Phrasal Verb List : Cheat Sheet.

Texts in English

Below is a list of some of the most common phrasal verbs.

Phrasal Verb	Example
add up	The waiter added up the bill.
ask (someone) out	Steve asked me out last night.
back off	I would back off if I were you, I don’t think she likes you.
back (someone) up	You were with me, you can back me up, right?
back up (something)	Don’t forget to back up all of your files.
break down (something)	Our car broke down while we were driving to the supermarket.
break down (someone)	It was the most stressful week. By Friday I broke down and cried.
break (something) down	We had to break down the stage to prepare for the next event.
blow up	They blew up a building, but luckily nobody was hurt.
break into	Someone broke into my apartment while I was on holidays.
break up	I can’t believe it, Dan broke up with me last night!
bring (somebody) up	I was brought up by my grandmother.
bring (something) up	I hate him. Don’t ever bring his name up again!
call back	He was busy when I called, but he said he would call me back tonight.
call off	Did you hear? Brenda called off the wedding!
call on	The teacher called on me in class to answer the question.
calm down	Calm down, everything is going to be ok.
carry on	Carry on! You are doing very well.
carry on	She must have loved Spain, she was carrying on about it for days after she returned.
catch up	Call me, we need to catch up!
check in	What time can we check in to the hotel?
check out	They checked out on Monday.
check out	He’s checking you out! / Let’s check out that new bar.
check up	I know you have been sick, so I was calling to check up on you.
cheer up	Sarah is depressed; we have to cheer her up.
close down	The factory was closed down last month.
come back	We are coming back next week.
come by	Come by my office and we can talk.
come down with	My son came down with the flu last week.
come from	His love of music comes from his father.
count on	Don’t worry, you can count on me!
cut back on	With the crisis we have had to cut back on expenses.
cut off	I don’t mean to cut you off, but I have to go now.
cut out	Cut it out! Leave your sister alone.
drop by/in	I was just dropping by/in to say “hi”.
drop off	She dropped off the kids at school before going to work.
drop out	He dropped out of school because he was failing all his classes.
end up	There was no food at home so we ended up going out.
fall apart (something)	The sweater fell apart after so many washings.
fall apart (someone)	She fell apart when she heard the news.
fall behind	Hurry up or you will fall behind.
fall out	I think my wallet fell out of my purse.
fight back	If you don’t fight back, they will never stop bullying you.
figure out	I can’t figure out why this isn’t working.
fill in/out	You must fill in/out the forms completely.
fill up	I need to stop at the gas station and fill up the gas tank.
find out	If the teacher doesn’t know the answer, she will find it out.
fit in	Despite her efforts, she never fit in with the other kids.
get across	He tried everything to get his ideas across, but his boss didn’t understand.
get along/on	I’m so lucky, my father and my husband get along/on really well.
get around	News really gets around fast!
get away	Work has been so stressful, I need to get away!
get away with	She stole my idea, but she won’t get away with it.
get back	They get back from vacation on Thursday.
get (something) back	I have to get these books back to the library today.
get back at	I’ll get back at her for stealing my idea!
get by	We don’t have a lot of money right now, but we’ll get by.
get on	He got on the bus for the airport.
get on	My husband and I have separated, but I must get on with my life.
get out of	It’s too smoky in here, I have to get out of here.
get over	I’m so upset, I can’t get over failing my test.
get through	I’m never going to get through this book with all of these distractions!
get together	We are getting together for dinner tomorrow at 8.
get up	What time did you get up this morning?
give away	The millionaire gave away all his money just before he died.
give back	Can you give me back my book when you have finished reading it?
give in/up	Be strong! Don’t give in to temptation
give out	They are giving out free samples at the store.
give up	Ok, I give up. What’s the answer?
go ahead	Go ahead, I’ll meet you there.
go back	I’m so embarrassed. I can never go back to that restaurant.
go out	Let’s go out for a drink.
go out with (someone)	I hear Michael is going out with Jane.
go over	Before you submit your thesis, I think we should go over it together.
go through	You need to go through the Lincoln Tunnel to get to New Jersey.
go through	I can’t believe what you have been through.
grow up	Alex grew up in France but now he lives in Italy.
hand in	All homework must be handed in by the end of the day.
hand out	The teacher will hand out the assignments this afternoon.
hang on	Hang on, I’m coming.
hang out	Her favorite thing to do is hang out with her friends.
hang up	I was so angry I hung up on him.
hit on	Look at how that guy is hitting on Debbie.
hold back	She tried, but she couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.
hold on	Hold on, I’m coming.
hurry up	Hurry up or we will be late.
keep on	She kept on asking me the same questions.
lay (somebody) off	With the crises, we have been forced to lay off some staff.
let (somebody) down	I don’t want to let you down, but I don’t think I can come with you to the party tomorrow.
look forward to	We are really looking forward to your visit!
look out	Look out! That car almost hit you!
look up	You will need to look up some words in the dictionary.
look up to (somebody)	She’s so brave, I have always looked up to her.
make (something) up	I don’t believe you. You’re making that up!
make up (somebody)	Our parents had an argument last night, but they made up this morning.
pick on (somebody)	When I was young, my brother always picked on me.
put (something) off	You must not want to do it, you keep putting it off.
rely on	I hope I can rely on you to be discreet.
slow down	Slow down please, you are driving too fast!
speak up	Can you please speak up, I can’t understand you.
take after (somebody)	With that bad temper, he must take after his father.
take over	If you are tired of driving, I can take over for a while.
take off	The plane will take off in 5 minutes.
take up	He has taken up tennis in his free time.
tell (somebody) off	She told him off after he was late again.
throw out	They should throw that guy out, he’s really drunk.

A continuación, tenemos una lista de los phrasal verbs más comunes.

Phrasal Verb l	Ejemplo
add up sumar	The waiter added up the bill.
ask (someone) out invitar a salir	Steve asked me out last night.
back off retirarse	I would back off if I were you, I don’t think she likes you.
back (someone) up apoyar, respaldar	You were with me, you can back me up, right?
back up (something) hacer un copia	Don’t forget to back up all of your files.
break down (something) dejar de trabajar, estropearse, averiarse	Our car broke down while we were driving to the supermarket.
break down (someone) venirse abajo	It was the most stressful week. By Friday I broke down and cried.
break (something) down derribar, desmontar	We had to break down the stage to prepare for the next event.
blow up explotar	They blew up a building, but luckily nobody was hurt.
break into forzando la entrada para robar	Someone broke into my apartment while I was on holidays.
break up separarse, romperse	I can’t believe it, Dan broke up with me last night!
bring (somebody) up criar y educar	I was brought up by my grandmother.
bring (something) up sacar, mencionar	I hate him. Don’t ever bring his name up again!
call back volver a llamar	He was busy when I called, but he said he would call me back tonight.
call off suspender, cancelar	Did you hear? Brenda called off the wedding!
call on preguntar	The teacher called on me in class to answer the question.
calm down tranquilizarse, calmarse	Calm down, everything is going to be ok.
carry on seguir haciendo algo	Carry on! You are doing very well.
carry on seguir haciendo algo	She must have loved Spain, she was carrying on about it for days after she returned.
catch up ponerse al día	Call me, we need to catch up!
check in registrarse (en)	What time can we check in to the hotel?
check out pagar y marcharse	They checked out on Monday.
check out quedarse con, mirar	He’s checking you out! / Let’s check out that new bar.
check up hacer averiguaciones	I know you have been sick, so I was calling to check up on you.
cheer up animar(se) a alguien	Sarah is depressed; we have to cheer her up.
close down cerrar o terminar una actividad	The factory was closed down last month.
come back regresar, volver	We are coming back next week.
come by pasarse por	Come by my office and we can talk.
come down with enfermarse	My son came down with the flu last week.
come from originarse	His love of music comes from his father.
count on contar con	Don’t worry, you can count on me!
cut back on bajar	With the crisis we have had to cut back on expenses.
cut off interrumpir	I don’t mean to cut you off, but I have to go now.
cut out parar de hacer algo	Cut it out! Leave your sister alone.
drop by/in pasar	I was just dropping by/in to say “hi”.
drop off llevar a, dejar	She dropped off the kids at school before going to work.
drop out abandonar	He dropped out of school because he was failing all his classes.
end up acabar + infinitivo	There was no food at home so we ended up going out.
fall apart (something) deshacerse	The sweater fell apart after so many washings.
fall apart (someone) derrumbarse	She fell apart when she heard the news
fall behind quedarse atrás	Hurry up or you will fall behind.
fall out caerse	I think my wallet fell out of my purse.
fight back defenderse	If you don’t fight back, they will never stop bullying you.
figure out determinar	I can’t figure out why this isn’t working.
fill in/out rellenar	You must fill in/out the forms completely.
fill up llenar	I need to stop at the gas station and fill up the gas tank.
find out enterrarse	If the teacher doesn’t know the answer, she will find it out.
fit in encajar, integrarse	Despite her efforts, she never fit in with the other kids.
get across comunicar una idea	He tried everything to get his ideas across, but his boss didn’t understand.
get along/on llevarse bien	I’m so lucky, my father and my husband get along/on really well.
get around desplazarse, circular	News really gets around fast!
get away cogerse un descanso / vacaciones	Work has been so stressful, I need to get away!
get away with salir impune	She stole my idea, but she won’t get away with it.
get back regresar, volver	They get back from vacation on Thursday.
get (something) back devolver	I have to get these books back to the library today.
get back at vengarse de	I’ll get back at her for stealing my idea!
get by sobrevivir	We don’t have a lot of money right now, but we’ll get by.
get on subir	He got on the bus for the airport.
get on seguir	My husband and I have separated, but I must get on with my life.
get out of irse, salir, marcharse	It’s too smoky in here, I have to get out of here.
get over recuperarse	I’m so upset, I can’t get over failing my test.
get through superar, acabar	I’m never going to get through this book with all of these distractions!
get together quedar, reunir	We are getting together for dinner tomorrow at 8.
get up levantarse	What time did you get up this morning?
give away regalar	The millionaire gave away all his money just before he died.
give back devolver	Can you give me back my book when you have finished reading it?
give in/up ceder, rendirse	Be strong! Don’t give in to temptation
give out repartir, distribuir	They are giving out free samples at the store.
give up rendirse, abandonar	Ok, I give up. What’s the answer?
go ahead ir delante	Go ahead, I’ll meet you there.
go back regresar, volver	I’m so embarrassed. I can never go back to that restaurant.
go out salir	Let’s go out for a drink.
go out with (someone) salir con	I hear Michael is going out with Jane.
go over repasar	Before you submit your thesis, I think we should go over it together.
go through atravesar	You need to go through the Lincoln Tunnel to get to New Jersey.
go through sufrir, soportar	I can’t believe what you have been through.
grow up crecer, criarse	Alex grew up in France but now he lives in Italy.
hand in presentar, entregar	All homework must be handed in by the end of the day.
hand out repartir	The teacher will hand out the assignments this afternoon.
hang on esperar	Hang on, I’m coming.
hang out pasar tiempo con	Her favorite thing to do is hang out with her friends.
hang up colgar el teléfono	I was so angry I hung up on him.
hit on flirtear, coquetear con	Look at how that guy is hitting on Debbie.
hold back contenerse	She tried, but she couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.
hold on esperar	Hold on, I’m coming.
hurry up darse prisa	Hurry up or we will be late.
keep on seguir	She kept on asking me the same questions.
lay (somebody) off despedir	With the crises, we have been forced to lay off some staff.
let (somebody) down defraudar, decepcionar	I don’t want to let you down, but I don’t think I can come with you to the party tomorrow.
look forward to tener ganas de	We are really looking forward to your visit!
look out prestar atención, tener cuidado	Look out! That car almost hit you!
look up buscar, consultar	You will need to look up some words in the dictionary.
look up to (somebody) admirar a alguien	She’s so brave, I have always looked up to her.
make (something) up inventar algo	I don’t believe you. You’re making that up!
make up (somebody) reconciliarse	Our parents had an argument last night, but they made up this morning.
pick on (somebody) fastidiar, burlar	When I was young, my brother always picked on me.
put (something) off posponer, atrasar	You must not want to do it, you keep putting it off.
rely on contar con, confiar en	I hope I can rely on you to be discreet.
slow down reducir la velocidad	Slow down please, you are driving too fast!
speak up hablar más alto, subir la voz	Can you please speak up, I can’t understand you.
take after (somebody) parecerse	With that bad temper, he must take after his father.
take over sustituir, hacerse con el control	If you are tired of driving, I can take over for a while.
take off despegar	The plane will take off in 5 minutes.
take up ocupar, empezar una afición	He has taken up tennis in his free time.
tell (somebody) off echar la bronca, regañar	She told him off after he was late again.
throw out echar	They should throw that guy out, he’s really drunk.