Phrasal Verbs in English with Helpful Examples

Learn the definition, rules, usage, examples, and formation of phrasal verbs in English with helpful exercises. Learning the phrasal verbs with helpful examples will strengthen your English conversation, speaking, and writing skills. Learn the entire lesson and enhance your English grammar skills.

What are phrasal verbs?

Phrasal verbs are combinations of verbs and particles. Common particles include in, on, off, up, down, and out. Verb + particle combinations carry their own meanings. In other words, the verb and the particle work together to create meaning.

• The plane took off ten minutes ago. [“left the ground”]
• We turned in our papers. [“submitted”]

For example:

• Look up – to search for information
• Run out of – to have no more of something
• Give up – to stop trying

How do I identify phrasal verbs?

In this section, we will learn that how we can identify the phrasal verbs in English.

1. Verb + Preposition:
   • Look at: Please look at the board.
   • Listen to: Listen to the teacher carefully.
2. Verb + Adverb:
   • Sit down: Please sit down.
   • Stand up: Stand up when the teacher enters.
3. Verb + Adverb + Preposition:
   • Look forward to: I look forward to the holidays.
   • Put up with: She has to put up with a lot of noise.

Common Phrasal Verbs and Their Meanings

• Get up: To rise from bed.
  • “I get up at 7 AM every day.”
• Turn on: To start a machine or light.
  • “Can you turn on the TV?”
• Turn off: to stop a machine or light.
  • “Please turn off the lights when you leave.”
• Look after: to take care of someone or something.
  • “She looks after her younger brother.”
• Give up: to stop trying to do something.
  • “Don’t give up on your dreams.”

Why are phrasal verbs important?

Phrasal verbs are used frequently in everyday English. Understanding them helps you:

• Speak more naturally and fluently.
• Understand native speakers better.
• Improve your writing skills.

Phrasal verbs can appear in all the tense-aspect combinations you have studied so far. The following chart includes the tense-aspect combinations for turn-up:’

	Present	Past	Future
Simple	turn/turns up	turned up	will turn up
Progressive	am/is/are turning up	was/were turning up	will be turning up
Perfect	has/have turned up	had turned up	will have turned up
Perfect Progressive	has/have been turning up	had been turning up	will have been turning up

Phrasal Verbs in the Passive Voice

Phrasal verbs may also be used in the passive voice:

	Present	Past	Future
Simple	am/is/are picked up	was/were picked up	will be picked up
Progressive	am/is/are being picked up	was/were being picked up	NOT COMMON
Perfect	has/have been picked up	had been picked up	will have been picked up

Separable Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs that take direct objects are often separable: the direct objects can be placed between the verb and the particle.

• Angela threw away the letter.
• Angela threw the letter away.

When the direct object is a pronoun, it must be placed between the verb and the particle.

• Angela threw it away.

Forming Negatives

Phrasal verbs follow these patterns to form negatives.

Active Voice

TENSE/ASPECT	Present	Past	Future
Simple	does/do not turn out	did not turn out	will not turn out
Progressive	am/is/are not turning out	was/were not turning out	will not be turning out
Perfect	has/have not turned out	had not turned out	will not have turned out
Perfect Progressive	has/have not been turning out	had not been turning out	will not have been turning out

Passive Voice

TENSE/ASPECT	Present	Past	Future
Simple	am/is/are not picked up	was/were not picked up	will not be picked up
Progressive	am/is/are not being picked up	was/were not being picked up	NOT COMMON
Perfect	has/have not been picked up	had not been picked up	will not have been picked up

Practice Exercise: Phrasal Verbs

Fill in the Blanks

1. Can you ——— the lights?
2. She needs to ——— her dog.
3. He will ——— smoking.
4. Please ——— the radio.
5. I always ——— early in the morning.
6. They decided to ——— the old building.
7. You should ——— your shoes before entering.
8. The plane will ——— soon.
9. Let’s ——— the trash.
10. She had to ——— the meeting.

Match the Phrasal Verb with its Meaning

11. Run out of –
12. Look up –
13. Break down –
14. Get along –
15. Find out –
16. Wake up –
17. Fill in –
18. Pass away –
19. Pick up –
20. Put off –

a) To search for information
b) To have no more of something
c) To cancel
d) To die
e) To lift something or someone
f) To discover information
g) To get along with someone
h) To start the day
i) To collapse or stop working
j) To complete a form

Answers

Fill in the Blanks

1. Can you turn off the lights?
2. She needs to look after her dog.
3. He will give up smoking.
4. Please turn on the radio.
5. I always get up early in the morning.
6. They decided to tear down the old building.
7. You should take off your shoes before entering.
8. The plane will take off soon.
9. Let’s take out the trash.
10. She had to call off the meeting.

Match the Phrasal Verb with its Meaning

11. Run out of – (b) To have no more of something
12. Look up – (a) To search for information
13. Break down – (i) To collapse or stop working
14. Get along – (g) To get along with someone
15. Find out – (f) To discover information
16. Wake up – (h) To start the day
17. Fill in – (j) To complete a form
18. Pass away – (d) To die
19. Pick up – (e) To lift something or someone
20. Put off – (c) To cancel

Phrasal Verb Worksheets

Let’s clear up the phrasal verbs with English grammar charts and worksheets. Below are the worksheets for phrasal verbs that we can use for practice in everyday life. Learning phrasal verbs through worksheets is an easy way to memorize them. Let’s enjoy the phrasal verb worksheets:

Get a free PDF book of these worksheets after clicking on the below link:

Phrasal-Verbs-Practice-Exercise-with-Answers.pdf

---

You May Also Like:

1. This, That, These, and Those
2. Difference with Verbs of American and British English Grammar
3. Nouns and the Explanation of the Types of Nouns
4. Simple Future Tense in English with Examples
5. Present Perfect Progressive Tense in English