Popular English Phrasal Verbs

In the English language, phrasal verbs are very common; native English speakers often use them without even realising. Therefore, it is very important to try and learn a few of these as soon as possible so you are able to understand other people speaking English and start to use these useful phrases yourself. If you’re studying at one of our Summer Centres, you’ll definitely come across some of these, so hopefully this article will make sure they don’t confuse you when they’re used in conversation!

A phrasal verb is an idiomatic phrase which consists of a verb and something else. So, for example, ‘give up’ is a phrasal verb. Here, ‘give’ is the verb, and ‘up’ is a preposition following it, and together they mean to stop doing something. So, you could say, ‘I’m going to give up eating chocolate,’ meaning that you’re not going to eat chocolate anymore, (although I don’t think many people have ever wanted to do this). To make things more complicated, they often have more than one meaning, but hopefully we’ll be able to help you understand what certain phrases mean.

So, here are some common phrasal verbs:

Come across

1. The student came across as very intelligent. – In a sentence like this, ‘come across’ is used to describe the impression the student made.
2. He came across a penny in the street. – Here, ‘come across’ describes someone finding something by chance.

Put down

1. Stephanie put down the book. – This is literal use of the phrase, meaning she placed the book onto something.
2. Joe put all his thoughts down into a diary. – You could also use ‘write down’ here, which simply means to write something.
3. Michael put down some money on the house across the road. – This means he paid some money towards the price of the house, like a deposit.
4. Lorraine’s cat had to be put down. – When an animal is ill and suffering, it is sometimes decided best to kill it in a painless way, (‘kill’ would be considered too strong a word to use here).

Put off

1. Charlotte always puts off her homework. – This means she’s postponing doing her homework.
2. The rain is really putting me off going outside today. – When something makes you dislike something.

Turn up

1. Turn the music up, I love this song! – In this instance, ‘turn up’ means increase the volume.
2. When Richard finally turns up we’ll eat – Here, it means ‘to arrive’.
3. I knew my phone would turn up eventually! – When you find something unexpectedly, (sort of as if it’s arrived and it’s surprising)

Put up with

We thought we’d finish with an easy one with only one meaning…

I don’t know how English learners put up with learning all these complicated phrasal verbs! – When you cope with something that is difficult or tolerate something.

Hopefully you’ll find some of these useful and you’ll be able to use them in every day conversation with your friends at Twin’s Summer Centres. Below are some more common phrasal verbs – look up what they mean and try and use them as much as possible when you’re speaking! We look forward to seeing you at our Summer Centres next year!

- Bring up

- Come up with

- Get away

- Look forward to

- Make out