Phrasal Verbs: Reading

Phrasal Verbs: Reading

1. Through

   • Phrasal verbs with the particle ‘through’ that describe the action of quickly turning several pages of a book or magazine, looking briefly at the text or pictures
   • to flick through sth
     • to look quickly at the pages of a magazine, book etc.
     • I was flicking through a glossy magazine.
   • to flip through sth
     • to look quickly at the pages of a magazine, book, etc.
     • I flipped through their catalogue while I was waiting.
   • to leaf through sth
     • to quickly turn the pages of a book or a magazine, reading only a little of it:
     • Sam sat, leafing idly through a newspaper
     • The waiting room was full of people leafing through magazines.
   • to thumb through sth
     • to turn the pages of a book, magazine, or a document quickly and only read small parts of it.
     • I thumbed through the report quickly over breakfast
     • "Have you read the report?" "Well, I thumbed through it quickly while I was eating breakfast."
   • to read through/over sth to read sth over/throuhg
     • Other phrasal verbs emphasize that you read all of something, but read it very quickly from beginning to end, especially in order to find mistakes
     • I always read through my essays before handing them in.
     • I read your proposal through last night and I think we'll agree to it.
     • Always read over your work when you've finished.
   • to skim through/ over sthg
     • If you skim through or over something, you read all of it very quickly and not carefully, often just to understand the main points
     • I’ve just skimmed through the report – I’ll read it in detail later
     • I've only skimmed (through/over) his letter; I haven't read it carefully yet. We've only skimmed the surface of (= considered a small part of) the problem.

2. %

3. up

   • to read up on/about sthg
     • It's a good idea to read up on a company before going for an interview.