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Exam Oriented Phrasal Verbs for all Competitive Exams
Let's Master Phrasal Verbs in English Grammar (With Examples)
Phrasal are verbs are one of the most important topics of English Grammar, especially for candidates preparing for competitive exams. Many aspirants find them confusing because their meanings are mostly different from the individual words.
In this blog, you will know about phrasal verbs in an easy and clear way. We will cover their meanings, examples, and easy rules that will help you to understand and use them correctly in writing and speaking. Apart from it, you will be able to identify and use phrasal verbs confidently in your daily English and exams.
Let's have a quick review of what we will learn in this article:
Phrasal verbs are an essential part of English as they are commonly used in both spoken and written language, adding nuance richness to expression. Phrasal verbs are combination a combination of a verb and one or more particles (such as adverbs or prepositions) that together create a meaning different from the original verb.
For example:
Give up means to quit or stop doing something, which totally different from the meanings of "give" or "up" alone.
The Difference Between Intransitive & Transitive Verbs
Transitive verbs require a direct object to complete its meaning.
Now, the question is what do we mean by direct object 🤔
Here, is an image to clarify what do we mean by " Direct Object. "
For example:
She reads a story book.
Here ' reads' is a transitive verb, and "a story book" is the object.
On the other hand, an intransitive verb does not need a direct object
to convey a complete thought.
For example, The bird flies.
Here is the verb "fly", It ends in a consonant (L) followed by "y".
When a verb ends in a consonant +"y", according to rule, you must
" y" to an "i" and add "-es" when using the third - person singular.
The bird fly + s = The bird flys.
The bird + fl + i + es = The bird flies.
So, at last we can say, write "flies" because is the correct conjugation
to make the subject (The bird) and the verb (flies) agree.
' flies' is an intransitive verb as it stands complete without an object.
Pro tip:
Here, I would like to clear that the indirect object usually precedes
the direct object.
Phrasal verbs that are transitive and intransitive:
Importance of Phrasal Verbs in Competitive Exams
Phrasal Verbs play a vital role in competitive exams in English - comprising SSC,Civil Services and banking - as they are frequently evaluated in competitive exams through formats like fill in the blanks, spot the error, and cloze test.These types of questions assess your ability to understand sentence formation, vocabulary and logical reasoning. They often appear in reading comprehension, vocabulary, an grammar sections, testing candidates' understanding of nuanced meanings and contextual usage. Mastery of Phrasal Verbs enhances communication skills and can impact a candidate's ability to score well.
Struggling with phrasal verbs? Learn them easily with examples, meanings
and tips to boostyour English for exam and daily use. Phrasal Verbs Made
Simple for Competitive Exams
Here is a list of Phrasal Verbs that are often useful for Competitive Exams:
How to Use Phrasal Verbs
"Stop Memorizing phrasal verbs! Learn them smartly "
Using phrasal verbs effectively in your daily life can greatly enhance our fluency and confidence withthe English language, making them second nature by the time exams come around. Begin by integrating common phrasal verbs into your everyday conversations.
For instance: Imagine you are throwing your birthday in the school campus, in the nick of time, the principal entered the class, and (he/she) the principal said, " carry on" instead of saying " continue". Apart from it, reading books, watching T.Vshows or listening to podcasts in English can expose you how the native speakers use phrasal verbs naturally. Use these phrasal verbs expressions in article writing, journal, short stories that incorporate a variety of phrasal verbs (it can be beneficial, so keep practicing). At last, I would like to suggest you to use flashcards or apps designed for vocabulary building can help reinforce your memory. By consistently practicing these strategies, you will find that phrasal verbs become a seamless part of your language skills, reducing stress and difficulty during exam.
Passive voice is used in daily life regularly to emphasize the action or object rather than the subject performing it. For competitive exam aspirants, mastering passive voice is essential as it repeatedly appears in grammar sections. It assists in restructuring sentences and improves clarity and writing
skills. Further, in contexts where the doer is unknown or irrelevant, passive voice provides clarity, making it a crucial device in both communication and examination.
Here, in passive voice, we have changed ' Subject - He ' into ' him'. In the same manner, let's know how pronouns change from subject to object.
If the subject is noun (instead of pronoun): In the following example 'chef' is a noun. It is a common noun, "The" is a determiner that specifies which chef we are talking about. The verb ' cooked ' is transitive. It is transitive because the action passes from the subject (the chef) to a direct object ('a delicious meal'), which completes the meaning of the sentence.
An indirect object is the noun or pronoun that receives the direct object - it conveys us to whom or for whom the action is done. In another words, it answers the question: " to whom? " or " for whom"?
For example,
Raman gave me a birthday gift🎁.
In this sentence, there are two objects:
Indirect object: ➡️ me
To whom did Raman give it, the answer is me.
Direct object ➡️ a birthday gift
What did Raman give? ➡️ a birthday gift🎁
💡Pro Tip for the Aspirants
Try to rewrite the sentence using "to" or "for", you can identify the indirect object easily.
Raman gave me a gift.
➡️ Raman gave a gift to me.
Let's understand these two, direct object and indirect object through the following table:
Direct object Indirect object
Yes (directly) No (receives the direct object)
What? / Whom? To whom? For whom?
Often required Optional
Points to remember:
Always remember the voice of intransitive verb cannot be changed.
The children played in the evening.
It is an example of intransitive verb because it does not have an direct
object (a noun receiving the action). The phrase ' in the evening', is an
adverbial phrase of time, not an object.
Here, Subject: The children
Verb: played (intransitive)
Modifier: in the evening (indicates when, not what was played)
If the object is a book/holy book /proper noun, it can be changed into passive.
👉Only one object, that is why only one passive form.
Ramayana is read by my grandmother. (Passive Voice)
Observe step - by - step change
Ramayana (object) ➡️ subject
reads (simple present) ➡️ is read
My grandmother ➡️ by my grandmother
every day ➡️ remains the same
⭐Exam tip
👉Simple present passive = is/am/are + V3
👉 Adverbs of time (every day, always, often remain unchanged).
Golden Rule for Competitive Exams:
Thing taught/given/sent = Direct Object
Person taught/given to = Indirect Object
While changing active voice to passive voice, always keep in mind:
You change the word order
Change the verb
The delivery boy sends an OTP.
(Active Voice)
An OTP is sent by the delivery boy. (Passive Voice)
Here, (Object becomes Subject) while changing active voice to
passive voice.
Verb Adjustment: Sends becomes
"is sent" (be + past participle).
Subject becomes Agent: "The delivery boy" moves to an end,
introduced by "by".
Learn grammar through visuals - ideal for competitive exams.
Look at the following image and understand the difference, because visual
learning stays longer in our memory.
Learn Fast, Remember Forever!
Active vs Passive Voice Explained with Image! Easy Grammar for Exams
See the image and learn the difference - images stay in our mind for a long time.
Master Active and Passive Voice in simple chart:
Here, in the below image, you can check Active and Passive Voice Rules of all tenses.
This blog post provides a comprehensive guide to Active and Passive Voice, specifically tailored for competitive exams like the SSC CGL. It breaks down the rules for transforming sentences across different tenses and special cases.
Here is a structured summary of the key concepts covered in the article, organized for easy review:
1. The Core Transformation Rule
To change a sentence from Active to Passive, the object and subject swap places, and the verb changes its form:
Questions starting with "Who" change to "By whom" in the passive voice.
Active: Who wrote this?
Passive: By whom was this written?
4. Key Takeaways for Exam Preparation
The "V_3 Rule": In Passive Voice, the main verb is always in the third form (V_3).
Pronoun Changes: Subject pronouns change to object
pronouns (e.g., ' I ' becomes me, He becomes him, They becomes them).
Eliminating the Agent: If the subject is obvious or unknown (e.g., "Someone stole my bag"), "by someone" is often omitted in the passive form ("My bag was stolen").
This resource is an excellent tool for mastering grammar transformations through clear, logical patterns.
Don't just read grammar - see it,
understand it and remember it forever.
Here are the active - passive voice rules to follow for changing an active sentence into a passive voice.
Conversion of Active & Passive Voice
Examples
Active Voice:
He writes a message immediately.
Passive Voice:
A message is written immediately by him.
Here, you see that object becomes subject," A message "moves to the front.
Verb Tense: "Writes":(Simple Present Tense) becomes " is written"(be+past participle).
Subject becomes Agent: "he" changes to " by him ".
Adverb Placement: "immediately" will not change and will be placed
at the end or near the verb.
Learn grammar through visuals -
Are they singing a melodious song? (Active Voice)
Is a melodious song being sung by them? (Passive Voice)
Here, "melodious song" becomes (object) becomes the subject, and "them" (subject) becomes the agent. The present continuous form
" are singing" changes to " is being sung" to show the action is in progress. Sentence remains interrogative by starting with " is ".
He threw the trash into the garbage bin. (Active Voice)
The trash was thrown into the garbage bin by him. (Passive Voice)
Let's identify the tense used in active voice:
" Threw" simple past tense becomes " was thrown" (be+past participle).
"He" subject becomes agent and changes to " by him" at the end.
Will you organize the events? (Active Voice).
Will the events be organized by you? (Passive Voice)
More Examples:
Has he bought your new branded wristwatch? (Active Voice)
Has your new branded wristwatch been bought by him? (Passive Voice)
Who wrote, "The Hawk's Quest"? (Active Voice)
By whom was "The Hawk's Quest" written? (Passive Voice)
May I use your mobile? (Active Voice)
May your mobile be used by me?
(Passive Voice)
She did not appoint anyone. (Active Voice)
Anyone was not appointed by her. (Passive Voice)
The cobbler mends the shoes. (Active Voice)
The shoes are mended by the cobbler. (Passive Voice)
Do they play indoor games during summer vacation? (Active Voice)
Are indoor games played by them during summer vacation? (Passive Voice)
Exercise to beat the competition
Choose the correct answer:
An email ...... by the typist.
a) types b) is typed c) was typed d) type
Answer: c) was typed
Explanation: This sentence is a passive voice. The subject (An email) receives the
action, and "was typed" is the correct past passive form.
The pizza ....... by my friend yesterday.
a) bake b) bakes c) is baked d) was baked
Answer: d) was baked
Explanation: The subject (The Pizza) receives the action. "Was baked" correctly uses the past passive form.
Why are flowers ...... by her?
a) been overwatered b) being overwatered c) been overwater d) being overwater
Answer: Why are the flowers being overwatered by her?
Explanation: Originally, this sentence is in the present continuous tense (is overwatering)
and in the passive voice, "being" followed by the past participle ("overwatered")
When will your project ...... by you?
a) accomplish b) be accomplished c) accomplished d) is accomplish
Answer: When will your project be accomplished by you?
Explanation: Here, the focus has shifted from the subject of the action itself (the project being accomplished).
By whom ........ the poem composed?
a) was b) is c) were d) has
Answer: By whom was the poem composed?
Explanation: Here, the word "were" is used because it refers to a singular noun"poem" and implies that the action of composing occurred in the past. "were"
would be used for the plural subject, and would suggest the action is occurring in the present, which does not align in the past tense implied by "composed".
Was the story .... by her?
a) narrate b) narrated c) was narrated
Answer: Was the story narrated by her?
Explanation: Here, the verb needs to be in the past participle form for passive
voice construction. "Narrated" is the past participle of ' narrate '. The structure "was narrated by her"? follows the passive voice format, where the subject (the
story) receives the action performed by the agent (her).
The important papers ....... after the meeting starts.
a) will check b) checked c) will be checked
Answer; The important papers will be checked after the meeting starts.
Explanation: Here, the sentence is in the future passive voice. The phrase ' after the meeting' points out that the action of checking the papers will occur in the future. Since the papers are the ones being checked, the passive construction ' will be checked ' is correct answer. In contrast, 'will check' suggests the papers themselves are doing the checking, which doesn't make
sense, and 'checked' implies the action already been completed, which is inconsistent with the timing indicated by 'after the meeting'.
A patriotic song ....... by her.
a) sung b) was sung c) is being sung
Answer: A patriotic song is being sung by her.
Explanation: The phrase is written in the passive voice, where the focus is on the action being performed rather than the subject performing the action. "was sung' indicates that the action took place in the past. Therefore, if you are referring to a song that she performed in the past, ' was sung' is the correct
Active and Passive Voice:
