PHRASAL VERB

- a combination of a verb and another

words that has meaning apart from the
individual meaning of each word within
the group.
 Common Phrasal Verbs
apply to – to enter an institution
- to relate or to have something to do with

 apply for- to be employed for a position ; to ask for

ex: I need to apply for my visa the soonest time possible.

allude to- to refer briefly t something or someone.

ex: The preacher always alludes to the Bible in his sermons.
assent to -to agree to something or someone
Ex: the people assented to the President’s proposal.

bear fruit – to produce positive results

Ex: Don’t worry. All your efforts will bear fruit.

 bear in mind – to remember; to consider

Ex: Bear in mind that you have to set an appointment before going to his offfice.

 bear on – to have relevance to something

Ex: Your statement does not bear on the issue at hand.
 bear with - to tolerate or to be patient with something or someone
Ex: Please bear with me while I finish this.
 bear witness to – to give evidence or to confirm
Ex: Reagan clearly bears witness to all my success.
 beat up – to thrash or attack someone
Ex: He might beat you up if you disagree with him.
 break away/ break free- to escape from someone’s hold or from the
control of a person, group, or practice
Ex: The family decided to break away from the tradition and spend Christmas at
home.
break down – to lose control of one’s emotion
Ex: She might break down in tears when she hears the tragic news.
 break into – to enter with force
Ex: The robbers broke into her house and stole all that she held dear.
 break new ground – to set an example, to lead the way, or to discover something
new
Ex: The MSA Institute has broken new ground in tutorial and review services since it was
established.
 break off- to detach or to remove something from a larger whole
- to suddenly stop talking ; to suddenly end or stop something
 Break out – to suddenly start or to spread
Ex: We fear that the virus might break out and infect a lot of people in the city.

 Break through –to force or to make a way through

- to obtain success in a specific area

 break up – to disperse a crowd or gathering

- to cause something to separate into several parts or pieces

 Break With – to end a relationship with or to quarrel

Ex: Break up the meat and fry it.
Bring about- to make something happen
Ex: This president’s governance will surely bring about peace.

 Bring Back- to make something return

Ex: The garden brought back memories of the place I grew up.

 bring down- to throw or to defeat

Ex: all should do everything to bring down a corrupt government.

 Bring Into play/ call into play- to make something work for one to
make use of it.
Bring off – to do something successfully
 bring on – to cause to lead something generally unpleasant to occur
 Bring out – to expose or to make somewthing more evident
 bring to life – to make real or to give life to
 bring to mind – to recall or to remember
 bring up – to present something for discussion to someone
 bring up the rear- to be behind in a line
 call for – to deserve, to need or to inquire
 call in – to summon someone for aid
 call off – to cancel something
 call on – to visit or to stop by someone’s place
 carry off- to take something or someone away by force
 carry on - to continue
 carry out – to execute or to do something
 caution against not caution- to give warning
Charge against – to file a criminal case

 charge with – to have a criminal case against with

 come about – to happen or to take place

 come across – to meet or to encounter

 come and go – to be present temporarily

 come around – to regain something

- to agree or to accept another’s proposal

- to realize

 come at- to rush or to attack someone

 come away- to be left with a feeling or result after doing something
 come back – to vigorously give response to someone
 come before – to be dealt with
 come between – to separate or to divide
 come by – to obtain or to get something
 come clean – to confess or to tell the truth
 come close – to proceed , to come near, or to advocate
 come down – to collapse or to fall
 come down on – to criticize or to cause difficulty
 come down to – to be dependent on something
 come down with- to be sick or to begin to suffer from
 come forward – to volunteer or to step forward
 come from- to originate from or to step the result of
 come in – to enter or to be the result of
- to be useful

- to finish a competition

 come into – to inherit or to acquire suddenly

 come of – to result from
 come off – to succeed, to happen, or to work
- to be attached from or to be removed

 come on – to happen or to start to arrive

- to accidentally meet or find
 come out – to be produced satisfactorily
- to appear, to surface, or to be known

- to be released or to be published

 come out against – to disapprove or to take offense

 come over – to feel or to begin to be affected by something
 come through – to survive or to deal with
- to be sent and received
 come to – to obtain consciousness
 come to life – to liven up or to brighten up
 come true – to actually happen or to become
 come up – to occur or to happen
 come up against – to be opposed by or to faced with
 come up with – to produce something, especially when challenged
 come upon – to rush or to attack by surprise
- to accidentally meet or find
 comply with not “comply to” – to abide by or to follow something
Ex: If you do not comply with these rules, you will be suspended.

 cope with not “cope up with” – to deal with or to manage something

Ex: Yes, you have lots of homework. Still, you have to cope with them.
• cut back - to limit or to reduce; to cancel
e.g. The doctor said that you have to cut back on fats and sugar.

• cut down- to kill

e.g. We should encourage people not to cut down trees
but to plant them.

- to lessen
e.g. They did not cut down the workers’ salaries in spite of
high production costs.
• cut in – to interrupt as in a conversation or to interrupt a
dancing couple, to take the place of one partner
e.g. Don’t cut in if you do not have anything sensible to say.

• cut into pieces – to chop or to slice

• cut loose – to break away or free oneself from a person,
group, or system
– to untie
e.g. Cut loose the guard dogs only at night.

• cut off – to interrupt someone who is talking

– to prevent someone from receiving a service.
• cut out for – to be suited or to be appropriate
e.g. Lair is cut out for nursing because she is focused even
during emergencies.

• cut short – to interrupt or to discontinue

• depart for – to leave or go to another place

e.g. Depart for Manila at 5 in the morning and you will
arrive there in no time.

• depart from – to leave a place to start a journey

– to move away from an accepted or usual course of
action
• desist from – to stop doing something

• differ from not “differ than” – to be unlike

• disagree with not “disagree to”– to be against something

or “disagree against”

• discriminate against – to be unfair to someone

• discriminate between – to differentiate or
recognize a distinction
• distinguish between – to make a distinction between to
things

• drop back – to fall behind or to be behind a line

• drop by – to visit

• drop in – to make a casual or informal visit

• drop into – to make a casual or informal visit to a

place
• drop off – to fall asleep
• drop out – to leave or to quit
• get a feel for – to become accustomed to or to be
familiar with
• get a grip – to calm down
• get acquainted – to get to know
with
• get across – to communicate or to make someone
understand
• get along – to survive or to cope

• get around – to persuade someone

e.g. Did you finally get around to making Sabina agree to you?
– to avoid
e.g. Don’t hit that curb. Get around it!
– to deal successfully with something
e.g. Ces was able to get around the difficult math problem.

• get at – to arrive at or to reach

• get away – to leave, to escape or to flee

• get away with – to escape blame or to do something
without suffering the consequences
• get back at – to talk revenge
• get back to – to contact someone later
• get behind – to support or to join forces
• get by – to survive, to manage, or to cope with
•
•
get carried away
\
– to lose control of oneself
• get (someone) down – to demoralize or to depress someone
• get (something) down– to write something
• get down to – to tackle, to begin or to start
• get even – to take revenge
• get in on – to be involved especially with
something beneficial
• get in with – to be friendly with someone
• get mixed up with – to be associated with someone who is
not suitable
• get off the ground – to start something or to make
something happen successfully
• get on with – to make something secret known
• get out – to continue doing something
• get out of – to escape or to avoid a responsibility
• get (something) out of– to obtain something beneficial
• get over – to recover
• get over with – to do something not pleasant so as to
be rid of it
• get rid of – to do something to be free of
unwanted person or thing
• get sick – to be ill
• get (something) – to make something clear or to
straight reach an understanding
• get through – to help someone pass a difficult time
– to make contact through telephone
– to become successful in communicating
with someone in a meaningful way.
• get together – to gather or to cooperate
• get up – to rise from bed
• give (something) away – to reveal someone’s true identity
• give in – to yield or to surrender
• give out – to be totally used up or to stop functioning
• give up – to surrender or to stop trying
• give (something) – to part with something important to oneself
up
• give up on – to stop on having faith in something
• go about – to do or to accomplish
• go against – to defy or to disobey
• go along with – to agree with someone or with a proposal
• go around – to be enough to provide for everyone
present
• go around with – to be constantly in the company of a person
or a group of people.
• go at – to energetically tackle or attack something
• go back – to have known for a length of time
• go back on – to fail to keep a promise
• go down – to sink or to crash
– to be remembered
e.g. You will go down in history as the best writer.
– to be swallowed
• go down with – to suffer from an illness
• go for – to choose or to decide on
e.g. Andrei decided to go the red convertible.
– to try to gain or have
e.g. Yes, we will go for the jackpot.
– to apply to or to have relevance for
e.g. It is better to treat old patients with compassion.
The same goes for small children.

• go into – to investigate or to inquire into

• go off – to fire or to explode

go on
 to continue doing something
e.g. You have to go on if you want to earn enough money.

go out
to be extinguished
e.g. The fire will go out only if we have enough water.

go out with
 to continue a romantic relationship with someone
e.g. Are you going out with Luis again?
go over
to study, to read, to discuss
e.g. For your test please go over pages 55-66 of your book.

go through
to experienced, to bear
e.g. if you want to be successful, you have to go through difficulties, too.

go through with
to do something even with difficulty
e.g. We will still go through with the plan despite of their unwillingness.
go under
 to become bankrupt
e.g. Never will our company go under.

go up
 to rise
e.g. the price of meat will go up again this week.

go with
to agree with a proposal
e.g. You may have a point but I will still go with what Regina said
go without
- to suffer from lack of something
e.g. How can one possibly go without water a day?

go apart
- to become separated
e.g. We simply grew apart in time.

grow into
- to become something
e.g. MSA has grown into the best tutiorial.
grow out of
- to be mature to retain a habit
e.g. My mom wants me to grow out of my habit of nail-biting.
grow up
- to mature or to develop
e.g. I want my children to grow up responsible.
hand in
- to turn in
e.g. You must hand in your report on Monday.
hand out
- to circulate
e.g. Please hand out these brochures.

hang around
- to associate with
e.g. Don’t hang around when class starts.

hang back
- to fall behind
e.g. Joe tends to hang back at the door.
hang on
- to hold tightly
e.g. you have to hang on at the bar so that you will not fall.
hang out
- to dry clothes
e.g. The clothes were hung out at the window.
hang together
- to make sense
e.g. When you write, you must make your sentences hang together.
hang up
- to end a telephone conversation
e.g. Don’t hang up yet.
hear out
- to listen to someone
e.g. Please don’t leave yet. You have to hear me out at first.
hint at
- to give a clue
e.g. Ronald hinted at his plan.
hold back
- to hesitate to do something
e.g. Chad is holding back his feelings for Mariz.
hold dear
- to value someone or something
e.g. My family is what I truly hold dear.
hold fast
- to stay tightly secured
e.g. That door is obviously locked. It hold fast as we were trying to open it.
hold forth
- to extensively hold about the subject
e.g. The principal held forth on the value of education today.
hold off
- a challenge
e.g. The sentry held off until dawn.
hold on
- to wait
e.g. the hostages have no choice but to hold on until they are rescued.
hold out
- to refuse to give in
e.g. The martyrs held out until they were eaten by the lions.
hold together
- to remain in unity
e.g. The team must hold together if each member wants to win.
hold true
- to remain true
e.g. The importance of perseverance still holds true today.
hold up
- to stay strong
e.g. Her decision held up despite oppositions.
join forces
- to team up
e.g. We must join forces to win.
keen on
- to be passionate about
e.g. He has been keen on reading ever since.
keep at
- to persist
e.g. You’re doing great. Keep at it.
keep away
- to hold off
e.g. You can’t keep me away from you.
keep back
- to remain at a distance
e.g. Keep back! The snake is deadly.
keep down
- to prevent something from rising
e.g. We must keep down or the enemy will see us.
keep from
- to avoid doing something
e.g. I can’t keep from eating when I’m worried.
keep going
- to continue
e.g. Just keep going.
keep (someone) in
- to confine
e.g. The man was kept in for questioning.
keep (something) in
- to control oneself
e.g. I had to keep it in until we see each other.
keep off
- to prevent something from consuming
e.g. Keep off the grass.
keep on
- to continue doing something
e.g. She keeps on buying things.
keep on about
-to repeatedly speak about something
e.g. She kept on about how she loved her vacation in France.
keep out
- to exclude
e.g. We were keep out of the building until the police.
keep to
- to avoid leaving
e.g. You must keep to the house all night.
keep under
- to make someone stay
e.g. He keeps the nation under oppression.
keep up/ keep up with
- to move at the same rate
e.g. I tried to keep up with my work after I had my leave.
lead (someone) astray
- to make someone act
e.g. Troublesome friends can lead anyone astray.
lead (someone) on
- to mislead
e.g. I thought you like me but you just led me on.
lead on to/ lead up to
- to cause
e.g. Vices will lead on to other vices.
live down
- to make others forget something embarrassing that happened
e.g. The ex-convict tried to live down his past.
live on/ live off
- to depend on something
e.g. If you think you can live off, think again!
live out
- to make something imagined real
e.g. She’s now living out her dream of working in Hollywood.
live together
- to share a home
e.g. Some prefer to live together than to get married.
Live up to– to fulfill expetations or an undertaking
Ex. Gerard has lived up to his family name. He now runs the family business.

Live with – To tolerate or to accept

e.g., One has to live with the fact that not everything is perfect.
Make away with/ Make off with – To carry something
ex. The robbers made away with all the money in the vault
Make do – To manage even with adequance
EX. We will make do even with limited time and money.
Make for – to move forward.
ex. As soon as the thieves stole the diamond, they made for the building outside
the town.
Make (something) of – to give a specified amount of importance to
something.

Ex. Since we are in the food business, we should make much of the
increase in food commotion.

- to understand

Ex. I don’t know what to make of the problem.

Make off – to leave immediately

Ex. The couple made off without paying for the meal they ate.

Make someone/something out – to decipher or to manage with

difficulty to understand.

Ex. They cannot make out the symbols on the cave wallls.
- to pretend

Ex. I don’t understand why he made out that he was the owner’s son.
make up – to reconcile
Ex. Stop fighting and make up so that you’ll be friends again.

Make (something) up/ make up for – to compensate for something

missed, lose or faulty

Ex. Janice said she needed to leave early but she would make up the
time tomorrow.

- to compromise or to continue.
Ex. They make up 90% of the vote.
Pass away – to die.
Ex. My friend passed away last week.

Pass (someone) by – to ignore

Ex. He passed me by as if he didn’t know me at all.
Pass (someone/something) off – to falsely represent as something
else.

Ex. Just because he’s wearing a formal tuxedo doesn’t mean that he
can easily pass of as one of the guests.
Pass out – to lose consciousness
Ex. You will pass out if you don’t can.
Pass (someone) over – to disregard the claims of someone to advancement.
Ex. I cannot believe that you were passed over for a promotion.
Pass (something) over – to avoid considering or mentioning
Ex. The manager will pass over the matter of the salary raise until next month.
Pass (something) up – to keep away, to leave alone, or to ignore.
Ex. Running for student council president is hard work. But you can’t pass up
the opportunity.
Play (something) back - to produce or play sounds that someone has just
recorded
Ex. Would you please play back the song? It sounds familiar.

Play (something) down –to represent as being valuable

Ex. We have to make sure that no one knows the importance of this plan,
Thus we have to play it down.

Play (someone) off – to start a conflict.

Ex. She cleverly played off the two factions against each other. Because of
that, she gets to stay in power.

Play on – to manipulate
Ex. A few politicians play on the hopes and dreams of the people to secure
positions in the government.
 Play (something) up – to give emphasis on the importance of something.
Ex. Our new product has to be known so it must be played up by the media.

Pounce on/ pounce upon – to strike

Ex. The lion pounced on its prey.

Pull (someone/something) in – to be successful in acquiring or securing

something or someone.
Ex. Rhoda’s manager is happy that she is able to pull in 90% of the sales.

Pull out – to quit or to withdraw

Ex. The player had no choice but to pull out of the game because he was
sick.
 Pull over – to move a vehicle to the side of the road
Ex. Rance pulled over when he saw Genie walking along the street.

Pull through – to recover or to overcome an obstacle

Ex. As long as you persevere, you will be able to pull through
anything.

Pull together – to work together

Ex. If Filipinos pull together, life in the Philippines will improve.
 Pull up – to stop a vehicle.
Ex. Bea pulled up outside her mother’s house.

Put across – to explain or to communicate

Ex. We should put across the message of the advertisement so that people
will understand how the product works.

Put (something) forward – to suggest

Ex. Laddie was able to put forward a brilliant proposal for publicity.

Put in/ put into – to present or to submit

Ex. I put in the idea of using blinds instead of curtains in the windows.
 Put aside – to save money
Ex. Lair and Clare were able to put aside some money for their
trip to Europe.
- to forget or to ignore something
Ex. It would be better to put aside your differences so that we can
come up with a better solution

Put (something) back – to delay

Ex. The recent storm put back the scheduled examinations.
 Put off – to postpone or to cancel an appointment.
Ex. Don’t put off my appointment with my doctor.
- to make someone lose interest

Ex. I thought of becoming a news reporter but the thought of working night
shifts put me off.

Put on – to produce or to show

Ex. We plan to put on a show about life in the circus.

- to place something on a part of one’s body

Ex. Put on cologne before going out.
 - To make a device work
Ex. It’s dark. Put on the light.

- To become heavier
Ex. I put on 30 pounds this year!

Put out – to extinguish or to turn off a light

Ex. Put out the fire before it worsens.
- to publish, to issue, or to broadcast.
Ex. The company puts out 14 new books each year.
 Put through – to put someone in an unpleasant experience
Ex. I can’t believe you put her through such an embarrassing situation
- to pay for one’s child to attend school
Ex. It feels good to know you are able to put your own child to school.

Put up – to build or to erect

Ex. MSA 315 was put up last 2001.
- to raise one’s hand to answer or to inquire.
Ex. Put your hand up if you have any question.

- to show skill or resistance in a fight

Ex. He put up a brave face in the race.
 Put up with – to endure
Ex. Many can’t put up with the inefficiencies of the government.
Stand alone – to have no equal or to be the best
Ex. When it comes to tutorials, MSA stands alone.

Stand aside – to avoid getting involved

Ex. You just can’t stand aside and let them beat up your friend.
Stand back – to move away or to maintain distance.
Ex. The doctors asked the onlookers to stand back so that the patient could breathe
easily.
 Stand by – to abide by or to support
Ex. I will stand by you no matter what.

Stand for- to represent or to be a symbol for

Ex. The stars on the Philippine flag stand for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Stand out – to be prominent or to be easily noticed

Ex. Albert Einstein stands out among the scientists of the 20th century.
Stand up for – to defend or to act in support of
Ex. You have courage if you stand up for what is right.
 Take after – to resemble or to look alike
Ex. Janielle takes after her father.

Take apart – to dismantle something

Ex. He can take apart the watch to know the problem inside.

Take back – to withdraw a statement

Ex. Take back what you said!
- to return goods that are satisfactory
Ex. I want to take back this shirt since you gave me the wrong size.
Take down – to write something on the paper
Ex. Take down notes while I lecture.
 Take in – to comprehend or to fully understand
Ex. It is hard taking in Mr. Samson’s lecture because his voice is too low.

- to accommodate someone
Ex. Joaquin will take you in and teach you all you need to know about basketball.

Take off - to undress or to remove

Ex. Your clothes are dirty. Take them off.

- To have a period away from work.

Ex. I normally take my Mondays off.

Take over- to get control of

Ex. She took over the project, not Dan.
 Take up- to discuss
Ex. We will take up this topics in the class next week.
- to occupy or to fill

Ex. Writing and editing will take up most of my time.

- to accept an offer or challenge
Ex. I’ll take you up on that challenge.

Throw away – to dispose of something useless

Ex. Malou threw away the old shirt.

- to waste an opportunity or an advantage

Ex. You can’t throw away your future.
 Throw in – to add something for free
Ex. We’ll throw in a new bag if you buy this car.

Throw off – to conquer or to rid oneself of something

Ex. I managed to throw off all my problems and enjoy my life.

Throw open – to open completely or to free from restrictions

Ex. The bar manager threw the doors open and let all come in for free.

Throw out – to throw away, to dismiss or to expel

Ex. Don’t throw him out of the house, He’s your son.
 Turn out – to be true, to happen or to result to
Ex. It turns out that that he is the bad guy after all.

Turn over- to transfer management or control.

Ex. I turned over my duties to her.

Turn up – to be found after being lost

Ex. My lost shoe turned up in the truck.

Work (something) in – to attempt to include in speech or text

Ex. Ruthe tried to work in the value of education in her talk.

Work (something) off- to lessen or to remove something

Ex. I have to work off my nervousness before my speech starts.
 work out – to come to a beneficial conclusion
Ex. You can’t fight all the time. You have to work out your differences.

- to exercise
Ex. I need to work out to lose weight.

Work (something) out – to find an answer to something.

Ex. This math question is tough! I can’t seem to work it out.

Work (something) up- to produce or to develop

Ex. Jacq has worked up a plan to increase our budget for next year.