| Phrasal Verbs | Explanation | Examples |
| apply for | ask for, demand (job / grant / license) | To apply for the job, you need to write an application letter. |
| break down | cease to work correctly (physical / mental) | My computer broke down yesterday. |
| break into | enter by force | Some burglars broke into the bank last night. |
| bring about | cause to happen | Laziness brings about failure. |
| calm down | relax | Try to calm down before the interview. |
| carry on | continue | You should carry on with your project. |
| check on | look at, inspect | He sent someone to check on the children. |
| come in | enter | The door is open; come in! |
| come back | return | They will have come back from Fes by this afternoon. |
| come across | meet by chance | I came across an old photo of mine. |
| cut down | reduce | You'd better cut down on your fat intake. |
| eat out | eat outside the house (at a restaurant) | On Sundays, they always eat out. |
| fall for | fall in love | She falls for him. |
| fill in | complete (a form) | You have to fill in the form before e-mailing it. |
| find out | discover | Nobody has found out who changed my password yet. |
| give in | surrender, stop trying | She shouldn't give in now that she has almost achieved success. |
| give up | stop / surrender | He must give up smoking before it is too late. |
| go on | continue | When you finish this exercise go on to the next. |
| go through | experience / endure | I went through hard times when I was abroad. |
| grow up | become older / mature | Girls grow up faster than boys. |
| hand in | give back (papers) | When I had finished the test, I handed in my paper and left. |
| hand out | distribute | The teacher handed out the test sheets at 8:00 sharp |
| jot down | write down (ideas) | He advised us to jot down ideas before writing. |
| keep up with | cope with | It is hard to keep up with the rapid change of technology. |
| let down | disappoint | Be sure that your parents will never let you down. |
| lie down | relax, rest | It is normal to lie down after hard work. |
| look after | take care of | Leila is looking after her grand mother pretty well. |
| look at | examine | The doctors are looking at the patient right now. |
| look down on | despise, see as inferior | Don't look down on anyone, they may be better than you are. |
| look for | search | I looked for my keys in the drawer but they weren't there. |
| look foward to | long for | I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon. |
| look into | examine, investigate | They are looking into the matter. |
| look out | be careful, pay attention | Look out! our dog has got 42 teeth. |
| look up | search in a dictionary/list/phonebook | I was looking up your phone number when you phoned me. |
| make up | invent (pretext/story) | Don't believe her; she likes to make up stories. |
| pass away | die | My mother passed away in February 2003. |
| pick up | collect | Children can pick up foreign languages easier than adults. |
| put on | wear | She put her jacket on and went out hurriedly. |
| put off | postpone | I was informed that the meeting was put off until next week. |
| put up | accomodate | They needn't book a room at the hotel; we can put them up. |
| put up with | tolerate | She can't put up with those nosy children. |
| run into | meet by chance | Our project may run into financial problems sooner or later. |
| set off | depart | He didn't wait to st off for France when he got a visa. |
| stand by | wait | Please, stand by we are checking your password. |
| stand for | represent | U.N. stands for United Nations. |
| set up | build, establish | They are trying to set up their own business. |
| take after | resemble | She greatly takes after her aunt. |
| take care of | look after | They took care of the children when we were out. |
| take off | leave the ground (plane) | When your plane landed, ours took off. |
| take off | # put on (clothes) | Due to the hot weather, all the boys took off their jackets. |
| take up | begin a new (a hobby / lessons) | My grandmother takes up Karate. |
| tell off | criticize severely | He told his sister off as he knew she meddled with his affairs. |
| turn down | refuse, reject | She was turned down because of age. |
| turn off | stop the function of (TV, Radio) | Don't forget to turn off the TV before you go to bed. |
| write down | record | The students wrote down all the teacher's instructions. |
