English Phrasal Verb: To Give Back

To return something to its owner

To Give Back

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Example Sentences for the English Phrasal Verb Give Back

1. He never gave back the things he borrowed.
2. I found a wallet in the parking lot. I went to the address I found on the license and I was able to give it back to the owner.
3. I couldn’t wait to give the dog back to my sister. It was so annoying.
4. It is always important to give back to the community.
5. He felt guilty after stealing the phone, so he gave it back.

The English phrasal verb, to give back, is transitive and separable.

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English Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs can be extremely tricky for learners of English. The reason for this is twofold: there are lots of them and their meaning is not always obvious from the words that make them up. To make things even more difficult, phrasal verbs can have multiple meanings, adding to the headache for learners.

A phrasal verb is made up of a main verb with an attached preposition or adverb. An example of a phrasal verb is run into. Where run is the main verb and into is the preposition. Phrasal verbs can be separated into two groups, intransitive and transitive verbs. Intransitive phrasal verbs do not have a direct object: go out, for example, "I want to go out tonight". Transitive phrasal verbs have a direct object and they can be split up into two further categories: separable and inseparable. With separable transitive phrasal verbs, the verb and the preposition can be split up. For example, both “turn off the radio” and “turn the radio off” are both correct. Inseparable phrasal verbs cannot be split up. For example, “I’ll look after you” is correct, but “I’ll look you after” is not.

Using Storyboard That you can prepare a visual dictionary of phrasal verbs quickly and easily. Even better than that, have your students create their own phrasal verb visual definitions.