Spoken English · Articles · October 21, 2026 · 10 min read
Phrasal verbs list: 60+ common phrasal verbs with meanings and example sentences
A phrasal verb is a verb plus a small word (a particle such as up, out, off, on, down) that together mean something new: give up means “stop trying”, not “give upwards”. Below is a phrasal verbs list with more than 60 of the ones you will hear most often in everyday English, grouped by situation, each with its meaning and an example sentence. After the list you will find the few grammar rules that matter and the mistakes learners make most.
Native speakers use phrasal verbs constantly in conversation, often where a textbook would use a longer word: find out instead of discover, put off instead of postpone. If your English sounds correct but a bit formal, phrasal verbs are usually the missing piece.
Daily routine
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| wake up | stop sleeping | I usually wake up at 6:30. |
| get up | get out of bed | I woke up early but didn’t get up till eight. |
| get ready | prepare yourself | Give me ten minutes to get ready. |
| put on | dress in something | Put on a jacket, it’s cold outside. |
| take off | remove clothes/shoes | Please take off your shoes at the door. |
| turn on / switch on | start a device | Can you turn on the fan? |
| turn off / switch off | stop a device | Don’t forget to switch off the lights. |
| eat out | eat at a restaurant | We eat out on Fridays. |
| hang out | spend time casually | We just hung out at the mall. |
| go out | leave home for fun | Are you going out tonight? |
Work and studies
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| fill in / fill out | complete a form | Please fill out this application form. |
| hand in | submit work | I have to hand in my assignment by Monday. |
| look over | check quickly | Could you look over my CV before I send it? |
| set up | arrange, start | Let’s set up a call for Thursday. |
| put off | postpone | They put off the meeting until next week. |
| call off | cancel | The match was called off because of rain. |
| carry on | continue | Sorry for interrupting, please carry on. |
| work out | find a solution | We’ll work out the details later. |
| figure out | understand after thinking | I can’t figure out how this app works. |
| catch up (on) | do what you missed | I need to catch up on my emails. |
| fall behind | not keep up | I fell behind in maths after I was ill. |
| drop out | leave a course | He dropped out of college in his second year. |
| take over | take control/responsibility | Priya will take over the project next month. |
| point out | draw attention to | My manager pointed out a mistake in the report. |
| come up with | think of (an idea) | We need to come up with a better plan. |
People and relationships
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| get along (with) | have a good relationship | I get along well with my roommates. |
| look up to | admire | I’ve always looked up to my elder sister. |
| look after | take care of | Who looks after your dog when you travel? |
| take after | resemble a parent | She really takes after her father. |
| grow up | become an adult | I grew up in a small town near Pune. |
| bring up | raise a child; mention | My grandparents brought me up. / Don’t bring up politics at dinner. |
| fall out (with) | stop being friends after an argument | They fell out over money. |
| make up | become friends again | They argued but made up the next day. |
| let down | disappoint | I promised to help, and I won’t let you down. |
| count on | rely on | You can always count on me. |
| catch up (with) | meet and talk after time apart | Let’s catch up over coffee this weekend. |
| run into | meet by chance | I ran into my old teacher at the station. |
Problems and decisions
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| give up | stop trying; quit a habit | Don’t give up, you’re nearly there. |
| find out | discover information | I found out the results this morning. |
| sort out | solve, organise | I’ll sort out the booking problem. |
| deal with | handle | She knows how to deal with difficult customers. |
| put up with | tolerate | I can’t put up with this noise any more. |
| run out of | have no more left | We’ve run out of milk. |
| break down | stop working (machine) | Our car broke down on the highway. |
| go off | ring (alarm); explode | My alarm didn’t go off this morning. |
| look into | investigate | The bank says it will look into the complaint. |
| turn down | refuse; lower volume | He turned down the job offer. / Turn down the music, please. |
| back out | withdraw from a promise | Two people backed out of the trip at the last minute. |
| think over | consider carefully | Can I think it over and reply tomorrow? |
Travel and movement
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| check in | register at a hotel/airport | We checked in at 2 p.m. |
| check out | leave a hotel; look at | We check out tomorrow at noon. / Check out this video! |
| set off | start a journey | We set off before sunrise. |
| get on / get off | enter / leave a bus, train, plane | Get off at the third stop. |
| get in / get out (of) | enter / leave a car or taxi | Get in, I’ll drop you home. |
| pick up | collect someone | I’ll pick you up at the airport. |
| drop off | take someone somewhere and leave | Can you drop me off at the metro? |
| look forward to | be excited about | I’m looking forward to the holidays. |
| come back | return | When are you coming back? |
| slow down | reduce speed | Slow down, the road is wet. |
| hurry up | move faster | Hurry up, the train leaves in five minutes! |
Information and conversation
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| look up | search for information | Look up the word in a dictionary. |
| write down | note on paper | Let me write down your number. |
| hold on / hang on | wait a moment | Hold on, I’ll get him. |
| speak up | talk louder | Could you speak up? I can’t hear you. |
| go on | continue; happen | Go on, I’m listening. / What’s going on? |
| come across | find by chance; seem | I came across an old photo. / He comes across as shy. |
| get back to | reply later | I’ll get back to you by Friday. |
| make up | invent (a story, excuse) | He made up an excuse for being late. |
A short dialogue with phrasal verbs
Aisha: Hey, are we still on for Saturday? Rohan: About that… my cousin is coming to town, so I have to pick her up from the station. Can we put it off till Sunday? Aisha: Sure. I’ll find out if the café is open, and I’ll get back to you. Rohan: Thanks. Sorry for messing up the plan. Aisha: No worries, we’ll work it out.
Read it aloud once. Notice how natural it sounds compared with “Can we postpone it until Sunday? I will discover whether the café is open.”
Grammar you need: separable and inseparable
Some phrasal verbs take an object, and here the position of that object matters.
Separable verbs (turn off, pick up, put off, fill out, look up): the object can go before or after the particle.
- Turn off the light. / Turn the light off. — both correct.
- With a pronoun (it, him, her, them), the pronoun must go in the middle: Turn it off. Not
Turn off it.
Inseparable verbs (look after, deal with, run into, get over, count on): the object always comes after the whole verb.
- She looks after her grandmother. Not
She looks her grandmother after.
Three-part verbs (put up with, look forward to, come up with, run out of) never separate: I can’t put up with it.
A dictionary marks separable verbs with sth in the middle (turn sth off), and inseparable ones with sth at the end (look after sb). If you are not sure, put the noun object at the end and you will almost always be right.
Common mistakes
- “I’m looking forward to meet you.” To here is a preposition, so the next verb takes -ing: I’m looking forward to meeting you. This one appears in thousands of job emails.
- “Pick up me at 7.” Pronouns go in the middle: Pick me up at 7.
- Mixing similar verbs. Get on a bus or train, but get in a car or taxi. Put on clothes (the action), wear clothes (the state): I’m wearing a jacket.
- Using them in very formal writing. In a formal letter, postpone or cancel is often better than put off or call off. In speech, phrasal verbs are the natural choice.
- Learning 500 from a list. Lists help you recognise them; you remember them when you use them. Pick five a week and put them into your own sentences.
How to actually remember phrasal verbs
- Learn them in a sentence, not alone. “Run out of” sticks better as We’ve run out of milk.
- Group by situation, as above, not alphabetically. At work you will need set up, put off, catch up on together.
- Say them out loud in a conversation. This is the step most people skip. In Nomto you can talk with Nomi about your week and deliberately use catch up, put off, sort out; Nomi corrects word order mistakes like pick up me and suggests a more natural phrasal verb where you used a formal one.
- Notice them in series, YouTube videos and podcasts. Once you know figure out, you will hear it everywhere.
For idiomatic expressions that go beyond single verbs, see our list of English idioms with meanings. And if irregular past forms still slow you down (ran out, fell behind, took over), the irregular verbs list has all of them in one table.
FAQ
How many phrasal verbs are there in English?
Thousands, and new ones appear all the time (log in, sign up). But a few hundred cover nearly everything in daily conversation. The ones above are a solid start.
Are phrasal verbs informal?
Mostly they are neutral or informal. They are perfectly fine in emails to colleagues and in job interviews. In very formal writing, a one-word verb (postpone, investigate, tolerate) is often a better fit.
What is the difference between a phrasal verb and a prepositional verb?
Strictly, a prepositional verb keeps the normal meaning of the verb (listen to, depend on), while a phrasal verb changes it (give up). For speaking, the distinction does not matter much: learn both as fixed combinations.
Can one phrasal verb have several meanings?
Yes, often. Pick up can mean collect someone, lift something, learn informally (I picked up some Spanish) or answer the phone. Context tells you which.
Which phrasal verbs are useful in a job interview?
Set up, take over, come up with, deal with, work out, carry out, follow up. For example: I set up a weekly report that the whole team now uses.
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