

She offered tokick back 10 percent if I'd switch to her company.

kickback n. Money you illegally and secretly give to businesspeople or government officials as a reward for giving you business is akickback.

The FBI agent heard the governor asking for akickback.The reporter discovered that the loan was really akickback.

2. kick back p.v. [informal] When youkick back, you relax.

It's been a tough week. Tonight I'm going to buy a case of beer andkick back.
Let'skick back and watch the football game tonight.

lay off
	lay off & lays off	laying off	laid off	laid off

1. lay... off p.v. When a company no longer needs workers because it does not have enough business, it temporarily or permanentlylays off the workers.

Fordlaid off 20,000 workers during the last recession. My wife had to go back to work after I waslaid off from my job.

layoff n. Jobs cut by a company because it does not have enough business arelayoffs.

The company said there wouldn't be anylayoffs, despite the decline in profits.

2. lay off p.v. [informal] When youlay off people, you stop criticizing, teasing, or pressuring them.

You've been bugging me all day. If you don'tlay off, you're going to be sorry.
Lay off Nancy — she's having a bad day.

3. lay off p.v. When youlay off something, such as a food or an activity, you stop consuming the food, or doing the activity.

Listen to the way you're coughing. You've got tolay off cigarettes.
After Ned had a heart attack, helaid off cheese and butter sandwiches.

Infinitive
	present tense	-ing form	past tense	past participle
screw up
	screw up & screws up	screwing up	screwed up	screwed up

1. screw... up p.v. [informal] When you damage something or do something wrong or badly, youscrew up or youscrew up what you are doing.

/ tried to fix my computer, but I couldn't do it, and I justscrewed itup instead.
Mark sent his wife a letter that he wrote to his girlfriend. He surescrewed up.

screwed up part.adj. When people or things arescrewed up, they are damaged or confused.

My back is soscrewed up I can't even walk.
George was a nice guy, but a littlescrewed up in the head.

screwup n. A problem or confused situation caused by someone's mistake is ascrewup.

Two babies were switched because of ascrewup in the maternity ward. There was ascrewup in the finance department, and the bill was paid twice.

2. screw... up p.v.[informal] When people make a mistake that causes a problem for you, theyscrew youup.

The travel agent forgot to reconfirm my flight, and it reallyscrewed meup.
You reallyscrewed meup when you lost my car keys.