A phrasal verb is a phrase that’s made up of a verb and another word or two, usually a preposition but sometimes an adverb. So before we can talk about phrasal verbs, it’s important to understand what verbs, prepositions and adverbs are:
• A verb is an action word. It describes something happening (i.e. hearing, seeing), a state of being (i.e. to live, to sleep), or an action being done (i.e. to read, to sing).
• A preposition is a word that describes the relationship between two words. For example, the bees are above the table or under the table, but not inside the table (hopefully). Prepositions mainly deal with location or direction (i.e. on, through, around) and time (i.e. “by” or “around” a certain time).
• An adverb is a word that describes a verb. For example, you can run quickly or slowly and arrive to class early or late.
Some Examples
Call off — To cancel something. “The picnic was called off because of the rain.”
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.’”
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.”
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!”
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.”
Get away — To escape. You may have heard the phrase “getaway car.” That’s the car used by criminals to run away from a crime scene, like a bank robbery. “Carmen’s neighbor tried to show her pictures of all her cats, but Carmen managed to get away.”
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, it’s not very nice to say that someone “gets around”! “Some people know all the different ways to get around tax laws.”
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!” Give in — To surrender, especially in a fight or argument. “Ben’s mother gave in and let him stay out late with his friends.”
Give away — To hand things out for free. (Can be separated by the item being given away.) “When Linda’s cat had kittens, she gave them all away to good homes.”
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: “I’d ask you to make me dinner but I don’t want to put you out.”
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.’”
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.”
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!”
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.”
Get away — To escape. You may have heard the phrase “getaway car.” That’s the car used by criminals to run away from a crime scene, like a bank robbery. “Carmen’s neighbor tried to show her pictures of all her cats, but Carmen managed to get away.”
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, it’s not very nice to say that someone “gets around”! “Some people know all the different ways to get around tax laws.”
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!” Give in — To surrender, especially in a fight or argument. “Ben’s mother gave in and let him stay out late with his friends.”
Give away — To hand things out for free. (Can be separated by the item being given away.) “When Linda’s cat had kittens, she gave them all away to good homes.”
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: “I’d ask you to make me dinner but I don’t want to put you out.”
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