phrasal verbs

A phrasal verb has two or three parts: a verb and one or two small words such as up, down, in, out, on, off, away, back, over. These small words are called particles.

Learn each phrasal verb as one new word, with its meaning.

Easy to guess and hard to guess

Some phrasal verbs mean what the words say: the particle shows a direction.

Many don't. The meaning of the two words together is new.

One verb, many meanings

The same phrasal verb can have more than one meaning.

With and without an object

Some phrasal verbs take no object (get up, sit down, go out, break down). Others take an object (turn on the light, look for my keys).

With some of them, the object can go in the middle (turn the light on); with others it can't (look for my keys). The separable and prepositional phrasal verbs have their own pages.

In speech and in writing

Phrasal verbs are everyday English. In formal writing, people often use a one-word verb: find out – discover, go up – increase, put off – postpone.

Common mistakes

• × I gave up to smoke. → I gave up smoking.
• × She looks after for her mother. → She looks after her mother.
• × We run out milk. → We've run out of milk.
• × Turn off it. → Turn it off.