Phrasal Verbs – A – M
Phrasal Verbs and Prepositional Verbs in English A – M
Phrasal Verb | Phrasal Verb in a sentence |
---|---|
A | |
agree with | I agree with him on that point. |
B | |
back off* | She was told to back off. |
be in | Are your parents in? |
be off* | I'm off now. |
black out | And then she just blacked out. |
blow up | The bomb might have blown up. |
break away | At last, the hostage could break away from his captors. |
break free | |
break loose | |
break down | Finally her car broke down. |
break up | Sue and Tim broke up last year. |
bring up | (1) She was brought up in Wisconsin. |
(2) Why do you have to bring that up? | |
butt in* | How can we talk when you keep butting in all the time? |
C | |
call off | I had to call off the barbecue because of the bad weather. |
calm down | Please calm down. |
carry on | Please carry on with your homework. |
check out | I will check it out. |
close down | The shop was closed down by the police. |
cut out* | Cut it out! |
D | |
do without | I guess I will have to do without lunch today. |
drop in (on)* | I can't believe who dropped in on us last night. |
drop off | You can drop me off at the next red light. |
E | |
ease off | The storm eased off a little. |
end up | How will this end up? |
even out | The surface of the road was evened out. |
F | |
fall through | I hope the house signing doesn't fall through. |
figure out* | I just can't figure her out. |
fill out | Would you fill out the form, please? |
focus (on) | She focused on this issue. |
G | |
get along with | He couldn't get along with his mother-in-law. |
get at* | What exactly is he getting at? |
get by (on) | She can't get by on that much money. |
get into | He managed to get himself into the class he wanted. |
get off on* | He gets off on playing soccer. |
get on | How are you getting on? |
get on with | (1) I need to get on with my homework. |
(2) How do you get on with Sam? | |
get out of | You've got to get out of there. |
get up | Today I got up at 10 am. |
give up | Are you sure you want to give up your career? |
go through | (1) The truck wouldn't go through the tunnel. |
(2) He went through his pockets, looking for his wallet. | |
(3) You won't believe what I've gone through. | |
(4) I guess we need to go through the whole song a few more times. | |
H | |
hand out | The teacher handed out the test to the surprised students. |
hang up | Why did you hang up on me? |
hit back | He hit me, but I didn't hit him back. |
hold on | Hold on a minute! I have to check this first. |
hurry up | Hurry up, will you? I got some errands to run today. |
I | |
idle away | Don't idle the whole day away. |
insist (on) | He inisted on it. |
invite over | Let's invite them over for dinner. |
J | |
jump in(to) | I just jumped into the pool and had a refreshing swim. |
K | |
keep at | I need to keep at this. |
keep off | Please keep off the lawn. |
keep on | (1) It's a little chilly in here, so I better keep my coat on. |
(2) Just keep on practicing your scales by simply playing them up and down. | |
keep out (of) | (1) Keep out of this and mind your own business. |
(2) My door is closed. Keep out! | |
knock off | Knock it off! |
L | |
lead up to | (1) A narrow path leads up to his cabin. |
(2) She was just leading up to something when he interrupted. | |
leak out | I hope that news does not leak out. |
leave out (of) | Leave me out of it, please. |
leave up to | They left this decision up to me. |
let down | I won't let you down again. |
let in | Don't let strangers in. |
let on (about) | I promised I wouldn't let on about her new job. |
let up | The storm has let up. |
lie down | I need to lie down and take a little nap. |
light up | We lighted the house up with the headlights of our automobile. |
lighten up | Hey, lighten up a little. Enjoy the day. |
line up | Everyone, please line up. |
live up to | That meal did not live up to my expectations. |
look back (at/on) | When I look back on him, I am amazed at all he has accomplished. |
look for | I am looking for my watch. |
look in (on) | I will look in on him from time to time. |
look out (for) | Look out for that car! |
look up to | She is glad they look up to her. |
loom up | An old cottage loomed up in the distance. |
loosen up | Relax and loosen yourself up. |
M | |
make out | Can you make out what she is saying? |
make up | (1) Did she make up the clowns yet? |
(2) I made up that story. | |
(3) I'm sorry, but you can't make up that test you missed. | |
(4) Class participation will make up 25% of your final grade. | |
(5) They kissed and made up. | |
(6) Do you think I would make this up? | |
march on | Time marches on. |
mark down | Pineapples are marked down again. |
mark up | Watermelons are marked up again. |
mess up* | (1) He messed up his room. |
(2) The dirty water messed my pants up. | |
(3) Losing my job really messed my life up. | |
move in(to) | I moved into a new apartment last month. |
move on (to) | (1) The officer stopped for a minute, asked some questions, and then moved on. |
(2) Alright, let's move on to our next point. | |
move out (of) | I moved out of my old apartment last month. |
move up (to) | How long will it be before they can move her up? |
* used in informal English
Thanks to Jennie, Josef and Kai.