Cambridge First Certificate in English Phrasal Verbs
PHRASAL VERBS WITH TAKE
Take after - to be or look like a parent or relation
● He takes after his mother.
Take back – to admit that something you said to or about someone was wrong
● I didn’t mean what I said – I take it back.
Take down – to make a note of something
● I can take down the messages that come in.
Take in - to understand or remember something that you hear or read
● I had to read the letter twice before I could take it all in.
Take off - to leave the ground, to remove clothes
● The plane took off at 8.30 a.m
Take on - to begin to deal with something, such as a job or responsibility
● I can’t take on any more work at the moment.
Take out – to get something from the place it is in
● Henry took out his wallet to pay the bill.
Take over - to take control of something.
● The firm has been taken over by one of its main competitors.
Take to – to feel or begin to feel a liking for somebody
● I took to John immediately. He´s a very caring and loving person.
Take up - to begin a hobby, pastime etc.
● Chris has taken up jogging and his health has improved a lot.
PHRASAL VERBS WITH TURN
Turn away – Refuse someone permission to enter a place
● The doorman turned him away from the nightclub because he was wearing trainers
Turn down - Reject an offer, invitation, etc./Reduce volume, temperature, etc.
● They offered her the job, but she turned it down.
● The room was too hot, so she turned the heating down.
Turn on – Attack/Start a machine
● The neighbour's dog turned on me when I tried to stroke it.
● I turned the radio on to get the weather forecast.
Turn out - Produce an unexpected result/Produce
● It looked as if we were going to fail, but it turned out well in the end.
● The factory turns out three thousand units a day.
Turn up – Appear/ Increase volume, temperature, etc.
● She didn't turn up for class today.
● I turned the music up full blast.
Turn off - Cause someone to dislike
● I thought the subject would be interesting, but the professor's boring lectures really turned me off.
PHRASAL VERBS WITH GET
Get after – Chase
He took it from my pocket. Get after him!
Get ahead – move on
● It wasn’t easy, but I got ahead nonetheless.
Get along – have a good relationship
● Peter gets along with everyone.
Get around – travel
● My job allows me to get around.
Get away – escape
● I have a bad feeling. I think we should get away from here.
Get back – return
● It’s late. I really should get back now.
Get back into – start doing sth again
● I’ve just got back into running after two years.
Get back to – return a phone call
● I must hang up now. I’ll get back to you in a few minutes.
Get by – manage
● I haven’t studied enough, but I’m sure I’m going to get by.
Get somebody down – make somebody feel unhappy or depressed
● The chaos in his house was starting to get him down.
Get in – arrive
● You got in very late last night.
Get into – get involved
● He always gets into problems.
Get on – enter a bus, train, plane
● I don’t have much time now. I’m about to get on the plane.
Get off – leave a bus, train, plane
● We have to get off the train at the next station.
Get out – leave
● Get out of here! Leave me alone!
Get over – overcome
● I was able to get over my fears once I faced them.
Get round – convince
● No matter how hard you try, you’re not getting round me.
Get through – solve
● Don’t worry, we’re going to get through it.
Get to – start doing sth
● I got to work as soon as you told me to.
Get up – get out of bed after sleeping
● I’m not used to getting up so early.
PHRASAL VERBS WITH WORK
Work around To successfully find your way around an obstacle or a problem without having to directly deal with it or solve it.
● I didn’t have all the ingredients to make the dish from the recipe, but I worked around it by substituting a few items.
Work in - To consciously integrate something.
● He said he was too busy to exercise, but I convinced him to work in a few sessions at the gym.
Work off To compensate for money owed (or any other type of debt.)
● The kid didn’t have money to pay for his meal, so the restaurant owner let him work it off by washing dishes for an hour.
Work on - To spend time and effort improving something
● I have a lot of problems with my pronunciation, but I’m working on it.
Work out - To do any form of exercise with a focus being on the physical activity/To result in success/To Fix-Solve Something
● I try to work out 3 times a week after work.
● When he first started his new job, he was scared things wouldn’t work out.
● When you’re having relationship problems, it’s best to try to work it out.
Work through - To gradually deal with or solve.
● The couple was having serious problems, so they decided to go to a relationships counselor to help them work through their issues.
Work towards - To make an effort with the intention of achieving a future objective.
● The marathon runner woke up at 5 am every day as he worked toward his goal of running for the 42km marathon
PHRASAL VERBS WITH “ON”
Call on - To visit (a person).
● I really should call on my grandmother more often.
Carry on - To continue or proceed as before/To take baggage on an plane, rather than check it.
● I'll be gone for some days, but I hope you will carry on in my absence.
● You may only carry on a small bag on the plane.
Get on - To board or mount a vehicle/To progress, advance.
● Please, get on the bus.
● To get on in life, you need to work hard.
Hold on - To grasp or grip firmly/To wait (also on phone), to maintain position.
● Hold on tightly to the railing.
● "Can I talk to Ms Smith?" "Hold on. I'll see if she is here".
Keep on - To persist or continue.
● Don't give up, keep on trying.
Look down on - To regard or treat as inferior
● It is wrong to look down on people less fortunate than yourself.
Move on - To leave somewhere for another place/To start dealing with something else.
● After spending the night at the hotel, they decided to move on.
● You need to forget about the past and move on.
Put on - To place a garment, jewellery, etc. on part of one's body/To increase in body weight.
● Joan put on her new cotton dress.
● He has given up his diet and put on 5 kilos.
Switch on/ Turn on - To power up a device, to cause to start operating.
● Please, switch/turn on the lights. I can't see what I am reading.
Try on - To test for fit (clothes).
● I tried the dress on and decided I didn't like it.
PHRASAL VERBS WITH “OFF”
Call off - To postpone or cancel something.
● We had to call off the meeting because the client was ill.
Go off To explode or fire/To begin making noise.
● The gun went off at the beginning of the race.
● The alarm clock will go off at 6 a.m.
Make off - To leave quickly.
● The robbers made off with two million dollars.
Pay off - To yield good results, succeed.
● My hard work has paid off, I got very good marks in my exams.
Put off - To avoid, delay, postpone.
● We put off the picnic until tomorrow because it was raining.
See off - To say goodbye to someone.
● He came to the airport to see me off.
Show off - To brag about one's abilities or accomplishments.
● John likes to show off how much he knows about music.
Take off - To remove clothes, to get undressed/To become airborne (a bird/plane)
● I can't wait to get home, take off my clothes and have a hot bath.
● The plane is going to take off from runway 3.
Turn off/ Switch off - To power down, to stop a device.
● Please, turn/switch off the lights. I want to go to sleep.
PHRASAL VERBS WITH GO
Go after - Pursue (an object or a goal)
● Emma went after her dreams and now she is an actress.
Go ahead - proceed or be carried out
● The project will go ahead no matter what the manager thinks.
Go along - Continue an activity
● He added funny details to the story as he went along.
Go away - Leave a place
● We decided to go away for a few days.
Go back – Return
● Children go back to school after the holidays.
Go by – Pass-
● Put up your hand or the bus will go by without stopping.
● Time goes by so quickly!
Go down - Decrease; reduce/ become ill
● The price of property has gone down a bit lately.
● Half the team has gone down with the 'flu.
Go for - Try to achieve or attain
● Jack trained hard and decided to go for the gold medal.
Go in – Enter/Join or enter a profession
● There's a hotel. Let's go in and book a room.
● Tom decided to go into the army when he left school
Go off – Explode/Ring/make a loud noise/Stop working/No longer good to eat or drink
● A bomb went off in a crowded restaurant.
● The alarm clock was set to go off at 6 am.
● The heating has gone off. It's freezing in here!
● The milk has gone off. Don't drink it.
Go on – Continue
● Sorry for interrupting. Please go on.
Go out - Leave one's home to attend a social event/be extinguished/Have someone as a boyfriend/girlfriend
● Many young people go out a lot.
● The ights went out before we got to the door.
● Is Julie going out with Tom?
Go over – Review
● Please go over your answers before handing in your paper.
Go up - Increase; rise
● The price of petrol is expected to go up.
Go through – Experience/Examine; study carefully
● Peter went through a lot of pain after the accident.
● You should go through the contract before signing it.
PHRASAL VERBS WITH COME
Come across - Find by chance/Appear or seem; make an impression.
● Julie came across some photographs of her grandparents in the attic.
● The candidate came across as a dynamic person during the interview.
Come back Return.
● He hopes his son will come back one day
Come down with - Become ill with.
● The architect planned to attend the inauguration but he came down with the 'flu yesterday.
Come out Become known.
● The truth will come out sooner or later. It's just a matter of time.
Come round - Regain consciousness.
● She still hasn't come round after the anaesthetic
Come up - Appear, occur or present itself.
● The subject came up at the meeting.
● Sorry I'm late. Something came up at the last minute.
● She's got her twentieth birthday coming up soon.
Come up with - Produce a plan or idea.
● Sacha came up with a great idea for the party.
Must know First Certificate phrasal verbs
1. Break down – When a machine or vehicle stops working: The car broke down in the middle of the motorway and we had to call a tow truck.
2. Bring up someone – Raise a child: She brought up two children on her own.
3. Call off – Cancel: The match was called off due to the frozen pitch.
4. Carry on – To continue doing something: The boss told me to carry on painting the wall even though it was past my break time.
5. Carry out – To do a particular piece of work, like a project, investigation or building work: The police are going to carry out an investigation after the incident.
6. Fall out with someone – Stop being friendly with someone because you have had a disagreement with them: Mum and I used to fall out a lot.
7. Find out something – Discover a fact or piece of information: The police are determined to find out who committed the crime.
8. Get by – Have just enough of something (like money or knowledge) so that you can do what you need to do: I can just about get by on my basic salary.
9. Get on with someone – Have a friendly relationship with someone: We don’t really get on with our neighbours.
10. Give back something – Give someone something that they owned or had before: The company had to give back all the money customers had paid.
11. Give up something – Stop/quit doing something: I’m so unfit! I really ought to give up smoking.
12. Go away – To leave your home for a period of time, especially for a holiday: I love living in the city but I need to go away once a month.
13. Go out (with someone) – To have a romantic relationship with someone and spend a lot of time with them: Ben and Lisa were going out for at least 3 years.
14. Grow up – Gradually become an adult: John never saw his relatives living abroad when he was growing up.
15. Leave out (someone or something) – To not include someone or something: The report is good but you left out the information we spoke about in the meeting.
16. Let down someone – Disappoint someone: John never saw his relatives living abroad when he was growing up
17. Live on – To have a particular amount of money to buy the things you need to live: My grandparents have to live on a pension of £400 a month.
18. Look after someone – Take care of someone: It’s hard work looking after three children.
19. Look back – To think about the past: When I look back I realise that I’ve done some stupid things over the years.
20. Look for (something or someone) – To search for something or someone: Excuse me. I’m looking for the sales department. Do you know where it is?
21. Look forward to something – Feel excited about something that is going to happen: I’m really looking forward to my retirement.
22. Look up something – Try to find a particular piece of information by looking in a book or on a list, or by using the internet: I didn’t know what the word meant so I looked it up in the dictionary
23. Make up (with someone) – To become friendly with someone again after having an argument: Arguing isn’t a problem in a relationship as long as you make up soon after.
24. Pick up (someone) – To collect someone from somewhere in a vehicle: The flight arrives pretty late but my brother is going to pick me up at the airport.
25. Put off – Postpone: We’ll have to put off the meeting until tomorrow.
26. Put out (something) – To extinguish a fire or finish a cigarette: The fire brigade struggled to put out the fire due to the strong wind.
27. Put up with something – Tolerate something unpleasant: If you live in a flat you have to put up with a lot of noise from your neighbours.
28. Set off – To start a journey or start going somewhere: We set off really early the next morning to avoid the traffic.
29. Set up (something) – To start something like a business or an organisation: Dave set up the language school with the aim of implementing his teaching methods.
30. Split up (with someone) – To separate after being in a relationship with someone: In the end they decided to split up and live separate lives.
31. Stand out – When something or someone is easy to notice or see because they are different: His white suit made him stand out in the crowd.
32. Take up something – Start doing something regularly, like a new hobby: Emma decided to take up yoga after she lost her job.
33. Take after someone – Look or behave like an older relative: My son takes after my husband.
34. Take back (something) – To return something you have borrowed or something that you wish to change in a shop: Make sure you take that book back to the library before the end of the month.
35. Take on (someone) – To start to employ someone: The human resources department said the company shouldn’t have taken on so many people.
36. Take off – When a plane leaves the ground and starts flying: I was asleep on the plane but woke up when the engines started and it took off.
37. Tell off someone – Criticise someone angrily for doing something wrong: The teacher told me off for speaking during the class.
38. Throw away – Get rid of something that you no longer want: I threw away all the rotten apples.
39. Turn up – Arrive somewhere, especially unexpectedly or after you have been waiting a long time: The party starts at 8pm but people won’t turn up until much later
40. Work out – To calculate: We need to work out all the costs before we invest in this project.