Phrasal verbs

Essential Phrasal Verbs

👉A phrasal verb is a verb combined with a small word (preposition or adverb) that changes the verb’s meaning.

Ex: "Turn off" means to switch something off.

Short definition:

A phrasal verb is a verb + a small word that gives a new meaning.

Ex- Please turn off the lights before leaving.

1. Bring up – to mention or raise a topic  

   He brought up an interesting point in class.

2. Look after – to take care of  

   I will look after my little brother tonight.

3. Run out of – to have no more left  

   We ran out of sugar yesterday.

4. Put off– to postpone  

   They put off the meeting until next week.

5. Bring out – to publish or highlight  

   The company will bring out a new smartphone soon.

6. Break down– to stop working (for machines)  

   My car broke down on the way to school.

7. Give in – to surrender  

   He finally gave in to the pressure.

8. Break out– to start suddenly  

   A fire broke out in the building last night.

9. Call off – to cancel  

   The match was called off because of rain.

10. Catch up – to reach the same level  

    She hurried to catch up with her friends.

11. Get on – to manage or progress  

    He gets on well with his co-workers.

12. Cut down – to reduce  

    You should cut down on sugar for better health.

13. Put out – to extinguish (fire)  

    The firefighters put out the fire quickly.

14. Set in – to begin and seem likely to continue  

    Winter sets in early in Kashmir.

15. Take after – to resemble  

    She takes after her mother in looks.

16. Look up – to search for information  

    I looked up the word in the dictionary.

17. Look into – to investigate or examine something carefully  

    The police will look into the case thoroughly.

18. Go on – to continue  

    Please go on with your story.

19. **Give away** – to reveal or give for free  

    He gave away all his old books to charity.

20. **Lay by** – to save money  

    She always lays by some money every month.

21. **Make out** – to understand or see clearly  

    I could not make out what he was saying.

22. **Bring about** – to cause something to happen  

    His efforts brought about a big change.

23. **Carry on** – to continue  

    We carried on working despite the noise.

24. **Take over** – to assume control  

    He will take over as manager next week.

25. **Give up** – to stop doing something  

    Don’t give up trying before you succeed.

26. **Turn down** – to refuse  

    She turned down the job offer.

27. **Turn up** – to arrive or increase  

    He turned up late to the party.

28. **Come across** – to find by chance  

    I came across an old friend at the market.

29. **Go through** – to experience  

    She went through many difficulties.

30. **Work out** – to solve or exercise  

    They worked out the answer together.

31. **Set off** – to start a journey  

    We set off early in the morning.

32. **Call on** – to visit or formally ask  

    The teacher called on me to answer the question.

33. **Call up** – to phone someone or remember something  

    I called up my friend last night.

34. **Take off** – to leave the ground (for planes) or to remove  

    The plane will take off at 6 AM.

35. **Put on** – to wear or dress in clothes  

    He put on his jacket before going out.