100 Most Common Phrasal Verbs List with Meaning in English

Phrasal verbs are combinations of verbs and prepositions or adverbs that create unique meanings different from the original verb. They are widely used in everyday English and can significantly enhance your communication skills. This blog will explore the 100 most common phrasal verbs list, providing their meanings and example sentences for better understanding.

What are Phrasal Verbs?

Phrasal verbs consist of a verb followed by one or more particles (prepositions or adverbs). The meaning of the phrasal verb often cannot be inferred from the meanings of the individual words.

Example:

• Give up: to stop trying

“She decided to give up smoking for her health.”

Types of Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs can be categorised into different types based on their structure and usage:

1. Transitive vs Intransitive 

Transitive Phrasal Verbs require a direct object.

Example: She gave up smoking.

Intransitive Phrasal Verbs do not require a direct object.

Example: He woke up suddenly.

2. Separable vs Inseparable

Separable Phrasal Verbs allow the object to be placed between the verb and the particle.

Example: She picked up the book.

Inseparable Phrasal Verbs must keep the verb and particle together.

Example: He ran into trouble

Also Read: 

• Types of Verbs

• What are Transitive and Intransitive Verbs with Examples

Importance of Learning Phrasal Verbs

Understanding phrasal verbs is crucial for mastering English as they are commonly used in both spoken and written forms. They can convey nuanced meanings and are essential for fluency. Here are some key points highlighting the importance of mastering phrasal verbs:

1. Common Usage in Everyday Language: Phrasal verbs are frequently used in everyday conversations, making them essential for effective communication. Native speakers often rely on these expressions to convey ideas succinctly and naturally. 

2. Enhanced Fluency: Understanding and using phrasal verbs allows learners to express themselves more naturally, similar to native speakers. This fluency is vital for engaging in conversations without sounding overly formal or awkward. Mastery of phrasal verbs helps learners adapt their language to various contexts, enhancing their overall communication skills.

3. Improved Listening Comprehension: Phrasal verbs appear frequently in spoken English, including movies, songs, and everyday discussions. A solid grasp of these expressions enables learners to follow conversations more easily and understand the nuances of spoken language

4. Rich Vocabulary Development: Phrasal verbs add depth to a learner’s vocabulary. Many phrasal verbs have multiple meanings or can be used in different contexts, providing learners with a broader range of expressions to convey specific ideas or emotions.

5. Natural Sounding Speech: Using phrasal verbs appropriately helps learners sound more relaxed and friendly in their speech. This naturalness is particularly important in informal settings, where formal language may seem out of place.

Also Read: Classroom Phrases in English

How Many Phrasal Verbs Are There in English?

The exact number of phrasal verbs in the English language is not definitively known, but estimates suggest there are around 5,000 to over 10,000 phrasal verbs. Linguists agree that this large number contributes to the complexity of learning them, as many phrasal verbs have meanings that differ significantly from their components.

For example, the phrasal verb “give up” means to stop trying, which is not immediately apparent from the meanings of “give” and “up” when considered separately. This idiomatic nature makes phrasal verbs a challenging yet essential aspect of mastering English.

100 Most Common Phrasal Verbs List with Meaning

Here is the list of all phrasal verbs in English along with their meanings which will help you get a better understanding of the topic.

Phrasal Verbs + in (Verb + in)

Here is a phrasal verbs list:

Phrasal Verbs	Meanings	Example Sentences
Check-in	To register (hotel or airport)	Do you know how to check in at the hotel?
End in	To finish in a certain way	Her marriage ended in divorce.
Hand in	To submit	Before Sunday, we shall hand in the report
Drop in	Informal visits to a person or place	I desired to drop in my friend’s home.
Get in	To enter	How did you get in today?
Give in	To hand in; submit	They gave in the homework quickly?
Join in	To participate	Should I join in the meeting now?
Move in	To arrive in a new home or office	How can they move in the room without permission?
Chip in	To help	We must chip in the poppers.
Cut in	To interrupt	Your father cut in while I was dancing.
Break-in	To interrupt, to enter without informing	While the class was going on, he broke in.
Hang in	To bear the situations	Hang in there. I’m sure you’ll find a job very soon.
Log in	Sign in (to a website, database, etc)	Before you log in check the password correctly.
Believe in	To feel confident about something/someone	She believes in me.
Turn in	To give something in authority	You are allowed if you turn in the paper.
Put in	Enter a pot	How did they put in without permission?
Lock in	To put into a safe place	Due to rain, the children were locked in
Fill in	To add information	I want to fill in a form for this vacancy.
Drop in	Make an informal visit	Did she drop in today?

Phrasal Verbs (Verb + On)

Phrasal Verbs	Meaning	Example Sentences
Try on	To wear something to see	I tore the jacket while trying it on.
Put on	To turn it on, switch it on	It’s very dark in here. Please put on the light.
Rely on	To count on, depend on, and trust	You can easily r
Take on	To hire or engage staff	The dean can only take on the new employees.
Look on	Watch out	As I was looking out he fled.
Look down on	To consider higher, admire	They tried to look down on everyone
Keep on	To continue doing something	As I kept on working for 24 hours, I got ill.
Hold on	To wait	I hold on to the call, due to the noise.
Get on	To board (bus, train, plane)	She tried to board the bus but failed.
Focus on	To concentrate on something	Focussing on studies is necessary.
Drag on	To continue for an unknown time	Their fight dragged on for many years.
Count on	To depend on	Counting on strange can be difficult
Cut down on	To reduce in number or size	The parent cut down on the pocket money.
Carry on	To keep continue	Being old she cannot carry on the burdens.
Brush up on	To improve, revise	They brushed up on everything before the exam.

(Verb +Off)

Check out the phrasal verbs list:

Phrasal Verbs	Meaning	Example Sentences
Wife Off	To clean (board, table)	The females can wipe off correctly.
Take off	To leave the ground	The plane can take off if the way is clear.
Show off	Boastfully display one’s abilities	Being shown off and neglected by friends.
Set off	To start a journey	In the morning we set off on our trip.
Put off	To postpone, ado	Can I put off the meeting at any other time?
Nod off	To fall asleep after being tired	At night, I nod off quickly
Kick Off	To begin	As the game kicked off we entered the ground
Get Off	Come out of the vehicle	On the road
Ease Off	Slow down	In the evening, we ease off
Drop Off	To fall asleep	I’ll drop it off by this evening.
Call Off	To cancel	They have called off the wedding.
Block Off	To separate using a barrier.	Due to a block off street, we could not go.

(Verb + Of)

The following table has phrasal verbs list:

Phrasal Verbs	Meanings	Example Sentences
Take care of	To look after	How can you take care of the children?
Get out of	To avoid doing something	As I get out of sin, I feel relaxed.
Break out of	To flee from prison	The criminal broke out of the jail easily.
Get rid of	To eliminate	She got rid of her old cars.
Make fun of	To make fun of	Making fun of elders can be immoral.
Run out of	To have no more of something	As I ran out the energy, i went to bed.

(Verb + Out)

Here is a phrasal verbs list:

Phrasal Verbs	Meaning	Example Sentences
Watch out	To be careful, to be active	You are the man to watch out for everything.
Wear out	To become very tired	The man got worn out after working in the fields the whole day.
Work out	To do physical exercise	She should work out too much for the final game.
Take out	To remove	We must take out our shoes when in a holy temple.
Rule out	To eliminate	The queen can rule out everyone in a chess game.
Put out	To finish	Can you put out the problems?
Pass out	To faint	She passed out after not eating for the entire day
Move out	To leave your location	If he moves out, I’ll be next in line.
Leave Out	To omit	He left out many questions in his answer sheet.
Iron Out	To eliminate differences	The master can iron out their problems.
Hand out	To distribute	If you handed out charity, you will be considered kind.
Hang out	To spend time	Did you hang out to get out of the hurdles?
Get Out	To leave, to stay away	She tried hard to get out of the hurdles.
Figure Out	To understand, find the answer	I don’t know how to figure out the math questions.
Fill out	To complete the form	Before getting on the plane, we are required to fill out the form.
Find Out	To complete the form	The man could find out his mistakes soon.
Do Without	To manage alone	For being rich we have to do without extra expense.
Cut Out	To remove something with the help of some instruments	I can cut out the clothes with scissors
Check Out	To get the idea, or pay the bill	Let me check out the hotel bill first then leave.

Verb + For

The following table consists of a phrasal verbs list:

Phrasal Verbs	Meanings	Example Sentences
Account For	To explain, give a reason	I hope you can account for the time you were out!
Allow For	To take into consideration	We need to allow for unexpected changes along the way.
Apply For	To make a formal request for something (job,, permit, loan etc.)	He applied for a scholarship.
Stick Up For	To defend	My big brother always stuck up for me when I got into a fight.
Look for Somebody/Something	Try to find Something	They are looking for a new book.
Look Out For	Being Watched For	The teacher looks out for students carefully.
Ask for	To request something	The man asked for urgent help in the hall.
Care for	To nourish someone	I have hired a woman for caring or pups.
Go For	Try to Gain	She went for this post in a hurry.
Go in for	Enter willingly	She went in for a discussion.
Stand for	To assist, support	We stand for justice

Phrasal Verb + Into

Check out another phrasal verbs list:

Phrasal Verbs	Meanings	Example Sentences
Appeal to	To request, appeal	We appealed to stop making noise.
Run Into	To approach	Being angry he ran into a man and started fighting.
Look forward to	To anticipate with pleasure	They are looking forward to meeting their parents.
Look Up to	To admire	They look up to the king to make the situation calm.
Get Into	To enter	The lion suddenly got into a cage and frightened us.
Bump into	A meeting b chance	I bumped into him at the hotel.
Break into	To enter by force	The thief then broke into the building and stole everything.
Get Back Into	To be interested again	Did she get back into work by increasing her pay?
Grow into something	Become large enough to fit	She grew out of her old jacket just one after buying it.
Look Into	To investigate something	The girl looked into the faces of the criminals and shouted.
Build Into	To add an element to something	Th builders want to build into the home more work.
Go into	To enter through the door	I didn’t want to go into the hall alone.
Plug into	To connect a wire	She plugged into the connector carefully.
Talk into	To persuade someone for something	Can I talk him into the room?

Phrasal Verb + Down

Here is tabulated phrasal verbs list:

Phrasal Verbs	Meanings	Example Sentences
Calm Down	Become relaxed and decrease your anger	The mothers know how to calm down their children.
Let Down	To disappoint	Being left alone, I felt let down in my state.
Turn Down	To refuse, to reject	She turned me down to attend the party.
Back Down	To withdraw, defeat	The engineer backed down in their new project.
Die Down	Become weak	By getting old day by day he died down slowly.
Sit Down	To take a seat	After the teacher entered the class, we sat down.
Break Something Down	Make it into minor parts	She could break the car down into scrap.
Out Something Down	Make something fall down to the ground	The trees are being cut down manually.
Fall Down	Fall to the ground	I couldn’t take out the frame as it fell down from the wall.
Hand Something Down	To give something to others	The teachers handed out the new books to the students.
Let Somebody Down	To disappoint someone	Being older I don’t let him down in my state.
Put Something Down	Record something in writing	How could you put the thought down in the book?

Phrasal verb + Up

Learn more about verbs ith the following phrasal verbs list:

Phrasal Verbs	Meanings	Example Sentences
Add Up	To add the amount or degree	The man added up the facts in the discussion.
Back Up	Support, make a copy of	I back up the important file quickly.
Blow Up	Get angry at something or someone	If you blow up at him, he will leave the job.
Boot Up	To make changes in a computer system or program	Booting up the computer will remove all spam.
Bring Up	To nourish a baby	Mothers can bring up their children better than fathers.
Join Up	To become a member	When she tried to join the club, she was five years old.
Hurry Up	To be quick	Hurry up or else the bus will leave.
Hang Up	To end the call	When you hang up, we will start the meal.
Grow Up	To nourish	How to grow up the tree?
Give Up	Stop working on something	After going through so many failures, she should have given up by now.
Get Up	To leave the bed, get up	If I get up early, then will you go jogging?
End Up	To finally reach a state/place	They will end up being lazy.
Draw Up	To write (contract, agreement, document)	They drew up the agreement for him.
Dress Up	To wear new clothes	She was dressed up for the party.
Clam Up	To refuse to speak	When clammed up, the conflict finished.
Break Up	To end (marriage, relationship)	She broke up with her husband.
Catch Up	Approaching some position	Working so hard, enabled him to catch up with John.
Make Up	To create stories or excuses.	Did you make up the false story yourself?
Own Up	To confess something	Did she own up to the murder?

Phrasal Verb + At

Check out: phrasal verbs list:

Get At	To imply, gaining access to something	He wished to get (at/to) work after many attempts.
Keep At	Continue performing	To keep at work, I got exhausted this year.
Look At	To examine something	Did you look at the machine closely?
Aim At	To plan, intent at, to hope	The father aims at their children for a better future.
Get Back At	To gain revenge	She wanted to get back at him for unjust activity.

Exercises on Phrasal Verbs 

After you have understood and gained all the relevant knowledge about Phrasal Verbs, it’s time to check your understanding. We have compiled 5 exercises on the same which will be quite helpful for you. You will also find answers to all the questions in the end.

Exercise 1: Fill in the Blanks

Instructions: Fill in the blanks with appropriate phrasal verbs.

1. The truth of the matter finally __________ Tina.
2. Please __________ your socks before you enter the room.
3. The employees __________ the strike.
4. The neighbour asked us to __________ the music.
5. Please __________ the lights when you leave.

Answers:

1. Dawned on
2. Take Off
3. Called Off
4. Turned Down
5. Turn Off

Exercise 2: Complete the Sentences

Instructions: Complete the following sentences with suitable phrasal verbs.

1. Timothy finally __________ at the wedding.
2. Never __________ on your dreams.
3. __________ the room before you leave to play.
4. The convict is trying to __________ a story.
5. Mark Antony’s speech __________ the Roman people.

Answers:

1. Showed Up
2. Give up
3. Clean Up
4. Make Up
5. Worked Up

Exercise 3: Choose the Correct Phrasal Verb

Instructions: Choose the correct phrasal verbs to fill in the blanks.

1. Mother was late because she was __________ at the office.
2. As you don’t know how to swim, I want you to __________ from the pond.
3. You must __________ some money for emergencies.
4. The students who misbehaved were __________ with a warning.
5. Rani __________ some French during her tour of France.

Answers:

1. Held Up
2. Stay Away
3. Set Aside
4. Let Off
5. Picked Up

Exercise 4: Fill in the Blanks

Instructions: Fill in the blanks with appropriate phrasal verbs.

1. The teacher __________ an explanation of his conduct.
2. __________ the doctor immediately.
3. Julie __________ us yesterday.
4. His arrogance __________ his ruin.
5. The publishers are planning to __________ a new edition.

Answers:

1. Called for
2. Call in
3. Called on
4. Brought About
5. Bring out

Exercise 5: Complete the Sentences

Instructions: Complete these sentences using suitable phrasal verbs

1. The burglars __________ with the stolen goods.
2. All tickets for the concert have been __________.
3. He did not __________ my request.
4. The kid decided to __________ a new hobby.
5. Please don’t __________ all your money.

Answers:

1. Made Off
2. Sold Out
3. Accede To
4. Take Up
5. Give Away

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