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I was reading Why is “rustle up” different from “rustle”? which I came across as I was looking for a duplicate for a question about "google up" meaning on ELL, and it made me realize how little I know about phrasal verbs even though I use them all the time.

Some of the answers and comments talk about phrasal verbs and the exact meaning of these phrases specifically, but I’m wondering about the limits on the formation of phrasal verbs. My understanding is that a phrasal verb is a verb combined with a preposition or adverb (or both) into one semantic unit.

Is there any limit on the types of verbs we can use or is it a science the shit out of it situation where almost anything goes?

I guess that there would be limits to what prepositions or adverbs would combine with different verbs and still “make sense” or not be awkward. I could “google up some answers” but I probably wouldn’t “grab some grapes and stomp up some wine”. That isn’t a very strong example, but I hope it’s good enough to figure out what I mean.

Are there any “structural” or other limits around what words can become part of a phrasal verb? I read over Topography of phrasal verbs but I’m not looking for a list; I’m asking if there might be some verbs that are excluded from being used in a phrasal verb for a particular reason.

I realize this may be a little broad due to my ignorance, and realize that not every verb that sidles up to a preposition is necessarily a “phrasal” verb. Maybe the answer is just “you can mash up whatever words you want to if you don’t mind the strange looks”. I’m hoping it’s more interesting than that though.

ColleenV
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    Pretty much any verb can take a particle, and most take several, so there are many many more phrasal verbs than non-phrasal verbs in English. They're extremely important, and they're extremely idiomatic. You hafta learn them individually, though there are some regularities with up. – John Lawler Jul 14 '21 at 20:37
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    I'm gonna vote up this question. – Dan Bron Jul 14 '21 at 20:48
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    To best explore this, a distinction should be made between a phrasal verb, which takes an adverb particle, and prepositional verb, which takes a preposition with an object. – Tinfoil Hat Jul 14 '21 at 20:56
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    I'm not convinced google up means anything except google. – GArthurBrown Jul 15 '21 at 02:28
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    "Google (it) up" is either a jokey construction to match "look it up" or a creation by someone who doesn't know "google" is a verb. It's not the only phrasal verb where you can drop the preposition. "Wake someone" and "wake someone up" mean essentially the same thing. – Stuart F Jul 15 '21 at 11:17
  • @StuartF What if the context was something like rustle up... "Well I guess I'll just go google up some answers for you since I've already told you I don't know anything about that." I have to admit my inclusion of something a bit controversial in the title was calculated. – ColleenV Jul 16 '21 at 15:45
  • I wonder if this could be covered by government - it is a pretty common grammar topic in Portuguese since meaning can vary wildly depending on the preposition you add to the verb, but I don't see it being discussed much in English – Juliana Karasawa Souza Jul 26 '21 at 11:26
  • rustling- cooking- *up entails (atleast implicitly) some preparation (even if expedited be the prep_work), whereas typing into an internet searchbox (e.g. straight 'googling', sans "-up") not-so-much. – 11qq00 Sep 09 '21 at 00:08
  • "science the shit out of something" is not a phrasal verb. If you want to make science a verb, fine. but I would not suggest it. There is a myth that you can make a verb out of any noun but "to science something". What would that even mean? – Lambie Sep 09 '21 at 00:31
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    Verb the X out of s.t. is a construction, like let alone s.t. It's got its own grammar and meaning. As for using science as a a verb, it's what people also call "doing science", which means just as little but sounds busier. Here it's transitive, is all. – John Lawler Sep 24 '21 at 20:54
  • @Lambie I didn't mean to imply "y the x out of something" was a phrasal verb. I was trying to ask if we could use pretty much any verb, like we can substitute almost anything for "science" in "science the shit out of it" according to the answers to the question I linked. – ColleenV Sep 29 '21 at 13:55
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    Papers have been written on the grey areas between clear [V + Part{trans}] + [Complement] occurrences (eg He ran up a huge bill) and clear [V] + [PP] occurrences (eg He ran up a huge hill). // There is a fine Oxford volume on what are termed 'phrasal verbs' (this used by them as an umbrella term; I'd stick with 'multi word verbs', though 'make believe' say is also a MWV). But though large, it's not comprehensive, and doesn't go into grey-area analyses. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 06 '22 at 15:22
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    Does this answer your question? Why does "up" mean "into pieces" in "tear up"? – Edwin Ashworth Feb 05 '22 at 16:08
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    @Edwin I have read that post before and upvoted Lawler's answer. It doesn't answer "if there might be some verbs that are excluded from being used in a phrasal verb for a particular reason." My question isn't about up in particular. I was just trying to be clever to get attention. – ColleenV Feb 07 '22 at 17:19
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    Even modern verbings like 'lawyer' exist with completive/intensifying 'up'. But verbs that are transitive-only probably rarely exist in MWVs. // Looked at the other way, prepositional-ly 'to' is rare as a particle (heave to, come to ...). 'During', 'athwart' and others don't participate. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 07 '22 at 19:11
  • @EdwinAshworth Thanks, "transitive only" gives me a thread to pull. I'll have to investigate that a bit. – ColleenV Feb 07 '22 at 19:20
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    Related: Meaning of 'up/down' after a verb – Laurel Feb 03 '23 at 23:54

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The phrasal verb construction in English stems from its origin as a germanic language. Take a look at this list for example, under separable particles. For example the verb to give has a totally different meaning than to give up, so in German does geben distinguish itself completely from aufgeben.

In my opinion language belongs to the people who speak it more than it does to those who write its rules, but still as a native English speaker I think freedom of choice is greater when the word has a germanic origin, e.g. cook, rustle, because they have a more familiar feeling. I think this also applies to new words like google for the same reason, but that's really subjective.

As a (mediocre) example of the limits of using particles :

She backed up her colleague

but

She supported her colleague.

really can't have a particle that I can think of. Generally we modify words that come to English from French (or Latin) by using adverbs or adjectives.

Eat your dinner up.

Consume all your dinner.

I searched for a while to find an example of a phrasal verb that was just as familiar feeling as a Latin-origin word but struggled to identify one. Perhaps you can think of one yourself though. Most three-syllable words in English come have a Latin origin.

My dog slobbered me up

but

My dog salivated me up

could only be used in jest I believe.

Not a chance
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    There's probably a group of verbs that come from Latin (often via Middle French) that would work with up. I can think of pay up, suit up, fix up, and mess up. It's possible that shorter words are more likely to adopt up, though other principles at play, since (x)harm up doesn't work. – TaliesinMerlin Jan 06 '22 at 19:05
  • Yes! Pay up is a particularly good one. Etymologically though it is an extension of fill up. All good examples but I would say other than pay they are all very far removed from their latin meaning, i.e. fully anglicised words. Fix is more related to fastening, mess to eating, suit as a verb is an english adaptation. – Not a chance Jan 07 '22 at 11:41
  • Interesting, I'll have to ponder this a bit but have an upvote while I'm thinking :) – ColleenV Feb 07 '22 at 17:24
  • Hi @Colleen, just fyi, your question still has no accepted response. Is that still how you feel about it? – Not a chance Feb 14 '24 at 20:36