Most Used Phrasal Verbs
Business Vocabulary: Phrasal Verbs for Business Below is a list of some common phrasal verbs used in business. The verbs with an asterisk (*) are separable (the verb can be split by its object). Phrasal verbs are part of a large group of verbs called “multi-part” or 'multi-word” verbs. The preposition or adverb that follows the verb is sometimes called a particle. Phrasal verbs and other multi-word verbs are an important part of the English language.
The majority of phrasal verbs are slang and occur most frequently in spoken English, so meanings can usually be determined by the conversation, but an online phrasal verbs dictionary is helpful. Some phrasal verbs in English routinely appear in online phrasal verbs lists; these 15 are handy to know.
- Posted by Stephen Whiteley
- On 19/04/2018
Phrasal verbs are very commonly used in informal English. What’s more, those who use these verbs are not always clear about the meaning of their phrasal verbs. This can pose a challenge to any translation agency or translator. In fact, the impact of these verbs on translation is quite negative because it becomes necessary to translate at least two or three words that form the phrasal verb into another language.
Unique tones and nuances
The fact is that single verbs may have unique tones as well as nuances when used in combination with other words. Phrasal verbs are a verb plus a preposition or another verb and an adverb or even a verb with an adverb plus a preposition. These different combinations are more than just a part of the syntax of sentences because they are also thought to be complete semantic units by themselves. Another way of describing a phrasal verb is by calling it a compound verb or a combination of verb and adverb.
Widely used
Phrasal verbs are widely used in the English language and their meaning can be entirely different to that of the original verb. A commonly used phrasal verb, to find out, can easily be substituted with a single word like discover or determine. The main reason why people use phrasal verbs is because they do not want to sound pretentious or formal. Let’s get together is an example of a phrasal verb whose meaning is to congregate together. It is a more informal way of saying let’s congregate.
Many difficulties
When translating commonly used phrasal verbs from English to Spanish, translators will encounter many difficulties. This is because the phrasal verbs only exist in the English language and this can lead to semantic errors when translating the phrasal verb from English to Spanish.
Spanish translation difficulties
It is common for Spanish translators to mistake the phrasal verb with single-word verbs because their meanings are interrelated. Spanish speaking people who want to translate phrasal verbs from Spanish to English generally avoid using phrasal verbs. It is thus a good idea for translators to list out the most commonly used phrasal verbs and to avoid using these when translating formal documents. When translating phrasal verbs from English to another language, it is important to deal with the phrasal verbs in terms of their context and syntax, and not in isolation.
The Spanish language does not have any phrasal verbs and so when translating from Spanish to another language, translators need to familiarize themselves with the phrasal verbs as used in English. They also need to understand how the meaning of commonly used phrasal verbs can be determined.
Phrasal verbs are not meant to be treated as two parts but are to be treated as a lexical unit. It is not possible to find out the meaning of the phrasal verbs by looking at the verb and adverb individually. When the preposition or adverb is dropped from the phrasal verb, its meaning changes. Thus, if you were to translate the phrasal verb, it is not easy to bring up children you would find the meaning changes as soon as a preposition is dropped. Thus, when you say it is not easy to bring children, the meaning changes radically. Translators need to keep this in mind.
Phrasal verbs are an important part of learning the English language. Use this list when you don’t understand what the phrasal verbs means.
Useful English Phrasal Verbs with “BE”
1. Be after – Try to find or get
E.g. The police are after him because of the theft.
2. Be along – Arrive
E.g. The next bus should be along in the next quarter of an hour or so.
3. Be away – Be elsewhere; on holiday,…
E.g. She‘s away on business for three weeks.
4. Be down on – Have negative feelings toward someone
E.g. After the argument, James is down on his boss.
5. Be down with – Be ill
E.g. I didn’t go to work because I was down with the flu.
6. Be fed up – Be bored, upset or sick of something
E.g. I am fed up of his complaints.
7. Be in – Be at home or at work
E.g. They are never in; I always get their answerphone.
8. Be in – Be submitted, arrive
E.g. The application form must be in by 3pm on Friday.
9. Be in on – Be involved in
E.g. Susan was the only one who wasn’t in on the plan.
Phrasal Verbs with “UP”
1. Blow up – Explode
E.g. The car blew up after it crashed into the wall.
2. Build up – Increase in amount, size or intensity
E.g. We have built up the business over the years and it now employs over 20 people.
3. Burn up – Have a high temperature
E.g. You’re burning up—have you seen a doctor?
4. Call up – Telephone
E.g. I’m going to call up and cancel my subscription.
5. Check up – To make sure that somebody is doing what they should be doing
E.g. My mother is always checking up on me.
6. Come up – Happen unexpectedly
E.g. I’m afraid I can’t make the meeting tomorrow. Something has come up.
7. Divide up – Distribute
E.g. We can divide up the commission among the sales staff.
8. Drive up – Force up the prices or costs
E.g. The uncertainty in the markets is driving up labour costs.
9. Do up – Fasten up
E.g. Do you know how to do up your seat belt?
Phrasal Verbs with BREAK
1. Break off – To stop (temporarily)
E.g. He broke off in the middle of a sentence.
2. Break off – To become separate
E.g. The back section of the train had broken off.
3. Break out – To begin suddenly (of war, fire, conflict, etc.)
E.g. They’re worried that war will break out.
4. Break through – To successfully deal with smt that is stopping you making progress
E.g. She attempts to break through prejudice in the workplace.
5. Break up – Break into many pieces
E.g. The cup broke up when he dropped it on the floor.
6. Break out in – “Sweat heavily, develop skin sores or irritation”
E.g. The measles caused me to break out in a rash.
7. Break out of – Escape
E.g. Two dangerous prisoners broke out of Dark Prison last night.
English Phrasal Verbs with “OUT”
1. Act out – Perform something with actions and gestures
E.g. They acted out the story on stage.
2. Act out – Express an emotion in your behaviour
E.g. Their anger is acted out in their antisocial behaviour.
3. Back out of – Not keep an agreement / arrangement
E.g. We’re hoping that no one will back out of the deal.
4. Check out – Leave a hotel
E.g. Joan had already checked out of the hotel.
5. Cut out – Remove completely
E.g. He’s cut out all the fat from his diet and he’s a lot slimmer.
6. Draw out – To persuade someone to express their thoughts
E.g. Can you draw out the plans?
7. Find out – Discover some information
E.g. Did she find out about the party?
8. Hand out – Distribute, to give, pass out
E.g. The teacher handed out the English books to the students.
Phrasal Verbs with “OVER”
1. Carry over – To transport over by carrying
E.g. We carried this house model over the bridge.
2. Carry over – To transfer (something) to a later point in time
E.g. The rent was carried over to December.
3. Change over – To make a transition from one system to another
E.g. The farm has changed over to organic methods.
4. Fall over – To stop working suddenly
E.g. My computer keeps falling over.
5. Hand over – Give something to somebody with your hands
E.g. The captured thief was ordered to hand over his gun.
6. Make over – To convert to a different use
E.g. We’re going to make over the garage into a guest suite.
7. Pass over – To by pass or skip (something)
E.g. They chose to pass over her rude remarks.
8. Pull over – Drive to the side of the road and stop your car
E.g. When she noticed the police car behind her, she pulled over.
Phrasal Verbs with ‘FALL’ in English
1. Fall about – Laugh so much that one’s entire body moves somewhat uncontrollably
E.g. Every time he performed the trick people would fall about laughing.
2. Fall apart – Disintegrate
E.g. My old briefcase is falling apart. I’ll have to buy a new one.
3. Fall away – Cease to support a person or cause
E.g. After the divorce, all his friends fell away one by one.
4. Fall back on – Use something for support in a difficult situation
E.g. I have $10000 in my savings to fall back on.
5. Fall behind – Be late (for a regular event)
E.g. You’re falling behind with the rent.
6. Fall down – Fall to the ground, to collapse
E.g. The beams supporting the roof had rotted, causing the entire house to fall down.
7. Fall for – Fall in love with someone
E.g. He really fell for the attractive waitress at his favorite restaurant.
8. Fall in – Collapse inwards
E.g. The heavy rain caused the roof to fall in.
9. Fall into – Be classified as; to fall under
E.g. That falls into three categories.
10. Fall off – Become detached or to drop from
E.g. A button fell off my coat.
Phrasal Verbs with PUT
1. Put across – Explain or state something clearly and understandably
E.g. All good communicators try to use popular, well-understood examples to put across complex ideas
2. Put aside – Save (money)
E.g. I try to put a few dollars aside each week, just in case I need money in an emergency
3. Put away – Take a large lead in a game, especially enough to guarantee victory
E.g. They put the game away by scoring three touchdowns in the fourth quarter
4. Put back – Return something to its original place
E.g. He carefully put the vase back on the shelf
5. Put by – Preserve food by canning, freezing, drying, …
E.g. Our family has been putting food by for generations
Phrasal Verbs with BRING
1. Bring about – Make something happen
E.g. Social changes that have been brought about by new technology.
2. Bring along – Bring someone or something to certain place
E.g. You can bring your friends along if you like.
3. Bring around – Bring something with you when you visit
E.g. He brought some books around when he came last night.
4. Bring down – Make something cheaper/ to reduce
E.g. The improvements in technology have brought the prices of computers down considerably.
5. Bring forth – Remove something from where it is kept or hidden
E.g. She brought forth the diary and showed it to us.
6. Bring forward – Make something happen earlier than originally planned
E.g. The meeting has been brought foward to this Friday instead of next week.
Phrasal Verbs with the Word LOOK
1. Look after – Watch or protect; to keep safe
E.g. He asked me to look after his daughter while he was away
2. Look to – Seek inspiration or advice or reward from someone
20 Most Used Phrasal Verbs
E.g. Whenever I’m upset, I look to Mary to cheer me up.
3. Look for – Search for; to seek
E.g. He spent his life looking for the truth
4. Look into – Investigate, explore, or consider
E.g. If you are buying a new car, you might want to look into getting a hybrid or other high-efficiency vehicle
100 Most Common Phrasal Verbs
5. Look out – Look from within to the outside
E.g. Look out, and you will see the rain has stopped.
Phrasal Verbs with PULL
1. Pull Away – Gain in distance
E.g. She pulled away just as he was about to kiss her.
2. Pull Down – demolish
E.g. They pulled down the old sports stadium to build a new one.
3. Pull For – support; especially teams
E.g. Who are you pulling for in the cup finals?
4. Pull In – train or bus arrival at a station
E.g. The train pulled in right on time.
5. Pull Off – manage to do
E.g. The Yankees pulled off a great upset in the finals.
Most Used Phrasal Verbs
6. Pull Over – stop a vehicle by the side of the road
E.g. We pulled over to check our tires as something was making a funny sound on the car.
7. Pull Through – recover from and illness
E.g. We didn’t know if he was going to pull through but in the end he did.