英语中很多语法都不是孤立存在的，单词也类似。记忆单词要找规律，有的时候可以事半功倍，而且很容易形成长期不脱落的记忆链条。在英语中，跟动词短语不一样，短语动词是动词加上小品词（介词副词），它们用来改变动词的意思。许多短语动词可以变成名词，也即很多时候只要你掌握了一个短语动词，那么就有可能又多学会了一个名词。短语动词变成名词的构词方式通常是去掉中间的空格、在动词与小品词之间加上破折号“-”或者去掉空格后对调动词和小品词的位置，常见的有：black out→blackout 1、断电，停电The storm caused a blackout of several hours.暴风雨造成了几个小时的停电。2、新闻封锁The judge imposed a news blackout during the trial.法官在审判过程中封锁了新闻。break down→breakdown 1、（车辆或机器的）故障，损坏I had to call the breakdown recovery service when the electrics failed in my car.当我车里的电器出故障时，我不得不打电话给故障恢复中心。2、(关系的)破裂，(讨论、系统的)失败The breakdown in the talks happened because the two sides couldn’t agree on anything.谈判破裂是因为双方在任何问题上都不能达成一致。3、分类，细目列表Can you get me a breakdown of our costs?你能给我一份成本明细表吗？4、神经衰弱；精神崩溃How many people suffer from nervous breakdowns every year?每年有多少人患有神经衰弱症？break in→break-in 破门而入，闯入，入室偷窃This area suffers a lot of break-ins.这个地区经常有人闯入。burn out→burnout 精疲力竭，过度劳累If you don’t take enough time off, you risk burnout.如果你没有休息足够的时间，你可能会精疲力尽。check up→check-up 检查，(尤指)体格检查I’m going for a check-up tomorrow.我明天要去体检。come back→comeback 复出，东山再起The band are trying to make a comeback with their new tour and album.乐队正试图以他们的新巡演和新专辑东山再起。crack down→crackdown 严厉的打击，镇压The school is having a crackdown on behaviour, and they’re giving lots more detentions.学校正在对学生的行为进行打击，他们将给予更多的拘留。
turn down→downturn (商业经济的)衰退，下降，衰退期The economic downturn meant that many companies made less profit.经济衰退意味着许多公司利润减少。drop out→dropout 辍学者，退学者Make sure you revise for your exams – you don’t want to be a dropout!一定要为考试复习——你不想成为辍学者吧！flash back→flashback 1、（往事的）突然重现，闪回，再现Even though the accident was years ago, I still get flashbacks.即使那次事故是几年前的事了，我还是会想起往事。2、（电影、小说、戏剧中的）闪回，倒叙There is even a flashback to the murder itself.甚至有一段关于谋杀本身的闪回。hand out→handout 1、救济金，救济物，救济品Many people depend on state handouts to buy food and other essentials.许多人依靠国家救济品购买食品和其他必需品。2、讲义，提纲The teachers always give us handouts with the lesson notes on them.老师们总是给我们讲义，上面有课文。hang up→hang-up 苦恼，难堪，焦虑He grew up in a very repressed family and he has lots of hang-ups.他成长在一个非常压抑的家庭，他有很多烦恼。kick off→kick-off （足球赛的）开球，开赛 What time is kick-off?什么时候开赛？let down→let-down 令人失望的事，失望，沮丧I was looking forward to seeing the film for ages, but it was a bit of a let-down.我很期待看这部电影很久了，但有点失望。make over→makeover （外观的）改进，改善；修饰；翻新House makeover programmes are very popular at the moment.房屋改造项目目前非常流行。meet up→meet-up 见面会Once a year the company has a meet-up in an exotic location.公司每年在异国他乡举行一次聚会。break out→outbreak （暴力、疾病等坏事的）爆发，突然发生Outbreaks of rain are expected in the afternoon.下午将有暴雨。burst out→outburst （尤指愤怒等感情的）爆发，迸发 His speech prompted an angry outburst from a man in the crowd.他的讲话激起了人群中一男子的愤怒。come out→outcome 结果，效果If we want a different outcome, I think we should do it differently.如果我们想要一个不同的结果，我认为我们应该做得不同。rip off→rip-off 索价过高（或物非所值）的东西，仿制品，冒牌货£40 for a ticket is a complete rip-off!40英镑一张票完全是骗人的！tip off→tip-off 举报，密告The police acted on a tip-off and arrested the suspect as he was having dinner in a restaurant.警方接到举报后采取行动，逮捕了正在餐馆吃饭的嫌疑犯。turn over→turnover （一定时期内的）营业额，成交量Our turnover is up, but our profits are down.我们的营业额上升了，但利润下降了。work around→workaround 应变方法，变通方法We don’t have the resources to fully research the problem, but we’ve found a workaround for now.我们没有足够的资源来全面研究这个问题，但我们已经找到了一个解决办法。因此在学习短语动词的时候，如果有对应的名词，就顺带学习一下，掌握了这个潜在的规律，词汇量就有可能成倍增加。
