120 Most Common English Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs are essential for mastering English fluency. They are combinations of a verb with a preposition or an adverb, forming a new meaning that often cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, the phrase “give up” doesn’t mean to hand something over; instead, it means to quit or stop doing something.

Native speakers use phrasal verbs all the time in casual conversations, making them sound natural and fluent. If you want to understand everyday English and sound more like a native speaker, mastering phrasal verbs is a must. Without them, learners often sound formal or robotic.

For example:

Formal: "I will cancel the meeting."
Natural (with a phrasal verb): "I’ll call off the meeting."

The more phrasal verbs you incorporate into your speech, the more comfortable and confident you’ll feel communicating in English. That's why I created this extensive list of 120 the most common phrasal verbs for you.

What Are Phrasal Verbs?

Phrasal verbs are multi-word expressions consisting of a verb and one or more particles (either a preposition or an adverb). Together, they form a meaning that is often different from the verb’s original meaning.

Structure of Phrasal Verbs:

Verb + Preposition
Example: Look after some text
- Meaning: To take care of someone or something.
- Sentence: "I need to look after my younger brother today."
Verb + Adverb
Example: Give up some text
- Meaning: To stop doing something.
- Sentence: "She decided to give up smoking."
Verb + Adverb + Preposition
Example: Get away with some text
- Meaning: To escape punishment for something.
- Sentence: "He got away with cheating on the test."

Types of Phrasal Verbs:

#1. Separable Phrasal Verbs

In separable phrasal verbs, the object can be placed between the verb and the particle.

Example:

✅Correct: "Please turn off the lights."

✅Correct: "Please turn the lights off."

#2. Inseparable Phrasal Verbs

In these, the object must follow the entire phrasal verb.

Example:

✅Correct: "I look after my dog."

❌Incorrect: "I look my dog after."

#3. Transitive Phrasal Verbs

These phrasal verbs require an object to complete their meaning.

Example:

✅Correct: “I’ll pick up the package." (the action is directed at something)

❌Incorrect: "I’ll pick up” (Why it's wrong: The verb "pick up" needs an object to clarify what is being picked up. Without an object, the sentence is incomplete.)

#4. Intransitive Phrasal Verbs

These phrasal verbs do not require an object.

Example:

✅Correct: "He grew up in Berlin."

✅Correct: "The car broke down on the way home."

A List of Most Common Phrasal Verbs

Daily Life Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Illustrative Example
Wake up	To stop sleeping and become awake	I usually wake up at 7 AM.
Get up	To rise from bed	He gets up as soon as the alarm rings.
Put on	To wear clothes or accessories	She put on her coat before leaving.
Take off	To remove clothes or accessories	He took off his shoes before entering the house.
Go out	To leave your home to go somewhere	They decided to go out for dinner.
Come back	To return to a place	I'll come back later to pick it up.
Turn on	To start a device or machine	Please turn on the lights; it's dark in here.
Turn off	To stop a device or machine	Don't forget to turn off the TV before you go to bed.
Pick up	To collect someone or something	Can you pick up the kids from school today?
Give up	To stop trying to do something	He finally gave up smoking after 10 years.

Work & Business Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Illustrative Example
Call off	To cancel an event or meeting	They decided to call off the project due to budget cuts.
Follow up	To continue or check on something after an initial action	I'll follow up with the client tomorrow.
Figure out	To solve or understand something	We need to figure out why sales are declining.
Set up	To arrange or establish something	She set up a meeting with the marketing team.
Run by	To get someone's opinion or approval on something	Let me run the proposal by the manager before we proceed.
Take on	To accept a new responsibility or task	He's taken on more projects than he can handle.
Put off	To postpone or delay something	They put off the meeting until next week.
Bring up	To mention a topic in conversation	She brought up the issue during the meeting.
Hand in	To submit something (e.g., a report or assignment)	Please hand in your report by Friday.
Fill in	To provide missing information or substitute for someone	Can you fill in for me during the meeting?

Relationships Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Illustrative Example
Break up	To end a romantic relationship	They decided to break up after five years together.
Get along	To have a good relationship with someone	I get along really well with my colleagues.
Fall out	To have a disagreement or argument	They fell out over a business deal.
Make up	To resolve a conflict and become friends again	They argued, but eventually made up.
Look up to	To admire or respect someone	She has always looked up to her older brother.
Let down	To disappoint someone	He let her down by forgetting her birthday.
Hit it off	To quickly form a good relationship with someone	We hit it off immediately at the party.
Split up	To separate or end a relationship	They split up after two years of marriage.
Go out with	To be in a romantic relationship with someone	She’s been going out with him for a few months now.
Ask out	To invite someone on a date	He asked her out to dinner last night.

Travel & Transport Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Illustrative Example
Set off	To begin a journey	We set off early to avoid traffic.
Get on	To board a vehicle (bus, train, plane)	She got on the train just before it left.
Get off	To leave a vehicle	We got off the bus at the wrong stop.
Check in	To register at a hotel or airport	You need to check in at least two hours before the flight.
Check out	To leave a hotel and pay the bill	We checked out of the hotel early in the morning.
Get in	To enter a car or taxi	He got in the taxi and headed to the airport.
Get out	To leave a car or taxi	We got out of the cab and walked to the hotel.
Take off	To leave the ground (for planes)	The plane took off at 8 PM.
Hold up	To delay someone or something	We were held up by heavy traffic.
Drop off	To take someone to a place and leave them there	I’ll drop you off at the station.

Emotions and Reactions Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Illustrative Example
Cheer up	To become happier	She cheered up after hearing the good news.
Calm down	To relax after being angry or upset	Please calm down and tell me what happened.
Freak out	To react with extreme emotion, usually fear or anger	He freaked out when he saw the spider.
Blow up	To suddenly become very angry	She blew up when she found out about the mistake.
Break down	To lose control of your emotions	He broke down in tears during the speech.
Lighten up	To become less serious or tense	You need to lighten up and enjoy the party.
Open up	To share your thoughts and feelings more openly	He finally opened up about his struggles.
Snap out of	To quickly stop feeling a negative emotion	You need to snap out of it and focus on your work.
Bring down	To make someone feel sad	The bad weather really brought me down.
Go off	To suddenly become angry	He went off on his colleague during the meeting.

Health and Fitness Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Illustrative Example
Work out	To exercise or train physically	I work out at the gym three times a week.
Warm up	To prepare the body for physical activity by doing light exercise	You should always warm up before running to avoid injuries.
Cool down	To do light exercise to relax after intense physical activity	Make sure you cool down after your workout to prevent soreness.
Pass out	To lose consciousness	He passed out from dehydration during the marathon.
Throw up	To vomit	She felt so sick that she threw up after eating bad food.
Cut down on	To reduce the amount of something, especially food or drink	He’s trying to cut down on sugar to improve his health.
Bulk up	To gain muscle mass through exercise and diet	He’s been bulking up for the bodybuilding competition.
Come down with	To become ill with a sickness	I think I’m coming down with a cold.
Get over	To recover from an illness or difficult situation	It took her a few days to get over the flu.
Work off	To reduce weight or stress by doing physical activity	He goes jogging every morning to work off the extra calories.

Learning and Education Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Illustrative Example
Look up	To search for information in a book or online	You can look up the definition in the dictionary.
Catch up	To reach the same level as others	He missed a few classes and now needs to catch up.
Drop out	To leave school or a course before finishing it	She dropped out of university to start her own business.
Hand in	To submit an assignment or document	You need to hand in your essay by Friday.
Go over	To review or check something carefully	Let's go over the notes before the exam.
Sign up	To register for a course or activity	I signed up for a German language course.
Take up	To start learning something new	She has recently taken up learning Spanish.
Brush up on	To improve your knowledge or skills	I need to brush up on my grammar before the test.
Keep up with	To maintain the same pace as others	She’s struggling to keep up with the class.
Point out	To highlight or indicate something important	The teacher pointed out a few mistakes in my essay.

Technology and Communication Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Illustrative Example
Log in	To access a system by entering your username and password	You need to log in to your account to view the files.
Log out	To exit a system by signing off	Don’t forget to log out when you’re finished.
Set up	To install or arrange a device or system	I need to set up my new phone before I can use it.
Turn on	To start a device	Please turn on the computer before the meeting starts.
Turn off	To stop a device	Make sure to turn off the printer after use.
Plug in	To connect a device to a power source	Can you plug in the charger for me?
Shut down	To turn off a computer or system completely	He forgot to shut down the computer before leaving.
Back up	To make a copy of data to keep it safe	Don’t forget to back up your files regularly.
Break down	When a device stops working	My laptop broke down during the presentation.
Hang up	To end a phone call	She hung up before I could say goodbye.

Shopping and Money Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Illustrative Example
Pay off	To fully repay a debt or loan	I finally paid off my student loan last month.
Save up	To save money over time	She’s saving up to buy a new car.
Rip off	To overcharge someone	That store ripped me off! I paid double the normal price.
Fork out	To spend money reluctantly	I had to fork out a lot of money for car repairs.
Splash out	To spend a lot of money on something luxurious	They splashed out on a five-star hotel for their anniversary.
Cut back	To reduce spending	We need to cut back on unnecessary expenses.
Put aside	To save money for a specific purpose	He puts aside a small amount every month for holidays.
Run out of	To have no more of something	We’ve run out of cash, so we need to find an ATM.
Pay back	To return borrowed money	I’ll pay you back next week.
Cash in on	To take advantage of a situation to make money	They’re cashing in on the popularity of online shopping.

Time and Schedules Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Illustrative Example
Put off	To postpone or delay something	They put off the meeting until next week.
Run out of	To use all of something and have none left	We ran out of time before we could finish the task.
Take up	To start a new activity or hobby	She’s taken up yoga to relax after work.
Break down	To separate into parts for better understanding	Let’s break down the project into smaller tasks.
Get around to	To find time to do something	I haven’t gotten around to writing the report yet.
Catch up on	To do something you haven’t had time to do	I need to catch up on my emails this weekend.
Cut back on	To reduce the amount of time spent on something	He needs to cut back on overtime hours.
Turn up	To appear or arrive unexpectedly	He turned up late to the appointment.
Follow through	To complete something that was started	It’s important to follow through on your promises.
Wrap up	To finish something	Let’s wrap up the meeting before lunch.

Socializing and Entertainment Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Illustrative Example
Hang out	To spend time casually with friends	We usually hang out at the coffee shop after work.
Show up	To arrive, especially unexpectedly	She showed up at the party without an invitation.
Turn up	To appear or arrive, often unexpectedly	He turned up late to the concert.
Make up	To reconcile after an argument	They had a fight but made up the next day.
Get together	To meet with friends or family for social activities	We’re getting together for dinner this weekend.
Call over	To invite someone to come to a place	He called me over to join the group at the table.
Catch up	To talk to someone you haven’t seen in a while	It was great to catch up with old friends at the reunion.
Drop by	To visit someone casually without prior notice	I’ll drop by your house later to say hi.
Hit it off	To quickly form a good relationship with someone	They hit it off immediately and became close friends.
Bring along	To take someone with you to an event	Feel free to bring along a friend to the party.

Home and Household Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Illustrative Example
Clean up	To tidy and remove dirt	We need to clean up the living room before guests arrive.
Throw away	To discard something as garbage	Don't forget to throw away the old newspapers.
Put away	To place something in its proper storage location	Please put away your toys after playing.
Take out	To remove something, especially garbage	Could you take out the trash, please?
Wash up	To clean dishes after a meal	I’ll wash up after dinner.
Pick up	To lift something from the floor or a surface	Can you pick up your clothes from the floor?
Set up	To arrange or assemble furniture or equipment	We need to set up the table for dinner.
Fix up	To repair or improve something	They’re fixing up the old house to make it livable again.
Turn on	To activate a device	Can you turn on the lights? It’s getting dark.
Turn off	To deactivate a device	Don’t forget to turn off the stove after cooking.

Master These Phrase Verbs with the Heylama AI app 🎯

Learning phrasal verbs doesn’t have to be overwhelming! With the Heylama AI app, you can practice phrasal verbs in real-life conversations, get instant feedback, and improve your fluency faster.

💡 Why use Heylama?

Interactive role-plays: Practice using phrasal verbs in realistic scenarios.
Grammar tips: Get corrections and explanations when you make mistakes.
Vocabulary building: Master phrasal verbs with our spaced repetition system.
Personalized lessons: Anka AI adapts to your learning style and tracks your progress.

🔗 Download the Heylama AI app now, start your FREE trial, and take your English to the next level!

‍

Learn English

16 MIN