CONTENTS FEATURE: How phrasal verbs can litter your sentences GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn up to $500 FEATURE: How phrasal verbs can litter your sentences      If you want to tighten up your writing, find out how to track down phrasal verbs, then come up with equivalent concise verbs and change them out.      If you want to tighten your writing, learn to recognize phrasal verbs, then replace them with equivalent concise verbs.      The difference between those two sentences demonstrates why. The first sentence, which contains 27 words, is laden with phrasal verbs; they're replaced with leaner verbs in the second sentence, which has just 19 words.      A phrasal verb consists of two or more words—a verb plus an adverb (such as up or off) or preposition (such as to or under). Phrasal verbs add wordiness—unnecessarily so because concise equivalents are so readily available.      Consider these common phrasal verbs, along with more eloquent counterparts. WORDY PHRASAL VERBS CONCISE REMEDIES With his curly hair and thick eyebrows, Darrell takes after his father. Darrell resembles his father. Fred was unable to back up his assertion with evidence. Fred was unable to validate his assertion with evidence. Ellen was angry with Tom, but she backed down when Edna intervened. Ellen was angry with Tom, but she relented when Edna intervened. The nightclub owner backed out of his initial offer. The nightclub owner rescinded his initial offer. Richie called off the party when his parents found out about it. Richie canceled the party when his parents learned about it. Rod called on Tamika to lead the discussion. Rod asked Tamika to lead the discussion. Elmer did not live up to his promise. Elmer did not fulfill his promise. Bud was unable to account for the production delay. Bud was unable to justify the delay. Tony showed up for work two hours late. Tony arrived for work two hours late. He discovered that the club's patrons don't care for polka music. He discovered that the club's patrons dislike polka music. Paco will check up on the shipping cost. Paco will investigate the shipping cost. The company needs to cut down on energy consumption. The company needs to reduce energy consumption. In the early 1950s, television brought about significant change in American society. In the early 1950s, television instigated significant change in American society.      To non-native English speakers, phrasal verbs are potentially dizzying. Changing the preposition in a phrasal verb combination can radically alter meaning. Take a look at some examples. Crack up means to laugh (as in "Francine cracks me up"). Crack down means to penalize or punish ("the safety manager cracked down on horseplay"). We say give away when we mean "donate," and give out when we mean "collapse." We run into or run across friends, but we run out of time. Give in means to surrender ("after arguing for an hour, Arlene gave in to Karen"). Give out can mean to distribute ("give out the pamphlets at the meeting") or it can assume a far different meaning—to become exhausted ("the old truck finally gave out"). Pass up means to ignore or decline ("Geraldo passed up the offer"). Pass out refers to loss of consciousness. Pass off means to misrepresent oneself ("Francine tried to pass herself off as a member of the club"). Pass on means to die. Armies turn back enemies, bosses turn away unworthy job applicants, some people turn their lives around, you can turn over a pancake or an engine, turn up the volume, and turn in for the night. If you're reliable, you hold down a job. If you're secretive you hold back in discussions. If you're resentful about a co-worker's promotion, you hold it against her. If you're outspoken you hold forth with your opinions. And if you're selling your old car, you hold out for a better offer. A man can fall for someone to whom he is attracted, fall behind in work if he's distracted, and if he has a falling out and his plans fall through he can fall back on plan "B." If Bill has it in for Ralph, and Ralph has something against Bill, they may have it out together. Then they won't have anything to do with each other. You can come up with an idea, but come down with a cold. Some people come to after a raucous night and then must come to grips with the results of excessive alcohol drinking. You can come out if you're gay, or come by a rare book at a garage sale, and come into a fortune through inheritance. A sailboat can come about in a stiff wind. A sales rep is expected to come through with a signed contract. And a politician can come around to a different point of view or come clean about an indiscretion. Say, would you like to come over after work? People who get along agree. People who get by survive on limited means. Industrious people get up in the morning and get down to business so they can get ahead, but they should try to leave themselves time to get out on the weekends. If they're articulate, they get through to their co-workers. They may try to get back at people who insult them. If they get away, they escape. Drop by, drop in and drop over mean to come—an invitation ("we'd like you and Betty to drop over when you can"). Drop off can refer to leaving an object for someone ("I'll drop it off when I'm in your neighborhood)—or to falling asleep (Colleen said she wasn't tired, but she dropped off to sleep while we were talking). Drop out means to leave or quit ("don't drop out of high school").      We could offer more examples of phrasal verbs and preferable equivalents, but you probably grasp the concept. So we'll drop it for now. GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions 1. Jaylin wrote:      "I THINK I have a grasp on when to use 'affect' vs. 'effect.' I would love for you to tell me if I am getting it right: I am to use 'affect' when there is an emotional cause, and 'effect' when it is not an emotional cause. If I go by that rule, will I be using these words appropriately?" The grammar coach replies:      You're on the right track, Jaylin. Both "affect" and "effect" can be used as nouns or verbs, but the noun form of "affect" is used only under highly selective circumstances.      As a verb, "effect" means to bring about or to cause, as in "The strike effected a change in our distribution patterns."      As a noun, "effect" means the result of an action, as in "The trucking strike had a pronounced effect upon our sales during the last quarter." It also can be used in reference to emotion, as in, "her somber expression wielded an unexpected effect on the tone of the meeting."      The verb form of 'affect' can have two different meanings: 1. To influence or have an effect on, as in "His zany antics affected the mood of the meeting." 2. To pretend or assume, as in "He affected a phony tough-guy attitude."      The word affect" is used as a noun only in a psychotherapeutic context, in reference to evaluating emotional response. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines the noun "affect" as "the conscious subjective aspect of an emotion considered apart from bodily changes" or "a set of observable manifestations of a subjectively experienced emotion," citing the example "patients...showed perfectly normal reactions and affects." Unless you're a psychotherapist, steer clear of using "affect" as a noun. 2. Art G. wrote:      "What and when are the proper uses of 'importantly' and 'important,' both often prefaced with 'more'?" The grammar coach replies:      The choice depends upon the part of speech that the phrase constitutes in the sentence.      "More important" is the adjectival form, commonly linked with "of" in forming phrases such as "salary arbitration is the more important of the two topics before the board."      "More importantly" is the adverbial form, often used to modify an entire sentence, as in, "More importantly, we discussed salary arbitration."      The Columbia Guide to Standard American English says that the adjectival form (more/most important) may serve as a sentence adverb, as in "More important, we now have the right answer." We at EditPros avoid use of the adjectival form in that way, however.      Most importantly, we hope that answers your question, Art.      Are you perplexed by some aspect of grammar or word usage? Don't be shy! Ask the "grammar coach" at EditPros and we'll try to help—at no charge, just for the sport of it. 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