English grammar · Intermediate
Phrasal Verbs: Meaning, Types, and the 30 Most Common
A phrasal verb is a verb combined with a particle (an adverb such as up, out, off, or a preposition such as into, after) to make a unit with its own meaning: give up means stop, look after means take care of, run into means meet by chance. The meaning often cannot be worked out from the parts, and the grammar depends on whether the phrasal verb takes an object and, if so, whether that object can split the verb from its particle.
Can you turn the music down a bit?
turn + down means reduce; the object sits between them
What it is
English builds thousands of verbs by adding a small word to a basic one. Get becomes get up, get over, get on, get away with; each is a separate verb with a meaning you have to learn. Some phrasal verbs are literal (sit down, come back) and some are fully idiomatic (put up with means tolerate, and neither put nor up tells you that). They dominate everyday speech, which is why a learner who knows thousands of single words can still miss the point of a casual conversation. The two things to learn about each one are its meaning and its behaviour with an object.
The meeting was put off until Friday. (put off = postpone: nothing in put or off says delay) She takes after her mother. (take after = resemble: idiomatic and inseparable)
How to spot it
Look for a verb followed by a short adverb or preposition where the pair means something the verb alone does not. Test it by removing the particle: if turn the music down becomes turn the music and the meaning is lost, you have a phrasal verb. A verb followed by a preposition with its ordinary meaning (walk into the room, sit on the chair) is not one.
- I need to look up this word. (look up = search for; look alone does not mean that)
- The plane took off late. (intransitive: no object)
- She turned the offer down. (transitive and separable: the object sits inside)
- We ran out of time. (three-word phrasal verb; of introduces the object)
Word stress helps in speech: in a phrasal verb the particle is usually stressed (look UP the word), while an ordinary preposition is not (look up the STAIRS).
Phrasal Verbs Quick Reference
What the common particles add to a verb
| Particle | Core idea | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| up | completion, increase, or approach | eat up, speed up, turn up, walk up to |
| down | decrease, or recording | slow down, calm down, write down, turn down |
| out | outside, disappearing, or distributing | go out, run out, sell out, hand out |
| off | leaving, removing, or switching off | take off, set off, put off, turn off |
| on | continuing or attaching | carry on, go on, put on, hold on |
| back | returning | come back, call back, pay back, give back |
| over | again, or across to someone | do over, think over, hand over, take over |
| away | distance or disappearance | go away, throw away, run away, put away |
Common Phrasal Verbs Examples in English
Phrasal verbs grouped by how they behave with an object, which is the grammar you need to use each one correctly:
Intransitive: No Object
- What time do you usually get up?
- get up = leave your bed
- The car broke down on the way home.
- break down = stop working
- He turned up late, as usual.
- turn up = arrive
- Hold on, I'll be with you in a minute.
- hold on = wait
An intransitive phrasal verb cannot be split because there is no object to put inside it.
Transitive and Separable
- Turn off the lights. Turn the lights off.
- either order with a noun object
- Please turn them off.
- a pronoun object must go in the middle
- She's picking up the kids at three. She's picking them up.
- pick up = collect
- I'll look the address up. I'll look it up.
- look up = search for information
Most transitive phrasal verbs with an adverb particle (up, off, down, out, away) are separable.
Transitive and Inseparable
- Who's looking after the dog while you're away?
- look after = take care of; never look the dog after
- I ran into an old teacher at the station.
- run into = meet by chance
- She takes after her grandfather.
- take after = resemble
- We need to go over the figures again.
- go over = review
When the particle is a preposition (after, into, over, for), the object follows it and the verb cannot be split, even with a pronoun: look after it.
Three-Word Phrasal Verbs
- I'm really looking forward to the trip.
- look forward to + noun or -ing
- We've run out of coffee.
- run out of = have none left
- How do you put up with the noise?
- put up with = tolerate
- He gets on with everyone in the office.
- get on with = have a good relationship
Three-word phrasal verbs are always inseparable: the object goes at the end.
How Phrasal Verbs Work
Five rules cover the grammar; the meanings you learn one by one, with a little help from the particles.
Verb Plus Particle Equals a New Verb
Treat a phrasal verb as a single vocabulary item. Give up is not give with an extra word; it is a verb meaning stop or surrender, with its own dictionary entry. Many basic verbs (get, take, put, go, come, look, turn) carry a dozen or more phrasal meanings, and the same combination can have several: take off means remove clothes, leave the ground, or suddenly become successful.
Her career took off after the first album.
take off = succeed rapidly; nothing to do with removing anything
Learn the pair as one word.
Check Whether It Takes an Object
Intransitive phrasal verbs stand alone (wake up, sit down, break down, show up). Transitive ones need an object (put off something, look after someone). Some are both, with different meanings: the plane took off (intransitive) but she took off her coat (transitive). Knowing which type you have decides everything about word order.
The alarm went off at six. I turned it off.
go off needs no object; turn off needs one
No object, no word-order problem.
Separable Verbs Put Pronouns in the Middle
With a separable phrasal verb a noun object can go before or after the particle (fill in the form, fill the form in), but a pronoun object must go between the verb and the particle: fill it in, never fill in it. Long noun objects usually go after the particle to keep the verb readable: fill in the form on the second page.
Throw away those boxes. Throw them away.
noun either side, pronoun in the middle
Pronoun inside, always.
Prepositional Particles Never Separate
If the particle is a preposition rather than an adverb (after, into, at, for, with), the object always follows it and nothing can come between verb and particle: look after him, run into her, deal with it. Three-word phrasal verbs (put up with, look forward to, get on with) end in a preposition and are inseparable for the same reason.
Can you deal with this complaint? I'll look into it tomorrow.
the pronoun follows the preposition every time
Preposition particle = object at the end.
Phrasal Verbs Are Everyday English
Phrasal verbs are neutral in speech and informal writing, and most have a more formal one-word equivalent: put off / postpone, find out / discover, carry out / conduct, bring up / raise, turn down / reject. Using the single-word verb in conversation can sound stiff; using the phrasal verb in a legal or academic text can sound casual.
The match was called off. The fixture was cancelled.
same meaning; the first is how people talk, the second how a report reads
Phrasal in speech, single word in formal writing.
Common Mistakes with Phrasal Verbs
Incorrect: I'll pick up her at the airport.
Correct: I'll pick her up at the airport.
Pick up is separable, and a pronoun object has to go between the verb and the particle. Pick up her is one of the most common word-order errors, because the pattern verb + particle + noun (pick up Anna) is fine and learners extend it to pronouns.
Incorrect: She looked the children after.
Correct: She looked after the children.
After is a preposition here, so look after is inseparable: the object always follows the whole phrasal verb. Only adverb particles like up, off, and down allow the object inside.
Incorrect: I ran into with an old friend yesterday.
Correct: I ran into an old friend yesterday.
Run into already contains the preposition that links to the object. Adding with duplicates it; learners often do this because the one-word equivalent (meet) or a translation takes a different structure.
Incorrect: Please fill the form and return it.
Correct: Please fill in the form and return it.
Fill alone means put something into a container. Completing a document is fill in (or fill out in American English), and dropping the particle changes the meaning or leaves the sentence sounding unfinished.
The 30 Most Common Phrasal Verbs
The ones that appear constantly in speech, each with its meaning and grammar type, grouped by the area of life they belong to.
Daily life and movement
The phrasal verbs of routines, getting around, and handling everyday objects. Most are literal enough to picture.
- I get up at six on weekdays.
- get up = leave your bed; intransitive
- The baby woke up twice last night.
- wake up = stop sleeping; also transitive: wake the baby up
- We're going out for dinner tonight.
- go out = leave home to socialise; intransitive
- She came back from Japan last week.
- come back = return; intransitive
- Put your coat on; it's freezing.
- put on = dress in something; separable
- He took off his shoes at the door.
- take off = remove; separable (also intransitive: the plane took off)
- Can you pick the kids up at four?
- pick up = collect; separable
- I'll drop you off at the station.
- drop off = deliver someone somewhere; separable
- Turn the lights off when you leave.
- turn off = switch off; separable (turn on is the opposite)
- We've run out of milk.
- run out of = have none left; three-word, inseparable
Turn on and turn off, put on and take off, pick up and drop off come in pairs; learn them together.
Work, study, and communication
The verbs you need for tasks, information, and arrangements, and the ones most likely to have a formal one-word equivalent.
- I found out that the meeting was cancelled.
- find out = discover information; separable (find it out)
- Look the word up in a dictionary.
- look up = search for information; separable
- Please fill in this form.
- fill in = complete a form; separable (fill out in American English)
- Hand your essays in by Friday.
- hand in = submit; separable
- They set up a company last year.
- set up = start or arrange; separable
- The team carried out a survey in March.
- carry out = perform a task; separable but usually kept together
- We've put the meeting off until Monday.
- put off = postpone; separable
- The match was called off because of rain.
- call off = cancel; separable
- I can't work out how this printer works.
- work out = understand or calculate; separable (also intransitive: exercise)
- She brought up an interesting point.
- bring up = mention a topic; separable (also raise a child)
Fill in and fill out mean the same thing; fill out is the usual American form. Both take the object inside: fill it in, fill it out.
Relationships, problems, and change
The idiomatic core: how people get along, cope, quit, and recover. These meanings are the hardest to guess and the most worth learning.
- I grew up in Manchester.
- grow up = spend your childhood; intransitive
- I get on well with my colleagues.
- get on with = have a good relationship; three-word (get along with in American English)
- Who's looking after the dog this weekend?
- look after = take care of; inseparable
- They broke up after three years.
- break up = end a relationship; intransitive
- He gave up smoking in January.
- give up = stop a habit; separable, followed by -ing
- What's going on in there?
- go on = happen; also continue: go on with your work
- The car broke down on the motorway.
- break down = stop working; intransitive
- It took her weeks to get over the flu.
- get over = recover from; inseparable
- We need to come up with a better plan.
- come up with = think of an idea; three-word, inseparable
- He turned up an hour late.
- turn up = arrive or appear; intransitive (also increase volume: turn it up)
Several of these have a second, unrelated meaning: break down also means analyse (break down the costs) and give up also means surrender.
Quick Check: Phrasal Verbs
Complete each phrasal verb with the missing particle.
1. Could you turn ___ the heating? It's freezing in here.
Answer: on
turn on = switch on
2. I don't know this word. I'll look it ___.
Answer: up
look up = search for; the pronoun sits in the middle
3. The concert was called ___ because the singer was ill.
Answer: off
call off = cancel
4. She grew ___ in a small village near the coast.
Answer: up
grow up = spend your childhood; intransitive
5. We've run ___ of milk again.
Answer: out
run out of = have none left; three-word verb
6. He came ___ with a brilliant idea for the campaign.
Answer: up
come up with = think of
Phrasal Verbs FAQs
- What is a phrasal verb?
- A phrasal verb is a verb plus one or two particles (adverbs or prepositions) that together form a verb with its own meaning: give up (stop), look after (take care of), run out of (have none left). The meaning is often not predictable from the parts, so each phrasal verb has to be learned as a unit. They are extremely common in spoken English and informal writing.
- What is the difference between transitive and intransitive phrasal verbs?
- A transitive phrasal verb takes an object: turn off the TV, look after the kids. An intransitive one stands alone with no object: get up, break down, show up. The distinction matters because only transitive phrasal verbs raise the question of word order, and some verbs are both: The plane took off (no object) but She took off her jacket (object).
- How do I know if a phrasal verb is separable?
- If the particle is an adverb (up, down, off, out, on, away, back), the verb is usually separable and you can say turn off the light or turn the light off, but a pronoun has to go inside: turn it off. If the particle is a preposition (after, into, at, for, with), the verb is inseparable and the object follows the whole verb: look after it, not look it after. A good dictionary marks the difference, and the pronoun test is the quickest check.
- Are phrasal verbs informal?
- They are the normal verbs of conversation and everyday writing, not slang, so using them is not a mistake in most contexts. Formal and academic writing tends to prefer the single-word equivalents: postpone rather than put off, investigate rather than look into, tolerate rather than put up with. In an email to a colleague, We've put the meeting off sounds natural; in a contract, postponed is the better fit.
- What is the best way to learn phrasal verbs?
- Learn them in groups that share a base verb or a particle, and learn each one inside a full sentence so that the object position comes with it: She turned the offer down, not just turn down = reject. Notice the core meaning of the particles (up for completion, out for disappearing, off for leaving) because it makes new combinations easier to guess. Then use the ones you meet in speech; the thirty on this page cover a large share of everyday conversation.