Phrasal verbs

Question	Answer
BREAK DOWN	(stop working) Our car broke down and we had to push it off the road.
BREAK OFF (sth) BREAK (sth) OFF	1(separate a part of something) Each child broke off a piece of bread. 2(stop doing sthg suddely) Linda broke off, realizing that she was wrong.
CALL OFF (sth) CALL (sth) OFF	(cancel, decide that a planned event will not happen) Union leaders called the strike off at the last minute.
CALL (sb) UP	(to telephone someone) He used to call me up in the middle of the night .
CALM DOWN	(to stop feeling upset, angry, or excited, or to stop someone feeling this way) She was angry at first but we managed to calm her down.
CATCH UP ON SOMETHING	(to do something that you have not been able to do recently) I have to catch up on my reading.
CHECK IN	(show ticket, pay, state arrival) You can save time by checking in online.
CHECK OUT (hotel)	(to leave after paying and returning the key) We checked out (of/from our hotel) at 5 a.m. to catch a 7 a.m. flight.
COME ACROSS (sth)	(find sth by chance) He came across some of his old love letters in his wife's desk.
COME DOWN	(to fall and land on the ground) A lot of trees came down in the storm.
COME OUT	(become available) When does their new album come out?
COME UP	(to move towards someone) A young girl came up to me and asked for money.
COME UP WITH (sth)	(to suggest or think of an idea or plan) She's come up with some amazing scheme to double her income.
CONSIST OF (sth)	(to be made of or formed from something) The team consists of four Europeans and two Americans.
CUT DOWN (sth) CUT (sth) DOWN	(reduce) and (remove) -I need to cut this section down to 500 words. -They are cutting down forests to clear land for cattle.
CUT OFF (sb/sth) CUT (sb/sth) OFF	(to cause a person or place to become separate, or cause someone to be or feel alone) Many villages have been cut off by the heavy snow.
DRESS UP	(to put on formal clothes for a special occasion) You don't need to dress up to go to the mall - jeans and a T-shirt are fine.
END UP	(to finally be in a particular place or situation) Much of this meat will probably end up as dog food.
FACE UP TO (sth)	(to accept that a difficult situation exists) She's going to have to face up to the fact that he's not going to marry her.
FALL OUT (with sb)	(to argue with someone and stop being friendly with them) He left home after falling out with his parents. --also hair and teeth falls out--
FILL IN/OUT (sth)	(to write the necessary information on an official document) I had to fill in this really complicated form.
FIND OUT (sth) FIND (sth) OUT	(to get information about sth) How did you find out about the party?
FIT IN WITH (sth)	(activities happen together in a suitable way) His explanation didn’t fit in with what I saw.
GET AWAY GET AWAY WITH (sth)	(leave or escape / go on holidays) I just need to get away for a few days. (succeed in avoiding punishment for sth) By jumping over the barriers, he got away without paying for a ticket.
GET IN	(succeed entering place) (arrive home or work) (vehicle arriving) What time is the plane expected to get in?
GET INTO (sth)	(become interested in an activity) he's been getting into yoga recently
GET ON (with sb)	(to have a good relationship) He doesn't get on with his daughter.
GET OUT OF (sth/doing sth)	(to avoid doing sth) If I can get out of going to the meeting tonight, I will.
GET OVER (sth/sb)	(to get better from sth) It took him years to get over the shock of his wife dying.
GET THROUGH (sth)	(to succeed in an exam or competition) She got through her exams without too much trouble.
GO AHEAD	(to start to do something) I got so fed up with waiting for him to do it that I just went ahead and did it myself. (give permission to sb) "Could I ask you a rather personal question?" "Sure, go ahead."
GO BACK	(to return) I'll have to go back for my umbrella.
GO BY	(to move past, in space or time) You can watch the trains going by from this window.
GO FOR (sth)	(to choose something) Instead of butter, I always go for margarine or a low-fat spread.
GO OFF	(light or machine stops working) The light goes off when the batteries are flat. (a bomb, gun explodes, fires) The bomb went off at midday.
GO OFF (sth/sb)	(stop liking or being interested in sth or sb) I went off beefburgers after I got food poisoning from a takeaway.
GO ON	(to happen) This war has been going on for years.
GO OUT	(to leave) Please close the door as you go out.
GO OVER (sth)	(to examine or look at something in a careful or detailed way) We're are still going over the details of the contract.
GO THROUGH (sth) GO THOUGH	(to experience a difficult or unpleasant situation) It's just a phase she's going through. (examine or read carefully) She's going through all the drawers, looking for a pen.
GO UP	(to move higher, rise, or increase) Train fares are going up again.
HANG AROUND (with sb)	(to spend time with someone) I got into drugs because I was hanging around with the wrong people.
KEEP (sb/sth) AWAY	(to not go somewhere or near something) Keep away from the edge of the cliff.
KEEP ON DOING (sth)	(to continue to do something) She kept on asking me questions the whole time.
KEEP (sb) IN	(make someone to stay as punishment or in hospital) They kept her in overnight for observation.
KEEP (sth) DOWN	(prevent sth from increasing) We need to work hard to keep our prices down
KEEP TO (sth)	(no change plans) I think we should keep to our original plan.
KEEP UP WITH (sb/sth)	(same speed) She walks so fast I can never keep up with her.
KEY (sth) IN	(type information) I gave my name and she keyed it into her computer.
LET OFF (sb) LET (sb) OFF	(not punish sb who has done sth wrong) I'll let you off if you apologize.
LIVE UP TO (sth)	(to be as good as sth) The Niagara falls lived up to all the publicity.
LOG OFF/OUT	(to stop using a pc or program) I logged off before lunch.
LOOK AFTER (sth/sb)	(take care or be in charge of sb or sth) We look after the neighbours' cat while they're away.
LOOK AT (sth)	(examine) Management is looking at ways of cutting costs.
LOOK FOR (sb/sth)	(try to fins sb/sth) He was looking for work as a builder.
LOOK FORWARD TO (sth/doing sth)	(feel pleased, excited about sth that will happen) I'm really looking forward to my holiday.
LOOK INTO (sth)	(try to find out about sth) I’ll look into the reasons for the decision.
LOOK UP (sth) LOOK (sth) UP	(try to find info by loking in a book or on a pc) If you don't know what the word means, look it up in a dictionary.
LOOK UP TO (sb)	(to admire and respect someone) He'd always looked up to his uncle.
MAKE FOR (swh/sth)	(go in the direction of a place or thing) They made for the centre of town.
MAKE UP FOR (sth)	(compensate sth) No amount of money can make up for the death of a child.
MAKE OUT (sth/sb) MAKE (sth/sb) OUT	(to see, hear, or understand sth or sb with difficulty) I can't make out your writing
MISS OUT ON (sth)	(not use a good opportunitie) Don't miss out on the fantastic bargains in our shop.
PICK UP (sth) PICK (sth) UP	(learn new skill by self-studying) I picked up a bit of Italian when I was staying in Pisa.
PULL AWAY	(vehicle starts moving)
PULL ON (sth)	(to put on clothes quickly) I pulled on my jeans and ran downstairs. -- slip on --
PULL UP	(vehicle stop for a short time) A car pulled up outside my house.
PUT DOWN (sth/sb) PUT (sth/sb) DOWN	(stop carrying or holding sb or sth) I have to put this bag down – it’s too heavy.
PUT OFF (sb) PUT (sb) OFF	(avoid or repel sb) He keeps asking me out, and I keep putting him off.
PUT OUT (sth) PUT (sth) OUT	(stop sth burning) Would you mind putting your cigarette out, please?
PUT (sth) TOGHETHER PUT TOGHETHER (sth)	(join parts) It took several hours to put the puzzle together.
PUT UP (sth)	(manifest opposition to sth) We're not going to let them build a road here without putting up a fight.
PUT UP WITH (sth/sb)	(tolerate or accept sth) I can put up with the house being messy, but I hate it if it's not clean.
SAVE UP (sth) SAVE (sth) UP	(keep money for future) She's saving up for a new bike.
SEND OFF (sth) SEND (sth) OFF	(send sth by post) Have you sent off your application form yet?
SET OFF	(to start on a trip) What time do we set off tomorrow?
SLIP ON (sth) SLIP (sth) ON	(put cloth on quickly) After breakfast, we slipped on our coats. -- pull on --
STAND OUT	(to be noticeable) The black lettering really stands out on that orange background. (be better than sth else) We had lots of good applicants for the job, but one stood out from the rest.
STOP OVER	(spend the night swh) Come round for dinner one night and you can stop over.
TAKE AFTER (sb)	(be or look like a relative) Most of my children take after my husband.
TAKE BACK (sth) TAKE (sth) BACK	(return sth bought) Is it too small? Take it back and get a refund.
TAKE OFF	(start flying) The plane took off three hours late. (suddenly become successful) His career really took off after that concert.
TAKE OFF (sth) TAKE (sth) OFF	(remove sth -clothes-) He took off his clothes and got into the shower. (take break from work) He took two weeks off in September.
TAKE OUT (sth) TAKE (sth) OUT	(remove sth from swh) They had to take out two of his teeth.
TAKE (sth) ON	(accept a job or responsibility) She has taken on far too much work.
TALK (sb) INTO doing (sth)	(persuade sb to do sth) He's against the idea, but I think I can talk him into it.
TELL OFF (sb) TELL (sb) OFF	(criticize sb angrily) Rob told off his boss, then quit.
TELL (sb/sth) APART	(see difference between sb/sth) As babies, the twins looked so much alike that I just couldn't tell them apart.
TURN ON (sth) TURN (sth) ON	(make sth start working) Turn on the outside tap, will you?
TURN OUT	(results to be) The party turned out to be a huge disappointment.
TURN UP (sth) TURN (sth) UP	(increase sound or heat) Can you turn the heating up, please?
WEAR OFF	(sth disappears) The injection pain wears off after about an hour.
WORK ON (sth)	(spend time repairing or improving sth) I need to work on my pronunciation if I'm to pass the exam.
WORK OUT (sth) WORK (sth) OUT	(calculate) We need to work out the total cost of the project. (understand sth, problem) We're trying to work out how to finish the project.
WEAR OUT	gastado (wear, wore, worn)

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	Created by Xavier Trilla over 7 years ago