Gateway to Grammar: How do I conjugate split verbs in English?

Verbs change as we change the grammar of the sentence around them, this is called conjugation. “To work” becomes “worked” in the past simple, and “have worked” in the present perfect. What do you do when you have a split verb? Split verbs are verbs that are made of two or more words like “stand up” “break down” “carry on” or “wake up”.

A good general rule to remember in English grammar is that you only need to do things once. For each split verb you only need to conjugate one part, the verb part. Let’s look at the examples above in the present simple, past simple and present perfect:

I stand up -> I stood up -> I have stood up
I break down -> I broke down -> I have broken down
I wake up -> I woke up -> I have woken up.

Did you notice that each of these split verbs (or phrasal verbs as they are sometimes known) includes a verb and a preposition? The preposition (on, up, in, out, out) stays the same. The only part of the split verb you conjugate is the verb part.

If you need to put words in between the split verb the rules are the same, only conjugate the verb part, and leave the preposition alone: “I woke Henry up.”

There are split verbs and phrasal verbs where the preposition comes first, or where the preposition and the verb are in the same word. The rules are the same, conjugate the verb, leave the preposition alone:

I overtake -> I overtook -> I have overtaken.

Now you can conjugate split and phrasal verbs!

I hope you have enjoyed today’s Gateway to Grammar. I’ll be back next Friday with another bit of Grammar Gateway genius for you! Did you enjoy this? Leave me a comment below!