Another example in English is “get up,” which means to rise or to stand up.įinally, let’s look at the English example “call off,” which means to cancel. The English phrasal verb “put out” means to extinguish (a candle or bonfire, as examples)-however the two words “put” and “out” each have different meanings on their own. Let’s see a few examples of phrasal verbs in English to amplify this explanation. These differences have a big impact on a sentence’s meaning. Noticing these small changes allows you to recognize Spanish phrasal verbs easily.
The verb dejar on its own means “let” and de stands for “from” in Spanish. The verb dejar + de means in English “to stop,” however the translation isn’t literal. I was making fun of you because you fell.Īs you can see, these two examples show that the action is followed by a preposition that adds to the meaning of the sentence. Let’s take a look at a few Spanish sentences with phrasal verbs. Spanish phrasal verbs are also joined by adverbs that provide a description of the verb’s action. Refresh your knowledge of las preposiciones (prepositions) with this Ultimate Guide to Spanish Prepositions. These verbs exist both in English and Spanish grammar, and are accompanied by prepositions in Spanish such as: Los verbos compuestos en español (Spanish phrasal verbs) are the verbs that vary in meaning when a preposition or adverb is added to them.
