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Phrasal Verbs

Verbs combined with particles (prepositions or adverbs) that create new meanings

What are Phrasal Verbs?

Phrasal verbs are combinations of a verb + particle (preposition or adverb) that create a new meaning. The meaning often can't be guessed from the individual words. They're extremely common in everyday English.

Examples: "give up" (quit), "look after" (take care of), "turn on" (start a device)

Types of Phrasal Verbs

Separable (Object Can Go Between Verb and Particle):

  • Turn on the TV. / Turn the TV on. ✅
  • Turn it on. ✅ (pronoun MUST go between)
  • ❌ Turn on it. (pronouns can't go after)

Inseparable (Object Must Come After):

  • Look after the children. ✅
  • Look after them. ✅
  • ❌ Look the children after.

Common Phrasal Verbs by Category

Daily Activities (Separable):

  • Turn on/off - Start/stop a device: Turn on the lights.
  • Put on/take off - Dress/undress: Put on your jacket.
  • Pick up - Lift, collect: Pick up the phone.
  • Clean up - Tidy: Clean up your room.
  • Wake up - Stop sleeping: Wake me up at 7.
  • Fill out - Complete a form: Fill out this form.

Relationships & Communication (Mixed):

  • Get along/on - Have a good relationship: We get along well. (inseparable)
  • Break up - End a relationship: They broke up last year.
  • Make up - Reconcile after argument: They made up.
  • Ask out - Invite on a date: He asked her out. (separable)
  • Call back - Return a phone call: I'll call you back. (separable)
  • Run into - Meet by chance: I ran into an old friend. (inseparable)

Work & Productivity:

  • Give up - Quit, stop trying: Don't give up!
  • Carry on - Continue: Carry on with your work. (inseparable)
  • Work out - Exercise; solve: I work out every day. / Work out the problem.
  • Figure out - Understand, solve: I figured it out. (separable)
  • Hand in - Submit: Hand in your homework. (separable)
  • Look over - Review: Look over the document. (separable)

Information & Discovery (Inseparable):

  • Look for - Search: I'm looking for my keys.
  • Look into - Investigate: We'll look into the problem.
  • Find out - Discover: I found out the truth.
  • Come across - Find by chance: I came across this photo.

Problems & Solutions:

  • Deal with - Handle: I'll deal with it. (inseparable)
  • Get over - Recover from: She got over the flu.
  • Sort out - Organize, resolve: Let's sort this out. (separable)
  • Put up with - Tolerate: I can't put up with the noise. (inseparable)
  • Run out of - Use all of something: We ran out of milk.

Movement & Travel:

  • Get on/off - Board/exit transport: Get on the bus.
  • Set off/out - Begin a journey: We set off early.
  • Drop off - Leave someone somewhere: Drop me off here. (separable)
  • Check in/out - Register arrival/departure: Check in at the hotel.
  • Show up - Appear, arrive: He didn't show up.

Three-Word Phrasal Verbs (Always Inseparable)

  • Look forward to - Anticipate with pleasure: I look forward to meeting you.
  • Run out of - Exhaust supply: We've run out of sugar.
  • Get away with - Escape punishment: He got away with it.
  • Keep up with - Stay at same level: I can't keep up with the class.
  • Come up with - Think of an idea: She came up with a solution.
  • Put up with - Tolerate: I won't put up with rudeness.

Literal vs. Idiomatic Meanings

Some phrasal verbs have both:

  • Take off - Remove clothing (literal) / Plane departs (literal) / Become successful (idiomatic)
  • Give up - Surrender something (literal) / Stop trying (idiomatic)
  • Break down - Stop working (machine) / Cry (emotional) / Analyze (divide into parts)

Common Mistakes

  • ❌ Turn on it. → ✅ Turn it on. (pronoun goes between)
  • ❌ I'm looking forward to see you. → ✅ ...to seeing you. (to + -ing)
  • ❌ She takes care the children. → ✅ She takes care of the children. (need "of")
  • ❌ Pick up it. → ✅ Pick it up.
  • ❌ I look my keys for. → ✅ I'm looking for my keys. (inseparable)
  • ❌ We ran of out milk. → ✅ We ran out of milk. (keep together)

Practice Tips

  • 📝 Pronoun rule: Separable phrasal verbs MUST have pronouns between: "turn it on," NOT "turn on it."
  • 📚 Learn in context: Don't memorize lists. Learn phrasal verbs in sentences and situations where they're used.
  • 🎯 Common ones first: Focus on the 50-100 most common phrasal verbs used in daily conversation.
  • 🔍 Multiple meanings: Many phrasal verbs have several meanings. "Take off" can mean remove, depart, or become successful.
  • ✍️ Look forward to + -ing: "To" here is a preposition, so it's followed by a noun or -ing form, NOT infinitive.

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