Common phrasal verbs
Verb + particle combinations and their everyday meanings.
A phrasal verb is a verb joined with a small word called a particle — a preposition or adverb such as up, off, on, out, in, away or back — and together they often make a meaning that is different from the verb alone. For example, 'look' means to see, but 'look after' means to take care of, 'look for' means to search, and 'look up' means to find information. Phrasal verbs are extremely common in everyday spoken and written English, so learning the frequent ones helps you understand reading passages and answer exam questions. Some phrasal verbs are separable, which means an object can go between the verb and the particle (turn the light off / turn off the light), and when the object is a pronoun it must go in the middle (turn it off, not 'turn off it'). Others always stay together (look after the baby). Because the meaning is fixed, each phrasal verb should be learned as a single vocabulary item. For example: 'Please turn off the TV and put on your coat — we have to get on the bus and look for the tickets.'
Rules
- 1A phrasal verb is a verb + a particle (up, off, on, out, in, away, back) with a meaning often different from the verb alone (give up = stop).
- 2Learn each phrasal verb as one vocabulary item: look after = take care of, look for = search, look up = find information, put on = wear.
- 3Separable phrasal verbs allow a noun object before or after the particle (turn the light off / turn off the light).
- 4When the object is a pronoun, it must go between the verb and the particle (turn it off, not 'turn off it').
- 5Some phrasal verbs are inseparable and always stay together (look after the child, get on the bus).
Practice
15 easy · 15 medium · 15 hard