Common Phrasal Verbs

guidetogrammar.org/grammar/phrasals.htm

Separable Phrasal
Verbs
The object may come after the
following phrasal verbs or it may
separate the two parts:
You have to do this paint job
over.
You have to do over this paint
job.
When the object of the following
phrasal verbs is a pronoun, the
two parts of the phrasal verb
must be separated:

You have to do it over.

Verb Meaning Example

blow explode The

up terrorists
tried to blow
up the
railroad
station.

bring mention a My mother

up topic brought up
that little
matter of my
prison
record
again.

bring raise It isn't easy

up children to bring up
children
nowadays.

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call cancel They called
off off this
afternoon's
meeting

do repeat a job Do this

over homework
over.

fill complete a Fill out this

out form application
form and
mail it in.

fill up fill to She filled up

capacity the grocery
cart with
free food.

find discover My sister

out found out
that her
husband
had been
planning a
surprise
party for
her.

give give The filling

away something station was
to someone giving away
else for free free gas.

give return an My brother

back object borrowed
my car. I
have a
feeling he's
not about to
give it back.

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hand submit The students
in something handed in
(assignment) their papers
and left the
room.

hang put She hung up

up something the phone
on hook or before she
receiver hung up her
clothes.

hold delay I hate to hold

up up the
meeting, but
I have to go
to the
bathroom.

hold rob Three

up (2) masked
gunmen
held up the
Security
Bank this
afternoon.

leave omit You left out

out the part
about the
police chase
down
Asylum
Avenue.

look examine, The lawyers

over check looked over
the papers
carefully
before
questioning
the witness.
(They looked
them over
carefully.)
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look search in a You've
up list misspelled
this word
again. You'd
better look it
up.

make invent a She knew

up story or lie she was in
trouble, so
she made up
a story
about going
to the
movies with
her friends.

make hear, He was so

out understand far away, we
really
couldn't
make out
what he was
saying.

pick choose There were

out three men in
the line-up.
She picked
out the guy
she thought
had stolen
her purse.

pick lift The crane

up something picked up
off the entire
something house.
else (Watch them
pick it up.)

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point call As we drove
out attention to through
Paris,
Francoise
pointed out
the major
historical
sites.

put save or We put away

away store money for
our
retirement.
She put
away the
cereal
boxes.

put postpone We asked

off the boss to
put off the
meeting
until
tomorrow.
(Please put it
off for
another
day.)

put put clothing I put on a

on on the body sweater and
a jacket. (I
put them on
quickly.)

put extinguish The

out firefighters
put out the
house fire
before it
could
spread.
(They put it
out quickly.)

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read peruse I read over
over the
homework,
but couldn't
make any
sense of it.

set to arrange, My wife set

up begin up the living
room exactly
the way she
wanted it.
She set it up.

take make a These are

down written note your
instructions.
Write them
down before
you forget.

take remove It was so hot

off clothing that I had to
take off my
shirt.

talk discuss We have

over serious
problems
here. Let's
talk them
over like
adults.

throw discard That's a lot

away of money!
Don't just
throw it
away.

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try on put clothing She tried on
on to see if it fifteen
fits dresses
before she
found one
she liked.

try test I tried out

out four cars
before I
could find
one that
pleased me.

turn lower Your radio is

down volume driving me
crazy! Please
turn it down.

turn reject He applied

down for a
(2) promotion
twice this
year, but he
was turned
down both
times.

turn raise the Grandpa

up volume couldn't
hear, so he
turned up
his hearing
aid.

turn switch off We turned

off electricity off the lights
before
anyone
could see us.

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turn repulse It was a
off (2) disgusting
movie. It
really turned
me off.

turn switch on Turn on the

on the CD player so
electricity we can
dance.

use exhaust, use The gang

up completely members
used up all
the money
and went
out to rob
some more
banks.

Inseparable Phrasal Verbs (Transitive)

With the following phrasal verbs, the lexical part of the verb (the part of
the phrasal verb that carries the "verb-meaning") cannot be separated
from the prepositions (or other parts) that accompany it: "Who will look
after my estate when I'm gone?"

Verb Meaning Example

call on ask to recite in The teacher called on students in the back row.
class

call on visit The old minister continued to call on his sick

(2) parishioners.

get over recover from I got over the flu, but I don't know if I'll everget
sickness or over my broken heart.
disappointment

go over review The students went over the material before the
exam. They should have gone over it twice.

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go use up; consume They country went through most of its coal
through reserves in one year. Did he go through all his
money already?

look take care of My mother promised to look after my dog while

after I was gone.

look investigate The police will look into the possibilities of

into embezzlement.

run find by chance I ran across my old roommate at the college

across reunion.

run into meet Carlos ran into his English professor in the
hallway.

take resemble My second son seems to take after his mother.

after

wait on serve It seemed strange to see my old boss wait on

tables.

Three-Word Phrasal Verbs (Transitive)

With the following phrasal verbs, you will find three parts: "My brother
dropped out of school before he could graduate."

Verb Meaning Example

break interrupt (a I was talking to Mom on the phone when the

in on conversation) operator broke in on our call.

catch keep abreast After our month-long trip, it was time to catch up
up with with the neighbors and the news around town.

check examine, The boys promised to check up on the condition of

up on investigate the summer house from time to time.

come to contribute After years of giving nothing, the old parishioner

up with (suggestion, was able to come up with a thousand-dollar
money) donation.

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cut curtail We tried to cut down on the money we were
down (expenses) spending on entertainment.
on

drop leave school I hope none of my students drop out of school this
out of semester.

get have a good I found it very hard to get along with my brother
along relationship when we were young.
with with

get escape blame Janik cheated on the exam and then tried to get
away away with it.
with

get rid eliminate The citizens tried to get rid of their corrupt mayor
of in the recent election.

get finish When will you ever get through with that program?
through
with

keep up maintain pace It's hard to keep up with the Joneses when you lose
with with your job!

look anticipate with I always look forward to the beginning of a new

forward pleasure semester.
to

look despise It's typical of a jingoistic country that the citizens

down look down on their geographical neighbors.
on

look in visit We were going to look in on my brother-in-law, but

on (somebody) he wasn't home.

look be careful, Good instructors will look out for early signs of
out for anticipate failure in their students

look up respect First-graders really look up to their teachers.

to

make verify Make sure of the student's identity before you let
sure of him into the classroom.

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put up tolerate The teacher had to put up with a great deal of
with nonsense from the new students.

run out exhaust supply The runners ran out of energy before the end of
of the race.

take be responsible My oldest sister took care of us younger children

care of for after Mom died.

talk answer The star player talked back to the coach and was
back to impolitely thrown off the team.

think recall I often think back on my childhood with great

back on pleasure.

walk abandon Her husband walked out on her and their three
out on children.

Intransitive Phrasal Verbs

The following phrasal verbs are not followed by an object: "Once you
leave home, you can never really go back again."

Verb Meaning Example

break stop That old Jeep had a tendency to break down just
down functioning when I needed it the most.

catch on become Popular songs seem to catch on in California first

popular and then spread eastward.

come return to a Father promised that we would never come back

back place to this horrible place.

come in enter They tried to come in through the back door, but it
was locked.

come to regain He was hit on the head very hard, but after
consciousness several minutes, he started to come to again.

come to visit The children promised to come over, but they

over never do.

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drop by visit without We used to just drop by, but they were never
appointment home, so we stopped doing that.

eat out dine in a When we visited Paris, we loved eating out in the
restaurant sidewalk cafes.

get by survive Uncle Heine didn't have much money, but he

always seemed to get by without borrowing
money from relatives.

get up arise Grandmother tried to get up, but the couch was
too low, and she couldn't make it on her own.

go back return to a It's hard to imagine that we will ever go back to

place Lithuania.

go on continue He would finish one Dickens novel and then just

go on to the next.

go on (2) happen The cops heard all the noise and stopped to see
what was going on.

grow up get older Charles grew up to be a lot like his father.

keep remain at a The judge warned the stalker to keep away from
away distance his victim's home.

keep on continue with He tried to keep on singing long after his voice was
(with the same ruined.
gerund)

pass out lose He had drunk too much; he passed out on the
consciousness, sidewalk outside the bar.
faint

show off demonstrate Whenever he sat down at the piano, we knew he

haughtily was going to show off.

show up arrive Day after day, Efrain showed up for class twenty
minutes late.

wake up arouse from I woke up when the rooster crowed.

sleep

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Grammar Composition
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