Walk into almost any British office and you will hear phrasal verbs within minutes: someone wants to catch up, a meeting has been pushed back, and a colleague promises to get back to you. Many international professionals have excellent English on paper but still miss the meaning of these short, everyday expressions. This post gives you the ones I hear most in UK workplaces, what they mean, and how to use them without sounding forced.
Why do UK colleagues use so many phrasal verbs?
Phrasal verbs are the normal, neutral way to talk about everyday actions in British English. A manager is far more likely to say "Can we put off the review until Thursday?" than "Can we postpone the review?" Both are correct, but the phrasal verb sounds relaxed and friendly, while the single-word verb can sound slightly formal in conversation.
That does not mean you need hundreds of them. A small group covers most of what happens at work: arranging meetings, dealing with tasks and problems, and keeping people informed.
Which phrasal verbs will you hear about meetings and schedules?
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| set up | arrange or organise | "Could you set up a call with the client next week?" |
| catch up (with someone) | talk briefly to share news or progress | "Shall we catch up after lunch about the budget?" |
| bring forward | move to an earlier time | "We've brought the deadline forward to Friday." |
| push back | move to a later time | "The launch has been pushed back to March." |
| put off | postpone | "Let's put off the decision until we have the figures." |
| call off | cancel | "Tomorrow's team meeting has been called off." |
| run through / go through | review something step by step | "Can we run through the slides before the presentation?" |
| wrap up | finish a meeting or task | "Let's wrap up there, as we're nearly out of time." |
One warning: push back has a second meaning. "The client pushed back on the price" means the client resisted or disagreed. Context usually makes it clear, but if a meeting and a disagreement are both in the conversation, check which one people mean.
Which ones are used for tasks and problems?
- look into (investigate): "I'm not sure why the invoice was rejected, but I'll look into it."
- sort out (solve or organise): "IT are sorting out the problem with the shared drive."
- take on (accept work or responsibility): "I can't take on another project this month."
- hand over (pass work to someone else): "Before my holiday I'll hand over the account to a colleague."
- fill in for (do someone's job temporarily): "Can you fill in for me at the Monday meeting?"
- come up (happen unexpectedly): "Sorry, something's come up and I need to leave early."
- flag up (draw attention to a possible problem): "Please flag up any risks before the end of the week."
- carry on (continue): "Carry on with the report and I'll check it tomorrow."
"Fill in" also means to complete a form ("Please fill in the expenses form"), so you will hear it in both senses.
Which ones appear in emails and messages?
Phrasal verbs are perfectly acceptable in most work emails. These four appear constantly:
- get back to (someone): reply later. "Thanks for your question. I'll get back to you by Wednesday."
- follow up (on something): take further action or check progress. "I'm just following up on my email from last week."
- loop (someone) in: include someone in a conversation or email chain. "I've looped in the finance team." This is informal, so use it with colleagues rather than in a first email to a new client.
- chip in: contribute an idea, or a little money. "Feel free to chip in if you have suggestions." / "We're all chipping in for a colleague's leaving present."
For formal letters, reports or legal documents, a single-word verb is often better: postpone rather than put off, investigate rather than look into, cancel rather than call off. In everyday emails to colleagues, the phrasal verb is usually the more natural choice.
What about video calls?
Online meetings have produced their own set of everyday expressions:
- "I'll send round the link." (share it with everyone)
- "Sorry, you cut out for a moment." (the sound or video stopped)
- "I'm going to have to drop off at half past." (leave the call)
- "Can you speak up a little?" (speak more loudly)
- "Let me bring up the spreadsheet." (show it on screen; "bring up" can also mean mention a topic)
Where does the object go?
This is where many learners make mistakes. Some phrasal verbs can be separated, and some cannot.
Separable: with a noun, the object can go in the middle or at the end. "Set up the meeting" and "Set the meeting up" are both correct. With a pronoun (it, them, him, her), the pronoun must go in the middle: "Set it up", never "Set up it". The same rule applies to call off, put off, hand over, sort out, bring forward and push back.
Not separable: the object always comes after the whole verb. "I'll look into it", not "I'll look it into". "Can you fill in for me?", not "fill me in for". Note that "fill me in" is a different expression: it means "tell me the details I missed". "I missed the meeting. Could you fill me in?" is very common in UK offices.
A quick way to check: if you are unsure, a good learner's dictionary shows the pattern with "sth" or "sb", for example set sth up (separable) or look into sth (not separable).
How can you learn them so they stick?
Lists alone rarely work. Try this two-week plan:
- Days 1-3: Choose five phrasal verbs from this post that you actually need. Write one sentence for each about your own job.
- Days 4-7: Use at least one in a real email or message every day. "I'll get back to you" and "I'm following up on" are easy starting points.
- Days 8-10: Listen for them. Note every phrasal verb you hear in meetings or calls, with the sentence it was in.
- Days 11-14: Add five more, and say your sentences aloud. Speaking them, not just reading them, is what makes them available when you need them in a meeting.
Learn each phrasal verb with its typical partner words: set up a meeting, push back a deadline, look into a problem. These chunks are easier to remember and much easier to use quickly than a verb on its own.
What is the most common mistake to avoid?
Overusing informal ones in the wrong place. "Let's touch base and loop in the team" is fine on a quick call with colleagues, but in an interview or a formal proposal it can sound like you are trying too hard. Start with the neutral, high-frequency verbs in the tables above, use them where you would naturally speak, and keep the more casual expressions for people you already know.