English Phrasal Verbs

Question

I have just compliled a list of English Phrasal Verbs. There are 1000s of them!!
Does Spanish have the same quantity? Or the same "need" for Phrasal Verbs.
How does one find a Spanish equivalent'

Answer 1

Phrasal verbs in English are a pain to learn. I still get confused with "the alarm went off" meaning it started to make a sound instead of, well, being turned off.

Spanish usually has a specific verb for the equivalent English phrase. A good English-to-Spanish dictionary will list the Spanish equivalents under the entry for the verb (my four-volume English-Portuguese dictionary has three full pages for 'get').

Online dictionaries, at least the ones I know, are not that good.

Answer 2

1000? 4000? You must be joking! I've got a little list of 12889 phrasal verbs, and it is not even exhaustive!

There is nothing like a phrasal verb in Spanish, as far as I know. We have specific verbs instead of some of your phrasal ones, and we use periphrases and pronominal constructions to increase the whole range of things we can express, reaching way over 20,000 verbal combinations, but there are still many phrasal verbs that cannot be easily translated into Spanish, and vice versa.

Answer 3

Aurino
GET is a very special word in English - so many phrasals use it - AND it is almost completely superfluous - usually there is another verb to express the same thing- BUT we use it all the time. Glad I don't have to learn it as a foreign language.

Me too Ian, very confusing. - MaryMcc, Nov 14, 2011

Answer 4

Lazarus
Thanks a lot - that answered my questions.

We have a phrase called "verbal diarrhoea" which might describe many of the phrasal verbs we have somehow created.

Answer 5

hmmm, el equivalente a phrasal verbs que es lo que pregunta Ian.

Que yo sepa, en español no existen los "phrasal verbs", y los nombre más lógicos que se me ocurren para traducir este término son "locución verbal" y "verbos perifrásticos"

Answer 6

Lazarus, ¿Y hay una lista en español de verbos compuestos? No me suena...pero tú sabes más de esto.

¿Verbos compuestos? ¿Te refieres a las perífrasis, a las locuciones, o a ambas?
hmmm, el equivalente a phrasal verbs que es lo que pregunta Ian.

Answer 7

Lazarus, ¿Y hay una lista en español de verbos compuestos? No me suena...pero tú sabes más de esto.

¿Verbos compuestos? ¿Te refieres a las perífrasis, a las locuciones, o a ambas'

Answer 8

Lazarus, ¿Y hay una lista en español de verbos compuestos? No me suena...pero tú sabes más de esto.

Answer 9

HI Heidita

Of course we native speakers of English don't actually "learn" phrasals either we just "grow up" with them - much easier.

Really? I really thought you had this as a special task, there are so many I mean.......

This takes me as a surprise.

Answer 10

HI Heidita
Of course we native speakers of English don't actually "learn" phrasals either we just "grow up" with them - much easier.

Answer 11

qfreed
I don't need a book but I think guidance for learners of English is important. They are a "pain" because they can mean so many different things - logical - idiomatic etc and you can't make a picture in your mind's eye like with IDIOMS. The English verbs do not seem to lend themselves to expressing somethings - maybe that is why we have so many phrasal verbs. My question was "are there as many in Spanish'"
So what is the answer to that?
And is there a phrasal verb to Spanish dictionary without buying a whole bookcase of books'

Answer 12

HI Ian my answer would be no, as we actually do not learn "verbos compuestos" which would be more or less the equvivalent, as a special task in Spanish.

De esto sabe más Lazarus , a ver si ve este hilo.

Answer 13

Search online or purchase a book. Resources are available.

por ejemplo
http://www.lingolex.com/phrasalen.htm

Answer 14

I have a book of those English Prasal Verbs and there are 4000 verbs.