Phrasal Verbs

Los ejercicios de transformación con verbos frasales son más fáciles de lo que pueda pensarse. La clave está en encontrar un sinónimo no-frasal del verbo frasal en cuestión. He aquí algunos ejemplos:

• to account for sth = to justify - dar cuenta de, explicar, justificar: Every penny you spend will have to be accounted for/will have to be justified - tendrás que dar cuenta/justificar cada penique que gastes
• to act/play up = to give trouble - causar problemas, dar la lata: my car has been acting up/has been giving me trouble again - mi coche me ha estado dando la lata otra vez
• to blow over = to be forgotten - pasar, olvidarse (suceso): I hope the incident will soon blow over/will soon be forgotten - espero que el incidente se olvide pronto
• to blow up a photograph = to enlarge a photo - ampliar una foto: I like this photo. I'm going to have it blown up/to have it enlarged - me gusta esta foto. La voy a ampliar
• to brush up on sth = to review - poner al día/revisar (conocimientos): If you are going to France, you must brush up on/you must review your French - si vas a ir a Francia, debes poner al día tu francés
• to call sth off = to cancel - cancelar, suspender: The meeting has been called off/cancelled - la reunión se ha suspendido
• to put sth off = to postpone - aplazar: The football match has been put off/postponed because of the rain - el partido de fútbol se ha aplazado a causa de la lluvia
• to call on sb = to visit - visitar a alguien, pasar a ver: One of our agents will call on you/will visit you tomorrow morning - uno de nuestros agentes le visitará mañana por la mañana
• to carry on (with sth) = to continue - continuar: Carry on with your work/continue with your work - continúa con tu trabajo
• to carry sth out = to conduct - llevar a cabo: We need to carry out/conduct some experiments -necesitamos llevar a cabo algunos experimentos
• to die out = to become extinct - extinguirse: Dinosaurs died out/became extinct long ago - los dinosaurios se extinguieron hace tiempo
• to fall out with sb = to quarrel with sb - pelearse con alguien: He's fallen out/quarrelled with his partner - se ha peleado con su socio
• to get sb down = to depress sb - deprimir: This bad weather gets me down/depresses me - este mal tiempo me deprime
• to put some money aside = to save - ahorrar: Lucy's putting some money aside for her holidays/Lucy's saving for her holidays - Lucy está ahorrando para sus vacaciones
• to go off = to go bad - echarse a perder (alimentos): I'm afraid the fish has gone off/has gone bad - me temo que el pescado se ha echado a perder 
• to look down on sb = to despise - despreciar, mirar por encima del hombro: Don't look down on him/don't despise him just because he's not rich - no lo mires por encima del hombro solo porque no es rico
• to look into sth = to investigate - investigar algo: The police will look into/investigate the matter - la policía investigará el asunto
• to put up with sth/sb = to stand, to tolerate - soportar, aguantar: How can you put up with/stand that awful noise? - ¿cómo puedes soportar ese horrible ruido?
• to make sth up = to invent sth - inventar (una historia, algo falso): That isn't true, he's made it up/he has invented it - eso no es verdad, se lo ha inventado
• to run sb down = to criticize - criticar a alguien, ponerlo verde: Stop running him down/criticizing him - deja ya de criticarlo
• to walk out = to go on strike - ponerse en huelga: The miners walked out/went on strike again this morning - los mineros se pusieron en huelga otra vez esta mañana

EJERCICIO

Re-write the sentences using the word given in brackets, so that they have the same meaning as the original:

a.- I'm really excited about the holiday (looking)

a.- I'm ___________________ the holiday

b.- His parents raised him very strictly (up)

b.- His parents ____________ very strictly

c.- Fortunately, the bomb did not explode (go)

c.- Fortunately, the bomb ______________

d.- The old man died in his sleep (passed)

d.- The old man ___________ in his sleep

e.- Who spread that rumour? (put)

e.- Who ______________?

f.- The enemy forces are retreating (pulling)

f.- The enemy forces ______________

g.- Could you give me accommodation for the night? (up)

g.- Could you _______________ for the night?

h.- My daughter resembles my wife (takes)

h.- My daughter _____________ my wife

i.- She'll inherit a large fortune when her uncle dies (into)

i.- She'll _______________ a large fortune when her uncle dies

j.- Now it all makes sense (adds)

j.- Now it all ____________

k.- He improvised a few verses at his mother's birthday party (knocked)

k.- He ___________ a few verses at his mother's birthday party

l.- He wouldn't lend me the money, but I managed to persuade him (round)

l.- He wouldn't lend me the money, but I _________

m.- Be careful! You're going to upset that vase (knock)

m.- Be careful! You're going to __________ that vase _____

n.- A big crowd gathered to hear the President (turned)

n.- A big crowd ___________ to hear the President

ñ.- The economy is beginning to improve at last (pick)

ñ.- The economy is beginning __________ at last.

o.- The children seem to like their new teacher (taken)

o.- The children seem to _____________ their new teacher

p.- John is making a slow recovery from his illness (getting)

p.- John __________________ his illness

q.- Jimmy was scolded by his mother for being so rude (told)

q.- Jimmy's mother _______________ for being so rude

r.- I want to listen to the news. Increase the TV volume a bit, will you? (turn)

r.- I want to listen to he news. Will you _____________ a bit?

s.- They don't know yet what caused the accident (brought)

s.- They don't know yet what __________ the accident

KEY

a.- looking forward to

b.- brought him up

c.-didn't go off

d.- passed away

e.- put that rumour about?

f.- pulling back

g.- put me up

h.- takes after

i.- come into

j.- adds up

k.- knocked off

l.- got round him

m.-knock that vase over

n.- turned out

ñ.- to pick up

o.- have taken to

p.- is slowly getting over

q.- told him off

r.- turn the TV up/turn up the TV

s.- brought about