feeling of prepositions

Question

What does a native English speaker feels when he/she uses auxiliary words to form phrasal verbs?
E.g. hang on, hang off, hold on, write down, etc.
The "on", "off", and those words must mean something to a native.

Ugy · Accepted Answer

They do, but within phrasal verbs they can act oddly. For me, phrasal verbs are atomic - the meaning is given by the phrase as a whole and are learnt that way.

Some oddities include:
"Stand up" - move from a non-standing to a standing position; make yourself visible.
"Stand down" - remove yourself from a seat of power or position.

The words 'up' and 'down' alter the meaning of 'stand' to such a degree that it's much easier to learn the meaning of the phrases as a whole than to work out the rules that govern what the prepositions are doing to the verb.

CalifJim · Answer

youssefdirWhat does a native English speaker feels when he/she uses auxiliary words to form phrasal verbs?

Many different feelings, depending on the 'auxiliary word' ('particle') and also on the word it occurs together with, almost always monosyllabic, by the way. Sometimes the particle is used rather literally (Get down from the roof! You're going to get hurt!); more often, metaphorically (The teacher came down hard on the students.— like a hammer literally comes down hard on a nail, perhaps — used to say that the teacher acted harshly toward the students.)

There are six particles that are commonly used, and they occur in pairs of opposite meaning: in, out; on, off; up, down. Another four are a little less common, and they also occur in pairs: away, back; together, apart.
(This is not a complete list, by the way, but it includes the majority.)
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The verbs sometimes occur in predictable pairs with only the particle changing:

turn on (the radio); turn off (the radio) (on ~ functioning, active; off ~ not functioning; inactive)
check in; check out (hotel) (When you arrive, you check in; when you leave, you check out.)
play up (an idea); play down (up ~ make more important; down ~ make less important)
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But the verb more often changes with the particle:

go away, come back; put together, take apart (a device, a machine); come in, go out; put on, take off (clothes); speed up, slow down; stand up, sit down; pick up, put down
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Often the meanings are not exact opposites even when it seems from their forms that they should be.

come up with an answer; come down with the flu
tear up a piece of paper; tear down a fence
face up to your shortcomings; face down an enemy
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The majority of these verbs don't come in pairs.

find out (no 'find in'), pick out (no 'pick in'), wait up (no 'wait down'), set off (no 'set on'), get together (no 'get apart'), pitch in (no 'pitch out')

CJ

Mister Micawber · Answer

youssefdir those words must mean something to a native.

I don't think most natives notice them at all unless it is to make an occasional word joke upon the incongruity of the literal to the actual meaning.

CalifJim · Answer

youssefdirWhat does a native English speaker feel ...

Addendum.

Here are most of the meanings associated with just one particle, IN. So you can see that we English speakers associate these phrasal verb particles with a great many different concepts. You may (or may not) find a common thread that runs through all of these uses.

IN (Add "in" to each verb below.)

Entering: come, barge, break, burst, ****, cut, walk, horn, jump, drop, muscle, wade, sail, dig, dip, plunge, jump, sink, suck, bring, usher
Merging: blend, phase, rub, sink, build, shade, color, tune, plug, fade
Filling: fill, shade, color, pencil, write, type, put
Forceful filling: squeeze, pack, knock, hammer, drive
Drawing, Taking: draw, suck, take, rake, pull, reel, rein, cash - on
Checking: check, phone, sign, clock, log, look - on, key
Contribute: chime, chip, pitch, pay, weigh, kick
Enclosing: box, hem, fence, glass, pen, shut, seal, lock
Approaching: close - on, home - on, move - on
Including: count, clue, fill, get - on, let - on, deal, factor, fall, join, rope, fit
Collapse toward the interior: cave, fall
Yielding: give
Accustom, Train: break
Summon: call
Submit, apply: hand, turn, put - for
Exchange: trade
Substitution: sit - for, fill - for, stand - for
Affix, Stabilize, Contain: tie, strap, hold
At a Home: stop, drop, ask, invite, take
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I don't have this kind of display for ALL particles, by the way, so don't ask!

CJ

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