| Separable Phrasal Verbs The object may come after the following phrasal verbs or it may separate the two parts: When the object of the following phrasal verbs is a pronoun, the two parts of the phrasal verb must be separated: | ||
| Verb | Meaning | Example |
| blow up | explode | The terrorists tried to blow up the railroad station. |
| bring up | mention a topic | My mother brought up that little matter of my prison record again. |
| bring up | raise children | It isn't easy to bring up children nowadays. |
| call off | cancel | They called off this afternoon's meeting |
| do over | repeat a job | Do this homework over. |
| fill out | complete a form | Fill out this application form and mail it in. |
| fill up | fill to capacity | She filled up the grocery cart with free food. |
| find out | discover | My sister found out that her husband had been planning a surprise party for her. |
| give away | give something to someone else for free | The filling station was giving away free gas. |
| give back | return an object | My brother borrowed my car. I have a feeling he's not about to give it back. |
| hand in | submit something (assignment) | The students handed in their papers and left the room. |
| hang up | put something on hook or receiver | She hung up the phone before she hung up her clothes. |
| hold up | delay | I hate to hold up the meeting, but I have to go to the bathroom. |
| hold up (2) | rob | Three masked gunmen held up the Security Bank this afternoon. |
| leave out | omit | You left out the part about the police chase down Asylum Avenue. |
| look over | examine, check | The lawyers looked over the papers carefully before questioning the witness. (They looked them over carefully.) |
| look up | search in a list | You've misspelled this word again. You'd better look it up. |
| make up | invent a story or lie | She knew she was in trouble, so she made up a story about going to the movies with her friends. |
| make out | hear, understand | He was so far away, we really couldn't make out what he was saying. |
| pick out | choose | There were three men in the line-up. She picked out the guy she thought had stolen her purse. |
| pick up | lift something off something else | The crane picked up the entire house. (Watch them pick it up.) |
| point out | call attention to | As we drove through Paris, Francoise pointed out the major historical sites. |
| put away | save or store | We put away money for our retirement. She put away the cereal boxes. |
| put off | postpone | We asked the boss to put off the meeting until tomorrow. (Please put it off for another day.) |
| put on | put clothing on the body | I put on a sweater and a jacket. (I put them on quickly.) |
| put out | extinguish | The firefighters put out the house fire before it could spread. (They put it out quickly.) |
| read over | peruse | I read over the homework, but couldn't make any sense of it. |
| set up | to arrange, begin | My wife set up the living room exactly the way she wanted it. She set it up. |
| take down | make a written note | These are your instructions. Write them down before you forget. |
| take off | remove clothing | It was so hot that I had to take off my shirt. |
| talk over | discuss | We have serious problems here. Let's talk them over like adults. |
| throw away | discard | That's a lot of money! Don't just throw it away. |
| try on | put clothing on to see if it fits | She tried on fifteen dresses before she found one she liked. |
| try out | test | I tried out four cars before I could find one that pleased me. |
| turn down | lower volume | Your radio is driving me crazy! Please turn it down. |
| turn down (2) | reject | He applied for a promotion twice this year, but he was turned down both times. |
| turn up | raise the volume | Grandpa couldn't hear, so he turned up his hearing aid. |
| turn off | switch off electricity | We turned off the lights before anyone could see us. |
| turn off (2) | repulse | It was a disgusting movie. It really turned me off. |
| turn on | switch on the electricity | Turn on the CD player so we can dance. |
| use up | exhaust, use completely | The gang 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 class | The teacher called on students in the back row. |
| call on (2) | visit | The old minister continued to call on his sick parishioners. |
| get over | recover from sickness or disappointment | I got over the flu, but I don't know if I'll ever get over my broken heart. |
| go over | review | The students went over the material before the exam. They should have gone over it twice. |
| go through | use up; consume | They country went through most of its coal reserves in one year. Did he go through all his money already? |
| look after | take care of | My mother promised to look after my dog while I was gone. |
| look into | investigate | The police will look into the possibilities of embezzlement. |
| run across | find by chance | I ran across my old roommate at the college reunion. |
| run into | meet | Carlos ran into his English professor in the hallway. |
| take after | resemble | My second son seems to take after his mother. |
| 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 in on | interrupt (a conversation) | I was talking to Mom on the phone when the operator broke in on our call. |
| catch up with | keep abreast | After our month-long trip, it was time to catch up with the neighbors and the news around town. |
| check up on | examine, investigate | The boys promised to check up on the condition of the summer house from time to time. |
| come up with | to contribute (suggestion, money) | After years of giving nothing, the old parishioner was able to come up with a thousand-dollar donation. |
| cut down on | curtail (expenses) | We tried to cut down on the money we were spending on entertainment. |
| drop out of | leave school | I hope none of my students drop out of school this semester. |
| get along with | have a good relationship with | I found it very hard to get along with my brother when we were young. |
| get away with | escape blame | Janik cheated on the exam and then tried to get away with it. |
| get rid of | eliminate | The citizens tried to get rid of their corrupt mayor in the recent election. |
| get through with | finish | When will you ever get through with that program? |
| keep up with | maintain pace with | It's hard to keep up with the Joneses when you lose your job! |
| look forward to | anticipate with pleasure | I always look forward to the beginning of a new semester. |
| look down on | despise | It's typical of a jingoistic country that the citizens look down on their geographical neighbors. |
| look in on | visit (somebody) | We were going to look in on my brother-in-law, but he wasn't home. |
| look out for | be careful, anticipate | Good instructors will look out for early signs of failure in their students |
| look up to | respect | First-graders really look up to their teachers. |
| make sure of | verify | Make sure of the student's identity before you let him into the classroom. |
| put up with | tolerate | The teacher had to put up with a great deal of nonsense from the new students. |
| run out of | exhaust supply | The runners ran out of energy before the end of the race. |
| take care of | be responsible for | My oldest sister took care of us younger children after Mom died. |
| talk back to | answer impolitely | The star player talked back to the coach and was thrown off the team. |
| think back on | recall | I often think back on my childhood with great pleasure. |
| walk out on | abandon | Her husband walked out on her and their three 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 down | stop functioning | That old Jeep had a tendency to break down just when I needed it the most. |
| catch on | become popular | Popular songs seem to catch on in California first and then spread eastward. |
| come back | return to a place | Father promised that we would never come back to this horrible place. |
| come in | enter | They tried to come in through the back door, but it was locked. |
| come to | regain consciousness | He was hit on the head very hard, but after several minutes, he started to come to again. |
| come over | to visit | The children promised to come over, but they never do. |
| drop by | visit without appointment | We used to just drop by, but they were never home, so we stopped doing that. |
| eat out | dine in a restaurant | When we visited Paris, we loved eating out in the 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 place | It's hard to imagine that we will ever go back to 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 away | remain at a distance | The judge warned the stalker to keep away from his victim's home. |
| keep on (with gerund) | continue with the same | He tried to keep onsinging long after his voice was ruined. |
| pass out | lose consciousness, faint | He had drunk too much; he passed out on the sidewalk outside the bar. |
| show off | demonstrate haughtily | Whenever he sat down at the piano, we knew he was going to show off. |
| show up | arrive | Day after day, Efrain showed up for class twenty minutes late. |
| wake up | arouse from sleep | I woke up when the rooster crowed. |
Many of these verbs and definitions (but by no means all) are adopted from Grammar Context by Sandra N. Elbaum. Second Edition, Book 2. (Heinle & Heinle Publishers, Boston, 1996.) The examples are our own.
Sometimes English phrasal verbs make sense…
And sometimes they seem totally random.
Look at the cute kitten at the top of this page, for example. It looks like she’s going to hit those paper birds until they fall down.
It’s pretty easy to guess that this means she’s going to make the birds fall or drop.
But what if I shouted to her, “Cut it out!”
It sounds like I’m asking her to grab a pair of scissors, right? But I’m just telling her to stop what she’s doing.
Phrasal verbs open up a whole new world of possibilities for speaking English. They are phrases that give verbs completely different meanings. They are also used incredibly often in everyday conversation, which makes them important to know.
The good news is that a lot of English phrasal verbs share the same base verb (cut it out, cut off, cut in — more on all of those below). If you learn the phrasal verbs associated with one verb, you’ll give your vocabulary an instant boost!
In this English phrasal verbs list, we’ll show you 56 of the most common phrasal verbs—conveniently organized by type.
So come on, let’s learn some phrasal verbs.
A phrasal verb is a phrase that’s made up of a verb and another word or two, usually a preposition but sometimes an adverb.
So before we can talk about English phrasal verbs, it’s important to understand what verbs, prepositions and adverbs are.
Now that you know what verbs and prepositions are, you’re ready to start putting them together into phrasal verbs.
Phrasal verbs work by changing the verb’s meaning based on the preposition that follows them.
It’s easier than you think—you probably already know a number of phrasal verbs. For example, read the last sentence before this section: “So come on, let’s learn some phrasal verbs.” The words “come on” in that sentence are a phrasal verb!
The word “come,” on its own, means to move towards something. Together with the preposition “on,” though, the phrase “come on” becomes a phrase of encouragement.
There are many other phrasal verbs out there!
English phrasal verbs are everywhere, so one of the best ways to learn them is to try to listen for them. These phrases are commonly used, and would not be unusual to hear in a conversation. Do you hear a verb used together with another word very often? It might be a phrasal verb.
If you’re not sure whether a phrase is a phrasal verb or just a verb that happened to be spoken with a preposition, try looking it up. Most dictionaries have entries for phrasal verbs, so look the phrase up to be sure. You can also look up the phrase in the online Oxford Phrasal Verbs Dictionary, which is an excellent resource, so save that link!
Some phrasal verb meanings are obvious—like “fall down”—but some are almost like idioms since they can’t be literally translated. To make them easier to learn, you can try grouping the phrasal verbs into categories, like we’ve done with our phrasal verbs list below.
Don’t be afraid to create your own categories from different types of phrasal verbs. For example, you could group phrasal verbs that are focused on time of day (e.g. wake up, lie down) or positive vs. negative (e.g. cheer up/give up). That’s why we’ve organized our phrasal verbs list below into groups.
There are so many phrasal verbs that it might seem difficult to learn them all. But many of these phrases become natural after a while—all it takes is some repetition and practice.
One of the fastest ways to understand phrasal verbs and use them correctly is watching videos on FluentU. FluentU provides authentic English videos—like movie trailers, TV commercials, inspiring speeches and more—where you will hear tons of phrasal verbs used naturally by native speakers. And you never have to worry about misunderstanding them.
That’s because FluentU has English learning tools built into every video, including interactive subtitles. Just tap on any phrasal verb (or any word at all) and FluentU will give you an instant definition, grammar information and examples.
As an example, if you tap on the word “brought,” then you see this:
FluentU lets you tap to look up any word.
There are also flashcards and fun quizzes for every video to help you remember what you’ve learned.
FluentU helps you learn fast with useful questions and multiple examples.
For instance, watch this video of José Gonzales performing the song “Heartbeats,” which has several English phrasal verbs. If you sign up for a FluentU trial, you can watch with all the learning features and explore the full video library. There are thousands of videos for beginners through advanced learners.
Phrasal verbs are used just like verbs—you can use them anywhere they make sense!
Usually, the verb and preposition in a phrasal verb need to be said together, like in the phrase “fall down.” In some cases, though, you can separate the verb and the preposition by putting other words in between them.
For example: the phrase “turn off” can be used just like that, or it can be interrupted by stating what you’re turning off.
In other words, you can say “turn off the TV,” but you can also say “turn the TV off.” Both are correct!
Another thing to keep in mind about phrasal verbs is that they are still verbs. That means the verb part of the phrase can be changed depending on the tense and subject of the sentence. So “turn off” can transform like this:
I turned off the TV this morning.
She turns off the TV every time I enter the room!
It will take you a while to get used to which phrasal verbs can be separated and which can’t, so hang in there!
Below are some of the most common English phrasal verbs. We organized them alphabetically so they’re easy to find—like an English phrasal verb dictionary—but you can group them however you want when you’re learning them!
To mention something.
Note: The two parts of this phrasal verb can be separated in a sentence.
“Mark was sick and had to miss the party, so please don’t bring it up, I don’t want him to feel bad for missing it.”
To cause something to happen, usually something negative.
The two parts of this phrasal verb can be separated by what’s happening.
“His lung cancer was broughton by years of smoking.”
To accept a challenge with confidence.
“You want to have a race? Bringit on! I can beat you!”
This can mean either to visit someone, or to use someone’s or something’s knowledge.
To visit someone: “I’ll call on you this evening to see how you’re feeling.”
To use someone’s knowledge: “I may need to call on the university’s excellent professors in order to answer your question.”
To cancel something.
“The picnic was called off because of the rain.”
To support someone by giving them words of encouragement. This phrasal verb can be separated by the name or pronoun of the person/people being cheered on).
“Even though Samantha was in the last place, her brother cheered her on through the entire race.”
This phrase can either be used as a phrase of encouragement said to someone who seems sad (just saying “cheer up!” to them), or it can mean to try to make someone happier.
“Andrew was having a bad day, so his girlfriend cheered him up by taking him out for ice cream.”
To think of an idea.
“I cameup with this idea for a TV show about a woman living with her best friend and daughter. I call it ‘Two and a Half Women.’”
To bring up a topic, or when something happens unexpectedly.
To bring up a topic: “I wanted to tell her that I got a new job but the chance never cameup.”
Unexpected occurrence: “I was going to meet my friends for dinner, but something cameup so I had to cancel.”
To enter.
“‘Come in, the door is open!’ said the grandmother to the wolf.”
To meet or find by chance.
“I was cleaning the attic and I cameacross my high school uniform. Can you believe it still fits?”
To volunteer information about something, like a crime.
“The police are encouraging people to comeforward with any information about the kidnapped girl.”
This phrase can be used in several ways, but its general meaning is “to interrupt or stop something.” (Can be separated.)
While driving, to get in front of another car suddenly: “That red car just cut me off and I almost crashed into it.”
To stop supplying things to or communicating with someone: “His father is rich but he cut him off without any money of his own.”
This phrase has the same meaning as saying “Stop it.”
“Hey, cut it out! I was watching that movie, so stop changing the channel!”
To interrupt someone when they are speaking.
“I was about to ask that girl on a date, but her friend cut in and I lost the chance.”
To stop by for a visit, for a short time.
“Andrew is such a great boyfriend, when he heard that his girlfriend had a cold he dropped by to bring her some soup.”
To leave something or someone in their destination.
It can be separated by the object being dropped off.
“I can give you a ride and drop you off at work.”
This phrase means “to break into pieces,” but it can be used to talk about things that are not physical, like a marriage or a person.
“They tried to save their marriage by going to therapy but in the end if fellapart anyway.”
To drop to the ground, usually by accident.
“My friend slipped on a banana peel and felldown. I thought that only happened in cartoons!”
To give someone the details about something.
This English phrasal verb is usually separated by the person getting filled in.
“Quickly, let’s go! There’s no time to explain, I’ll fill you in on the way.”
To become completely full.
“The little girl filledup on candy before dinner, and didn’t want to eat any of the chicken.”
To escape.
You may have heard the phrase “getaway car,” which can help you remember this phrasal verb. That’s the car used by criminals to run away from a crime scene, like a bank robbery.
“Carmen’s neighbor tried to show her pictures of all her cats, but Carmen managed to get away.”
To solve a problem by avoiding the main issue. This phrase can also be used very informally to refer to someone who has many sexual partners. As you can imagine, it’s not very nice to say that someone “gets around”!
“Some people know all the different ways to getaround tax laws.”
To have a friendly relationship with someone.
“Some people are surprised that I getalongwith my mother-in-law really well!”
To stand up, or to wake up.
“I have so much trouble gettingup in the morning that I have to set three alarms.”
To return to someone or something. This phrase is often used to say that you will return with an answer to a question or a request at a later time.
“Derek’s coworker wasn’t sure what time the meeting was, so he said he’d getbackto him with the time.”
To get revenge on someone.
“Her ex-husband took her house so she gotbackat him by taking his dogs.”
This phrase can mean to break down or stop working, or to hand out or distribute something.
To stop working: “The city had to rebuild the bridge completely, because it was about to giveout and fall down.”
To distribute: “He has a lot of contacts because he givesout his business card to everyone he meets.”
To surrender, especially in a fight or argument.
“Ben’s mother gavein and let him stay out late with his friends.”
To hand things out for free.
This phrasal verb can be separated by the item being given away.
“When Linda’s cat had kittens, she gave them all away to good homes.”
To stop trying, surrender.
“After two weeks of trying to build my own table, I gaveup and just bought one.”
To go on a date with someone.
“Sarah was so happy when Peter finally asked her to gooutwith him!”
To go in front of someone, or to give permission to do or say something.
“Go ahead, explain to me why there is a car on my roof.”
To grow up, sometimes used to tell someone to stop acting childish.
“Some people tell Steve he needs to growup, but he loves acting like a child.”
To get distant from someone, like a friend.
“When my friend moved to a different country I tried to stay close with her, but we slowly grewapart.”
To keep something.
“When everyone else was getting fired, Paul managed to hangon to his job.”
To spend time with someone, casually.
“My friends and I used to hangout in the park after school.”
To end a call on the phone, especially if it’s before the other person is ready.
“I was in the middle of a sentence, and he hungup on me! How rude.”
To hold something tightly. This phrase can also be a way of asking someone to wait for a moment.
“You’d better holdon to your hat, it’s windy out there!”
To stop yourself from doing or saying something.
“Amy has a great voice but whenever she’s singing in public she feels shy and holdsback.”
Used with computers, this phrase means to sign into your account on a website or computer.
“Don’t forget to login to your FluentU account to learn English better and faster.”
Also used with computers, this phrase means to sign out of your account.
“You should always logout of your accounts when you use a public computer.”
To check the meaning of something—can be separated by the item being looked up.
“If you don’t know the meaning of a word, you should look it up in the dictionary.”
To watch out for something.
“Lookout, there’s a baseball coming your way!”
To give someone back money that you owe them—can be separated by the person getting paid back.
When it’s written as one word, “payback” means revenge.
“Thanks for getting me lunch when I forgot my wallet at home! I’ll pay you back tomorrow.”
This phrase can either mean to give someone money for a particular purpose (like paying for a new car), or to suffer because of something you did.
Avatar last airbender full episodes kissanime. “He’ll pay for all the problems he caused me by being late today!”
This phrase can mean to extinguish a fire, or to irritate someone by asking them for a favor. (In the case of annoying someone, can be separated by the person getting annoyed.) Be aware that in very informal slang, this phrase has a more offensive meaning.
To extinguish a fire: “The firefighters managed to putout the fire before it spread to other houses.”
To irritate someone: “I’d ask you to make me dinner but I don’t want to put you out.”
To get your clothes or makeup on.
“Every morning she putson her dress, lipstick, shoes and hat—in that order.”
This phrase can mean to remove clothing, or to leave for a journey (e.g. planes take off when they begin their flights).
“She was very happy when she finally got home and tookoff her shoes. They had been hurting her feet all day!”
To remove something, like from a pocket or a bag. This phrase can also mean to take someone on a date. It can be separated by the item or person being taken out.
The phrase can also mean to remove someone, as in by killing them—but this is probably not something you would need to use in everyday conversation!
To remove something: “The children sat at their desks and tookout their pens and paper.”
To take someone on a date: “He took her out to the most expensive restaurant in the city.”
To switch a machine or light on or off.
“Turn off the light, I’m trying to sleep!”
To move so that you’re facing the opposite direction.
“Sally was about to get on the plane, but she turnedaround when someone called her name.”
When something that was lost is found unexpectedly.
“Anything I lose usually turnsup under the couch. It’s my cat’s favorite hiding place.”
To start liking someone or something more as you spend more time with them, especially if you didn’t really like them in the beginning.
“The new puppy was scared of my husband when we first got him, but he warmedupto him pretty quickly.”
To exercise.
“I try to workout every morning, by repeatedly lifting a heavy donut to my mouth.”
To come up with a solution or a compromise with someone.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure we can worksomethingout so that everyone is happy.”
How many of these English phrasal verbs did you already know? Phrasal verbs are everywhere! Don’t be afraid of how many there are—just start with a few at a time and soon you’ll be an expert.
If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn English with real-world videos.