Phrasal Verbs
Give up, look into, take off — 50 explained
What are Phrasal Verbs?
A phrasal verb is a verb combined with one or two particles (prepositions or adverbs) that together create a new, often idiomatic meaning — frequently unpredictable from the individual words alone.
"Give" means to transfer. "Give up" means to abandon. "Give away" means to reveal a secret or donate. "Give in" means to yield. The particle transforms the meaning entirely — and this transformation is rarely logical or directly translatable from another language.
Phrasal verbs are among the most frequently used structures in spoken and informal written English. Native speakers use them instinctively and constantly — and their absence is one of the clearest signals that a speaker learned English from textbooks rather than from real use.
Types of Phrasal Verbs
| Type | Can you split them? | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Separable | Yes — object can go between verb and particle | Turn off the lights / Turn the lights off |
| Inseparable | No — object always follows the particle | She looked after the children (not: looked the children after) |
| Intransitive | No object at all | The meeting ran over. |
| Three-part | Always inseparable | I can't put up with this noise. |
Pronoun rule: With separable phrasal verbs, if the object is a pronoun (it, them, him), it must go in the middle:
Turn it off. ✓ Turn off it. ✗
Phrasal Verbs in Daily Life
Situation 1 — Workplace Conversations
Professional conversations are saturated with phrasal verbs.
"She brought up the budget issue, we looked into it overnight, and this morning she came up with a solution that everyone could work with."
Bring up (raise a topic), look into (investigate), come up with (find/invent a solution).
Situation 2 — Technology
"My laptop broke down again. I backed up the files before it shut down completely. The IT team set it up again but I've already switched over to the new system."
Situation 3 — Social Plans
"Let's meet up this weekend. We could go out for dinner or just hang out at home. Don't bail out on me this time."
Situation 4 — Dealing with Problems
"The deal fell through at the last minute. We need to figure out what went wrong before we move on. I'm not ready to just let it go."
Situation 5 — Giving Instructions
"Fill in this form, hand it back to the front desk, and wait until they call you in. If they run over time, just carry on waiting."
50 Essential Phrasal Verbs
(Some are listed with more than one meaning.)
| Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| back up | copy files / support | Always back up your work. |
| break down | stop working | The car broke down on the highway. |
| bring up | raise a topic | She brought up the delay. |
| calm down | become less upset | He took a deep breath and calmed down. |
| call off | cancel | They called off the meeting. |
| carry on | continue | Carry on — I'll join you. |
| come across | encounter unexpectedly | I came across an old photo. |
| come up with | invent / find | She came up with a solution. |
| deal with | handle | He dealt with the complaint. |
| fall through | fail / not happen | The deal fell through. |
| figure out | understand / solve | I can't figure out this problem. |
| fill in | complete (a form) | Fill in your name and address. |
| find out | discover | I found out the truth yesterday. |
| follow up | take further action | Follow up with an email. |
| get along (with) | have a good relationship | They get along well. |
| get over | recover from | It took weeks to get over the flu. |
| give up | stop trying | Don't give up now. |
| give away | reveal / donate | She gave away the ending. |
| give in | yield | He finally gave in. |
| go over | review | Let's go over the figures. |
| hand in | submit | Hand in your assignment. |
| hang on | wait | Hang on — I'll be right there. |
| hold on | wait / keep | Hold on a moment. |
| keep up (with) | maintain pace | I can't keep up with the workload. |
| let down | disappoint | He let the team down. |
| look after | take care of | She looks after her neighbor. |
| look forward to | anticipate with pleasure | I look forward to hearing from you. |
| look into | investigate | We'll look into it. |
| look up | search for information | Look up the address. |
| make up | invent / reconcile | He made up an excuse. |
| move on | progress past something | It's time to move on. |
| pick up | collect / learn casually | Can you pick up the children? |
| point out | draw attention to | She pointed out the error. |
| put off | postpone | They put off the launch until May. |
| put up with | tolerate | I can't put up with this anymore. |
| run into | meet unexpectedly | I ran into an old colleague. |
| run out of | exhaust supply | We've run out of time. |
| run over | exceed time/space | The meeting ran over by 20 minutes. |
| set off | begin a journey | We set off at dawn. |
| set up | establish / arrange | She set up the new office. |
| show up | arrive | He didn't show up. |
| take on | accept responsibility | She took on too much. |
| take over | assume control | He took over the project. |
| talk through | discuss thoroughly | Let's talk it through. |
| think over | consider carefully | Think it over before deciding. |
| turn down | refuse / reduce volume | He turned down the offer. |
| turn off | switch off | Turn off the lights. |
| turn out | result / transpire | It turned out to be a mistake. |
| turn up | arrive / increase volume | She turned up late. |
| work out | solve / exercise / succeed | It worked out in the end. |
Sentences — Beginner to Advanced
Beginner
"She turned off the lights, got into her car, and set off before the rain started."
Three different types: separable, inseparable, intransitive — all natural in one sentence.
Beginner
"She handed out the forms but ran out of them before the last three rows, so she had to print more and hand them out again."
"Hand them out" — pronoun them must go in the middle with separable phrasal verbs.
Intermediate
"The flight was called off at the last minute, so we checked out of the hotel late and ended up taking the train."
Called off (separable, here in the passive), checked out of (three-part, inseparable), ended up (intransitive, followed by an -ing form).
Intermediate
"She put off responding to his messages for a week, then talked herself into calling, then hung up the moment he answered."
"Talked herself into" — a reflexive pronoun as the object of talk (someone) into. Advanced but natural.
Advanced
"Rather than give in to pressure, the council held off on the vote until it had sorted out the funding and ruled out the cheaper but riskier option."
Four phrasal verbs, each replacing a stiffer verb: give in (yield), hold off on (delay), sort out (resolve), rule out (exclude).
Advanced
"She had set up the entire operation, taken on the risk that others shied away from, and when it finally paid off, was the last person to point it out."
Five phrasal verbs, each hard to replace — the sentence would lose its natural energy if they were swapped for formal equivalents.
How Phrasal Verbs Elevate a Sentence
Paradoxically, replacing a formal verb with precisely the right phrasal verb can make a sentence more vivid and alive.
Formal but flat: "The plan failed due to insufficient communication between the teams."
Precise and alive: "The plan fell through not because the idea was wrong but because the two teams never properly talked things through — and by the time anyone brought the gap up, the window for fixing it had already closed."
"Fell through" is more vivid and precise than "failed". "Talked things through" carries thoroughness that "communicated" doesn't. The phrasal verbs make the sentence breathe.
Memory Tips
Learn by Particle — Not by Verb
Each particle carries a general meaning tendency:
- UP → completion or intensity: finish up, use up, eat up, clean up, tidy up, speak up
- OUT → distribution or exhaustion: run out of, hand out, give out, find out, work out
- DOWN → decrease or recording: calm down, break down, write down, turn down, note down
- OFF → separation or cancellation: call off, cut off, turn off, set off, drop off
- INTO → investigation or collision: look into, run into, bump into
- UP WITH → tolerance (put up with), invention (come up with)
Learn in Context, Not in Lists
Encountering 10 phrasal verbs in a story you read is far more effective than memorizing 50 in a list. When you meet one naturally, note the whole sentence, not just the verb.
The Pronoun Test
If the object is a pronoun (it, them, him, her), it must go in the middle of a separable phrasal verb. Use this as a quick check: "Can I put 'it' in the middle?" If yes, it's separable.
Formal vs Informal
Most phrasal verbs belong to informal or neutral English — but many are perfectly standard in formal writing too.
Suitable for formal writing: carry out, set up, draw up, look into, rule out, bring about, set back, point out, take on
More informal — replace in high-register writing:
| Informal | Formal equivalent |
|---|---|
| come up with | devise, propose |
| fall through | fail, collapse |
| give up | abandon, relinquish |
| put up with | tolerate, endure |
| find out | discover, ascertain |
Informal:
"We found out about the bug on Friday and couldn't come up with a fix, so in the end we gave up on the release."
Formal:
"The defect was discovered on Friday. No viable solution could be devised in time, and the release was abandoned."
Idioms with Phrasal Verbs
When phrasal verbs and idioms combine, the result is layered, culturally rich English.
"to go back to the drawing board"
Meaning: To start planning again from the beginning because the first plan failed.
"When the funding fell through and the main partner pulled out, the team had to go back to the drawing board — and within a week they had come up with a better plan."
"Fell through", "pulled out", "come up with" — three phrasal verbs around the idiom, all natural, all precise.
"to hit the ground running"
Meaning: To begin something with full energy and momentum, without needing time to adjust.
"She set up the new office in two weeks, took on three major clients before the end of the month, and truly hit the ground running in a way that brought out the best in everyone around her."
"Set up", "took on", "brought out" — phrasal verbs supporting the idiom, not fighting it.
Quick Reference
| Particle | General meaning | Key phrasal verbs |
|---|---|---|
| up | completion, intensity | give up, speak up, use up, set up |
| out | exhaustion, distribution | run out of, find out, hand out |
| off | separation, cancellation | call off, turn off, set off |
| down | reduction, recording | break down, calm down, write down |
| on | continuation | carry on, hold on, move on |
| in | submission, yielding | hand in, give in, fill in |
| up with | tolerance, invention | put up with, come up with |
Grammar Exercises
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