56 of the Most Useful Phrasal Verbs in English
Below are some of the most common phrasal
verbs in the English language. We organized them alphabetically so they’re easy
to find, but you can group them however you want when you’re learning them!
Bring
Bring up — To mention something.
(Note: The two parts of this phrasal verb can be separated.)
“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 — To cause something to
happen, usually something negative. (The two parts of this phrasal verb can be
separated by what’s happening.)
“His lung cancer
was brought on by years of smoking.”
Bring it on! — To accept a challenge
with confidence.
“You want to have a
race? Bring it on! I can beat you!”
Call
Call on — This can mean either to
visit someone, or to use someone’s or something’s knowledge.
To visit someone: “I’ll call
on you this evening to see how you’re feeling.”
To use someone’s knowledge: “I may
need to call on the university’s excellent professors in order to
answer your question.”
Call off — To cancel something.
“The picnic was called
off because of the rain.”
Cheer
Cheer on — To support someone by
giving them words of encouragement. (Can be separated by the name or pronoun of
the person/people being cheered on).
“Even though Samantha was in the last
place, her brother cheered her on through the entire race.”
Cheer up — 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.
“Andrew was having a bad day, so his
girlfriend cheered him up by taking him out for ice cream.”
Come
Come up (with something) — To think of
an idea.
“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 — To bring up a topic, or when
something happens unexpectedly.
To bring up a topic: “I wanted to tell
her that I got a new job but the chance never came up.”
Unexpected occurrence: “I was going to
meet my friends for dinner, but something came up so I had to
cancel.”
Come in — To enter.
“‘Come in, the door is open!’ said the
grandmother to the wolf.”
Come across — To meet or find by
chance.
“I was cleaning the attic and
I came across my high school uniform. Can you believe it still
fits?”
Come forward — To volunteer
information about something, like a crime.
“The police are encouraging people
to come forward with any information about the kidnapped girl.”
Cut
Cut off — This phrase can be used in
several ways, but its general meaning is “to interrupt or stop something.” (Can
be separated.)
While driving, to get in front of another
car suddenly: “That red car just cut me off and I
almost crashed into it.”
To stop supplying things to or
communicating with someone: “His father is rich but
he cut him off without any money of his own.”
Cut (it) out — This phrase has the
same meaning as saying “Stop it.”
“Hey, cut it out! I was watching that
movie, so stop changing the channel!”
Cut in — To interrupt someone when
they are speaking.
“I was about to ask that girl on a date,
but her friend cut in and I lost the chance.”
Drop
Drop by/in — To stop by for a visit,
for a short time.
“Andrew is such a great boyfriend, when he
heard that his girlfriend had a cold he dropped by to bring her some
soup.”
Drop off — To leave something or
someone in their destination. (Can be separated by the object being dropped
off.)
“I can give you a ride
and drop you off at work.”
Fall
Fall apart — 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.
“They tried to save their marriage by going
to therapy but in the end if fell apart anyway.”
Fall down — To drop to the ground, usually
by accident.
Fill
Fill (someone) in — To give someone the
details about something. (Is usually separated by the person getting filled
in).
“Quickly, let’s go! There’s no time to
explain, I’ll fill you in on the way.”
Fill up — To become completely full.
“The little
girl filled up on candy before dinner, and didn’t want to eat
any of the chicken.”
Get
Get away — To escape. You may have
heard the phrase “getaway car.” That’s the car used by criminals to run away
from a crime scene, like a bank robbery.
“Carmen’s neighbor tried to show her
pictures of all her cats, but Carmen managed to get away.”
Get around — 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”!
“Some people know all the different ways
to get around tax laws.”
Get along (with) — To have a friendly
relationship with someone.
“Some people are surprised that
I get along with my mother-in-law really well!”
Get up — To stand up, or to wake up.
“I have so much
trouble getting up in the morning that I have to set three
alarms.”
Get back to — 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.
“Derek’s coworker wasn’t sure what time the
meeting was, so he said he’d get back to him with the
time.”
Get back at — To get revenge on
someone.
“Her ex-husband took her house so
she got back at him by taking his dogs.”
Give
Give out — This phrase can mean to
break down or stop working, or to hand out or distribute something.
To stop working: “The city had to
rebuild the bridge completely, because it was about
to give out and fall down.”
To distribute: “He has a lot of
contacts because he gives out his business card to everyone he
meets.”
Give in — To surrender, especially in
a fight or argument.
“Ben’s mother gave in and
let him stay out late with his friends.”
Give away — To hand things out for
free. (Can be separated by the item being given away.)
“When Linda’s cat had kittens,
she gave them all away to good homes.”
Give up — To stop trying, surrender.
“After two weeks of trying to build my own
table, I gave up and just bought one.”
Go
Go out (with) — To go on a date with
someone.
“Sarah was so happy when Peter finally
asked her to go out with him!”
Go ahead — To go in front of someone,
or to give permission to do or say something.
“Go ahead, explain to me why there is a car
on my roof.”
Grow
Grow up — To grow up, sometimes used
to tell someone to stop acting childish.
“Some people tell Steve he needs
to grow up, but he loves acting like a child.”
Grow apart — To get distant from
someone, like a friend.
“When my friend moved to a different
country I tried to stay close with her, but we slowly grew apart.”
Hang
Hang on — To keep something.
“When everyone else was getting fired, Paul
managed to hang on to his job.”
Hang out — To spend time with someone,
casually.
“My friends and I used
to hang out in the park after school.”
Hang up — To end a call on the phone,
especially if it’s before the other person is ready.
“I was in the middle of a sentence, and
he hung up on me! How rude.”
Hold
Hold on — To hold something tightly.
This phrase can also be a way of asking someone to wait for a moment.
“You’d better hold on to
your hat, it’s windy out there!”
Hold back — To stop yourself from
doing or saying something.
“Amy has a great voice but whenever she’s
singing in public she feels shy and holds back.”
Log
Log in (to) — Used with computers,
this phrase means to sign into your account on a website or computer.
“Don’t forget to log in to
your FluentU account to learn English better
and faster.”
Log out/off — Also used with
computers, this phrase means to sign out of your account.
“You should
always log out of your accounts when you use a public computer.”
Look
Look up — To check the meaning of
something. (Can be separated by the item being looked up).
“If you don’t know the meaning of a word,
you should look it up in the dictionary.”
Look out — To watch out for something.
“Look out, there’s a baseball coming
your way!”
Pay
Pay back — To give someone back money
that you owe them. (Can be separated by the person getting paid back.) When
it’s written as one word, “payback” means revenge.
“Thanks for getting me lunch when I forgot
my wallet at home! I’ll pay you back tomorrow.”
Pay for — 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.
“He’ll pay for all the problems
he caused me by being late today!”
Put
Put out — This phrase can mean to
extinguish a fire, or to irritate someone by asking them for a favor. (In the
case of annoying someone, can be separated by the person getting annoyed.) Be
aware that in very informal slang, this phrase has a more offensive meaning.
To extinguish a fire: “The
firefighters managed to put out the fire before it spread to
other houses.”
To irritate someone: “I’d ask you to
make me dinner but I don’t want to put you out.”
Put on — To get your clothes or makeup
on.
“Every morning
she puts on her dress, lipstick, shoes and hat—in that order.”
Take
Take off — This phrase can mean to
remove clothing, or to leave for a journey (i.e. planes take off when
they begin their flights).
“She was very happy when she finally got
home and took off her shoes. They had been hurting her feet all
day!”
Take out — To remove something, like
from a pocket or a bag. This phrase can also mean to take someone on a date.
(Can be separated by the item or person being taken out.) 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!
To remove something: “The children sat
at their desks and took out their pens and paper.”
To take someone on a
date: “He took her out to the most expensive
restaurant in the city.”
Turn
Turn on/off — To switch a machine or
light on or off.
“Turn off the light, I’m trying to
sleep!”
Turn around — To move so that you’re
facing the opposite direction.
“Sally was about to get on the plane, but
she turned around when someone called her name.”
Turn up — When someone that was lost
is found unexpectedly.
“Anything I lose
usually turns up under the couch. It’s my cat’s favorite hiding
place.”
Warm
Warm up (to) — 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.
“The new puppy was scared of my husband
when we first got him, but he warmed up to him pretty
quickly.”
Work
Work out — To exercise.
“I try to work out every
morning, by repeatedly lifting a heavy donut to my mouth.”
Work (something) out — To come up with
a solution or a compromise with someone.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure we
can work something out so that everyone is happy.”
How many of these phrasal verbs did you
already know? English phrasal verbs are everywhere! Don’t be afraid of how many
there are—just start with a few at a time and soon you’ll be an expert.
Source:
Google
Millennium
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09996605415 01744290591
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