Identify the phrasal verb in the following sentence:
"Thieves broke into the bank in the middle of the night."

Question

Identify the phrasal verb in the following sentence: 
"Thieves broke into the bank in the middle of the night."

Accepted Answer

Here's a detailed explanation for the given question:

**Explanation:**

The correct answer is **Option 3: broke into**.

1.  **Why Option 3 is correct (broke into):**
    *   A phrasal verb is a verb combined with an adverb or a preposition (or sometimes both) to create a new meaning that is often different from the original verb.
    *   In "broke into," "broke" is the main verb (past tense of "break"), and "into" is a preposition.
    *   When combined, "broke into" means "to enter a building or place illegally and by force." This meaning is distinct from just "break" (to separate into pieces) or "into" (indicating movement inside). The combination creates a single semantic unit that functions as a verb.
    *   Therefore, "broke into" perfectly fits the definition of a phrasal verb.

2.  **Why Option 1 is incorrect (into the bank):**
    *   "Into the bank" is a prepositional phrase. It consists of the preposition "into" followed by its object "the bank."
    *   Prepositional phrases function as adjectives or adverbs, providing more information about location, time, or manner. They do not form a phrasal verb because they do not combine a verb with a particle to create a new verbal meaning.

3.  **Why Option 2 is incorrect (Thieves broke):**
    *   "Thieves" is the subject of the sentence (a noun).
    *   "broke" is the main verb.
    *   This combination is simply a subject-verb pair. It lacks the additional particle (adverb or preposition) that would combine with the verb to form a phrasal verb. A phrasal verb is a verb *plus* a particle, not just the verb itself or the subject and verb.

4.  **Why Option 4 is incorrect (middle of the night):**
    *   "Middle of the night" is a noun phrase that functions as an adverbial phrase of time, indicating *when* the action occurred.
    *   It does not contain a verb, nor does it combine a verb with a particle to create a new verbal meaning. Therefore, it cannot be a phrasal verb.