This paper starts from the fact that everyone who has studied English as a second language/nhas noticed that the study of phrasal verbs poses a challenge for both teachers and/nstudents. Students are offered a list of phrasal verbs without any other explanation; they/njust have to learn them by heart. Those lists differ from one another due to the fact that/neach author/teacher chooses the phrasal verbs that they consider the most common. Since/nthis approach to phrasal verbs is not the most effective, it is going to be the center of this/nstudy. After describing what a phrasal verb is –a compound verb formed by a main verb/nand a particle–, although the particle placement will also be treated, the work will be/nfocused on analyzing the particle in terms of meaning. Moreover, a comparison among its/ntreatment in different dictionaries will be carried out, and, since the particle is the key/ncomponent, we aim to reorganize the lists provided to students according to the particle in/norder to make its study easier.