Most Common Phrasal Verbs, Meaning and Example Sentences
Table of Contents
Phrasal Verbs
It is generally used with a verb, an adverb, or a preposition. An adverb or preposition added to the main verb changes the meaning of the actual verb, giving it a different meaning. Since it has a different meaning, it becomes an idiomatic verb. For example, if the preposition “up” is added to the verb “give”, we get the idiomatic verb “Give up” and it gains a new meaning regardless of the meaning of the two words that make it up.
Phrasal Verbs are divided into two as “separable” and “inseparable”.
Separable Phrasal Verbs
If a phrasal verb is separable, we can place the object between the main verb and the preposition or add it to the end of the phrasal verb phrase without separating it at all.
Inseparable Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verb type that cannot be placed in the middle of the phrasal verb phrase of the object of the sentence, therefore, must be used side by side and cannot be divided, is called “Inseparable phrasal verbs”. As an example, let’s use the phrasal verb “come across”, which is a combination of the words “come” and “across”, in a few sentences.
| Check off | Make a mark next to | Check each name off the list. |
| Read off | Read aloud from a list | I read the number off the cargo. |
| Pass out | Become unconscious | He passed out because the room was too hot. |
| Carry on | Continue | Carry on. I didn’t mean to interrupt you. |
| Make for | Move towards | He already made for home when I arrived. |
| Run over | Read through or practice something quickly | He ran over his notes before going the home. |
| Keep to | Persist in, Continue | He kept to puzzle until it was done. |
| Check back | Return to see if everything is Ok | They will check back next week to make sure the report. |
| Let on | Make clear, evince | You don’t want to let on how rich you really are. |
| Keep in | Not allow Someone out. | Children were kept in after school. |
| Hold on | To wait particularly on the phone | They’ll hold on another minute, then They’ll have to go. |
| Break into | Interrupt (a conversation) | Samuel break into the conversation and told us. |
| Give forth | Emit or release something | The roses give forth a very heady scent at this time of the year. |
| Bring back | Fetch something | Should I bring the car back with a empty tank? |
| Look back | To think about something that happened in the past | When I look back, I’m filled with happiness. |
| Let down | Lengthen | My father is a tailor, so he can let my pants down. |
| Do over | Repeat | My friend made many mistakes, so I want to do the report over. |
