UP OUT OVER in phrasal verbs

Question

I am studying phrasal verbs now, and I need opinion of a native or expert English speaker.

up: I think when it adds to a verb, what ever the meaning is, it will have a straight advance. (I meant it is advancing and advancing forward is what we are mentioning, but it needs time)

over: I think it gives the phrasal verbs meaning of gradually but it is still advancing forward. However, what is focused is gradual movement.

out: I think it bears the meaning of sudden actions, and the fast pace or sudden happening of event is important.

Could you express your opinion?
(what about this: Could you share your opinion with me? which one is better?

)

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Some examples:

give up: "This is too difficult, I give up." This means I quit doing it. So "up" here creates the verb "to give surrender."

(con)fess up: "All right, fess up. You did it." This means to confess willingly and verbally. So "up" here creates the verb "to confess willingly and verbally."

mess up: "You've messed up again." This means to fail in doing something. So "up" here creates the verb "to make a mess of what you're doing."

buy up: "He bought up all the land around his farm." This means he purchased aggressively. So "up" here creates the verb "to purchase aggressively."

climb up: "He climbed up the corporate ladder faster than anyone before him." This means he advanced in promotion very quickly. So "up" here creates the verb "to advance aggressively.

think over: "He thought over what he had planned and decided not to do it." This means he reconsidered it. So "over" creates the verb "to re-think."

climb over: "He climbed over everyone senior to him to get the presidency of the company." This means he by-passed people with more experience. So "over" creates the verb "to by-pass."

knock out: "He knocked out the champ in the first round, stunning everyone." This means he struck someone to the point of unconsciousness. So "out" creates the verb "to strike to the point of unconsciousness."

try out: "He tried out the new hire to see how he'd fit in the department." This means he tentatively assigned the person. So "out" creates the verb "to assign tentatively."

flip out: "He flipped out over new rules." This means he was overwhelmed. So "out" creates the verb "to overwhelm."

AlpheccaStars · Answer

up: In many cases, up has the idea of advancement, adding, increasing. But there are lots of exceptions

turn up. He turned up in New York. (to be discovered after being missing)
hold up: The robbers held up three pedestrians. (they stole money by a show of force)
hole up: The robbers holed up in the basement of a derelict building. (hole up = to hide oneself)
round up: The cowboys rounded up the cattle. (they captured the cattle by finding and surrounding them)
tune up: He tuned up his guitar. (tune up = to change the pitch of the strings to match some musical standard)
perk up: He perked up after drinking a cup of coffee. (perk up = to become more alert)
fix up: They bought the house to fix up and resell. (fix up = to repair, put in a nice condition)
pair up: The doves pair up every spring before nesting season. (pair up = to select a mate)
lay up: She was laid up with pneumonia for a long time. (lay up = to be confined to bed rest)
let up: The storm finally let up. (the storm decreased in intensity)
roll up / curl up: The armadillo rolled up into a ball. The kitten curled up in my lap. (To form a ball or circular shape)
size up: The boxer sized up his opponent. (To estimate his power and strength)
stand up: My date stood me up. (My date did not appear at our meeting place.)
stop up: The pipe is stopped up. (It is clogged.)

The same is true for the other particles.

USF · Answer

Thanks for your time and reply.

Yes, I know that they could have different meaning.
OUT
1 – From the interior to the exterior: go out, move out, walk out, climb out.
2 – Clearness/loudness: call out, write out, read out, copy out, mark out.
3 – Sudden action: burst out, pop out, break out.
4 – Disappearance, vanishing: turn out, die out, rub out, clean out.
5 – Extension & projection: stick out, point out, stretch out, hang out.

OVER
1 – From side to side: turn on, come over, walk over.
2 – Consideration, inspection: read over, go over, talk over, read over.

UP
1 – Upward movement: go up, climb up, drive up, move up.
2 – Verbs of movement (approach): come up, run up.
3 – Completion: read up, finish up, listen up, save up, drink up.

And other meanings. However what I could conclude from all these meaning was what I mentioned above. I just want to know whether you have the same feeling about those or not.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

The teacher marked out my incorrect answers. Also cross out.
The cake turned out well. (to come to completion)
I like to hang out.with my friends. Mother hung the clothes out to dry. Your shirt tail is hanging out. Please tuck it in.

Listen up! (Pay attention.)

CalifJim · Answer

youzouup: I think when it adds to a verb, what ever the meaning is, it will have a straight advance. ... over: I think it gives the phrasal verbs meaning of gradually ... out: I think it bears the meaning of sudden actions ... Could you express your opinion?

I've noticed that you are asking a lot of questions about the meaning of the second elements in phrasal verbs, the so-called "particles". Those particles don't have any single meaning that can be applied uniformly across all phrasal verbs that have them, and it's just going to be an exercise in frustration trying to formulate a single meaning for each of them.

You can group phrasal verbs by the apparent meaning of the particle, but you'll have so many different meanings for the same particle (and there will be so many individual meanings that apply to multiple particles) that it will hardly be worth the trouble to list and illustrate all the groups.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

As a native English speaker, I know all the phrasal verbs by instinct. Every single one of them, which is really quite astonishing when you consider it, because I never studied so-called phrasal verbs as a separate category of verbs, and just learned all of them as a matter of course as I was growing up with the language. So I never thought about this question of yours before. This is an interesting point you bring up: that there might be a kind of general meaning to these adverbial particles, so that a person might be able to deduce the meaning of a phrasal verb by considering the meaning of the particle together with the meaning of the verb.

To that end, one might say that the particle "out" would, in general, add a quality to the phrasal verb that is characteristic of the word "out." The word "out" in general has a rather negative connotation, and so as a particle in a phrasal verb it would tend to change the meaning of the basic verb to that of a more negative type of verb:

find: the basic verb means to obtain what you've looked for; generally, this is a good thing, to find something.
find out: here the verb is of a more negative character; you've aggressively looked for information about someone or something, and you've found it; when someone looks this hard for information, the information is likely to be of a negative or controversial nature.

count: the basic verb is rather mundane, you enumerate by the counting numbers 1, 2, 3, etc.
count out: here the verb takes on a more negative meaning; you count out a boxer who has been knocked down.

etc.

The word "over" implies vertical movement, and so as a particle in a phrasal verb, it would tend to change the meaning of the verb to one with a sense of "vertical movement."

look: the basic verb means to discern with the eyes.
look over: here the particle adds the sense of "vertical movement," which in this instance implies something like aggression; when you look over something, you look more critically with a view towards selection.

pore: the basic verb means to look, and is intransitive.
pore over: the particle changes the verb to transitive, and as such it becomes more aggressive; when you pore over something you examine it intently.

etc.

The word "up" also implies vertical movement, and as a particle in a phrasal verb will give "vertical movement" to it, which typically translates to aggression.

size: the basic verb means to measure.
size up: the particle makes the verb more aggressive; to size up a person is to critically take the measure of him.

clam: the basic verb means to dig for clams, pretty innocuous.
clam up: the particle changes the verb considerably, although it still relates in a way to the mollusk; it now means to refuse to speak under any circumstances.

etc.

USF · Answer

CalifJimYou can group phrasal verbs by the apparent meaning of the particle, but you'll have so many different meanings for the same particle (and there will be so many individual meanings that apply to multiple particles) that it will hardly be worth the trouble to list and illustrate all the groups.

Hi,
I was beginning to miss you

. I like your post because of your ordered and mostly precise answers (can I say comprehensive for answers?). Yes, I know that, but I have an explanation for myself. Words are for mapping the real meaning or imaginary meaning, and transmit them to others and means of thinking for ourselves

. I figured out that phrasal verbs are sort of graphic words to emphasis emotions, manners and other attributes of performing or state of an event or object. What I am trying to do, and I think it is coming about, is trying to extract images in a native English speaker about phrasal verbs. I think it is undeniable, even for me, that out, in, up, down, over, cross, about, round, and other particles recall a particular image. I have now a image - of course not thorough - , and sometimes unconsciously I make a phrasal verb that I haven't heard, then I look it up in dictionary and I see that my guess is correct. It could be fun too. Then learning words is not boring anymore, so I make as many as I can make to memorize it better and have sort of a feeling about them. Something like roots and affixes.

CalifJim · Answer

youzouYes, I know that, but I have an explanation for myself. Words are for mapping the real meaning or imaginary meaning, and transmit them to others and means of thinking for ourselves

Well, OK. I suppose you already know how difficult it might be to accomplish your goal.

If I were you, I think I would first concentrate on those that occur with their opposites.

up, down
in, out
on, off
away, back

together and apart should be easier.

Then I'd try some like across, through, and over.

Have fun and good luck!

CJ

USF · Answer

Thanks, and I did! What about comprehensive? Is it a proper adj for answers?

CalifJim · Answer

youzouWhat about comprehensive? Is it a proper adj for answers?

Yes.

CJ

UP OUT OVER in phrasal verbs

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