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PHRASAL VERBS

1. AGREE TO: accept, consent to Her parents just wont agree to her marrying a foreigner.

2. AGREE WITH: have the same opinion as Im afraid I cant agree with you in this matter.

3. BACK AWAY: retreat, move back She backed away nervously at the sight of the snake.

4. BACK OUT: withdraw (a promise) Its too late to back out now. We must go through with it.

5. BACK UP: give support to If I protest against the decision, will you back me up?

6. BE ABOUT TO: be on the point of The teacher was about to start the lesson when I came in.

7. BE AFTER: want, seek What are you after? Just tell me plainly.

8. BE AWAY: be absent (from home, office) Im afraid Mrs Thompson is away on holiday this week.

9. BE BACK: return, have returned Ill be back as soon as I can.

10. BE BEHIND: be late, be delayed They were well behind with the schedule.

11. BE FOR: be in favour of Are you for or against the abolit ion of the death penalty?

12. BE IN: be at home, in ones office, etc. Id like to see Dr Bentley. Is he in?

13. BE ON: (of films, etc.) be showing I wonder what film is on at the Imperial Cinema.

14. BE OUT: be out of the house, office, etc. The manager is out for lunch, but hell be back at one oclock.

15. BE OVER: be finished, be ended Well, its all over now. You neednt worry about it any longer.

16. BE THROUGH WITH: be finished with Ill join you as soon as Im through with these letters.

17. BE UP: be out of bed The children were up at five this morning.

18. BE UP: (of time) expire, be finished Times up, gentlemen!

19. BE UP TO: be depending on Its not up to me to decide on these matters.

20. BEAR UP: remain strong He bore up well against all these misfortunes.

21. BLOW UP: (cause to) explode The bomb blew up killing five people.

22. BLOW UP: inflate, fill with air The child kept blowing up the balloon till it burst.

23. BLOW UP: reprimand, scold The teacher blew me up for arriving late this morning.

24. BREAK DOWN: cease to function My car has broken down again and badly needs servicing.

25. BREAK UP: (of a couple) part Peter and Lily broke up nearly a year ago.

26. BRING BACK: return Ill lend you my car provided you bring it back tomorrow.

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27. BRING ON: cause, induce Such cold, damp weather often brings on influenza.

28. BRING UP: rear, raise Those children are very badly brought up.

29. BRING UP: vomit She was very ill and brought up everything she had eaten.

30. BRING UP: raise, mention Several interesting points were brought up in the meeting.

31. CALL BACK: telephone back The operator called back while you were out.

32. CALL FOR: require, demand The good news calls for a celebration.

33. CALL IN: summon to a place We cant afford to call in a technician every time it breaks down.

34. CARRY AWAY: deprive of self-control The speaker got carried away by his enthusiasm.

35. CARRY ON: continue, proceed Sorry if I interrupted you. Please carry on!

36. CARRY OUT: execute, perform They did not carry out their promise to help us.

37. CATCH ON: become popular This kind of song is likely to catch on with young people.

38. CATCH OUT: trap, trick Are you trying to catch me out with these smart questions?

39. CATCH UP (WITH): draw level with He was unable to catch up with the rest of the class.

40. CLEAR AWAY: remove When we had finished, the waitress cleared away the dirty plates.

41. CLEAR OFF: go away Youd better clear off before my father arrives.

42. CLEAR UP: (weather) become clear Its rather cloudy now, but it may clear up later in the day.

43. CLEAR UP: make tidy, remove After the party, some guests stayed behind to help clear up the mess.

44. CLEAR UP: make clear, solve Before we go on, Id like to clear up this matter once and for all.

45. COME ACROSS: meet or find by chance I came across an old school friend while on holiday in France.

46. COME AT: attack, assault The man came at me with a big knife.

47. COME BACK: return Ill come back as soon as I can manage it.

48. COME DOWN: fall, become cheaper The cost of living is always going up, it never comes down.

49. COME IN: enter I knocked on the door and was asked to come in.

50. COME ON: (imper.) hurry up Come on, girls! We are going to be late for the party.

51. COME OUT: appear, become visible He likes to watch the stars come out at night.

52. COME OUT: be revealed, become known The truth about his criminal past eventually came out.

53. COME OVER: seize, take possession ofPanic came over the passengers of the sinking ship.

54. COME ROUND: visit casually You can come round any time you like.

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55. COME ROUND: regain consciousness How long was the old lady unconscious before she came round?

56. CUT OFF: sever Be careful that you dont cut your fingers off.

57. CUT OFF: isolate The villagers were cut off by the floods for nearly two weeks.

58. CUT OFF: disconnect The Company has cut off our gas supply.

59. DO AWAY WITH: abolish, get rid of Many countries have done away with capital punishment.

60. DO AWAY WITH: kill, murder The criminal did away with the witness who declared against him.

61. DO FOR: (usu. passive) ruin The country was done for after the earthquakes.

62. DO IN: kill, murder She is not the first girl to be done in by this murderer.

63. DO IN: (passive) exhausted, tired Whats the matter, Tim? You look completely done in.

64. DO UP: fasten, button Could you do my dress up at the back, please?

65. DO WITH: be related to, connected with Shes very interested in anything to do with Roman art.

66. DO WITH (with HAVE): be involved in I have nothing whatever to do with these men.

67. DO WITHOUT: manage without Children cant do without the help of their parents.

68. DRAW UP: stop, come to a halt The car drew up when the traffic lights changed to red.

69. FALL APART: disintegrate, fall to pieces His whole life has fallen apart since his wife divorced him.

70. FALL BEHIND: slacken in pace Several of the runners fell behind in the Marathon.

71. FALL DOWN: fall to the ground Jack fel l down from the tree he was climbing.

72. FALL FOR: fall in love with I fell for that girl the first time we met.

73. FALL FOR: be deceived by I never thought you would fall for that o ld t rick.

74. FALL IN: collapse, give way The walls of the house have fallen in.

75. FALL OUT: quarrel, disagree She has fallen out with her sister over some trivial matter.

76. FALL THROUGH: miscarry, fail No one supported the scheme and it fell through.

77. GET AHEAD: pass beyond, progress Francis got ahead of the runners in the race.

78. GET ALONG: be on good terms with Its very easy to get along with the new boss, hes very nice.

79. GET AWAY: escape The cashier got away with all the money in the safe.

80. GET AWAY WITH: escape punishment Some people can get away with murder.

81. GET BACK: recover, regain Sandra never got back the purse she lost.

82. GET DOWN TO: apply oneself to I really must get down to some serious work this term.

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83. GET IN: arrive home It was nearly midnight when they got in.

84. GET IN(TO): enter (a certain place) We could not get into the house as it was locked.

85. GET OFF: alight (from a vehicle) You must never attempt to get off the bus while it is in motion.

86. GET ON: opp. Get off Get on that bus if you want to go to the beach.

87. GET OUT: leave, go When he refused to get out, she threatened to call the police.

88. GET OUT OF: avoid, shirk The boy tried to get out of going to school by feigning illness.

89. GET OVER: recover from It took Lisa a few weeks to get over her illness.

90. GET OVER: get finished with The sooner we get the cleaning over, the better.

91. GET THROUGH: connect by phone I couldnt g et through (to him). The line was engaged.

92. GET UP: rise from bed During the summer holidays, I used to get up very late.

93. GET UP: stand up The pupils got up when the teacher came into the classroom.

94. GIVE AWAY: give free of charge My aunt has given her old clothes away (to the poor).

95. GIVE BACK: return Having finished reading the book I gave it back to the library.

96. GIVE IN: surrender The enemy was forced to give in when it ran out of ammunition.

97. GIVE OUT: distribute The invigilators gave out the exam papers to the students.

98. GIVE UP: despair, admit defeat We mustnt give up yet, we may still find them.

99. GIVE UP: stop, abandon I tried to give up smoking, but without success.

100. GIVE UP: devote The teacher gave up his first class to explaining his programme.

101. GO ABOUT: circulate The story is going about that they are leaving town for good.

102. GO AHEAD: proceed, continue We have decided not to go ahead with the project, after all.

103. GO AWAY: go, depart, leave Are you going away for Christmas, or are you staying at home?

104. GO BACK: return He went back home to collect the papers he had left behind.

105. GO BACK ON: fail to keep a promise They have gone back on their promise to lend us the money.

106. GO BY: elapse We were growing impatient as the time went by that evening.

107. GO FOR: attack The dog went for the intruder and chased him out of the house.

108. GO OFF: leave (a certain place) He has gone off to Greece for a short holiday.

109. GO ON: continue, last It looks as though this war wil l go on forever.

110. GO OUT: leave the house The weather is lovely, why dont we go out for a walk?

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111. GO OUT: become obsolete This method of printing is gradually going out.

112. GO OVER: examine, review, inspect Lets go over the details of the plan once more.

113. GO THROUGH: suffer, endure The country is going through a critical period.

114. GO UP: increase, rise The price of the beef has gone up a lot since last October.

115. GO UP: explode The helicopter crashed and went up in flames.

116. GO WITH: suit, match These colours go nicely with each other.

117. HAND BACK: return, give back Remember to hand back the cassettes youve borrowed from me.

118. HAND IN: submit, tender You should hand in your application as soon as possible.

119. HAND OUT: distribute, give out She was in the street handing out leaflets to passers-by.

120. HANG ON: wait Just hang on a second while I do up my dress.

121. HANG UP: end a phone call abruptly She didnt give me a chance to explain, she just hung up.

122. HOLD BACK: control, restrain The police could do nothing to hold back the angry crowds.

123. HOLD ON: wait Just hold on a moment while I put my shoes on .

124. HOLD UP: delay, hinder We were held up in a traffic jam for nearly an hour.

125. HOLD UP: stop with intent to rob Two armed men held up the bank in broad daylight.

126. KEEP AT: persist in, persevere in Arthur kept at his German until it was perfect.

127. KEEP AWAY: (cause to) stay away Keep the child away from that fire.

128. KEEP DOWN: repress The conquered peoples were kept down by cruel laws.

129. KEEP OFF: stay at a distance from Keep off the grass! (Sign displayed in public parks).

130. KEEP ON: ( + gerund) continue Why do you have to keep on bothering me?

131. KEEP OUT: (cause to) stay outside Private. Keep out! (Notice on the door).

132. KEEP TO: adhere to Hes not the kind of person who keeps to his promises.

133. KNOCK DOWN: strike to the ground The old man was knocked down by a lorry near his house.

134. KNOCK DOWN: demolish, pull down Some old houses in this area have been knocked down recently.

135. KNOCK OFF: cause to fall Keep an eye on that child, or hell knock that vase off.

136. LEAVE ASIDE: not consider, disregard Lets leave this matter aside for the moment, shall we?

137. LET DOWN: fail, disappoint Ill do everything I can to help you. I wont let you down.

138. LET IN: allow to enter She opened the door and let the cat in.

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139. LOOK AFTER: take care of She obviously knows how to look after her body.

140. LOOK AT: gaze at The two men looked uneasily at each other.

141. LOOK BACK: look behind Dont look back now, but I think we are being followed.

142. LOOK BACK: reflect upon the past Some people like to look back on the good old days.

143. LOOK FOR: search for, seek Shes looking for a job as a shorthand typist.

144. LOOK FORWARD TO: await eagerly We are looking forward to meeting her.

145. LOOK ON TO: overlook, face My bedroom looks on to the river.

146. LOOK OUT: (imper.) beware!, take care! Look out! You nearly ran over that child.

147. MAKE OUT: distinguish, discern We could just make the castle out in the distance.

148. MAKE UP: apply cosmetics to the face A young girl like you shouldnt need to make up.

149. MAKE UP: invent Im not very good at making up excuses, Im afraid.

150. MAKE UP (+ MIND): come to a decision Have you made up your mind yet?

151. PASS AWAY: die The old man passed away peacefully in his sleep.

152. PASS AWAY: disappear, vanish The old cultural values seem to have passed away.

153. PULL TOGETHER: compose oneself Please, George, pull yourself together.

154. PUT ASIDE: place to one side Put your book aside and listen to me careful ly.

155. PUT AWAY: put in the proper place Dont leave your things about; put them away.

156. PUT DOWN TO: attribute to I put his bad performance down to nerves.

157. PUT OFF: postpone, defer Well have to put the exam off until after Easter.

158. PUT OFF: extinguish, switch off Dont forget to put off the lights before you go to bed.

159. PUT ON: dress in, don Take off that dirty shirt and put on a clean one.

160. PUT ON: light, switch on She put on the radio to listen to the news.

161. PUT OUT: extinguish Remember to put out all the lights before you go out.

162. PUT THROUGH: connect (by phone) Put me through to the president. Its urgent.

163. PUT UP: lodge, give lodging to Can you put me up for the night?

164. RUN INTO: collide with She lost control of her car and ran into a van.

165. RUN OUT OF: finish completely We ran out of petrol in the middle of nowhere.

166. SEE OFF: go with sb. to station, airport They went to the airport to see their daughter off.

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167. SEE OUT: conduct to the door Miss Brown, will you see this lady out, please?

168. SHOW OFF: boast He just cant help showing off in public.

169. STAND ASIDE: get out of the way Will you please stand aside and let me pass.

170. STAND BACK: stand clear Will everybody please stand back!

171. STAND FOR: (negat.) tolerate, permit I wont stand for his imprudence any longer.

172. STAND UP: rise to the feet The pupils stood up when the headmaster entered the classro om.

173. BE TAKEN ABACK: be startled When I saw him lying so still I was quite taken aback.

174. TAKE FOR: assume to be Do you take me for a fool?

175. TAKE OFF: (plane) leave the ground We took off from Heathrow Airport at 9.30 p.m.

176. TAKE OFF: remove She took off her coat and sank into an armchair.

177. THINK ABOUT: reflect upon I have been th inking about this al l week.

178. THINK OF: have an opinion of I dont think much of the so-called bakalao music.

179. THINK OVER: consider at length Please think this matter over and let me know your answer soon.

180. THROW AWAY: discard You should through away this table and buy a new one.

181. TURN DOWN: lessen the intensity Dont forget to turn down the gas when the water boils.

182. TURN OFF: switch off, stop the flow ofYou forgot to turn off the water in the bathroom.

183. TURN ON: switch on, start the flow of Please turn the oven on; Im going to bake some cakes.

184. TURN OUT: prove to be He turned out to be a thoroughly dishonest person.

185. TURN UP: arrive, come I waited for him for nearly one hour, but he didnt turn up.

186. TURN UP: increase the intensity Turn up the gas just a little bit.

187. WORK OUT: solve I cant work out these difficult equations.

188. WORK OUT: train oneself physically The athletes worked out for five hours a day before the Olympics.

189. WORK OUT: devise, plan We should wait until we have worked out a good plan.