There are many verbs in Japanese formed by thought a combination of two verbs—the equivalent of phrasal verbs in English, e.g. to take back, to calm down, to keep on doing, etc. In Japanese these “joint verbs” are formed by taking the stem of one verb and adding another. Here are some examples:
| Verb I | Verb II | Phrasal Verb |
| to take | to return | to take back |
| Verb I | Verb II | Phrasal Verb |
| to cut | to let out | to cut out |
| Verb I | Verb II | Phrasal Verb |
| to fall | to fix | to settle down |
| Verb I | Verb II | Phrasal Verb |
| to accept | to put in | to come to terms with |