Phrasal Verbs with Up & Down

Complete the sentences with up or down

1. I’ve backed UP my dissertation on a pendrive just in case. i
2. Local residents forced the council to back DOWN from its plans to build a power plant in the area. m
3. Bring your new laptop to my house and I’ll help you set it UP t
4. “It was a trap! He knew the FBI had bugged my phone, he set me UP w
5. The rules of the club are clearly set DOWN in the member’s handbook. u
6. He broke DOWN in tears when she told him she was breaking UP with him. J + f
7. He made UP a lame excuse for missing my birthday, no one believed him. e
8. My brothers fell out last summer but I think they’ve made UP now. FALL OUT - FIGHT AND STOP TALKING d
9. I needed you on Saturday and you didn’t show UP! You really let me DOWN q + h
10. The wind dropped and the rain gradually let UP c
11. My computer has been playing UP all morning, I need to get it looked at. r
12. I’m so stressed, the kids have been playing UP all day, I need a drink. g
13. The president’s press officer attempted to play DOWN the severity of the situation.v
14. Good morning, I’m just calling to follow UP my email from yesterday. p
15. I was off sick for two days last week and now I’m struggling to catch UP on the work I missed. n
16. Let’s go for a coffee this weekend and catch UP properly. b
17. My cousin put me UP on his sofa for 2 weeks while I was in Sydney. s
18. I’m not going to put UP with this rudeness anymore! k
19. Stop putting yourself DOWN you’re doing the best you can given the circumstances. L beat oneself up
20. We had to have our cat put DOWN last week, it was so sad. a
21. He was so irritable in the meeting but we put it DOWN to jetlag, he’d just got back from LA. o
at, in, on - en
a. Kill an old animal i. Save a copy p. pursue/investigate further
b. Chat & exchange news j. Cry q. Arrive/appear
c. Decrease in intensity k. Tolerate r. Not work properly
d. Reconcile/repair a l. Be self-critical s. Let sb stay at your house
relationship m. Withdraw from a conflict t. Start/establish
e. Invent because of opposition u. Record/write down
f. End a relationship n. Get up to date v. Minimise the importance of
g. Misbehave o. Explaining the reason something
h. Disappoint something happened w. Trick/cheat sb

Practice
Replace the parts in bold with a phrasal verb.
I met an old friend at the weekend. We went for a coffee and (1)to chat and exchange some news. We actually hadn’t
seen each other for a while because we had fallen out and had only (2)reconciled recently. He really wasn’t in a good
way, his girlfriend has really (3)disappointed him, she had his old decrepit hamster (4)killed. She (5)tricked him by
saying she was just taking the hamster to the vet for a check up. Then she tried to (6)minimise the importance of what
she had done by saying that the hamster was really old.

He has decided not to (7)tolerate her strange ways anymore. He kept (8)being really self critical while we were chatting
and then he (9)cried. After a few minutes his tears (10)decreased in intensity and I managed to cheer him up a bit. My
phone (11)hasn’t been working properly lately but I managed to send him a text this morning to (12)investigate the
situation further and it looks as if things have gone from bad to worse; they (13)ended their relationship yesterday and
I’ve promised to (14)let him stay at my house for a few days while he finds a new place.

1) Catch up 8) Putting himself down

2) Made up 9) Broke down (in tears)
3) Let him down 10) Let up
4) Put down 11) Has been playing up
5) Set him up 12) Follow up
6) Play down 13) Broke/split up
7) Put up with 14) Put him up
Discussion
1. Are you someone who tends to put themself down a lot? What can we do to be less self-critical?
2. Before the pandemic did you often put friends up at your house? What’s the longest a friend has
stayed over at your place?
3. Can you think of a film/TV show/event that really let you down? Why do you think it was such a
letdown?
4. Do you ever make up lame excuses to get out of doing things/going places? What’s your go-to fake
excuse?
5. How soon after a successful first date should you send a text to follow up?
6. Have you ever had to have a beloved pet put down? What was the experience like?
7. Do you always back up your important documents? Have you ever lost an important document
because you didn’t back it up?
8. If you were a teacher, what things would you definitely not put up with from your students?
9. Did you ever play up when you were a child/teenager? What sort of things did you use to do?
10. How have you been catching up with friends during the pandemic?
11. Have you ever fallen out and then made up with a good friend or family member?
12. Are you a stubborn person or do you tend to back down in arguments?
13. Are any of your gadgets or devices playing up at the moment? What do they do?
14. When the restrictions let up, what’s the first thing you want to do?
15. Do you feel confident setting up new computers or electronic equipment? Do you read the manual or
jump straight in?
16. What’s the worst way to break up with somebody?