The phrasal verbs you'll actually hear in everyday English, with clear meanings and real example sentences.
Phrasal verbs, verbs combined with a particle like "up," "off" or "out", are one of the biggest gaps between textbook English and how people actually speak. This list covers 50 of the most frequent ones, the kind that show up in conversation, TV, and everyday writing, whatever your current level.
Each entry gives you the meaning and a natural example. For the full grammar behind separable and inseparable phrasal verbs, see our complete Phrasal Verbs grammar guide, and for interactive quiz practice, try Phrasal Verb Master.
| Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| get up | to rise from bed | I get up at 7am every day. |
| wake up | to stop sleeping | The noise woke me up. |
| look for | to search for something | I'm looking for my keys. |
| look after | to take care of | Can you look after the kids tonight? |
| find out | to discover information | I found out she was moving away. |
| give up | to quit, stop trying | Don't give up, you're almost there. |
| go on | to continue | Please go on with your story. |
| come back | to return | She'll come back next week. |
| get back | to return (a place or thing) | What time did you get back home? |
| turn on / off | to activate / deactivate a device | Turn off the lights before you leave. |
| put on | to dress in something | Put on your coat, it's cold outside. |
| take off | to remove (clothes); or for a plane to leave the ground | He took off his shoes. / The plane took off on time. |
| pick up | to lift, collect, or fetch someone | I'll pick you up at 6pm. |
| drop off | to leave someone or something somewhere | I dropped the kids off at school. |
| set up | to arrange or establish something | We set up a new office last year. |
| break down | to stop working (machine); or to become upset | My car broke down on the motorway. |
| break up | to end a relationship | They broke up last month. |
| carry on | to continue | Carry on, I'm listening. |
| check in / out | to register arrival / departure (hotel, airport) | We checked in at 3pm. |
| fill in / out | to complete a form | Please fill in this form. |
| figure out | to understand or solve something | I can't figure out how this works. |
| get along / on | to have a good relationship | I get along well with my colleagues. |
| get over | to recover from something | It took a while to get over the flu. |
| go over | to review something | Let's go over the report before the meeting. |
| grow up | to become an adult | I grew up in a small town. |
| hang on | to wait a moment | Hang on, I'll be right there. |
| hold on | to wait | Hold on a second, please. |
| keep up | to stay at the same pace | Slow down, I can't keep up. |
| look forward to | to feel excited about something future | I'm looking forward to the trip. |
| look into | to investigate | We'll look into the issue and get back to you. |
| make up | to invent (a story); or to reconcile after an argument | He made up an excuse. / They made up after the fight. |
| put off | to postpone | Let's put off the meeting until Friday. |
| run out (of) | to have no more of something | We've run out of milk. |
| set off | to begin a journey | We set off at dawn. |
| show up | to arrive, appear | He didn't show up to the meeting. |
| sort out | to resolve or organise | I need to sort out my finances. |
| take after | to resemble a family member | She takes after her mother. |
| take over | to assume control | He took over the family business. |
| throw away | to discard | Don't throw away that receipt. |
| try on | to test clothing for fit | Can I try on these shoes? |
| turn down | to refuse; or to reduce volume | She turned down the job offer. |
| turn up | to arrive, often unexpectedly; or to increase volume | He turned up an hour late. |
| work out | to exercise; or to calculate/resolve | I work out three times a week. / We worked out a solution. |
| bring up | to raise a topic; or to raise a child | She brought up an interesting point. |
| call off | to cancel | They called off the wedding. |
| catch up | to reach the same level; or to meet after time apart | Let's catch up over coffee soon. |
| come across | to find by chance | I came across an old photo album. |
| deal with | to handle a situation | I'll deal with it tomorrow. |
| end up | to eventually be in a situation | We ended up staying home. |
| run into | to meet by chance | I ran into an old friend yesterday. |
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Reading a list is a good start, but real fluency comes from using these naturally. Try Phrasal Verb Master, our free interactive quiz tool, or book a free level test to work on phrasal verbs live with a CELTA-qualified tutor.
Reading a list takes you part of the way. Real fluency comes from using phrasal verbs in conversation, with a tutor who corrects you immediately.