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。
