The meanings of some phrasal verbs can be guessed sometimes; like go after, give back, find out, etc.
Some sentences:
1) Go after her quickly.
2) Give my wallet back.
3) Find out what I have lost.
The reason being (how I understand) from the context, it is clearly understandable what might these phrasal verbs mean. Sometimes they are same with the meaning of the verb itself, just a little addition/subtraction of the meaning, but the theme remains almost constant.
Again some phrasal verbs do not really mean what we guess it could be from the context; For example, put up with, bring up, chip in, etc.
Some sentences:
1) I can not put up with you.
2) She brought him up.
3) If everybody chips in I can complete the work by tomorrow .
It is hard to guess meanings of these phrasal verbs even from the contexts and usages. So in these cases how can we guess the meanings of those?
Best Answer
Phrasal verbs are usually idiomatic expressions that cannot always be understood by analyzing the elements that comprise the verb. For example, with go after, an isolated sentence (one without a context) is ambiguous:
If it's not a phrasal verb, then it means that Susan went first and John went second. After is a preposition, and Susan is the object of the preposition.
If it is a phrasal verb, it may mean a number of things (it requires a context to understand what it means):
These are two possibilities. There are others.
As with all idiomatic expressions, it's necessary to learn them before understanding them. Context, however, might suggest the meaning of the verb. E.g.:
You can probably figure out what went after Jim means here without having to look it up in a dictionary.