Grammar: Phrasal Verbs

 

Phrasal Verbs 1

1: GO ON = happen

• What's going on?
• There's a class going on at the moment.
• What went on last night?

2: PICK UP = get something or someone from a place

• I picked up my brother from the airport.
• Please pick up some bread.
• Would you come and pick me up from work tonight?

3: COME BACK = return to a place (the speaker is in that place)

• She came back around 10pm last night.
• When will you come back from France?
• Please come back! It's boring here without you.

4: COME UP WITH = produce an idea

• Julie came up with a great idea.
• He came up with an answer to the question very quickly.
• Can you come up with a better solution?

5: GO BACK = return to a place (the speaker isn't in that place)

• He finished his work and went back to his flat.
• When is she planning to go back to Japan?
• I'll go back to the library later.

6: FIND OUT = get information

• Can you find out what time the restaurant opens?
• I found out that we need to submit our essays next Tuesday.
• I don't know what the weather forecast is for tomorrow, but I'll find out.

7: COME OUT = appear from a place

• She came out of the kitchen.
• He went to the cafe and came out with a coffee.
• Please come out of the bedroom.

8: GO OUT = go to an event / restaurant / pub / party

• Let's go out for dinner.
• You're going out a lot these days.
• We should go out more.

9: POINT OUT = show / mention

• She pointed out the beautiful paintings on the walls.
• Please point out to the students that they must attend all the lectures.
• 'We'll miss the bus if we don't hurry', he pointed out.

10: GROW UP = become an adult

• I grew up in Scotland.
• My children are growing up too fast!
• When will he grow up?

11: SET UP = create / arrange

• I need to set up a new bank account.
• She's decided to set up her own company.
• I set up some language classes at the school.

12: TURN OUT = in the end we discover

• The maid turned out to have stolen the money.
• He turned out to be a friend of Alex's.
• The party turned out to be a big success.

13: GET OUT = leave a room / building / car

• I need to get out of the house!
• She got out of the car and went into the shop.
• Get out! There's a fire in the kitchen!

14: COME IN / INTO = enter (the speaker is in that place)

• Please come in! It's great to see you.
• She came into the living room and sat down.
• Don't come in! I'm not ready yet!

15: TAKE ON = to be responsible for

• He's going to take on the new project.
• She isn't taking on any new students at the moment.
• Could you take on some extra work?

Try an exercise about these phrasal verbs here.

Phrasal Verbs 2

16. GIVE UP = stop having or doing

• She has finally given up smoking.
• I had to give up coffee when I was ill.
• He gave up chocolate for a month.

17. MAKE UP = be the parts that form something (often used in the passive with 'of')

• Women make up 46% of the employees here.
• This class is made up entirely of boys.
• People who can speak English make up a quarter of the world's population.

18. END UP = finally do or be something, especially when you don't expect it

• We ended up going back home because it was raining so hard.
• They ended up passing the last exam, even though they failed all the other exams.
• Be careful! You'll end up without a job if you are rude to your boss.

19. GET BACK = arrive somewhere again, especially your home (+ to + place)

• She got back to Paris last night.
• What time did you get back yesterday?
• We got back very late because the train was delayed.

20. LOOK UP = raise your eyes

• She looked up from her computer and asked a question.
• I called his name, but he didn't look up.
• John looked up from his book when Julie came in.

21. FIGURE OUT = think about until you understand / plan (more common in USA)

• Let's figure out how we can get to London very early in the morning.
• She couldn't figure out why he had left.
• He finally figured out that the cat must have broken the plate.

22. SIT DOWN = change from standing to sitting

• Do please sit down.
• She sat down and took out her book.
• The children sat down in rows and crossed their legs.

23. GET UP = change from lying or sitting to standing (more casual than 'stand up')

• She got up when we arrived (= she was sitting and she stood up).
• I don't want to get up. It's so comfortable sitting here.
• What are you doing on the floor? Get up!

24. TAKE OUT = remove from a container (+ of before a noun)

• She took the letter out of the envelope.
• I'll take the sweets out of the box and put them under the Christmas tree now.
• He took his clothes out of the suitcase and put them away in the wardrobe.

25. COME ON = we say this to encourage someone to go faster or try harder

• Come on! You're going to be left behind.
• Come on, don't worry. It's all going to be fine.
• She kept telling me to come on, but I was already going as fast as I could.

26. GO DOWN = move to a lower place (+ to + place)

• She started to go down the stairs.
• We went down to the café and bought some coffee.
• Let's go down to the cellar and see if we can find those books.

27. SHOW UP = arrive at or come to an event / meeting (especially if there's something surprising)

• We all went to the party, but Lucy didn't show up.
• He showed up at the meeting two hours late. Julie was very angry.
• I wonder if John's going to show up today. He didn't come last time.

28. TAKE OFF = remove clothes or jewellery

• I took off my coat because it was very hot.
• She always takes off all her rings before she goes to bed.
• Is it okay to take off my shoes?

29. WORK OUT = think about until you understand / plan (more common in UK)

• We need to work out how to get to the wedding.
• She couldn't work out how the bird had got into the living room.
• I don't know why the car won't start but I'll work it out.

30. STAND UP = change from lying or sitting to standing (less casual than 'get up')

• Please stand up when the queen comes in.
• She finished her coffee, stood up, and left the restaurant.
• He stood up to let an old man have his seat.

Try an exercise about these phrasal verbs here.

Phrasal Verbs 3

31. COME DOWN (FROM) = move from a high place to a lower place

• She came down slowly from the roof.
• Do come down! You’re going to fall!
• They came down from the tower.

32. GO AHEAD = to begin to do something

• I asked the manager and she says to go ahead and start the meeting.
• Go ahead! You don’t need to wait for us!
• I’m going to go ahead and book the holiday.

33. GO UP = increase (in price or temperature, etc.)

• House prices have gone up a lot in the last few months.
• At the beginning of our trip, it was really cold but then the temperature went up.
• I can’t believe how much the prices have gone up since my last visit here.

34. LOOK BACK (ON) = think about something in the past

• When I look back on my childhood, I realise how different the world is now.
• She spent time looking back on the race and thinking about ways to improve for next time.
• When I look back on those days, I can’t believe how young and foolish we were.

35. WAKE UP = change from sleeping to being awake

• What time do you usually wake up?
• She woke me up at 5am!
• Could you wake up the children, please?

36. CARRY OUT = do and finish a task or activity

• She carried out an experiment on the cells in her laboratory.
• Please carry out the survey as soon as you can.
• The work was carried out by a local builder.

37. TAKE OVER = take control of

• I don’t want to invite Mark! He always takes over the conversation.
• When the boss resigned, Julie took over the company.
• The rebels took over the Parliament.

38. HOLD UP = hold something high up so people can see it

• She held up her hand.
• He held up the bag and asked if anyone would like a closer look.
• Please hold this up for a moment.

39. PULL OUT (OF) = take something out of a container

• She pulled her purse out of her pocket.
• He reached into the drawer and pulled out a notebook and pen.
• She grabbed her bag and pulled out a bottle of water.

40. TURN AROUND / TURN ROUND = move so you face the other direction

• He turned around and looked out the window.
• We walked along the beach for a while, then turned around and walked back.
• Turn around and don’t look! I’ve got a surprise for you!

41. TAKE UP = use a certain amount of space or time

• The table takes up most of the kitchen!
• This work will take up the whole weekend.
• The children take up most of my time.

42. LOOK DOWN = move your eyes down

• She was very shy and she looked down when she met anyone new.
• I looked down to see a puppy at my feet.
• He opened the window and looked down.

43. PUT UP = fix something where it will be seen

• She put up lots of pictures in her new flat.
• Please put up this notice.
• The children put their drawings up on the wall.

44. BRING BACK = make something return

• She brought the conversation back to the weekend.
• He wants to bring back traditional schools.
• We had stopped having weekly meetings but the new boss brought them back.

45. BRING UP = start to talk about

• I wasn’t going to mention it, but Julie brought up the plans for the holidays.
• I want to talk to my boss about my pay but I don’t know how to bring it up.
• After we sat down, she brought up the problems that she’d been having at work.

Try an exercise about these phrasal verbs here.