In English, a phrasal verb is a phrase such as turn down or ran into which combines two or three words from different grammatical categories: a verb and a particle and/or a preposition together form a single semantic unit.
This semantic unit cannot be understood based upon the meanings of the individual parts, but must be taken as a whole.
For example:
- She has always looked down on me.
- Fighting broke out among a group of 40 men.
- I’ll see to the animals.
- Don’t put me off, I’m trying to concentrate.
- The report spelled out the need for more staff.
- Brian asked Judy out to dinner and a movie.
- My wife backed me up over my decision to quit my job.
- We have to blow 50 balloons up for the party.
- Somebody broke in last night and stole our stereo.
- I am counting on you to make dinner while I am out.
Let’s check all that you need to make sentences with phrasal verbs in English
Table of Contents
Most Common Phrasal Verbs
This is a list of the most common phrasal verbs in English
| Phrasal Verbs | Meaning | Example |
| Break Down | Stop functioning | My car broke down |
| Bring up | Mention a topic | She brought up that matter again |
| Back down | withdraw a position | We never back down |
| Beat up | punch and kick | I got beat up |
| Blow up | Explode | They tried to blow up the station |
| Bump into | Meet by accident | I bump into my wife at the park |
| Call off | Cancel | They call off that meeting |
| Come across | find by chance | I was cleaning and I came across my journal |
| Clean out | Clean | I was cleaning out the closet |
| Carry on | Continue | Sorry , carry on talking! |
| Drop out | Leave school | They dropped out of college |
| Drop by | Visit | We just dropped by her house |
| Find out | discovered | I found out that she was pregnant |
| Get out | Leave | You need to get out of here |
| Give away | Give something for free | They are giving away tickets |
| End up | The end result | I ended up in another school |
| Get by | survive | I have some money to get by |
| Get over | get well | Dave has got over the flu |
| Get along | being good friends | We get along really well |
| Get away | Escape | I got away with murder |
| Get rid of | Eliminate | I need to get rid of her |
| Go over | Review | I went over the material |
| Grow up | Get older | You are 21, Grow up |
| Give up | Stop trying | They just gave up |
| Go out | Have a date | Do you want to go out with me? |
| Hang out | Spend time | I am hanging out with my friends |
| Hurry up | Do something fast | We are late, hurry up |
| Make out | Kiss | They were making out outside the office |
| Made up | Invent a story | She made that up to save herself |
| Mess up | to spoil | You are messing things up |
| Show up | Arrive | Alex didn’t show up |
| Pass out | Lose consciousness | She passed out in front of me |
| Piss off | to be angry | I am really pissed off |
| Put off | Postpone | We put off the meetin until Friday |
| Put up with | let happen | I won’t put up with my sisters |
| Put on | Get dressed | I put on a sweater |
| Put out | Extinguish | The firefighters put out the fire |
| Run into | Meet | I ran into my teacher last week |
| Run out | to use all of it | We are running out of gas |
| Take off | Remove clothing | I took off my jacket |
| Turn Down | Lower volume | Please turn it down |
| Turn down | Reject | He was turned down twice |
| Work out | Exercise | I am working out right now |
| Watch out | Be aware | You better watch out |
| Work out | find a solution | We will work something out |
| Wake up | Finish sleeping | I woke up at 9 |
Questions with the Most Common Phrasal Verbs
These are some common questions that you can make using phrasal verbs
Phrasal Verbs Conversation Questions #1
- Has your car ever broken down?
- Have you ever turned down a job offer?
- Do you like working out?
- What time do you usually wake up?
- What pisses you off?
- Do you get along with your friends?
- Do you always get away with what you want?
- Have you ever made up a story to save yourself from something?
- Who do you like to hang out with?
- Do you talk your friends into doing bad things?
Phrasal Verbs Conversation Questions #2
- How often do you get together with your high school friends?
- Do you know anyone who dropped out of high school or university?
- How do you help out your friends and family?
- What time do you usually get up?
- Where do you like to eat out?
- What freaks you out?
- Have you ever missed out on a good opportunity?
- What bad habits would you like to give up?
Video: Phrasal Verbs
This is a video to learn what the most common phrasal verbs are
