Phrasal Verbs

BRING IN – to carry inside It’s raining. Bring your bike in now.
BRING OUT – to reveal or expose Her colorful blouse brought out the best in her.
BRING UP – to mention; to take care of John brought the subject of drugs up. She was brought up by her grandmother.
BURN OUT – to become mentally exhausted. The man was burned out by his job.
CALL OFF-to cancel There was a bad storm so they called the party off.
CATCH UP – to bring up to date; to come from behind I am so far behind that I won’t catch up with my work for months.
CLEAR UP – to end the confusion Perhaps more information would clear the problem up.
COME ABOUT – to happen None of us can understand how the plane crash came about.
COME ACROSS – to accidentally find I came across your name in a newspaper article I was reading.
COME AROUND – to change one’s opinion or position He’s stubborn now but if you give him time, he’ll come around.
COME BY – to get possession of I’d really like a hat like that. How did you come by that?
COME OUT – to be disclosed or to result I got a good grade on my TOEFL exam. Everything came out well.
COME UP – to introduce or mention The topic of peace is very popular. It comes up often in our conversations.
CUT OFF – to disconnect on the telephone; to remove by cutting I was cut off while talking to my brother. Mary cut too much of her hair off.
DO OVER – to repeat My professor asked me to do the experiment over.
DROP OFF – to return Please drop the book off at my office tomorrow.
FILL OUT – to write information You need to fill the application out and return it to me tomorrow.
GIVE UP – to stop or surrender He finally gave up smoking.
GET ACROSS – to make clear He can lecture well. He knows how to get his point across.
GET AHEAD – to surpass another Competition forces people to try to get ahead of one another.
GET ALONG WITH – to play or work well with Tom and Bill argue all the time; they don’t get along well with each other.
GET BEHIND – to delay If you don’t practice every day, you can get behind
GET ON WITH – to continue I have had enough of the delay. Let’s get on with the lecture.
GET ONE’S POINT ACROSS – to communicate He can lecture well. He knows how to get his point across.
GET OUT OF – to remove someone It’s time for a test. Please get your notebooks out.
GET OVER – to recover or return to normal Bill is angry now but don’t worry. He’ll get over it.
GET THROUGH – to finish; to endure If you eat a good break fast, it will help you get through the day.
GO AHEAD WITH – to continue You have my permission to go ahead with the experiment.
HAND IN- to submit The students handed their reports in at the end of the semester.
HOLD ON – to wait Hold on a minute, please. I want to check your account.
KEEP RIGHT ON …ING – to continue She told him to stop but he just kept right on singing.
KEEP UP WITH – to continue at the same level or pace. She runs faster than he does. He can’t keep up with her.
LOOK OUT FOR – to guard or protect The cat looked out for her kittens whenever a dog came near.
LOOK OVER – to review or examine Could you look this report over and give me your opinion?
LOOK UP TO-to admire I always looked up to my older sister when I was young.
MAKE SURE OF – to ascertain If John calls, make sure you tell him about the meeting tomorrow.
MAKE UP – to resolve a personal quarrel; to compensate for a mistake or error They quarreled and then made up and forgot their disagreement. You can make up the homework you missed if you see me on Friday.
MAKE UP YOUR MIND – to decide He was very uncertain. He couldn’t make up his mind where to go on vacation.
MIX UP – to confuse [A MIX UP] Be careful. Don’t mix up our names in the future.
PASS OVER – to overlook or ignore He was passed over for a promotion. He didn’t get a raise.
PICK UP – to give a ride We’ll pick you up at 7:00 tonight.
PUT OFF – to delay or procrastinate Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today.
RUN INTO – to accidentally meet I was downtown and happened to run into my friend Bob.
RUSH AROUND -to be in a hurry During the holiday season it’s common to find people rushing around the stores.
SEE TO – to assure I’m sorry my son broke your window. I’ll see to it that he pays for it.
SIT IN ON – to audit or attend but not pay I got permission to sit in on the class.
TAKE OFF – to remove or deduct The teacher took ten points off for each wrong answer.
TAKE ON – to accept work I always admire someone who is willing to take on the job of leadership.
TAKE OVER – to take control of The students took over the building during a student demonstration.
TRY OUT-to attempt As soon as you return home, try out your new can opener.
TURN OUT – to produce The students took over the building during a student demonstration.
TURN UP – to appear unexpectedly She couldn’t find her purse, but later it turned up in the closet.
USE UP-to deplete She needed to buy more detergent because hers was all used up.