Phrasal verbs
chuck in Jim has chucked in his studies.
"Understanding"
sink in You could see how his cheeks had sunk in.
take in I was taken in by his appearance.
Phrasal Verbs with "Up"
"Increasing/Improving"
go up The barometer is going up at a tremendous rate
grow up When Jack grows up he wants to be a fireman
pick up Jim dropped his pen and bent to pick it up.
push up Shops are no longer allowed to push up their prices
speed up The tempo of music speeds up
bump up Two more good results will bump up your average.
brush up I must brush up my French.
do up But who is to do up your room every day?
dress up Mary (was) dressed up for the party.
"Completing/Finishing"
use up John felt used up
clear up When you've finished your meal, please clear up the kitchen.
drink up Drink up, then I'll refill your glass.
end up Be careful, you could end up by getting hurt.
follow up The director will follow up the committee's suggestions.
"Damaging/Disrupting"
blow up It looks as if it's blowing up for severe weather.
break up In spring the ice on the Great Lakes breaks up.
wind up I'm afraid he's wound up.
mess up She really messed up my life.
mix up My papers are all mixed up.
slip up Someone must have slipped up.
split up Can you split up this piece of wood?
"Happening/Creating"
come up I'll let you know if anything comes up.
bring up I was brought up to respect the law.
come up with I had to run to come up with her.
think up What have you been thinking up?
make up These three articles make up the whole book.
"Approaching/Reaching"
go up I want to go up to London next week.
draw up The train drew up in the station.
catch up He spent six months catching up with his studies.
face up to She is too young to face up to the truth about her father.
live up to You must live up to law.
"Preparing/Arranging"
warm up The sun warmed up the seat nicely
draw up He soldiers were drawn up in battle lines.
set up My father me set up a Mother's day.
soften up You go in and soften father up, and then I'll ask him for the money.
fix up Can you fix up a meeting with the director?
Other Meanings
show up Show the doctor up when he comes.
take up I will not take up any more of your time.
put up with I can't put up with it any longer.
make up for Your office must make up for a loss.
Phrasal Verbs with "Down"
"Decreasing/Reducing"
bring down The gunners brought down three planes.
calm down Calm down, there's nothing to worry about.
come down The plane came down safely in spite of the mist.
cut down Your article will have to be cut down to fit into the book.
die down The fire is dying down, put some more wood on!
keep down If there's shooting going on, keep down.
narrow down Let's narrow an argument down.
play down Politicians have to learn to play down to the voters.
slow down The severe snowstorm has slowed the traffic down.
scale down The number of visitors scales down.
"Failing/Destroying"
break down The police broke the door down.
let down Don't let down now, just when the job's nearly finished.
close down Darkness closed down on the city.
step down The quantity of medicine to be taken can be stepped down
gradually after the first week.
turn down Why do you turn down the volume on the radio ?
"Writing"
take down Can you take down this address?
jot down I must jot down that telephone number before I forget it.
get down Get down every word she says.
put down Would you put them down to my account?
write down Write down, please, this examples.
scribble down I scribbled down the telephone number, and now I can't read it.
"Defeating/Collapsing"
break down Peace talks have broken down in the Middle East.
bring down Shopkeepers have been asked to bring down their prices.
crack down The government has promised to crack down on criminal activity.
hunt down We've been hunting down a good cheap house all over the city.
knock down The price was knocked down to 3 dollars.
wear down The record is worn down.
Other Meanings
get down to It's time we got down to work.
look down on She looked down on Jim and thought he was not worthy of her daughter.
pin down It is difficult to pin down the exact meaning of this verb.
put down He put his heavy bag down on the ground.
Phrasal Verbs with "Out"
"Outside/Leaving"
break out Three men broke out of prison yesterday.
go out I don't think you should out with that bad cold.
move out When do you moved out?
pop out I had just popped out for a breath of fresh air.
set out He set out for work an hour ago.
check out I'm afraid old Charlie has checked out.
"Excluding/Removing"
cancel out His good qualities and his faults cancel out.
cross out Cross out the last two names, they're not members any more.
keep out Do keep children out of mischief.
kick out Don't kick the cat out like that, it's cruel.
leave out No possibility must be left out.
opt out It can not be that he opted out of society.
pull out А good holiday will pull you out.
rule out A sudden storm ruled out the boat race.
throw out His master threw him out.
"Searching/Finding"
check out I'm just going to check this book out of the library.
find out We should find out the truth.
figure out Can you figure out this word?
sound out Could you sound the director out on this question?
try out Did Mr. Smith try out a plane?
"Disappearing/Ending"
fade out Fade out the last scene at the end.
peter out The climbers' efforts to reach the top petered out.
phase out The makers have decided to phase out the production of this car.
run out The contract runs out next week.
sell out Have you sold out all the tickets yet?
wipe out The police men wipe out the enemy.
"Producing" (especially sounds, signals, etc.)
blurt out Peter blurted out the news before he considered its effect.
call out Jane call out when she saw her friend across the street.
cry out Jane, don't cry one's heart out.
let out He let out a cry of pain as the nail went into his foot.
speak out Speak out, we can't hear you.
spill out At last he spill out the story of his part in the crime.
"Giving/Helping or Supporting"
bear out The prisoner's story was borne out by his wife.
give out The sun gives out light and heat to the earth.
hand out Hand out the question papers as the students enter.
help out Can you help me out with my English homework?
pass out How many of the young men passed out this year?
point out The guide took us through the city, pointing interesting sights out.
Other Meanings
carry out We all have certain duties and jobs to carry out.
sort out Wait till I get you outside, and I'll sort you out!
stand out He stood out for better terms.
take out He never takes me out.
walk out on You can't walk out on your family at a time like this.
Phrasal Verbs with "Off"
"Departing"
drop off My top button has dropped off and I can't find it.
get off We must be getting off now.
head off Your should head off a quarrel.
see off All the parents were at the railway station, seeing the children off to school.
set off He set off for work an hour ago.
take off He took me off to the garden. [17]
"Preventing/Rejecting"
fight off I must wear warm clothes, as I am fighting off this cold.
hold off Why you hold your decision?
keep off Keep off the subject!
put off Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
scare off Higher coffee prices are scaring off the customers.
ward off The fighter had to ward off a dangerous blow.[16]
"Finishing/Completing"
carry off It was a daring attempt but he carried it off.
finish off I must finish off the work while the light is good.
pay off It's a good feeling to pay off the house after all these years.
pull off John at last pulled examine off.
top off Top off your compositions and put off. [15]
Other Meanings
call off The game was called off.
cool off It cools off with extreme slowness.
rip off John wouldn't dare to rip off a bank.
show off I think he visited us just to show off his new car.
tell off Six of us were told off to get fuel. [16]
"Phrasal Verbs with "Back"
"Returning"
bring back You must bring these library books back next week.
call back/phone back I'll call you back.
get back When did your neighbors get back from their holiday?
give back When can you give back the money?
take back My mind took me back to that evening .
"Repeating/Reciprocating"
answer back She always taught him not to answer back.
bounce back Small children often catch diseases, but they soon bounce back.
fight back She fought back her tears as she said goodbye.
pay back We will pay them back for the trick they played on us.
strike back He had a chance to strike back.
"Controlling/Suppressing"
choke back Jim had to choke back his anger or he would have hit the man.
cut back The factory's production has been cut back.
fight back I had to fight back a desire to laugh at the small child's remark.
hold back I held back from jumping into the cold water
Phrasal Verbs with "Away"
Away when combined with different verbs, can have the meaning of leaving, disappearing, or storing.
"Leaving/Separating"
break away Part of the country broke away to form a new nation.
drive away Don't drive people away who want to help you.
get away I couldn't get away at all last year, I was too busy.
go away There was no answer to my knock, so I went away
keep away The doctor advised Jim to keep away from fattening foods.
move away Losing interest, the crowd moved slowly away.
run away Don't run away, I want to talk to you.
scare away Higher coffee prices are scaring away the customers.
take away You may take away. [17]
"Disappearing/Making Something Disappear"
chuck away Why did you chuck your money away on such a worthless plan?
do away with This old custom is done away with.
fade away The music faded away.
give away The politician gave away his best chance to win the election
pass away Why the animals pass away?
throw away John throw away an advantage to rest.
"Hiding/Storing"
file away I'll file his name away for future use.
hideaway Muslim women hide away their faces.
lock away She locked her memories of him away in her heart.
put away Please put your toys away.
Phrasal Verbs with "Over"
Common phrasal verbs of "over" like think things over or check things over carry the meaning of considering or examining. However, when combined with other verbs, "over" can also carry the meaning of changing or transferring.
"Considering/Examining"
check over I asked the doctor to check me over.
look over We must look the school over before sending our son there.
mull over / think over Think over what I've said.
talk over Mrs. Taylor talk the prosecutor over her innocence.
"Changing/Transferring"
change over / Switch over If you change the words over, the sentence sounds over.
hand over The escaped criminal was handed over to the police.
move over There's room for three if you move over.
take over I want to take her all over the house.
Other Meanings
blow over I hope your troubles will soon blow over.
carry over The rights to the property carry over to the buyer.
get over How can we get over? The traffic's so busy.
run over The bathwater is running over!
smooth over Perhaps a gift of flowers will help to smooth your quarrel over.
2.1Phrasal verbs in use
The most import thing is to understand the meanings of English phrasal verbs and to be able to use them in speech and in writing. English people use them all the time: we can meet phrasal verbs in songs, magazines and newspaper articles. For example: [7] [2] [14]
We can give examples found in literature
1. What he saw was worse than he had figured out.
2. Very few people care about orphans.
1. The French Revolution broke out in 1789.
2. A man was brought up to the standards set by Reason.
3. The romantic poets, who could not put with and longed to transcend the limits set by nature and society to man, searched for permanence.
4. The challenge resulted in the emancipation of the creative imagination.
5. These views f the