National Institute of Business Management

Diploma in English for Professionals

Phrasal Verbs

A Phrasal Verb is an idiomatic combination of two (sometimes three) parts: a verb and an adverb, a verb
and a preposition and a verb and an adverb and a preposition.
My car broke down on the motorway. (verb + adverb)
Please, look after the children. (verb + preposition)
I can't put up with him, he is always complaining. (verb + adverb + preposition)
Verbs with adverbs and prepositions

 Verb + adverb
A verb + adverb is called a 'phrasal verb'.
Come in and sit down. I threw away my old briefcase.
These adverbs are sometimes called 'particles'. They combine with verbs to form phrasal verbs, e.g. call
in, walk on, fall over, go under, climb up, fall down, watch out, set off, hurry back, run away, squeeze
through, fly past, pass by, turn round, get about etc.

 Verb + preposition
A verb + preposition is called a 'prepositional verb'.
I was looking at the photo. We didn't go into all the details.
Prepositions combine with verbs to form prepositional verbs, e.g. believe in, look into, insist on, hint at,
see to, come from, look after, cope with, consist of, hope for, feel like.
Word order with phrasal verbs
Some phrasal verbs are intransitive, but others have an object.
Intransitive: Suddenly all the lights went out.
Transitive: Someone turned out the lights.

When a phrasal verb has an object, the adverb can usually go either before or after the object.
 I threw away my old briefcase. We woke up the neighbours.
I threw my old briefcase away. We woke the neighbours up.

But when the object is a pronoun, the adverb goes after it.
My old briefcase was falling to pieces. I threw it away.
The neighbours weren't very pleased. We woke them up.
Neil borrowed some money from Maureen and never paid her back.

When the object is a long phrase, the adverb goes before it.
I threw away that rather battered old briefcase. We woke up just about everyone in the street.
Neil never paid back all that money he borrowed.

The adverb usually goes before other adverbials (e.g. nervously, on time).
Roger stood up nervously. The plane took off on time

Phrasal verb meanings

Phrasal verbs sometimes have meanings that can be easily guessed (for example, sit down or walk along).
But in many cases their meanings cannot be guessed from the different parts which make the phrasal
verb: for example, put off means to postpone and has no obvious connection with the idea of "putting"
and "off".
Sometimes there is a one-word verb with the same meaning as the phrasal verb. The phrasal verb is
usually more informal.
Scientists are trying to find out/discover the reason why.
We must fix up/arrange a meeting.
The problem won't just go away/disappear.
The accident held up/delayed traffic for an hour.
You have failed to keep up/maintain your monthly payments.
You've left out/omitted two names from the guest list.
They've put off/postponed the match until next week.
A new company has been set up/established.
Some verbs can take a number of different adverbs.
 The child took two steps and fell down.
Enthusiasm for the project has fallen off. (= become less)
Kevin and Diana have fallen out. (= quarrelled)
I'm afraid the deal fell through. (= didn't happen)

And the most common adverbs go with many different verbs.

The cat got up a tree and couldn't climb down.
I can't bend down in these trousers.
A pedestrian was knocked down by a car.
Interest rates may come down soon.

Separable Phrasal Verbs

The object may come after the following phrasal verbs or it may be separated into two parts:
You have to do this paint job over. You have to do over this paint job.
When the object of the following phrasal verbs is a pronoun, the two parts of the phrasal verb must be
separated:
You have to do it over.

Verb Meaning Example

blow up explode The terrorists tried to blow up the railroad station.
My mother brought up that little matter of my prison record
bring up mention a topic
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.
My sister found out that her husband had been planning a
find out discover
surprise party for her.
give away give something to The filling station was giving away free gas.
someone else for
 free
My brother borrowed my car. I have a feeling he's not about
give back return an object
to give it back.
submit something
hand in The students handed in their papers and left the room.
(assignment)
put something on
hang up She hung up the phone before she hung up her clothes.
hook or receiver
I hate to hold up the meeting, but I have to go to the
hold up delay
bathroom.
Three masked gunmen held up the Security Bank this
hold up (2) rob
afternoon.
You left out the part about the police chase down Asylum
leave out omit
Avenue.
The lawyers looked over the papers carefully before
look over examine, check
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.
invent a story or She knew she was in trouble, so she made up a story about
make up
lie going to the movies with her friends.
He was so far away, we really couldn't make out what he was
make out hear, understand
saying.
There were three men in the line-up. She picked out the guy
pick out choose
she thought had stolen her purse.
lift something off
pick up The crane picked up the entire house. (Watch them pick it up.)
something else
As we drove through Paris, Francoise pointed out the major
point out call attention to
historical sites.
We put away money for our retirement. She put away the
put away save or store
cereal boxes.
We asked the boss to put off the meeting until tomorrow.
put off postpone
(Please put it off for another day.)
put clothing on
put on I put on a sweater and a jacket. (I put them on quickly.)
the body
The firefighters put out the house fire before it could spread.
put out extinguish
(They put it out quickly.)
read over peruse I read over the homework, but couldn't make any sense of it.
My wife set up the living room exactly the way she wanted it.
set up to arrange, begin
She set it up.
make a written These are your instructions. Write them down before you
take down
note forget.
take off remove clothing It was so hot that I had to take off my shirt.
 We have serious problems here. Let's talk them over like
talk over discuss
adults.
throw away discard That's a lot of money! Don't just throw it away.
put clothing on to
try on She tried on fifteen dresses before she found one she liked.
see if it fits
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 He applied for a promotion twice this year, but he was turned
reject
(2) down both times.
turn up raise the volume Grandpa couldn't hear, so he turned up his hearing aid.
switch off
turn off We turned off the lights before anyone could see us.
electricity
turn off (2) repulse It was a disgusting movie. It really turned me off.
switch on the
turn on Turn on the CD player so we can dance.
electricity
exhaust, use The gang members used up all the money and went out to rob
use up
completely 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 I got over the flu, but I don't know if I'll ever get
disappointment 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)

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 neighbours 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, After years of giving nothing, the old parishioner
money) 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 I found it very hard to get along with my brother
with 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 finish When will you ever get through with that
with program?
keep up with maintain pace with It's hard to keep up with the Joneses when you
lose your job!
look forward anticipate with pleasure I always look forward to the beginning of a new
to semester.
look down on despise It's typical of a jingoistic country that the
citizens look down on their geographical
neighbours.
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

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 We used to just drop by, but they were never
appointment 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 continue with the same He tried to keep on singing long after his voice
gerund) was ruined.
pass out lose consciousness, He had drunk too much; he passed out on the
faint 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.