Phrasal Verbs for real

Question	Answer
add up	make sense I'm afraid your story just doesn't add up.
allow for	consider when making a plan You haven't allowed for the cost of all the materials.
break down	lose control of one's emotions A friend of the dead man broke down and wept when he told how he found the body.
break off	stop doing something She broke off their conversation to answer her mobile phone.
break up	come to an end The meeting broke up in confusion.
bring about	cause to happen The digital revolution has brought about profound changes in our society.
bring up	mention I'd like to bring up another matter, if I may.
carry out	complete a plan Please make sure you carry out these instructions.
catch on	become popular Camera phones have really caught on lately.
come about	happen Many positive changes have come about as a result of his efforts.
come down to	in the end be a matter of In the end, this problem comes down to overpopulation.
come off	take place successfully Everyone is hoping that the new plan will come off.
come out	appear, be published Her new book comes out next week.
come up to	be as good as The restaurant didn't come up to our expectations.
come up with	think of an idea, plan etc. She has come up with a really good idea.
count on	rely on You can count on me for support at the meeting.
crop up	happen, appear unexpectedly The same name kept cropping up during the investigation.
do away with	abolish The school decided to do away with uniform, and let pupils wear whatever they liked.
do without	manage without I can't do without a cup of coffee when I get up. It's essential.
drop in	visit Do drop in if you're in the area.
fall back on	use after all else failed His father persuaded him to finish college so he would have something to fall back on.
fall for	be deceived by Harry fell for the oldest trick in the world.
fall out with	quarrel with Paul and Jim have fallen out with each other again.
fall through	when a plan or arrangement fails We thought we had agreed to buy the house, but the deal fell through.
fit in with	be included in a plan I'm afraid your suggestion doesn't fit in with my plans.
get across	make others understand Chris has some great ideas, but can't always get them across.
get at	suggest meaning What exactly are you getting at? I don't understand.
get down to	start to deal serously with It's time you got down to some serious work.
get on	make progress How are you getting on in your new job?
get over with	finish something unpleasant I always try to get my homework over with as quickly as possible.
get round to	find time to do I'll try and get round to writing some letters later.
give away	betray I'm not giving away any secrets if I tell you this!
give up	surrender / stop looking for because lost or dead The two gunmen gave themselves up when more police arrived. The dog had been given up for lost before he was found 200 miles away.
go back on	break a promise MPs accused the government of going back on earlier promises.
go on	happen There's something strange going on here!
hit it off	get on well with someone I don't really hit it off with my new neighbour.
hit on/upon	discover by chance, have an idea We hit upon the answer to the problem completely by chance.
hold up	delay Sorry I'm late. I was held up at my office.
keep up	continue to do something Don't relax the pressure, we must keep it up until we finish the job.
let down	disappoint Jim was supposed to help me yesterday, but he let me down.
live up to	reach an expected standard My holiday in China certainly lived up to my expectations. It was fantastic.
look into	investigate The airline is looking into my complaint about my missing baggage.
make out	manage to see, hear, understand I could just make out some writing cross the top of the door.
make up	invent It turned out that Joe had made up the whole story and wasn't a journalist at all.
make up for	compensate for Joe's silver medal in the 200 meters made up for this disappointment in the 100 meters.
pay back	take revenge I'll pay him back for all the rude things he's said about me!
point out	draw attention to a fact Can I point out that I did suggest that idea in the first place!
put off	discourage, upset I can't sing if people stare at me. It puts me off.
put up	let someone stay in your house Why don't you come and stay? We can easily put you up for a few days.
put up with	tolerate, bear After a while the noise became so loud that Brian couldn't put up with it any longer.
rip off	charge too much, cheat $250 a night in that hotel? You were ripped off!
run into	meet by chance You'll never guess who I ran into the other day! Your old friend Marianne.
see someone off	go to the station with someone etc. to say goodbye Anna is coming with me to the airport to see me off.
see through	understand dishonesty, pretence He pretended to be busy, but I saw through his deception at once.
set up	establish, arrange (a meeting) The police have set up an inquiry into the complaints.
sort out	do something to solve a problem I'm sorry about the mistake. We'll sort it out as soon as we can.
stand by	keep to (especially an agreement) The leader of the party said they would stand by the agreement they made last year.
stand for	represent, tolerate In this sentence, i.e. stands for id est, the Latin for 'that is'.
stick up for	defend Don't just say nothing! Stick up for yourself.
take on	acquire a particular characteristic Her words have taken on a different meaning since the accident.
take over	gain control of A small group of determined men took over the country.
talk into/out of	persuade I didn't want to buy the car, but the salesman talked me into it.
tell off	criticize angrily Ted's teacher told him off for being late.
try out	test to see if it works They tried out the new drug on animals before using it on humans.
turn down	reject The council has turned down our application for planning permission.
turn out	happen to be in the end The girl in red turned out to be Maria's sister.
turn up	arrive or be discovered by chance Guess who turned up at our party? Your old friend Martin!
wear off	lose effect When the drugs begin to wear off, you may feel some pain.

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Phrasal Verbs for real

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	Created by Nelson Ramos almost 8 years ago