Phrasal Verbs Explained: What They Mean and How to Learn Them

A phrasal verb is a verb combined with a small word, an adverb or a preposition, that together create a meaning that's often different from the verb alone. They're everywhere in everyday English, and dictionaries treat them as separate entries.

Why they're tricky

The meaning usually can't be guessed from the parts. Give and up are simple words, but give up means to stop trying, or to surrender. And one verb can form dozens of phrasal verbs: take off, take in, take over, take up, take after, take out, and more.

Multiple meanings

Many phrasal verbs have several senses:

• turn down: to reject (He turned down the offer) or to reduce (Turn down the music).
• take off: to leave the ground (The plane took off), to remove (Take off your coat), or to become popular (Her business took off).
• pick up: to lift, to collect someone, to learn casually, or to improve.
• run out: to be used up (We ran out of milk).

Separable and inseparable

Some phrasal verbs let you put the object in the middle; others don't.

Separable:

• Turn off the light or Turn the light off.
• With a pronoun, the pronoun must go in the middle: Turn it off (not turn off it).

Inseparable:

• Look after the children (not look the children after).
• Run into an old friend.

A dictionary usually marks which type each is.

Formal and informal

Phrasal verbs are typically informal. Formal writing often prefers single-word equivalents:

• put off → postpone
• find out → discover
• carry on → continue
• look into → investigate
• set up → establish

Knowing both lets you choose the right tone.

Common groups

With up: give up, wake up, grow up, set up, make up With out: find out, work out, carry out, run out, point out With on: carry on, get on, put on, turn on, hold on With off: turn off, take off, put off, call off, set off With in: hand in, fill in, give in, drop in

How to learn them

1. Learn them in context, as whole phrases with example sentences.
2. Group by verb or by particle, in a notebook.
3. Learn the most common first. A few dozen cover most everyday usage.
4. Notice separability, and record a sample sentence.
5. Use them in your own sentences, ideally about your life.
6. Review regularly, with spaced repetition.

Beware of literal translation

If you're translating from another language, don't assume a direct equivalent exists. The English phrasal verb may map to a single verb in your language, or to a different phrase.

Reading tip

When you meet an unfamiliar phrasal verb in a text, check the whole phrase in a dictionary, not just the verb. The particle changes everything.

Practice

Write five sentences using different meanings of take off, turn down and pick up. Then check each meaning in a dictionary.

Look up phrasal verbs and their meanings with English Dictionary →