Phrasal verbs are special groups of verbs that often consist of two or three words.
A phrasal verb is typically structured in two ways:
- a verb followed by a preposition (two-word phrasal verb)
sit down He sat down a chair.
fall over She lost balance and fell over.
take off The plane takes off in ten minutes.
- a phrasal verb followed by one more preposition (three-word phrasal verb)
Here are some common examples and their meanings:
run away from leave or escape
They are trying so hard not to run away from their responsibilities.
keep up with maintain pace with
She is the smartest in class. No one can keep up with her.
look forward to wait for something excitedly
I look forward to your wedding.
get on with have a friendly relationship
I do get on with my neighbors.
fed up with annoyed or upset at a situation
He was just so fed up with the big city life, he moved to the countryside.
come up against to deal with a problem
The team might come up against a stronger opponent.
creep up on happens slowly or gradually you don’t notice it
Old age suddenly creeps up on you.
take care of be responsible for
You need to take care of your finances.
run out of have no more supply of something
We ran out of sugar.
walk out on abandon
He just walked out on his wife and children.
put up with tolerate
She had to put up with his bad attitude when they were together.
get through with finish
She went skydiving just to get through with it.
