LEARN 50 PHRASAL VERBS

Phrasal verbs

Meaning and examples

1. Call for

Collect, need, demand

Eg: I will call for the parcel tomorrow.

2. Call in

Ask for help from

Eg: The child was so sick that we had to call in the doctor.

3. Call off

Cancer

Eg: The match was called off.

4, Call on

Visit, request

Eg: He called on us to help him.

5. Call up

To telephone

Eg: He said he would call me up tomorrow.

6. Carry off

Win, Remove from life

Eg: We carried off the championship last year.

The disease carried off over a thousand people.

7. Carry on

Continue, manage

Eg: Carry on with your work.

He carries on a successful business.

8. Carry out

Put into practice, achieve, perform

Eg: He carried out his duties.

He performs his duties well.

9. Come about

Happen

Eg: How did this come about.

10. Come across

Find by accident, meet by chance

Eg: I came across an interesting book.

I came across of my old friend of mine.

11. Come around

Regain consciousness

Eg: He was knocked out but soon came around.

12, Cut in

Overtake

Eg: The car cut in in front of the taxi

13, Cut off

Isolate

Eg: The floods cut the village off the outside world.

14. Do away with

Abolish

Eg: The government has done away with certain taxes.

15. Done for

Ver tired, have no chance of success

Eg: I am done for (I am very tired)

Our team is done for (No chance of winning)

16. Do up

Tie, fasten

Eg: Do up your shoes lace

17. Do with

Concern, be about

Eg: This book has to do with America civil war.

This has nothing to do with the subject.

18, Do without

Support absence, lack of

Eg: There is no bread you will do without it.

You can do without a teacher.

19, Draw up

Compose law, treaty

Eg: The constitution was drawn up in 2008.

20, Drop in

Visit in a casual way

Eg: I was watching the TV when my friend dropped in.

I think I might drop in on my uncle.

21, Drop off

Fall asleep, become less

Eg: He dropped off on the bus.

Production at the factory has dropped off.

22, Drop out

Withdraw from a course of study

Eg: He has dropped out French.

She dropped out her friend.

23, Fall off

Decline, grow smaller standard of work

Eg: His work has fallen off this term

Exports of maize have fallen off.

24, Fall out

Quarrel

Eg: I have not spoken to Joseph since we fell out last year.

25, Fall through

Fail of a plan or project

Eg: Mombasa beach has fallen through.

26, Get across

Get through to, communicate

Eg: He is a bad teacher; he can not get his subject across to the students.

27, Get away with

Escape

Eg: He always gets away with talking in class.

28, Give away

Betray

Eg: The people who give away their countries secrets are guilty of treason.

29, Give in

Surrender, field

Eg: The soldiers had to give in the enemy.

30, Give up

Admit defeat, stop trying part with, stop

Eg: John gave up smoking because it was bad for his health.

31, Give out

Distribute

Eg: John gave out pencils.

32, Go in for

Pursue hobby or game

Eg: Mary intends to go in for medicine.

33, Go off

Explode, go bad

Eg: Bombs go off.

34, Go on with

Continue

Eg: Go on with your work.

35, Go out

Be extinguish, cease to be fashionable

Eg: The candle has gone out.

36, Go over

Revise or examine

Eg: You should always go over your work before you give it to the teacher.

37, Hang on

Listen with great interest, wait

Eg: Hang on a minute.

They hang on his word.

38, Keep off

Refrain from, stay away from

Eg: Keep off the grass.

39, Keep up

Maintain, present standard

Eg: Moses was encouraged to keep up his standard.

40, Let down

Disappointing somebody by not doing what was expected or promised

Eg: Don’t let me down.

41, Let in

Admit

Eg: She opened the door and let him in.

42, Let off

Pardon

Eg: I will let you off this time and don’t let it happen again.

43, Look after

Attend to, take care of

Eg: Ali agreed to look after his friends.

44, Look down on

Hate, regard as inferior

Eg: We should not look down on those who are unfortunate.

45, Look forward

Await with pleasure

Eg: Divin was looking forward to his holiday.

46, Look into

Investigate

Eg: The detective looked into the murder case.

47, Look out

Watch out, beware of

Eg: In the zoo they kept looking out the lions.

You had better look out-There is a car coming.

48, Look up

Consult a book for, information

Eg: Jane didn’t know the meaning of the word, so she had to look it up in the dictionary.

49, Look up to

Respect

Eg: We should look up to our elders.

50, Make for

Head forwards

Eg: When it began to rain we made for shelter.