Verbs
Verbs
Verbs
The object may come after the following phrasal verbs or it may separate the two parts:
When the object of the following phrasal verbs is a pronoun, the two parts of the
phrasal verb must be separated:
fill out complete a form Fill out this application form and mail it in.
fill up fill to capacity She filled up the grocery cart with free food.
submit something
hand in The students handed in their papers and left the room.
(assignment)
put something on
hang up She hung up the phone before she hung up her clothes.
hook or receiver
hold up delay I hate to hold up the meeting, but I have to go to the bathroom.
hold up
rob Three masked gunmen held up the Security Bank this afternoon.
(2)
leave You left out the part about the police chase down Asylum
omit
out Avenue.
look The lawyers looked over the papers carefully before questioning
examine, check
over the witness. (They lookedthem over carefully.)
look up search in a list You've misspelled this word again. You'd better look it up.
There were three men in the line-up. She picked out the guy she
pick out choose
thought had stolen her purse.
put We put away money for our retirement. She put away the
save or store
away cereal boxes.
The firefighters put out the house fire before it could spread.
put out extinguish
(They put it out quickly.)
read
peruse I read over the homework, but couldn't make any sense of it.
over
My wife set up the living room exactly the way she wanted it.
set up to arrange, begin
She set it up.
take
make a written note These are your instructions. Write them downbefore you forget.
down
take off remove clothing It was so hot that I had to take off my shirt.
talk over discuss We have serious problems here. Let's talk them over like adults.
throw
discard That's a lot of money! Don't just throw it away.
away
try out test I tried out four cars before I could find one that pleased me.
turn
lower volume Your radio is driving me crazy! Please turn it down.
down
turn
He applied for a promotion twice this year, but he was turned
down reject
down both times.
(2)
turn up raise the volume Grandpa couldn't hear, so he turned up his hearing aid.
turn off switch off electricity We turned off the lights before anyone could see us.
turn off
repulse It was a disgusting movie. It really turned me off.
(2)
switch on the
turn on Turn on the CD player so we can dance.
electricity
exhaust, use The gang members used up all the money and went out to rob
use up
completely some more banks.
Inseparable Phrasal Verbs (Transitive)
With the following phrasal verbs, the lexical part of the verb (the part of the phrasal verb that
carries the "verb-meaning") cannot be separated from the prepositions (or other parts) that
accompany it: "Who will look after my estate when I'm gone?"
call on ask to recite in class The teacher called on students in the back row.
recover from sickness or I got over the flu, but I don't know if I'll ever get over my
get over
disappointment broken heart.
run across find by chance I ran across my old roommate at the college reunion.
run into meet Carlos ran into his English professor in the hallway.
take after resemble My second son seems to take after his mother.
catch up After our month-long trip, it was time to catch up with the
keep abreast
with neighbors and the news around town.
come up to contribute After years of giving nothing, the old parishioner was able
with (suggestion, money) to come up with a thousand-dollar donation.
get along have a good I found it very hard to get along with my brother when we
with relationship with were young.
get away Janik cheated on the exam and then tried to get away
escape blame
with with it.
get through
finish When will you ever get through with that program?
with
keep up It's hard to keep up with the Joneses when you lose your
maintain pace with
with job!
make sure Make sure of the student's identity before you let him into
verify
of the classroom.
run out of exhaust supply The runners ran out of energy before the end of the race.
The star player talked back to the coach and was thrown off
talk back to answer impolitely
the team.
think back
recall I often think back on my childhood with great pleasure.
on
walk out on abandon Her husband walked out on her and their three children.
regain He was hit on the head very hard, but after several minutes,
come to
consciousness he started to come to again.
come over to visit The children promised to come over, but they never do.
visit without We used to just drop by, but they were never home, so we
drop by
appointment stopped doing that.
Grandmother tried to get up, but the couch was too low, and
get up arise
she couldn't make it on her own.
go back return to a place It's hard to imagine that we will ever go backto Lithuania.
The cops heard all the noise and stopped to see what
go on (2) happen
was going on.
remain at a The judge warned the stalker to keep awayfrom his victim's
keep away
distance home.