Phrasal Verbs

1. Phrasal verbs are when we combine a verb with a preposition of another grammatical element, and end up with a completely new meaning. Phrasal verbs are important because they are extremely common in informal English, and unless you are familiar with their meanings, understanding informal language will be difficult. In addition, learning to use phrasal verbs correctly will help you sound natural in casual conversation. They’re used constantly by native speakers in spoken and written English, which makes them important to know. Phrasal verbs are used just like verbs—you can use them anywhere they make sense. (A verb is a word that shows an action (‘I will jog to the store’), occurrence (‘The bananas ripened overnight’), or state of being (‘I have the same right to exist as you’). Almost every sentence requires a verb, or else nothing happens!) Another thing to keep in mind about phrasal verbs is that they’re still verbs. That means the verb part of the phrase can be changed depending on the tense and subject of the sentence. So “turn off” can transform like this: I turned on the TV this morning. She turns on the TV every time I enter the room! Finally, some phrasal verbs have multiple meanings, such as give out and take out. There are also phrasal verbs that you’re more likely to say with friends (hang out, cut it out), while others are pretty common at work emails and meetings: Most Common English Phrasal Verbs 2. Bring up Meaning: To mention something. Example: “Mark was sick and had to miss the party, so please don’t bring it up, I don’t want him to feel bad for missing it.” Bring on Meaning: To cause something to happen, usually something negative. Example: “His lung cancer was brought on by years of smoking.” Bring it on! Meaning: To accept a challenge with confidence. Example: “You want to have a race? Bring it on! I can beat you!” Call on (1) Meaning: To visit someone. Example: “I’ll call on you this evening to see how you’re feeling.” Call on (2) Meaning: To use someone’s or something’s knowledge. Example: “I may need to call on the university’s excellent professors in order to answer your question.” 3. Call off Meaning: To cancel something. Example: “We had to call off the picnic because of the rain.” Check in Meaning: To register at a hotel for a stay. Example: “We haven’t checked in at the hotel yet.” Check out Meaning: To see something or try something out in order to learn more about it. Example: “Check out my new car!” Cheer on Meaning: To support someone by giving them words of encouragement. Example: “Even though Samantha was in the last place, her brother cheered her on through the entire race.” Cheer up Meaning: This phrase can either be used as a phrase of encouragement said to someone who seems sad (just saying “cheer up!” to them), or it can mean to try to make someone happier. Example: “Andrew was having a bad day, so his girlfriend cheered him up by taking him out for ice cream.” 4. Come up (with something) Meaning: To think of an idea. Example: “I came up with this idea for a TV show about a woman living with her best friend and daughter. I call it ‘Two and a Half Women.’” Come up (1) Meaning: To bring up a topic. Example: “I wanted to tell her that I got a new job but the chance never came up.” Come up (2) Meaning: When something happens unexpectedly. Example: “I was going to meet my friends for dinner, but something came up so I had to cancel.” Come in Meaning: To enter. Example: “‘Come in, the door is open!’ said the grandmother to the wolf.” Come across Meaning: To meet or find by chance. Example: “I was cleaning the attic and I came across my high school uniform. Can you believe it still fits?” 5. Come forward Meaning: To volunteer information about something, like a crime. Example: “The police are encouraging people to come forward with any information about the kidnapped girl.” Cut off Meaning: This phrase can be used in several ways, but its general meaning is “to interrupt or stop something.” Example: “His father is rich but he cut him off without any money of his own.” Cut (it) out Meaning: This phrase has the same meaning as saying “Stop it.” Example: “Hey, cut it out! I was watching that movie, so stop changing the channel!” Cut in Meaning: To interrupt someone when they are speaking. Example: “I was about to ask that girl on a date, but her friend cut in and I lost the chance.” Drop by/in Meaning: To stop by for a visit, for a short time. Example: “Andrew is such a great boyfriend, when he heard that his girlfriend had a cold he dropped by to bring her some soup.” 6. Drop off Meaning: To leave something or someone in their destination. Example: “I can give you a ride and drop you off at work.” Fall apart Meaning: This phrase means “to break into pieces,” but it can be used to talk about things that are not physical, like a marriage or a person. Example: “They tried to save their marriage by going to therapy but in the end, it fell apart anyway.” Fall down Meaning: To drop to the ground, usually by accident. Example: “My friend slipped on a banana peel and fell down. I thought that only happened in cartoons!” Fill (someone) in Meaning: To give someone the details about something. Example: “Quickly, let’s go! There’s no time to explain, I’ll fill you in on the way.” Fill up Meaning: To become completely full. Example: “The little girl filled up on candy before dinner, and didn’t want to eat any of the chicken.” 7. Get away Meaning: To escape. You may have heard the phrase “getaway car,” which can help you remember this phrasal verb. That’s the car used by criminals to run away from a crime scene, like a bank robbery. Example: “Carmen’s neighbor tried to show her pictures of all her cats, but Carmen managed to get away.” Get around Meaning: To solve a problem by avoiding the main issue. This phrase can also be used very informally to refer to someone who has many sexual partners. As you can imagine, it’s not very nice to say that someone “gets around”! Example: “Some people know all the different ways to get around tax laws.” Get along (with) Meaning: To have a friendly relationship with someone. Example: “Some people are surprised that I get along with my mother-in-law really well!” Get up Meaning: To stand up, or to wake up. Example: “I have so much trouble getting up in the morning that I have to set three alarms.” Get back to Meaning: To return to someone or something. This phrase is often used to say that you will return with an answer to a question or a request at a later time. Example: “Derek’s coworker wasn’t sure what time the meeting was, so he said he’d get back to him with the time.” 8. Get back at Meaning: To get revenge on someone. Example: “Her ex-husband took her house so she got back at him by taking his dogs.” Give out (1) Meaning: To break down or stop working. Example: “The city had to rebuild the bridge completely because it was about to give out and fall down.” Give out (2) Meaning: To hand out or distribute something Example: “He has a lot of contacts because he gives out his business card to everyone he meets.” Give in Meaning: To surrender, especially in a fight or argument. Example:“ Ben’s mother gave in and let him stay out late with his friends.” Give away Meaning: To hand things out for free. Example: “When Linda’s cat had kittens, she gave them all away to good homes.” 9. Give up Meaning: To stop trying, surrender. Example: “After two weeks of trying to build my own table, I gave up and just bought one.” Go out (with) Meaning: To go on a date with someone. Example: “Sarah was so happy when Peter finally asked her to go out with him!” Go ahead Meaning: To go in front of someone, or to give permission to do or say something. Example: “Go ahead, explain to me why there is a car on my roof.” Grow up Meaning: To grow up, sometimes used to tell someone to stop acting childish. Example: “Some people tell Steve he needs to grow up, but he loves acting like a child.” Grow apart Meaning: To get distant from someone, like a friend. Example: “When my friend moved to a different country I tried to stay close with her, but we slowly grew apart.” 10. Hang on Meaning: To keep something. Example: “When everyone else was getting fired, Paul managed to hang on to his job.” Hang out Meaning: To spend time with someone, casually. Example: “My friends and I used to hang out in the park after school.” Hang up Meaning: To end a call on the phone, especially if it’s before the other person is ready. Example: “I was in the middle of a sentence, and he hung up on me! How rude.” Hold on Meaning: To hold something tightly. This phrase can also be a way of asking someone to wait for a moment. Example: “You’d better hold on to your hat, it’s windy out there!” Hold back Meaning: To stop yourself from doing or saying something. Example: “Amy has a great voice but whenever she’s singing in public she feels shy and holds back.” 11. Log in (to) Meaning: Used with computers, this phrase means to sign in to your account on a website or computer. Example: “Don’t forget to log in to your account to learn English better and faster.” Log out/off Meaning: Also used with computers, this phrase means to sign out of your account. Example: “You should always log out of your accounts when you use a public computer.” Look up Meaning: To check the meaning of something. Example: “If you don’t know the meaning of a word, you should look it up in the dictionary.” Look out Meaning: To watch out for something. Example: “Look out, there’s a baseball coming your way!” Pay back Meaning: To give someone back money that you owe them. When it’s written as one word, “payback” means revenge. Example: “Thanks for getting me lunch when I forgot my wallet at home! I’ll pay you back tomorrow.” 12. Pay for Meaning: This phrase can either mean to give someone money for a particular purpose (like paying for a new car), or to suffer because of something you did. Example: “He’ll pay for all the problems he caused me by being late today!” Put out (1) Meaning: To extinguish a fire. Example: “The firefighters managed to put out the fire before it spread to other houses.” Put out (2) Meaning: To irritate someone by asking them for a favor. Be aware that in very informal slang, this phrase has a more offensive meaning. Example: “I’d ask you to make me dinner but I don’t want to put you out.” Put on Meaning: To get your clothes or makeup on. Example: “Every morning she puts on her dress, lipstick, shoes and hat—in that order.” Take off Meaning: This phrase can mean to remove clothing, or to leave for a journey (e.g. planes take off when they begin their flights). Example: “She was very happy when she finally got home and took off her shoes. They had been hurting her feet all day!” 13. Take out (1) Meaning: To remove something, like from a pocket or a bag. The phrase can also mean to remove someone, as in by killing them—but this is probably not something you would need to use in everyday conversation! Example: “The children sat at their desks and took out their pens and paper.” Take out (2) Meaning: To take someone on a date. Example: “He took her out to the most expensive restaurant in the city.” Turn on/off Meaning: To switch a machine or light on or off. Example: “Turn off the light, I’m trying to sleep!” Turn around Meaning: To move so that you’re facing the opposite direction. Example: “Sally was about to get on the plane, but she turned around when someone called her name.” Turn up Meaning: When something that was lost is found unexpectedly. Example: “Anything I lose usually turns up under the couch. It’s my cat’s favorite hiding place.” 14. Warm up (to) Meaning: To start liking someone or something more as you spend more time with them, especially if you didn’t really like them in the beginning. Example: “The new puppy was scared of my husband when we first got him, but he warmed up to him pretty quickly.” Work out Meaning: To exercise. Example: “I try to work out every morning, by repeatedly lifting a heavy donut to my mouth.” Work (something) out Meaning: To come up with a solution or a compromise with someone. Example: “Don’t worry, I’m sure we can work something out so that everyone is happy.” https://intrepidenglish.co.uk/handy-phrasal-verbs-in-the-us-or-uk/#:~:text=They%20are%20very%20common%20in,to%20mean%20the%20same%20thing.