The Ultimate Guide to Phrasal Verbs – Advanced Vocabulary Lesson
The definition of a phrasal verb is a phrase, which is made up of a verb and either a preposition and/or an adverb. An adverb is used to describe a verb. A preposition relates to a noun and often precedes the noun in the sentence. Preposition words include the following: on, by, above, next to, below, beside. A verb is an action (doing) word and refers to something that is taking place or has taken place. Examples of verbs include running, cooking, eating and dancing. For clarification, a noun refers for example to a person, an item or a place. There are many Phrasal Verbs in the English language. Try learning a few every week. Here are some useful phrasal verbs in English:
Phrasal Verb: Account for
Meaning: Clarify
Example: Please account for the time you spent doing this research.
Phrasal Verb: Apply for
Meaning: To approach/ask for
Example: The child applied for a scholarship at her new school.
Phrasal Verb: Black out
Meaning: To pass out
Example: He blacked out when he fell over and hit his head
Phrasal Verb: Break down
Meaning: Collapse or stop working
Example: She broke down in tears when she heard her mother was ill
Example: The car broke down on the journey home
Phrasal Verb: Break up
Meaning: To end something
Example: He broke up the fight between the dogs
Example: The marriage broke up after 10 years
Phrasal Verb: Bump into
Meaning: To meet without warning or without planning
Example: She bumped into her old school friend having not seen her for six months
Phrasal Verb: Bring up
Meaning: To raise or rear
Example: The grandparents brought up their grandson
Phrasal Verb: Check in
Meaning: To enroll, sign in or register
Example: He checked into the hotel at 4 pm when he arrived.
Phrasal Verb: Check out
Meaning: To depart, vacate, investigate something, evaluate or leave
Example: He checked out of the hospital this morning.
Phrasal Verb: Come across
Meaning: To encounter, meet, find
Example: I came across this first edition book in the library.
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Phrasal Verb: Count on
Meaning: To depend on or rely upon a person
Example: She counted on her husband to sort out her financial affairs.
Phrasal Verb: Cut out
Meaning: To exclude or remove
Example: He was cut out of the will
Example: She cut out the article she found in the newspaper with a pair of scissors.
Phrasal Verb: Fall out
Meaning: To argue or to quarrel
Example: The friends fell out due to their differences in opinion.
Phrasal Verb: Get along with
Meaning: To be friends with someone or be well suited
Example: I get along with my sister-in –law extremely well.
Phrasal Verb: Give away
Meaning: To give something away, or give something away for free or get rid of
Example: He gave his daughter away during the marriage ceremony
Example: I gave away the coat, as it no longer fitted me.
Phrasal Verb: Give up
Meaning: To hand over, stop doing something or surrender
Example: He gave up eating chocolate for Lent.
Example: He gave up his driving license when he had to stop driving his car.
Phrasal Verb: Get on (well) with (a person)
Meaning: To have a good rapport with someone
Example: She has a good rapport with her mother-in-law
Phrasal Verb: Go through
Meaning: To undergo, endure, pass through
Example: He passed through the longest tunnel as he was driving home
Phrasal Verb: Hive off
Meaning: To cream off, divide off or separate
Example: He hived off the cream from the milk.
Phrasal Verb: Iron out
Meaning: To clear up, resolve or settle
Example: They ironed out their differences and became good friends again.
Phrasal Verb: Keep up with
Meaning: To stay in touch with someone
Example: The friends keep in touch even though they live many miles apart from each other now.
Phrasal Verb: Look forward to
Meaning: To expect, wait for, long for or anticipate
Example: She was looking forward to the arrival of her first grandchild.
Phrasal Verb: Make fun of
Meaning: To mock, laugh at or tease
Example: They made fun of what she was wearing at the fancy dress party.
Phrasal Verb: Nod off
Meaning: To doze, have a short sleep or nap or snooze
Example: He nodded off in front of the television.
Phrasal Verb: Own up
Meaning: To admit or confess that you are guilty and did something wrong.
Example: The child owned up that he had stolen the bar of chocolate.
Phrasal Verb: Pay back
Meaning: To repay or reimburse
Example: She repaid the bank loan
Phrasal Verb: Rule out
Meaning: To exclude, prevent, discount, reject or discard
Example: His testimony was ruled out in court, as it was not relevant.
Phrasal Verb: Run out of
Meaning: To have nothing of an item left
Example: She had run out of flour to make a cake so she had to go to the shop to buy some more.
Phrasal Verb: Shop around
Meaning: To look for the best deal or compare the price of an item
Example: She shopped around for the item of furniture she wanted and found it cheaper at a different shop.
Phrasal Verb: Shut up
Meaning: This is an impolite way of saying be quiet
Example: Shut up! I am trying to listen to what he is saying.
Phrasal Verb: Stick up for
Meaning: To support or stand up for someone
Example: You must stick up for your sister. No one else will!
Phrasal Verb: Take care of
Meaning: To deal with, sort out, manage or look after
Example: He had to take care of his Mother’s business when she was away on holiday.
Phrasal Verb: Turn off
Meaning: To switch something off
Example: Turn off the television
Example: Turn the light off.
Phrasal Verb: Use up
Meaning: To consume, use up or finish something
Example: Your brother used up the last of the tea bags so we had to buy some more!
Phrasal Verb: Work out
Meaning: To solve a problem, understand an issue, resolve a situation or to exercise (physically)
Example: I worked out the answer to the problem.
Example: They worked out how to solve the problem.
Example: She worked out in the gym to be fitter.
There are many more phrasal verbs in the English language and they are often used on a daily basis. The verb in phrasal verbs will change according to whether it is being used in the present, past or continuous tenses but the meanings of these Phrasal Verbs always stay the same. When you learn a new phrasal verb, write them down with their meanings and then refer back (look back) at them to ensure you remember them and understand their meanings. The Internet will also be able to teach you some more.
Want to learn more about phrasal verbs? Here is a great related article we posted a while back
Looking for more advanced phrasal verbs? We have those too.
