210+ Most Common English Phrasal Verbs (With Meanings, Examples and Audio)
Phrasal verbs are when we combine a verb with a preposition of another grammatical element, and end up with a completely new meaning.
They’re used constantly by native speakers in spoken and written English, which makes them important to know.
In this English phrasal verbs list, we’ll show you 210+ of the most common phrasal verbs, with audio and example sentences included.
Afterwards, you’ll find a complete lesson on what phrasal verbs are, how to form them and how to learn them effectively.
Before we jump into the list, here’s a quick video explanation:
Contents
- Most Common English Phrasal Verbs
- More Useful English Phrasal Verbs
- What Is a Phrasal Verb?
- Types of Phrasal Verbs
- How to Use Phrasal Verbs
- And One More Thing...
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Most Common English Phrasal Verbs
To start off, we’ll be going over the top English phrasal verbs that you’ll hear in everyday situations. You can get a taster with this video, which features 15 useful English phrasal verbs (plus example sentences):
Here’s a more detailed list of common English phrasal verbs:
1. Bring up — To mention something
Type: Separable, transitive
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.
2. Bring on — To cause something to happen, usually something negative
Type: Separable, transitive
His lung cancer was brought on by years of smoking.
3. Bring it on! — To accept a challenge with confidence
Type: Separable, transitive
You want to have a race? Bring it on! I can beat you!
4. Call on (1) — To visit someone
Type: Inseparable, transitive
I’ll call on you this evening to see how you’re feeling.
5. Call on (2) — To use someone’s or something’s knowledge
Type: Inseparable, transitive
I may need to call on the university’s excellent professors in order to answer your question.
6. Call off — To cancel something
Type: Separable, transitive
We had to call off the picnic because of the rain.
7. Check in — To register at a hotel for a stay
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
We haven’t checked in at the hotel yet.
8. Check out — To see or try something out to learn more about it
Type: Separable, transitive
Check out my new car!
9. Cheer on — To support someone through words of encouragement
Type: Separable, transitive
Even though Samantha was in the last place, her brother cheered her on through the entire race.
10. Cheer up — To show support to someone who seems sad or to try to make someone happier
Type: Separable, transitive
Andrew was having a bad day, so his girlfriend cheered him up by taking him out for ice cream.
11. Come up (with something) — To think of an idea
Type: Inseparable, transitive
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.’
12. Come up (1) — To bring up a topic
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
I wanted to tell her that I got a new job but the chance never came up.
13. Come up (2) — When something happens unexpectedly
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
I was going to meet my friends for dinner, but something came up so I had to cancel.
14. Come in — To enter
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
‘Come in, the door is open!’ said the grandmother to the wolf.
15. Come across — To meet or find by chance
Type: Inseparable, transitive
I was cleaning the attic and I came across my high school uniform. Can you believe it still fits?
16. Come forward — To volunteer information about something, like a crime
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
The police are encouraging people to come forward with any information about the kidnapped girl.
17. Cut off — To interrupt or stop something
Type: Separable, transitive
His father is rich but he cut him off without any money of his own.
18. Cut (it) out — To stop it
Type: Separable, transitive
Hey, cut it out! I was watching that movie, so stop changing the channel!
19. Cut in — To interrupt a conversation or activity
Type: Inseparable, transitive
The teacher cut him in and asked him to explain the answer to the class.
20. Cut back — To consume or spend less
Type: Separable, intransitive
I decided to cut back on sugar to improve my health.
21. Drop off — To take someone or something somewhere and leave them/it there
Type: Separable, transitive
Can you drop me off at the grocery store on your way home?
22. Drop in (on someone) — To visit someone without making an appointment
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
I was in the neighborhood, so I decided to drop in on my sister and see how she was doing.
23. Drop out — To quit or stop participating in something
Type: Separable, intransitive
She was a straight-A student, but she dropped out of college to pursue her dream of becoming an artist.
24. End up — To eventually be in a particular place or situation
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
After driving around for hours, we finally ended up at the beach.
25. Fall apart — To stop working or break into pieces
Type: Intransitive
The old chair fell apart when I sat on it.
26. Fall down — To collapse or fall to the ground
Type: Intransitive
The little girl tripped and fell down the stairs.
27. Fall for (someone) — To fall in love with someone
Type: Inseparable, transitive
He fell for her the moment he saw her.
28. Fall off — To decline in quality or quantity
Type: Intransitive
Sales fell off during the holiday season.
29. Fill in (for someone) — To do someone else’s job temporarily
Type: Separable, transitive
Can you fill in for me while I’m on vacation?
30. Fill out — To complete a form by providing required information
Type: Separable, transitive
Please fill out the application form and submit it by Friday.
31. Get back at — To get revenge on someone
Type: Inseparable, transitive
Her ex-husband took her house so she got back at him by taking his dogs.
32. Give out (1) — To break down or stop working
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
The city had to rebuild the bridge completely because it was about to give out and fall down.
33. Give out (2) — To hand out or distribute something
Type: Separable, transitive
He has a lot of contacts because he gives out his business card to everyone he meets.
34. Give in — To surrender, especially in a fight or argument
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
Ben’s mother gave in and let him stay out late with his friends.
35. Give away — To hand things out for free
Type: Separable, transitive
When Linda’s cat had kittens, she gave them all away to good homes.
36. Give up — To stop trying, surrender
Type: Separable, transitive / intransitive
After two weeks of trying to build my own table, I gave up and just bought one.
37. Go out (with) — To go on a date with someone
Type: Inseparable, transitive / intransitive
Sarah was so happy when Peter finally asked her to go out with him!
38. Go ahead — To go in front of someone, or to give permission
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
You can go ahead and start the meeting without me.
39. Grow up — To tell someone to stop acting childish
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
Some people tell Steve he needs to grow up, but he loves acting like a child.
40. Grow apart — To get distant from someone, like a friend
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
When my friend moved to a different country, I tried to stay close with her, but we slowly grew apart.
41. Hang on — To keep something
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
When everyone else was getting fired, Paul managed to hang on to his job.
42. Hang out — To spend time with someone, casually
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
My friends and I used to hang out in the park after school.
43. Hang up — To end a phone call, especially if before the other person is ready
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
I was in the middle of a sentence, and he hung up on me! How rude.
44. Hold on (1) — To hold something tightly
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
You’d better hold on to your hat; it’s windy out there!
45. Hold on (2) — To ask someone to wait for a moment
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
Hold on, I’ll be right back.
46. Hold back — To stop yourself from doing or saying something
Type: Separable, transitive / intransitive
Amy has a great voice, but whenever she’s singing in public, she feels shy and holds back.
47. Log in (to) — To sign in to your account on a website or computer
Type: Inseparable, transitive / intransitive
Don’t forget to log in to your account to learn English better and faster.
48. Log out / Log off — To sign out of your account
Type: Inseparable, transitive / intransitive
You should always log out of your accounts when you use a public computer.
49. Look up — To check the meaning of something
Type: Separable, transitive
If you don’t know the meaning of a word, you should look it up in the dictionary.
50. Look out — To watch out for something
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
Look out, there’s a baseball coming your way!
51. Pay back — To give someone back money that you owe
Type: Separable, transitive
Thanks for getting me lunch when I forgot my wallet at home! I’ll pay you back tomorrow.
52. Pay for — To give someone money for a particular purpose
Type: Inseparable, transitive
She used her credit card to pay for the hotel reservation.
53. Pay for — To suffer because of something you did.
Type: Inseparable, transitive
He’ll pay for all the problems he caused me by being late today!
54. Put out (1) — To extinguish a fire.
Type: Separable, transitive
The firefighters managed to put out the fire before it spread to other houses.
55. Put out (2) — To irritate someone by asking them for a favor
Type: Separable, transitive
I’d ask you to make me dinner but I don’t want to put you out.
56. Put on — To get your clothes or makeup on
Type: Separable, transitive
Every morning she puts on her dress, lipstick, shoes and hat—in that order.
57. Take off (1) — To remove clothing
Type: Separable, transitive
She was very happy when she finally got home and took off her shoes. They had been hurting her feet all day!
58. Take off (2) — To leave for a journey
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
The plane will take off in a few minutes.
59. Take out (1) — To remove something, like from a pocket or a bag
Type: Separable, transitive
The children sat at their desks and took out their pens and paper.
60. Take out (2) — To take someone on a date
Type: Separable, transitive
He took her out to the most expensive restaurant in the city.
61. Turn on / Turn off — To switch a machine or light on or off
Type: Separable, transitive
Turn off the light, I’m trying to sleep!
62. Turn around — To move so you’re facing the opposite direction
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
Sally was about to get on the plane, but she turned around when someone called her name.
63. Turn up — When something that was lost is found unexpectedly
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
Anything I lose usually turns up under the couch. It’s my cat’s favorite hiding place.
64. Warm up (to) — To start liking someone or something more as you spend more time with them
Type: Inseparable, transitive / intransitive
The new puppy was scared of my husband when we first got him, but he warmed up to him pretty quickly.
65. Work out — To exercise
Type: Inseparable, intransitive
I try to work out every morning, by repeatedly lifting a heavy donut to my mouth.
66. Work (something) out — To come up with a solution or a compromise
Type: Separable, transitive
Don’t worry, I’m sure we can work something out so that everyone is happy.
More Useful English Phrasal Verbs
| Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Act out | To perform a role or behavior | The students acted out a scene from the play. | Separable, transitive |
| Act up | To behave inappropriately or malfunction | The computer started to act up and froze. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Ask for | To request or invite someone to do something | I'm going to ask for help with this difficult task. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Back up | To support or assist someone or something | Can you back up your claims with evidence? | Separable, transitive |
| To reverse or move backward | Could you back up the car so I can park? | Separable, transitive / intransitive | |
| Be cut out for | To be suited or suited for a particular role or occupation | She is definitely cut out for a career in medicine. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Blow up | To explode or burst into pieces | The fireworks will blow up in the sky tonight. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| To lose one's temper or become angry | He blew up at his colleague during the meeting. | Inseparable, intransitive | |
| Break away | To escape or separate from a group or organization | The rebel group managed to break away from their captors. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Break in | To enter a building or place forcibly or illegally | The thief attempted to break in to the house. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Break off | To end a relationship or conversation abruptly | They decided to break off their engagement. | Separable, transitive |
| Break out | To escape or start suddenly and violently | A riot broke out in the city center. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Break through | To overcome an obstacle or make a significant achievement | They managed to break through the language barrier. | Inseparable, transitive / intransitive |
| Bring along | To bring someone or something with you | Don't forget to bring along your passport. | Separable, transitive |
| Bring in | To introduce or earn a certain amount of money | The company hopes to bring in new customers with the marketing campaign. | Separable, transitive |
| Brush off | To dismiss or ignore someone or something casually | He brushed off my suggestion and continued with his plan. | Separable, transitive |
| Build on | To develop or expand on something already existing | We need to build on the success of our previous project. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Call for | To require or demand something | This situation calls for immediate action. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Call in | To request someone's presence or services | The expert was called in to investigate the crime scene. | Separable, transitive |
| Call out | To shout or say something loudly and clearly | The teacher called out the answer to the question. | Separable, transitive |
| Call up | To make a telephone call | I'll call up the restaurant and make a reservation. | Separable, transitive |
| Carried away | To become overly excited or emotional in a situation | She got carried away and spent all her savings on the shopping spree. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Carry on | To continue or proceed with an activity or action | We should carry on with our plans despite the challenges. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Carry out | To complete or perform a task or action | We need to carry out a thorough investigation. | Separable, transitive |
| Catch on | To understand or grasp something, usually quickly | The students caught on to the new concept. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Check off | To mark or indicate that something has been completed or verified | I'll check off the items on the list as we go. | Separable, transitive |
| Check over | To review or examine something carefully | Please check over the document for any errors. | Separable, transitive |
| Check up (on) | To verify or investigate the condition or progress of something | The doctor wants to check up on your recovery. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Clean out | To empty or remove the contents of something | I need to clean out the garage and get rid of old items. | Separable, transitive |
| Clean up | To tidy or make something clean and neat | They need to clean up the room before the guests arrive. | Separable, transitive |
| Come about | To happen or occur | I'm not sure how it came about, but I'm glad it did. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Come along | To make progress or improve | How is your project coming along? | Inseparable, intransitive |
| To accompany or join someone | Will you come along to the party with me? | Inseparable, intransitive | |
| Come back | To return to a place or situation | He promised to come back and visit us next year. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Come by | To obtain or acquire something | I managed to come by some concert tickets for tonight. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Come down | To move from a higher to a lower position | The elevator malfunctioned, so we had to come down the stairs. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Come down on | To criticize or reprimand someone heavily | The boss came down on him for consistently being late to work. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Come down with | To become ill with a particular illness or condition | She came down with the flu and had to stay home from work. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Come forward | To offer oneself for a task, position, or help | If anyone has any information, please come forward and speak to the authorities. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Come in | To enter a place | Please knock before you come in. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Come off | To succeed or be accomplished | The party last night came off really well. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| To detach or be removed from something | He tried to open the jar, but the lid wouldn't come off. | Inseparable, intransitive | |
| Come on | To encourage or urge someone | Come on, you can do it! | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Come out | To be revealed or made public | The truth finally came out after years of speculation. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Come over | To visit someone's place | Why don't you come over to my house this weekend? | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Come up | To arise or occur | A sudden opportunity came up and I couldn't pass it up. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Come up with | To produce or provide something, especially an idea or solution | We need to come up with a plan to solve this problem. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Count on | To rely on or trust someone or something | You can always count on me for support. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Cut down (on) | To reduce the amount or quantity of something | I'm trying to cut down on caffeine. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Deal with | To handle or manage a situation or problem | We need to deal with this issue immediately. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Do away with | To eliminate or get rid of something | Let's do away with unnecessary paperwork. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Do up | To fasten or decorate something | She did up her hair and put on a beautiful dress for the party. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Dress up | To wear formal or fancy clothing for a special occasion | We should dress up for the wedding. | Separable, transitive |
| Eat up | To consume all the food | He ate up his entire meal in just a few minutes. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Fall back (on) | To rely on something as a last resort or backup | If I can't find a job, I might fall back on my savings. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Fall in | To collapse inward or form a line or formation | The old building finally fell in after years of neglect. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Fall out | To have a disagreement or argument | They fell out over a trivial issue and stopped speaking to each other. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| To unintentionally drop an object | Her credit card fell out of her pocket. | Inseparable, intransitive | |
| Fall through | To fail to happen or be completed as planned | Our plans to go on a trip fell through due to bad weather. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Figure out | To understand or solve something | She finally figured out the solution to the puzzle. | Separable, transitive |
| Find out | To discover or obtain information | I need to find out what time the meeting starts. | Separable, transitive / intransitive |
| Get along (with) | To have a harmonious relationship or rapport with someone | She gets along with her coworkers very well. | Inseparable, transitive / intransitive |
| Get away | To escape or go on a vacation | Let's get away from the city and relax at the beach. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Get by | To manage or survive with the available resources or income | They can get by with their current budget. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Get in | To enter or arrive at a place | He needs to get in before the meeting starts. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Get off | To leave or disembark from a vehicle or transportation | Please get off the bus at the next stop. | Inseparable, transitive / intransitive |
| Get on | To make progress or continue | He needs to get on with his work. | Inseparable, transitive / intransitive |
| Get on with | To have a good relationship or get along with someone | I get on with my coworkers. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Get out | To leave or to remove something | We need to get out of this dangerous situation. | Separable, transitive / intransitive |
| Get over | To recover from an illness or emotional distress | It took her a long time to get over the loss of her pet. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Get through | To finish or complete | I have a lot of work to get through today. | Inseparable, transitive / intransitive |
| Give off | To emit or produce | The flowers give off a pleasant fragrance. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Go away | To leave or depart | Can you please go away and leave me alone? | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Go back | To return to a previous location or time | We go back to visit our hometown every summer. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Go by | To pass or elapse | Time goes by so quickly when you're having fun. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Go on | To continue or proceed | Please go on with your presentation. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Go out | To leave one's place of residence or to socialize for entertainment | Let's go out for dinner tonight. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Go through | To experience or endure | She had to go through a lot of difficulties to achieve her goals. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Go with | To match or be suitable for | The red shoes go with my dress perfectly. | Separable, transitive |
| Hand out | To distribute or give | The teacher hands out worksheets to the students. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Hang about | To linger or wait around | He likes to hang about in the park after school. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Hang around | To spend time in a place without any specific purpose | We used to hang around the mall when we were teenagers. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Hold on | To wait or remain on the line | Please hold on while I transfer your call. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Keep in | To retain or maintain something within a confined space or boundary | He always keeps in his emotions and rarely shows them. | Separable, Transitive |
| Keep on | To continue doing something | Don't give up, just keep on trying. | Separable, transitive |
| Keep up (with) | To maintain the same pace or level as | It's hard to keep up with the latest technological advancements. | Separable, transitive / intransitive |
| Knock down | To demolish or destroy | They plan to knock down the old building and construct a new one. | Separable, transitive |
| Lay off | To terminate someone's employment | The company had to lay off several employees due to financial problems. | Separable, transitive |
| Leave out | To omit or exclude | She accidentally left out an important detail in her report. | Separable, transitive |
| Let down | To disappoint or fail someone | He promised to help, but he let us down when he didn't show up. | Separable, transitive |
| Let in | To allow someone to enter | Please let me in the room; I forgot my key. | Separable, transitive |
| Let off | To release or excuse from a punishment | The police officer decided to let him off with a warning. | Separable, transitive |
| Look after | To take care of or watch over | She needs to look after her younger siblings while their parents are away. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Look down on | To view with contempt or consider inferior | She looks down on people who don't have a college education. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Look forward (to) | To anticipate or be excited about | I'm really looking forward to our vacation next month. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Look into | To investigate or examine | The authorities will look into the matter and take appropriate action. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Look out for | To watch or be vigilant for something or someone | Look out for any signs of danger. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Look up to | To admire or respect someone | I look up to my older sister for her achievements. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Make out | To understand or see something unclear or distant | I can't make out the words on the sign from here. | Separable, transitive |
| To engage in passionate kissing | They were caught making out in the park. | Inseparable, intransitive | |
| Make up | To invent or create a story or excuse | He made up a silly excuse for being late. | Separable, transitive |
| To reconcile or restore a friendly relationship | After their argument, they decided to make up and be friends again. | Inseparable, intransitive | |
| Mix up | To confuse or mistake something or someone | She always mixes up our names. | Separable, transitive |
| Pass away | To die | Her grandfather passed away last night. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Pass on | To transmit or convey something | Please pass on the message to the team. | Separable, transitive |
| Pass out | To faint or lose consciousness temporarily | He felt dizzy and passed out during the presentation. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Pass up | To miss or decline an opportunity | Don't pass up the chance to travel the world. | Separable, transitive |
| Pay off | To result in success or bring a positive outcome | All his hard work paid off when he won the competition. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| To give someone the money owed, usually to settle a debt. | He finally paid off his debts and became debt-free. | Separable, transitive | |
| Pick out | To choose or select something | She picked out a beautiful dress for the party. | Separable, transitive |
| Pick up | To collect or gather something or someone | Can you pick up some groceries on your way home? | Separable, transitive |
| Point out | To indicate or draw attention to something or someone | He pointed out the mistake in the report. | Separable, transitive |
| Pull off | To succeed in achieving something difficult or impressive | She pulled off a flawless performance on stage. | Separable, transitive |
| Put forward | To propose or suggest something | He put forward a new idea for the project. | Separable, transitive |
| Put off | To postpone or delay something | We had to put off the meeting until next week. | Separable, transitive |
| Put up (with) | To tolerate or endure something | She had to put up with his constant complaining. | Inseparable, transitive |
| To assemble or display | They put up their artwork for the gallery show. | Separable, transitive | |
| Run away | To escape or flee from a place or situation | The child decided to run away from home. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Run into | To meet or encounter someone by chance | I ran into an old friend at the grocery store. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Run off | To leave quickly or suddenly | He ran off without saying goodbye. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Run out (of) | To use up or exhaust the supply of something | We ran out of milk, so I need to go to the store. | Inseparable, transitive / intransitive |
| Set off | To start a journey or trip | We set off early in the morning to avoid traffic. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| To trigger or initiate something, such as a series of events | Her comments set off a heated debate among the panelists. | Inseparable, transitive | |
| Set up | To establish or arrange something | They set up a new business together. | Separable, transitive / intransitive |
| Settle down | To calm down or become established in a stable life | After traveling for years, she decided to settle down in a small town. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Settle in | To become accustomed or get comfortable in a new place | It took some time for them to settle in their new home. | Inseparable, transitive / intransitive |
| Settle up | To pay a debt or resolve financial matters | They need to settle up the bill before leaving the restaurant. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Show off | To display or demonstrate one's skills or possessions | He loves to show off his new car to everyone. | Separable, transitive / intransitive |
| Show up | To arrive or appear, especially unexpectedly or at a specified time | She showed up at the party wearing a stunning dress. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Shut down | To close or stop the operation of a business or system | The company decided to shut down its manufacturing plant. | Separable, transitive / intransitive |
| To dismiss or reject an idea, proposal, or argument | The team leader immediately shut down his suggestion. | Separable, transitive | |
| Sit down | To take a seat or position oneself comfortably | Let's sit down and discuss the details of the project. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Stand out | To be noticeably different or exceptional | Her talent stands out among the other contestants. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Stand up (to) | To confront or resist someone or something | He decided to stand up to the bully. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Stick around | To remain or stay in a place or situation | Can you stick around until I finish this task? | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Take after | To resemble or have similar traits as someone | She takes after her mother in terms of looks and personality. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Take apart | To disassemble or dismantle something | We need to take apart the furniture before moving it. | Separable, transitive |
| Take back | To retract or withdraw a statement or offer | I want to take back what I said earlier. | Separable, transitive |
| To return something to its original location or owner | Could you please take back this book to the library? | Separable, transitive | |
| Take down | To write or record something | Please take down the important points of the meeting. | Separable, transitive |
| Take in | To understand or comprehend something | I couldn't take in all the information at once. | Separable, transitive |
| Take on | To undertake or accept a responsibility or challenge | He decided to take on the project despite the difficulties. | Separable, transitive |
| Take over | To assume control or become dominant | The new manager will take over the department next week. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Take up | To start or begin a hobby, activity, or occupation | I want to take up playing the piano. | Separable, transitive |
| Talk over | To discuss or consider something with others | Let's talk over the details of the project. | Separable, transitive |
| Think over | To consider or reflect on something | I need some time to think over your proposal. | Separable, transitive |
| Throw away | To discard or get rid of something | She decided to throw away the old magazines. | Separable, transitive |
| Try for | To attempt to achieve or obtain something | He will try for a promotion at work. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Try on | To test or experiment with wearing something | She wants to try on the dress before buying it. | Separable, transitive |
| Try out | To test or evaluate something | They decided to try out the new software. | Separable, transitive |
| Turn down | To reject or refuse an offer or request | She turned down the job offer because of the low salary. | Separable, transitive |
| Use up | To deplete or exhaust the supply or quantity of something | We used up all the printer ink. | Inseparable, transitive |
| Wake up | To stop sleeping and become conscious | I usually wake up early in the morning. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Walk away | To leave or abandon a situation or relationship | He decided to walk away from the argument. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Walk out | To leave suddenly or in protest | The audience walked out during the boring performance. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Watch out | To be cautious or vigilant | Watch out for the step, it's slippery. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Wear off | To gradually fade or disappear | The effects of the medication will wear off in a few hours. | Inseparable, intransitive |
| Work off | To eliminate or reduce through physical activity or effort | I need to work off the extra calories I consumed. | Separable, transitive |
| Work up | To develop or generate a particular feeling or state | I'm trying to work up the courage to ask her out. | Separable, transitive |
| Write down | To record or write something on paper | Please write down the important details. | Separable, transitive |
| Write off | To consider something as a loss or failure | They had to write off the damaged goods. | Separable, transitive |
| Write up | To write a report, summary, or account of something | I need to write up the meeting minutes. | Separable, transitive |
| Zip up | To fasten or close a zipper | She forgot to zip up her jacket before going outside. | Separable, transitive |
What Is a Phrasal Verb?
A phrasal verb is a phrase that’s made up of a verb and another word or two, usually a preposition but sometimes an adverb. The same verb can be used in several phrasal verbs, such as give in, give away and give up, but the meaning will be different.
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:
To understand phrasal verbs, it’s important to know what verbs, prepositions and adverbs are.
- A verb is an action word. It describes something happening (e.g. hearing, seeing), a state of being (e.g. to live, to sleep) or an action being done (e.g. to read, to sing).
- A preposition describes the relationship between two words. For example, the bees are above the table or under the table, but not inside the table (hopefully). Prepositions mainly deal with location or direction (e.g. on, through, around) and time (e.g. “by” or “around” a certain time).
- An adverb is a word that describes a verb. For example, you can run quickly or slowly and arrive to class early or late.
You can put these together to form phrasal verbs.
It’s easier than you think. For example, you probably already know the phrase “come on”—that’s a phrasal verb!
The word “come,” on its own, means to move towards something. Together with the preposition “on,” though, the phrase “come on” becomes a phrase of encouragement.
If the idea of phrasal verbs still takes some getting used to, you can pick them up more naturally by watching English movies, TV clips or online videos and then trying to notice the phrasal verbs that come up. English shows make great material for this because they often use everyday language.
Sometimes it can be tricky to do on your own, though. As an English learning resource, FluentU makes this more approachable.
FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.
P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
Phrasal verbs are such an important part of English that you’ll hear them everywhere!
Types of Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs can be either transitive or intransitive and separable or inseparable.
Transitive
Transitive phrasal verbs have a direct object (a thing or person that’s being acted on).
For example, let’s take the phrasal verb “put on”:
She’ll put on some makeup before stepping onstage.
In this sentence, the makeup is the direct object. You can’t say “she’ll put on before stepping onstage” because with transitive verbs, there needs to be a direct object—what exactly is she putting on?
Here are some other transitive phrasal verbs:
We’re already indoors, take off your hat.
This is really tough, but the team’s confident that they can work out a solution.
I’m ready for this challenge, bring it on!
Intransitive
On the other hand, intransitive phrasal verbs don’t have a direct object. You can just use them in a sentence as is:
When I’ve had a really good nap, it’s hard to get up!
My friends want to hang out at this interesting café that just opened.
Separable
Separable phrasal verbs are phrasal verbs that can be split up, with a word or phrase in the middle:
Since you weren’t at the party yesterday, I’ll fill you in on the funny things that happened.
He had to take his jacket off because he was sweating.
One thing to remember is that separable phrasal verbs are always transitive—it’s the direct object that gets inserted into the middle of the phrase.
Usually, if the direct object is a noun, the word order is a bit more flexible. You can place it either inside the phrasal verb or simply add it afterwards:
I’m going to turn my phone off because there’s no signal here in the mountains.
I’m going to turn off my phone because there’s no signal here in the mountains.
There’s an exception to this, though. If the direct object is a pronoun (me, you, he, she, it, them), it would have to be inserted into the phrasal verb:
Correct: We brought a gift to cheer her up.
Incorrect: We brought a gift to cheer up her.
Inseparable
With inseparable phrasal verbs, you can’t break them up! If there’s a direct object, it has to come after the phrasal verb, even if it’s a pronoun:
Correct: Can you stay nearby so we can call on you if an emergency happens?
Incorrect: Can you stay nearby so we can call you on if an emergency happens?
Inseparable phrasal verbs can be either transitive or intransitive:
She came across her old school photos and felt surprised about how different she looked back then. (Transitive)
As a teenager, he was excited to grow up and live in his own apartment. (Intransitive)
The catch is that there’s no definite way to tell whether a phrasal verb is separable or inseparable, so if you encounter a new phrasal verb, you’ll have to observe how it’s used!
How to Use Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs are used just like verbs—you can use them anywhere they make sense.
Word Order
First, you have to remember if a phrasal verb is separable or inseparable.
Inseparable verbs need to have the verb and preposition said together, like in the phrase fall down.
For separable verbs, though, you can also separate the verb and the preposition by putting other words in between them—both ways are correct. For example:
Turn off the TV
Turn the TV off
Conjugation
The verb part of the phrase should be changed depending on the tense and subject of the sentence. For example, take out can transform like this:
He took out his water bottle from his bag. (Past tense)
She takes out the trash every Thursday. (Present tense)
They often take out their dog for a walk in the park. (Present tense)
I’ll take out the boxes from the storage room tomorrow. (Future tense)
Here’s another example (call off):
They called off the meeting due to a scheduling conflict. (Past tense)
We’re calling off our plans to go hiking because it might rain. (Present continuous tense)
She will call off the event if not enough people RSVP. (Future tense)
How many of these English phrasal verbs did you already know? 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.
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
And One More Thing...
If you like learning English through movies and online media, you should also check out FluentU. FluentU lets you learn English from popular talk shows, catchy music videos and funny commercials, as you can see here:
If you want to watch it, the FluentU app has probably got it.
The FluentU app and website makes it really easy to watch English videos. There are captions that are interactive. That means you can tap on any word to see an image, definition, and useful examples.
FluentU lets you learn engaging content with world famous celebrities.
For example, when you tap on the word "searching," you see this:
FluentU lets you tap to look up any word.
Learn all the vocabulary in any video with quizzes. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning.
FluentU helps you learn fast with useful questions and multiple examples. Learn more.
The best part? FluentU remembers the vocabulary that you’re learning. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. You have a truly personalized experience.
Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
