Phrasal verbs are essential to both understanding and speaking English. We use phrasal verbs every day. Learning phrasal verbs will help you with the following:
**Note phrasal verbs are listed below.
- Cultural insight: Phrasal verbs often reflect cultural nuances or historical usage of language, providing deeper insight into English-speaking cultures.
- Enhances listening skills: Since phrasal verbs are prevalent in informal speech, understanding them can significantly improve your listening comprehension, especially in movies, TV shows, and casual conversations.
- Idiomatic expressions: Many phrasal verbs are part of idioms or set phrases that are culturally significant. Knowing these can help you better understand and engage with English media, literature, and conversations.
- Language proficiency: For language learners aiming for exams like IELTS, TOEFL, or Cambridge, mastering phrasal verbs can boost scores in speaking and listening sections where understanding colloquial language is key.
- Natural communication: Phrasal verbs are extremely common in everyday English, especially in spoken language. They make your speech sound more natural and fluent. For instance, instead of saying “I’ll postpone the meeting,” native speakers might say, “I’ll put off the meeting.”
- Professional language: In professional settings, specific phrasal verbs are used frequently. For example, in business, you might hear “follow up,” “set up a meeting,” or “lay off” employees. Knowing these can make you more effective in a work environment.
- Understanding context: Phrasal verbs often have meanings that can’t be deduced from the individual words alone. Knowing them helps in understanding contexts where literal translations do not work. For example, “look up” can mean to search for information or to admire someone, depending on the context.
- Variety in language: They add variety to your language use, making your expressions richer. Instead of repeatedly using simple verbs, you can convey nuances. For example, “go out,” “go away,” and “go over” each have different implications.
◦Carry on – to continue a task / to act in a certain way
Examples: Carry on (Continue what you were doing). / She carried on eating her breakfast after the phone rang. / Why are you carrying on like a child? / The child was crying and carrying on all morning.
Special notes: As a noun or adjective, it is “carry-on“. My carry-on was too big for the luggage compartment. / The carry-on baggage is limited to just one bag.
◦Carry out – to do a task / to put an order, promise, or threat into action
Examples: We need to carry out the trash. / We will carry out our plans this evening.
Special notes: As an adjective or noun, it is “carry-out“. I ordered carry-out pizza. My carry-out was cold by the time I got home.
◦Come around – to recover from a loss of consciousness / to change one’s views or opinions on a matter / to recur or happen again / to visit another’s house
Examples: He started to come around after the medicine wore off. / Mike is really coming around to the idea of getting a housekeeper. / Your chance to speak will come around again. / You don’t come around here very often.
◦Come up with – to find something / to produce something
Examples: We need to come up with a solution to the problem. / Cindy always comes up with a reason to stay home.
◦Clock in/clock out – to register one’s arrival and departure / to hit or threaten to hit someone hard enough to knock them out (slang; clock out)
Examples: Use the time clock to clock in and clock out for work. / I will clock you out if you touch her again.
◦Check in – to sign in or register / to hand over baggage to an airline or train / to leave a bag, coat, or something else for safekeeping
Examples: You need to check in at the desk. / You must check in your baggage before passing through airport security. / We can check in our coats at the door.
Special notes: As a noun, it is “check-in” or “checkin”. Meet me at the check-in counter.
◦Crack up – to break into laughter; to suffer an emotional breakdown
Examples: The comedian totally made me crack up. / I felt like I was starting to crack up (get emotional).
Special notes: As a noun, it is “crack-up” which can mean to collapse under stress, a vehicle crash, or the act of breaking or splitting something apart. The mother was about to have a complete crack-up over losing her child. / The crack-up of the conservative party was their downfall.
◦Dash off – to leave for another place quickly / to write something quickly
Examples: I’m going to dash off to the store. / He dashed off a letter quickly before the postman came.
◦Doze off – to fall asleep
Examples: I could doze off. / I hit the pillow and immediately dozed off.
Drop off – to fall asleep / to deposit or leave a person or thing
Examples: I’m going to drop off to sleep now. / I need to drop off my kids at their school. / I need to drop off these library books.
Special notes: As a noun, it is “drop-off” or “dropoff”. It can be a downward slope or a cliff or just refer to a decrease or decline. The hill had a major dropoff on the other side. / There was a sharp drop-off in sales.
◦Eat in, eat out – “Eat in” can mean to eat inside (a restaurant) or to just stay in the home. “Eat out” can mean going to a restaurant instead of eating in home.
Examples: Are we going to eat in at the restaurant? / We’re going to stay home and eat in tonight. / Let’s eat out tonight.
Special notes: “Eat out” can have a sexual meaning.
◦Fill up – to make completely full (of a space or container, fuel [tank], or tears)
Examples: I need to fill up my car with gasoline. / Fill up this jug with water. / Jane filled up thinking about the accident (UK).
Special notes: As a noun, it is “fill-up” or “fillup“. I just did a fill-up yesterday.
◦Fill out – to put on weight / to add information to a document / to add details
Examples: The puppy is really filling out on the new food. / We need to fill out the document. / Mike filled out the details that we were missing.
◦Get down – to move from a higher to a lower place / to write down something / to leave the table (UK) / to dance with high energy
Examples: Get down from the couch. / He barely got the answers down. / I finished eating, Mom. May I get down now? / He could get down with any musical beat.
◦Get up – to rise after sleeping / to become agitated or strong (of wind or water) / to dress in an elaborate, smart, or unusual way (UK)
Examples: I get up at 5. / The wind was really getting up. / She was got up in a beautiful gown.
◦Hang out – to spend time with others (informal) / to protrude and hang downwards / to hang something from a pole or line or something similar
Examples: We should hang out tomorrow. / His shirt was hanging out from his trousers. / We need to hang out the laundry.
Special notes: As a noun, it is “hang-out”. That is my favorite hang-out.
◦Head out – to leave or go somewhere)
Examples: Let’s head out to the park at noon.
◦Heat up – to become or make to become warm or hot / a conversation that becomes more intense
Examples: I need to heat up the soup. / This conversation is starting to heat up (to get bad).
◦Help out – to give another one’s resources or services to help alleviate some sort of problem or distress
Examples: Hey, can you help me out? / I need to help out my mom with her car.
◦Log in(on)/log out – to connect or disconnect to app, computer, website, etc.
Examples: I need to log in my account. / I have to log on and check my email. / Log out of your account when on a public computer.
Special notes: As a noun, they are “login” or “log-in”, “logon” or “log-on”, and “logout” or “log-out”.
◦Look after – to take care of a person or pet
Example: I looked after her dogs while she was on vacation.
◦Perk up – to become more lively/alive
Examples: He started to perk up after the medicine wore off. / She perked up her dress with some jewelry.
◦Pick up – to lift or move a person or object / to go get something (usually from the store or some kind of business) / to answer the phone / to make someone feel better emotionally / to become better / to detect or receive a sound or signal
Examples: Kay picked up the trash. / I need to pick up my medicine. / She didn’t pick up the phone when I called. / The beautiful skies really picked up her mood. / Sales picked up before Christmas. / Nasa picked up a transmission from space.
Special notes: As a noun, it is “pick-up” or “pickup“. It has several meanings: a small truck, a series of introductory musical notes, a device that produces a signal / the reception of signals or interference of signals, the act of collecting goods, people, or animals, and in economics. The pickup was red. / We need to play the pickup softer before moving on to the main melody. / I need a new pickup for my guitar. / The microphone is good for reducing pickup (background noise). / We have a couple of extra pickups on route today. / We have a pickup in sales.
◦Put away – to store something in its usual place / to save money / to make a shot or goal (in sports) / to consume a lot of food / to confine someone in either a prison or mental hospital
Examples: Put away your toys. / I put away $2000 for incidental expenses. / Johnnie put away the ball and scored the winning point. / My son can put away a lot of food. / The criminal was put away for 30 years.
◦Put up — to place something in its proper place / to displace something (usually a notice or sign) / to offer something for sale / to increase the cost / to house someone temporarily / to construct something /
Examples: Put up your toys. / I need to put up the groceries. / The students are putting up signs for class officers. / Frank put his truck up for sale. / The cost of rent was put up by $100. / We can put up the storm victims for a while. / We should put up a monument in her memory.
Special notes: As an adjective, it is “put-up” which is something that was arranged earlier in order to deceive. This was a put-up job to distract the police.
◦Run out – to use up something / to extend or project
Examples: We are going to run out of milk (we will need more milk). / I need to run out to the store. / He let the chains slowly run out to set the anchor. / The power lines run out to the mountain and stop.
◦Set off – to start a journey / to cause something to alarm (smoke detector, battery alarm, etc) / to make something stand out or look more beautiful / to cause someone to do something such as laugh or become angry
Examples: We will set off at one. / The alarm set off at six. / The bomb will set off in 10 minutes. / If you don’t start off on the right foot, it could set off a chain of bad events. / Her diamond earrings were set off by her black dress (You could see them very well). / Don’t talk about politics around Raymond or it will set him off.
◦Set up – to place something in position / to establish or put someone in a certain capacity, role, or occupation / to make someone who is innocent look guilty
Examples: We need to set up for the party. / His parents set him up for a great job. / They set up their neighbor for the murder.
Special notes: As a noun, it is “set-up” or “setup”. I like your set-up. / The team did their best on that setup to help John score. / It was a setup. I didn’t do it.
◦Stock up – to buy a large amount to have on hand for later
Examples: We need to stock up on eggs before the price goes up again.
◦Tidy up – to clean or arrange something in an ordered fashion
Examples: We need to tidy up the house before Mom gets home.
◦Wake up – to get up or be awoken by a person or sound / to learn that something is different than thought before (informal)
Examples: Wake up lazy bones. / We need to wake up by 7 am. / Karen is starting to wake up and see that her spending is out of control.
Special notes: As a noun, it is “wake-up“. The wake-up came just before breakfast. We often use “wake-up call“. The crime was a wake-up call for the residents.
◦Warm up – to prepare for exercise / to entertain an audience in a way that makes them more receptive / to reheat food or drink
Examples: I need to warm up before running. / The comedian warmed up the crowd before delivering his main jokes. / I need to warm up the food.
Special notes: As a noun, it is “warm-up” or “warmup“. It is the act of preparing for a game, the time on stage before a main act, or a garment worn during or before exercise. The players have a pre-match warm-up. / The warm-up act was pretty good. / I need new warm-ups.
◦Wash up – To clean up (of objects, people, or animals)
Examples: I need to wash up before dinner. / I’ll cook the food if you wash up afterward.
◦Wind down – to relax after a long day, excitement, or stress / to gradually come to an end / to gradually stop working or lose power (like a wind-up clock)
Examples: I need to wind down after a bad day at work. / Our stock is winding down. / The clock is winding down.
Special notes: Remember, “wind” can be the movement of air as well. Both words have the same spelling but different pronunciations (homophones). “Wind” meaning moving air makes the short “i” sound, while here it has the long “i” sound.
◦Work out — to find the answer to something / to engage in physical exercise / to plan something
Examples: We need to work out our problems. / We need to work out in the mornings before the gym is busy. / The government needs to work out the homeless problem in the United States. / I couldn’t work out the math. / Things don’t always work out.
Special notes: The noun form is “work-out” or “workout” which refers to a session of physical exercise. Daily workouts are important for overall health.
◦Wrap up – to cover something / to complete something / to put on warm clothes / to be absorbed in someone or something so that you don’t notice other people or things / to stop making noise or talking (UK)
Examples: Let’s wrap up this gift. /Let’s wrap up this meeting. / Wrap up before going out in the arctic weather. / She was so wrapped up in the news that she couldn’t see what was really happening before her eyes. / Oh, wrap up you! Be quiet!
Special notes: As a noun, it is “wrap-up” which means to give a review or summary, especially of sporting events. During the post-game wrap-up, we discussed how we could have done better.
◦Write down – to make note of / to reduce the nominal value of goods or stocks in finance
Examples: Write down your answers. / You can write that down. (You can be sure it happens). / He wrote down the stock price which makes taxes a little less.
For further study:
◦Why study Phrasal verbs?
◦ Phrasal verbs for emotions
◦Phrasal verbs for mechanics
◦Phrasal verbs for relationships
◦Phrasal verbs for travel
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