How to Search for Phrasal Verbs in Playphrase.me

Playphrase.me editorial

Playphrase.me does not have a separate phrasal-verb search mode. Search for phrasal verbs in Search & Learn as ordinary phrases. With an expression such as pick up, however, one query may not be enough: the verb and particle can appear together or with an object between them.

Run both searches:

pick up

and

pick * up

The first query is for the form in which pick and up are adjacent. In the second, * stands for one or more words between them.

Start with pick up and no gap

Select English, enter pick up in Search phrases, and press Enter. Listen to several results and read each full line.

Listen to the entire first line and read the text below the video. Then compare several more results from the same search.

In one result, the words immediately after pick up are some milk:

In another line, the same expression appears next to one of those nasty bugs:

Compare those lines with pick up a few more shifts. The surrounding words point in different directions: milk may be something to buy or collect, a bug may be an illness someone catches, and shifts refer to extra work. The full line and scene still determine the exact meaning.

Do not attach one definition to pick up after the first result. Separate examples that use the expression differently, then check those meanings in a dictionary.

Put * between the two parts

Some phrasal verbs can place an object between the verb and particle. Alongside pick up the phone, English also allows pick the phone up; with a pronoun, the order is pick it up.

To allow words between pick and up, search for:

pick * up

This query looks for pick, followed by one or more words, followed by up. Use it in addition to pick up, not instead of it: the wildcard represents a gap and does not cover the adjacent form.

Not every phrasal verb is separable. Playphrase.me also matches the words in the query; it does not label every result as a phrasal verb. Listen to and read the full line instead of treating every pick … up sequence as a ready-made grammar example.

Compare the surroundings, not just translations

For each result, check what appears between the two parts or immediately after the expression. An object, person, illness, or work shift often points towards the meaning used in that line.

Playphrase.me shows the expression in a particular scene. A dictionary is still the place to name and verify the meaning; the video quotes show how that meaning can be recognised in speech.

Open Search & Learn, search first for pick up and then for pick * up, and compare several complete lines from both result sets.