Phrasal verbs - le "famiglie" di verbi

Eng. grammarians call "phrasal verbs" the lexical units consisting of a verb proper followed by a preposition and/or another particle, like "look at, look for, look after, look up to, look down upon" etc. or "make up, make out, make for" and several more.

Something similar exists in It. too but with an important difference: the preposition or particle comes before the verb and forms one word with it: "ascrivere, circoscrivere, coscrivere, descrivere, inscrivere, iscrivere, prescrivere, proscrivere, sottoscrivere, trascrivere" from "scrivere" ( write).

In cases like "addurre, condurre, dedurre, indurre, introdurre, produrre, sedurre, tradurre" etc. the verb *"durre" cannot stand by itself - it derives from Latin "ducere" ( to lead).

In both languages, the meaning of a phrasal verb cannot be deduced from its components but it is to be learned individually. "Circoscrivere" is used for fires and epidemics - you certainly do not get them under control with a pen or a pencil. Like many lexical units, phrasal verbs too may have two or more meanings, not just one.