A phrasal verb is a verb + a small word (up, out, off, on, down…). The meaning is often impossible to guess from the parts, so learn them like new words.
| phrasal verb | meaning | example |
|---|---|---|
| give up | stop trying, quit | Don't give up! |
| find out | discover | I found out the truth. |
| look after | take care of | She looks after her mother. |
| look up | search (a word, information) | Look it up in the dictionary. |
| turn on / off | switch on / off | Turn off the light. |
| get up | leave your bed | I get up at six. |
| carry on | continue | Carry on working. |
| put off | postpone | We put off the meeting. |
| run out of | have no more | We've run out of milk. |
| get on with | have a good relationship | I get on with my boss. |
| set up | start (a company, a system) | He set up his own business. |
| come across | find by chance | I came across an old photo. |
Separable verbs (with an object): the object can go in the middle or at the end — turn the light off / turn off the light. But a pronoun must go in the middle: turn it off (not “turn off it”), pick me up.
Inseparable verbs never split: look after the children → look after them; come across it. Three-part verbs are inseparable: run out of it, look forward to it.
Translate the words from your reading, review them as flashcards and practise with gap-fill sentences.
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