Phrasal Verbs for English Language Learners

back up

• to support or defend someone
• When the class was making fun of me, only the teacher backed me up.

break down

• to stop working, especially with machines
• The ice cream machine at work is often breaks down.

break up

• to finish a relationship
• It was hard for the young man after the break up.

bring up

• to say or mention
• Do you have to bring up that again?

call around

• to contact multiple people
• Roy called around to find a nearby mechanic.

call off

• to cancel a planned event
• We called the party off. / We called off the party.

 calm down

• to relax after an energetic or irritated state
• I need a few minutes to calm down after that match.

check out

• to examine a person or thing.
• I’ll check the contract out.

cheer up

• to make someone happy, especially if they were previously sad
• Reading always cheers me up on a rainy day.

clean up (1)

• to be extremely successful in a venture such as business, sports, or gambling
• Our hockey team cleaned up at the tournament and went home undefeated.

clean up (2)

• to tidy an area
• John cleaned the living room up.

come around

• to stop engaging in questionable behaviour, such as consuming drugs or alcohol
• Her boss said she had to either clean up or find a new job.

come across (1)

• how a person appears to others
• He does come across as an honest person.

come across (2)

• to find unexpectedly
• I come across some interesting facts when working online.

come between

• to interfere with a relationship between two people
• After more than fifty years of partnership, nothing could come between them.

come down with

• to catch an illness
• After travelling, She came down with a cold.

come out of

• to happen as a consequence of another event
• We missed a day of school, so at least some good came out of our boring class trip.

 come up

• to arise as a topic of discussion or receive attention
• Everyone talked about how much they enjoyed the movie, but the run time never came up in the conversation.

come up with

• to think of an idea, especially as the first person to do so, or to produce a solution
• Salah comes up with her best story ideas at night, so she writes them down before she forgets them.

count on

• to rely or depend on someone or something)
• If I’m ever making a mistake, I can count on my friends to warn me.

crack down on

• to attack or punish someone harshly; to penalize a behaviour
• Ever since last month’s accident, police have been cracking down on drunk driving.

dive into

• to eagerly begin a pursuit or activity
• I’ll dive into that new TV show later tonight.

dress up

• to put on nice clothes
• John dressed up for the award ceremony.

end up

• to eventually reach some conclusion or destination
• After thinking for a day, he ended up taking the job.

fall apart

• to break into pieces
• My new dress completely fell apart after just two washes.
• to experience acute mental or emotional distress
• He endured all kinds of harassment at work without flinching but fell apart when his cat got sick.

fill up

• to put into a container as much as it can contain
• Bruce filled his water bottle up to the brim. / Bruce filled up his water bottle to the brim.

find out

• to discover or learn something
• We didn’t find out the news until we got back from dinner..

get across

• to successfully communicate or explain something
• The professor spoke for hours, but they didn’t get anything across to the students.

get ahead

• to succeed or progress
• You’ll never get ahead at this company unless you follow the rules.

get along with

• to be on good terms with someone
• My dog gets along with everyone as long as they’re not a cat.

get around

• to travel from place to place
• In this city, it’s impossible to get around without a car.

get around to

• to do something eventually
• I’ll get around to that project after the playoffs.

get at

• to reach or gain access to something
• I can’t quite get at this itch on my back.

get away

• to escape or depart
• Lucy liked to go to the lake every weekend, just to get away.

get away with

• to commit a crime or misdeed without incurring any negative consequences
• The boss’s nephew gets away with things that none of the other employees would.

get back

• to retrieve something
• Rodger got his pencil back from Greta. / Rodger got back his pencil from Greta.

get back at

• to take revenge on someone
• Lily promised herself that she would get back at whoever had started the rumour.

get by

• to survive or manage at a minimum level
• When Sheila lost her job, the family got by with only their savings.

get down

• to enjoy oneself without inhibitions, especially with music or dancing
• Vicente may be formal at work, but he sure knows how to get down to hip-hop.

get down

• to  discourage someone
• Kim always gets everyone down with her stories from the hospital.

get down to

• to begin or start something
• Once everyone arrives, we’ll get down to picking teams.

get in on

• to join an activity
• After the value of Bitcoin started going up, lots of people wanted to get in on cryptocurrency.

get into

• to discuss something thoroughly
• I don’t want to get into our finances now; we’ll talk after our guests leave.

get out of

• to take some benefit from a situation
• Babysitting the Coles was a nightmare, but at least Jane got some money out of it.

get over

• to recover from or overcome something
• Drinking a lot of water helps in getting over an illness.

get through

• to complete or endure an unpleasant experience
• Alex can’t get through a morning without coffee.

get to

• to annoy or bother someone
• People who don’t clean up after their dogs really get to me.

get together

• to gather socially
• The volleyball team is getting together for dinner after practice.

give away

• to donate something or give something for free
• Mindy gave her prized doll collection away.

give up

• to accept defeat, quit, or surrender
• Clare felt like giving up every time she saw the scoreboard.

give up

• to stop consuming or doing something, often a habit
• Mark gave chocolate up because of his headaches

go against

• to disobey, contradict, oppose, or fight something
• A group of students went against the school dress code yesterday and wore ripped jeans.

go ahead

• to proceed or move forward
• Because of the snow, we can’t go ahead with the festival.

go along with

• to agree with or pretend to agree with
• Even though Cedric hated weightlifting, he went along with it because his coach suggested it.

go for

• to try to achieve something
• Carlos trains so hard because he is going for an Olympic gold medal.

go on

• to continue
• The workers will go on digging until they hit a water pipe.

go over

• to review or look at something
• Marie went over the study guide one last time before the test.

hand in

• to submit something, especially an assignment
• The teacher wants us to hand in our essays by email.

help out

• to help others in need
• Please help out at the event, we need you.

hold back

• to prevent someone from doing something
• I wanted to become an architect, but my bad grades held me back.

hold on

• to wait
• Hold on a minute, let me get my coat.

keep up

• to continue doing something
• Keep this pace up and you’ll set a new record!

leave out

• to omit something
• Sean left the graph out of the presentation.

let down

• to disappoint someone
• Karen let Marc down when he arrived late.

let go of

• to release or free something
• Don’t let go of the rope until I’m safe.

let in

• to allow something or someone to enter
• Close the door or you’ll let the flies in!

let know

• to tell someone something
• Let me know as soon as Leslie texts back.

look after

• to take care of someone or something
• Thank you for looking after me when I was sick.

look up

• to search for someone or some information
• To find out the answer look up the meaning on the web.

look up to

• to admire someone
• I looked up to this YouTuber until I read about their scandal.

mix up

• to confuse two or more things with one another
• It’s easy to mix up Chris and Kris.

pick up (1)

• to get, to offer a lift
• I will pick up my wife at the shops.

pick up (2)

• to improve
• It is slow now but it will pick up later.

pull up

• to retrieve or bring something nearer
• Eugene pulled the document up on his computer.

put off (1)

• to delay or postpone
• I always put off my dental appointment.

put off (2)

• to change from wanting to not wanting something
• I was put off the meal when I saw how dirty the kitchen had become..

put on

• to dress oneself in
• I always put my backpack on before leaving the house.

put up with

• to tolerate or condone something
• Somehow Az could put up with Janice’s bad attitude.

run out (of)

• to use all of or drain the supply of something
• Isabella ran out of toilet paper at the worst possible time.

see to

• to make sure something is done
• I’ll see to watering the plants while you’re gone.

set up

• to arrange or organize something
• Since no one had invited me to join their study group, I set a group up myself.

settle down

• Live a more quiet, steady life.
• He used to party all the time but now he wants to settle down.

show off

• to display abilities or accomplishments in order to impress others
• Tanya didn’t need to shoot so many three-pointers; she was just showing off.

shut off

• to turn off, especially a machine
• Don’t forget to shut the water off after your shower.

sort out

• to solve a problem
• I had to sort out my life.

speak up

• to speak louder
• Please speak up we can’t hear you.

stand up

• to support someone or something, or defend yourself
• Stand up to that bully and he will go away.

take after

• to resemble someone, especially of children about their parents
• Li takes after his father when it comes to politics.

take off (1)

• leave quickly
• She took off quickly when it got dark.

take off (2)

• become popular or successful, sometimes very quickly
• The new cakes have taken off, everyone is buying them.

take out

• to move something outside
• Please take the garbage out before dinner.

think over

• to consider something
• When his parents suggested selling his Pokémon cards, Brave thought the idea over.

throw away

• to dispose of something
• Could you throw that old bread away?

top off

• to refill something to the top; to complete something in a special or spectacular way
• May I top your beverage off?

turn down

• to reject or say no to someone
• My crush turned me down after I asked them out.

turn on

• to start
• Turn on the lights when you arrive.

turn off

• to stop
• Turn off the lights before you leave.

turn up

• to arrive
• Good to see you turn up at last.

wait on

• to serve someone, especially at a restaurant
• Bill eagerly waited on the table of new customers, hoping for a big tip.

wait out

• to wait until an even to or period is over
• They decided to wait out the rain before going on a walk.

work out (1)

• to solve a puzzle or problem
• I didn’t understand but I did work out the answer eventually.

work out (2)

• to exercise such as with weights
• I work out at the gym twice a week.