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Jigneshbharati Posted 6 years ago
Grammar

Move off

"when the bunch of people moved off at the peep-peep-peeping of the little green man".
I read the above in "Hedgehog" by Dick King-Smith.
Ho we do we know or test that "move off" is a phrasal verb? How do we know "off" belongs to the verb and not either a preposition or an adverb?
Of course I can check them in dictionaries but want to know how to identify them and form them in my own writing.
  

Top answer

Jigneshbharati How we do we know or test that "move off" is a phrasal verb? It's debatable whether 'move off' is a phrasal verb at all in that sentence. The idea behind 'off' in 'move off' is "increasing the distance from something", "going away".

— CalifJim

  • Jigneshbharati How we do we know or test that "move off" is a phrasal verb?
  • It's debatable whether 'move off' is a phrasal verb at all in that sentence.
  • The idea behind 'off' in 'move off' is "increasing the distance from something", "going away".
  • So 'move off' consists of a verb and an adverb with literal meanings.
  • , when we use 'put down' to mean "insult" or 'lighten up' to mean "make more cheerful".
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3 Answers
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JigneshbharatiHow we do we know or test that "move off" is a phrasal verb?

It's debatable whether 'move off' is a phrasal verb at all in that sentence.

The idea behind 'off' in 'move off' is "increasing the distance from something", "going away". So 'move off' consists of a verb and an adverb with literal meanings.

Phrasal verbs usu

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"off" cannot (traditionally) be a preposition because it does not have an object.

"phrasal verb" is a term of convenience for "verb + small adverb" combinations (some people also include "verb + preposition" combinations) that are "idiomatic enough" (i.e. have a meaning sufficiently more than just the sum of their parts). "idiomatic enough" does not have any precise definition. Whether "

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"Move off" is not a phrasal verb here. It is an intransitive verb with an adverb, "off" meaning "away". The parts of intransitive phrasal verbs cannot be separated. In this case, the people might have moved quickly off, and that rules out a phrasal.

A true phrasal is like "drop in" meaning to pay a visit. You can't drop unexpectedly in. You have to drop in unexpectedly. That is the test

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