50 Most Useful Phrasal Verbs in English

S M Nurul Alam Chowdhury (NAC)

Bring

1. Bring up To mention something. (Note: The two parts of this phrasal verb can be
separated.)
Mark was sick and had to miss the party, so please dont bring it up, I dont want him to feel
bad for missing it.

2. Bring on To cause something to happen, usually something negative. (The two parts
of this phrasal verb can be separated by whats happening.)
His lung cancer was brought on by years of smoking.

3. Bring it on! To accept a challenge with confidence.

You want to have a race? Bring it on! I can beat you!

Call

4. Call on This can mean either to visit someone, or to use someones or somethings
knowledge.
To visit someone: Ill call on you this evening to see how youre feeling.
To use someones knowledge: I may need to call on the universitys excellent professors in
order to answer your question.

5. Call off To cancel something.

The picnic was called off because of the rain.

Come

6. Come up (with something) To think of an idea.

I came up with this idea for a TV show about a woman living with her best friend and
daughter. I call it Two and a Half Women.

7. Come up To bring up a topic, or when something happens unexpectedly.

To bring up a topic: I wanted to tell her that I got a new job but the chance never came up.
Unexpected occurrence: I was going to meet my friends for dinner, but something came up
so I had to cancel.

8. Come in To enter.
Come in, the door is open! said the grandmother to the wolf.

9. Come across To meet or find by chance.

I was cleaning the attic and I came across my high school uniform. Can you believe it still
fits?

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10. Come forward To volunteer information about something, like a crime.
The police are encouraging people to come forward with any information about the
kidnapped girl.

Cut

11. Cut off This phrase can be used in several ways, but its general meaning is to
interrupt or stop something.
While driving, to get in front of another car suddenly:
That red car just cut me off and I almost crashed into it.
To stop supplying things to or communicating with someone:
His father is rich but he cut him off without any money of his own.

12. Cut (it) out This phrase has the same meaning as saying Stop it.
Hey, cut it out! I was watching that movie, so stop changing the channel!

13. Cut in To interrupt someone when they are speaking.

I was about to ask that girl on a date, but her friend cut in and I lost the chance.

Fall

14. Fall apart This phrase means to break into pieces, but it can be used to talk about
things that are not physical, like a marriage or a person.
They tried to save their marriage by going to therapy but in the end if fell apart anyway.

15. Fall down To drop to the ground, usually by accident.

My friend slipped on a banana peel and fell down. I thought that only happened in
cartoons!

Fill

16. Fill (someone) in To give someone the details about something. (Is usually
separated by the person getting filled in).
Quickly, lets go! Theres no time to explain, Ill fill you in on the way.

17. Fill up To become completely full.

The little girl filled up on candy before dinner, and didnt want to eat any of the chicken.

Get

18. Get away To escape. You may have heard the phrase getaway car. Thats the car
used by criminals to run away from a crime scene, like a bank robbery.
Carmens neighbor tried to show her pictures of all her cats, but Carmen managed to get
away.

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19. Get around To solve a problem by avoiding the main issue. This phrase can also be
used very informally to refer to someone who has many sexual partners. As you can
imagine, its not very nice to say that someone gets around!
Some people know all the different ways to get around tax laws.

20. Get along (with) To have a friendly relationship with someone.

Some people are surprised that I get along with my mother-in-law really well!

21. Get up To stand up, or to wake up.

I have so much trouble getting up in the morning that I have to set three alarms.

22. Get back to To return to someone or something. This phrase is often used to say that
you will return with an answer to a question or a request at a later time.
Dereks coworker wasnt sure what time the meeting was, so he said hed get back to him
with the time.

23. Get back at To get revenge on someone.

Her ex-husband took her house so she got back at him by taking his dogs.

Give

24. Give out This phrase can mean to break down or stop working, or to hand out or
distribute something.
To stop working: The city had to rebuild the bridge completely, because it was about to give
out and fall down.
To distribute: He has a lot of contacts because he gives out his business card to everyone
he meets.

25. Give in To surrender, especially in a fight or argument.

Bens mother gave in and let him stay out late with his friends.

26. Give away To hand things out for free. (Can be separated by the item being given
away.)
When Lindas cat had kittens, she gave them all away to good homes.

27. Give up To stop trying, surrender.

After two weeks of trying to build my own table, I gave up and just bought one.

Go

28. Go out (with) To go on a date with someone.

Sarah was so happy when Peter finally asked her to go out with him!

29. Go ahead To go in front of someone, or to give permission to do or say something.

Go ahead, explain to me why there is a car on my roof.

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Grow

30. Grow up To grow up, sometimes used to tell someone to stop acting childish.
Some people tell Steve he needs to grow up, but he loves acting like a child.

31. Grow apart To get distant from someone, like a friend.

When my friend moved to a different country I tried to stay close with her, but we slowly
grew apart.

Hang

32. Hang on To keep something.

When everyone else was getting fired, Paul managed to hang on to his job.

33. Hang out To spend time with someone, casually.

My friends and I used to hang out in the park after school.

34. Hang up To end a call on the phone, especially if its before the other person is ready.
I was in the middle of a sentence, and he hung up on me! How rude.

Hold

35. Hold on To hold something tightly. This phrase can also be a way of asking someone
to wait for a moment.
Youd better hold on to your hat, its windy out there!

36. Hold back To stop yourself from doing or saying something.

Amy has a great voice but whenever shes singing in public she feels shy and holds back.

Look

37. Look up To check the meaning of something. (Can be separated by the item being
looked up).
If you dont know the meaning of a word, you should look it up in the dictionary.

38. Look out To watch out for something.

Look out, theres a baseball coming your way!

Pay

39. Pay back To give someone back money that you owe them. (Can be separated by
the person getting paid back.) When its written as one word, payback means revenge.
Thanks for getting me lunch when I forgot my wallet at home! Ill pay you back tomorrow.

40. Pay for This phrase can either mean to give someone money for a particular purpose
(like paying for a new car), or to suffer because of something you did.
Hell pay for all the problems he caused me by being late today!

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Put

41. Put out This phrase can mean to extinguish a fire, or to irritate someone by asking
them for a favor. (In the case of annoying someone, can be separated by the person getting
annoyed.) Be aware that in very informal slang, this phrase has a more offensive meaning.
To extinguish a fire: The firefighters managed to put out the fire before it spread to other
houses.
To irritate someone: Id ask you to make me dinner but I dont want to put you out.

42. Put on To get your clothes or makeup on.

Every morning she puts on her dress, lipstick, shoes and hatin that order.

Take

43. Take off This phrase can mean to remove clothing, or to leave for a journey (i.e.
planes take off when they begin their flights).
She was very happy when she finally got home and took off her shoes. They had been
hurting her feet all day!

44. Take out To remove something, like from a pocket or a bag. This phrase can also
mean to take someone on a date. The phrase can also mean to remove someone, as in by
killing thembut this is probably not something you would need to use in everyday
conversation!
To remove something: The children sat at their desks and took out their pens and paper.
To take someone on a date: He took her out to the most expensive restaurant in the city.

Turn

45. Turn on/off To switch a machine or light on or off.

Turn off the light, Im trying to sleep!

46. Turn around To move so that youre facing the opposite direction.
Sally was about to get on the plane, but she turned around when someone called her
name.

47. Turn up When someone that was lost is found unexpectedly.

Anything I lose usually turns up under the couch. Its my cats favorite hiding place.

Warm

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48. Warm up (to) To start liking someone or something more as you spend more time
with them, especially if you didnt really like them in the beginning.
The new puppy was scared of my husband when we first got him, but he warmed up to him
pretty quickly.

Work

49. Work out To exercise.

I try to work out every morning, by repeatedly lifting a heavy donut to my mouth.

50. Work (something) out To come up with a solution or a compromise with someone.
Dont worry, Im sure we can work something out so that everyone is happy.

Wish you all the Best !!!

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