Phrasal verbs are one of the most exciting and challenging parts of learning English. They’re everywhere—in conversations, movies, books, and even songs. But what exactly are phrasal verbs, and how can you use them correctly? In this lesson, we’ll break it all down in a simple, engaging way. By the end, you’ll feel more confident using phrasal verbs in your everyday English!
What Are Phrasal Verbs?
Phrasal verbs are combinations of a verb and a preposition or adverb (or sometimes both) that create a unique meaning. For example:
- Verb + Preposition: “Look after” (to take care of someone or something).
- Verb + Adverb: “Break down” (to stop working, like a car or machine).
The tricky part? The meaning of a phrasal verb often isn’t obvious from the individual words. For example, “give up” doesn’t mean to physically give something upward—it means to quit or stop trying.
Why Are Phrasal Verbs Important?
Phrasal verbs are a huge part of everyday English. Native speakers use them all the time, and you’ll hear them in movies, TV shows, and casual conversations. If you want to sound natural and fluent, you need to understand and use phrasal verbs.
Types of Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs can be grouped into two main categories:
- Transitive Phrasal Verbs: These need an object.
- Example: “Turn off the lights.” (Here, “the lights” is the object.)
- Some transitive phrasal verbs are separable, meaning the object can come between the verb and the particle.
- Example: “Turn the lights off.” (This is also correct.)
- Intransitive Phrasal Verbs: These don’t need an object.
- Example: “The plane took off.” (No object is needed here.)
List of Common Phrasal Verbs
Below is a list of common phrasal verbs. We’ll leave this section empty for now so you can add your own examples later. You can group them by theme (e.g., daily life, work, travel) or difficulty level.
| Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Look after | To take care of someone or something | She looks after her little brother every day. |
| Give up | To quit or stop trying | He decided to give up smoking for his health. |
| Turn on | To start a device | Can you turn on the TV? I want to watch the news. |
| Run out of | To have no more of something | We ran out of milk, so I need to go to the store. |
| Pick up | To lift or collect something | Please pick up your toys before dinner. |
| Put off | To postpone | They decided to put off the meeting until next week. |
| Take off | To remove or leave the ground (plane) | The plane will take off in 10 minutes. |
| Get along | To have a good relationship | I get along well with my coworkers. |
| Look up | To search for information | I need to look up the meaning of this word. |
| Break down | To stop working (machine) or lose control emotionally | My car broke down on the way to work. |
| Bring up | To mention or raise a topic | She brought up an interesting point during the meeting. |
| Call off | To cancel | They had to call off the picnic because of the rain. |
| Carry on | To continue | Please carry on with your work while I’m gone. |
| Come across | To find or meet by chance | I came across an old photo while cleaning my room. |
| Cut down on | To reduce | I’m trying to cut down on sugar to improve my health. |
| Do over | To do again | I made a mistake, so I need to do over this assignment. |
| Fall apart | To break into pieces or emotionally collapse | The old book fell apart when I touched it. |
| Figure out | To solve or understand | I need to figure out how to fix this problem. |
| Get over | To recover from something | It took her weeks to get over the flu. |
| Give away | To donate or reveal a secret | She decided to give away her old clothes to charity. |
| Go over | To review | Let’s go over the plan one more time. |
| Hold on | To wait or grip tightly | Hold on a second, I’ll be right back. |
| Keep up | To maintain pace or continue | It’s hard to keep up with all the new technology. |
| Look forward to | To anticipate with pleasure | I’m looking forward to the weekend. |
| Make up | To invent or reconcile | They made up after their argument. |
| Pass out | To faint or distribute | He passed out from exhaustion after the long hike. |
| Put on | To wear or perform | She put on her favorite dress for the party. |
| Run into | To meet unexpectedly | I ran into an old friend at the mall. |
| Set up | To arrange or establish | They set up a new business last year. |
| Take after | To resemble a family member | She takes after her mother in looks and personality. |
| Turn off | To stop a device or lose interest | Please turn off the lights before leaving. |
| Wake up | To stop sleeping | I usually wake up at 7 a.m. every day. |
| Work out | To exercise or solve | I work out at the gym three times a week. |
| Break up | To end a relationship | They decided to break up after five years together. |
| Bring back | To return something | Can you bring back the book you borrowed? |
| Call up | To phone someone | I’ll call up my friend to see if she’s free. |
| Cheer up | To make someone happy | The good news cheered up the whole team. |
| Come up with | To think of an idea | She came up with a brilliant solution to the problem. |
| Drop off | To deliver or decrease | I’ll drop off the package at the post office. |
| End up | To eventually do or become | We ended up staying home because of the rain. |
| Fill out | To complete a form | Please fill out this application before the deadline. |
| Get back | To return | I’ll get back to you with an answer soon. |
| Give back | To return something | Don’t forget to give back the money you owe. |
| Go out | To leave home socially | Let’s go out for dinner tonight. |
| Hang out | To spend time casually | We like to hang out at the park on weekends. |
| Keep on | To continue | Keep on trying, and you’ll succeed eventually. |
| Look out | To be careful | Look out! There’s a car coming. |
| Make out | To understand or kiss | I can’t make out what this handwriting says. |
| Pass away | To die | His grandfather passed away last year. |
| Put away | To store or save | Please put away your toys after playing. |
| Run over | To review or hit with a vehicle | Let’s run over the details one more time. |
| Set off | To start a journey or cause something | We’ll set off early in the morning to avoid traffic. |
| Take up | To start a hobby or occupy space | She decided to take up painting as a new hobby. |
| Turn up | To increase volume or appear unexpectedly | Can you turn up the music? It’s too quiet. |
| Warm up | To prepare for exercise or heat something | I always warm up before going for a run. |
| Break in | To enter forcibly or wear something new | Someone tried to break in to our house last night. |
| Bring down | To reduce or cause to fall | The government is trying to bring down inflation. |
| Call back | To return a phone call | I’ll call back later when I have more time. |
| Check in | To register at a hotel or airport | We need to check in at the hotel by 3 p.m. |
| Come back | To return | When will you come back from your trip? |
| Cut off | To disconnect or stop supply | The phone call was cut off suddenly. |
| Do away with | To abolish or eliminate | The company decided to do away with the old policy. |
| Fall behind | To fail to keep up | I fell behind on my homework because I was sick. |
| Get off | To leave a vehicle or escape punishment | I’ll get off at the next bus stop. |
| Give in | To surrender or yield | After hours of arguing, he finally gave in. |
| Go ahead | To proceed | You can go ahead and start without me. |
| Hold back | To restrain or hesitate | Don’t hold back—tell me what you really think. |
| Keep away | To avoid or stay at a distance | Keep away from the edge; it’s dangerous. |
| Look into | To investigate | The police are looking into the case. |
| Make do | To manage with what’s available | We’ll have to make do with the supplies we have. |
| Pass by | To go past | I saw him pass by my house this morning. |
| Put out | To extinguish or publish | Please put out the fire before leaving. |
| Run away | To escape | The dog ran away from its owner. |
| Set aside | To save or reserve | Let’s set aside some time to discuss this later. |
| Take over | To assume control | The new manager will take over next week. |
| Turn down | To refuse or decrease volume | She had to turn down the job offer because of the low salary. |
| Wake up to | To become aware | It’s time to wake up to the reality of the situation. |
| Work on | To focus on improving | I need to work on my pronunciation. |
| Break out | To escape or start suddenly | A fire broke out in the building last night. |
| Bring up | To raise a child or mention | She brought up her children all by herself. |
| Call for | To require or demand | This recipe calls for fresh ingredients. |
| Check out | To investigate or leave a hotel | Let’s check out the new restaurant downtown. |
| Come down | To descend or reduce | The prices of houses have come down recently. |
| Cut out | To remove or stop doing something | I need to cut out junk food from my diet. |
| Do without | To manage without something | We’ll have to do without a car for a while. |
| Fall for | To be deceived or fall in love | She fell for his charming personality. |
| Get by | To manage with difficulty | We can get by with just one car for now. |
| Give out | To distribute or stop working | The teacher gave out the test papers. |
| Go through | To experience or examine | She’s going through a tough time right now. |
| Hold up | To delay or rob | The traffic held up our journey. |
| Keep off | To avoid or stay away | Please keep off the grass. |
| Look through | To examine or read briefly | I looked through the magazine while waiting. |
| Make up for | To compensate | I’ll make up for the lost time by working extra hours. |
| Pass on | To decline or transmit | I’ll pass on dessert; I’m too full. |
| Put up with | To tolerate | I can’t put up with his rude behavior anymore. |
| Run through | To rehearse or review | Let’s run through the presentation one more time. |
| Set up | To arrange or establish | They set up a new business last year. |
| Take off | To remove or leave the ground (plane) | The plane will take off in 10 minutes. |
| Turn around | To change direction or improve | The company’s profits turned around after the new strategy. |
| Wake up | To stop sleeping | I usually wake up at 7 a.m. every day. |
| Work out | To exercise or solve | I work out at the gym three times a week. |
How to Use Phrasal Verbs Correctly
Phrasal verbs are an essential part of English, but they can be tricky to learn because their meanings are often different from the individual words. A phrasal verb consists of a verb and one or more particles (prepositions or adverbs). For example, “give up”, “take off”, and “look after” are all common phrasal verbs. To use them correctly, you need to understand their meanings, grammar rules, and usage in sentences.
1. Understand the Meaning of Phrasal Verbs
Many phrasal verbs have meanings that are not obvious from their individual words. For example, “break down” does not mean “to break something into pieces” but rather “to stop working”, as in “My car broke down yesterday.”
Since many phrasal verbs are idiomatic, you should learn their meanings in context rather than just translating them word for word. Reading, listening, and practicing them in real sentences will help you remember them better.
2. Recognize the Types of Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs can be transitive or intransitive, and separable or inseparable. Knowing these differences will help you use them correctly in sentences.
A. Transitive vs. Intransitive Phrasal Verbs
- Transitive phrasal verbs require an object.
- ✅ She turned off the lights.
- ❌ She turned off (incorrect because “turned off” needs an object).
- Intransitive phrasal verbs do not take an object.
- ✅ The plane took off at 7 PM.
- ❌ The plane took off the airport (incorrect because “took off” does not need an object).
B. Separable vs. Inseparable Phrasal Verbs
- Separable phrasal verbs allow the object to be placed between the verb and the particle.
- ✅ She turned off the lights.
- ✅ She turned the lights off.
- Inseparable phrasal verbs require the verb and particle to stay together.
- ✅ She looks after her brother.
- ❌ She looks her brother after (incorrect because “look after” is inseparable).
Understanding these structures will help you use phrasal verbs more naturally in writing and speaking.
3. Use Phrasal Verbs in the Right Context
Phrasal verbs can be formal or informal, so it’s important to use them appropriately. Many phrasal verbs are used in casual conversations rather than formal writing.
✅ Casual (spoken English):
- He gave up smoking last year.
- Let’s hang out this weekend!
✅ Formal (written English alternative):
- He quit smoking last year.
- Let’s spend time together this weekend.
If you are writing an academic paper or a business email, try using more formal alternatives. However, in spoken English and casual writing, phrasal verbs make your language sound more natural.
4. Learn Phrasal Verbs in Groups
Instead of memorizing phrasal verbs one by one, group them by common verbs to see patterns.
✅ Phrasal Verbs with “Take”
- Take off → The plane took off at noon. (Leave the ground)
- Take up → She took up painting last year. (Start a new hobby)
- Take after → He takes after his father. (Resemble)
✅ Phrasal Verbs with “Go”
- Go on → The teacher went on explaining. (Continue)
- Go over → Let’s go over the report before the meeting. (Review)
- Go out → They went out for dinner. (Leave for entertainment)
Grouping phrasal verbs like this helps you remember them more effectively.