Wednesday, May 7, 2008


I received the following email, with a new phrasal verb:


Muy interesante tu blog. Felicitaciones

Aquí te dejo otro verbo que para mi parece un phrasal verb

Responder de


For example:
Alicia repondió/contestó a la pregunta correctamente

Alicia respondió por/pagó por los daños

Jean (Chile)

Thanks, Jean!


La Traductora said...

Here's another one, the classic, "Cuidado, porque no respondo de mi."

Erica said...

"tener que ver" sería uno, no? Have to do with..."La pelicula E.T. no tiene nada que ver con ballenas."

Carloz said...

¡Gracias Erica y La Traductora!

Anonymous said...

dude, you need to look up the difference between phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs. Phrasal verbs don't exist in Spanish, they are more associated with Germanic languages like German, English and Dutch (maybe others...)
phrasal: the "preposition" does not have an object, only the verb + particle has an object e.g. he used up the battery. The battery does not go "up"

Prepositional verb: preposition is logically related to the object. He dived off the diving board
He listened to the radio.

Example: Pick up the bowl = prepositional verb

pick up a chick = phrasal verb.

It looks like the site helped you to remember, anyway! I just don't want readers to get confused

Carloz said...

Dear Gentle Reader Anonymous,

Thank you for your concern about this immensely popular blog's impact on its followers. My intention was certainly never to confuse, but merely to amuse – perhaps even to infuse, but never to bemuse. If instead it has confounded you or any reader, or had any negative impact on anyone anywhere, I offer my most humble apologies.

Since the English tongue lacks a language regulator like Spain's RAE, or even one generally accepted reference point for language planning and engineering, confusion can easily occur – as well as disagreement. For example, while you speak of a “difference” between phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs, I am sure you know that there are sources that describe a prepositional verb as a type of phrasal verb, as opposed to a distinct entity. Other types of phrasal verbs include:

particle-verbs, with an adverb instead of a preposition, and

particle-prepositional verbs, which have an adverb and a preposition.

Indeed, even the term “phrasal verb” itself is not universal. Other names for this phenomenon include idiomatic verbs, multi-word verbs, multi-part verbs, phrasal-adverbial verbs, phrasal-prepositional verbs, verb–particle combination, verb–particle construction, and verb phrase.

While there are different names for, definitions of, and debates about phrasal verbs, it is my opinion that language learners should not really worry about these unless they want to make careers as grammarians. What is important is to learn the meanings of the verbs and how to use them – period, full stop, punto.

For the purposes of this site, I do not think semantics are really very important either. As I wrote in the blog's description, to my ears something similar to the phrasal verb exists in Spanish. (The key word in that sentence is similar.)

Feel free to call these verbal constructs something else: fixed expressions, compound verbs, slang, or even Carlozisms. Regardless, the purpose of this blog is for people to list examples of them here, not to opine as to whether Spanish phrasal verbs actually exist; nor to analyze what a phrasal verb is. Those discussions I will let dudes and chicks like you engage in elsewhere on the blogosphere.

Most sincerely yours,


Anna said...

You go, Carloz!

Now, how about, quedarse sin, or to be out of?

Hemos quedamos sin leche.
We're out of milk.

Carloz said...

Thanks, Anna!