Phrasal Verbs List by Topics

Phrasal verbs do not simply come under one huge umbrella. Whilst they are a subject to learn in their own right, they can then be further split into sub categories such as business phrasal verbs, animal phrasal verbs, travel phrasal verbs etc.

When learning the English language, it is vital not to try to overload your brain with too much information as this will result in not being able to remember it all effectively. Instead, you should focus on bite sized pieces of information that are much more easy to digest. This is why looking at the immense amount of phrasal verbs by topic can make for much more simple learning.

By choosing your favourite topic and beginning with that, you will be able to grasp a better understanding of phrasal verbs. You might also begin with a topic that is important to the reason why you are leaning English. For example, if you are learning for your career, you might begin with business phrasal verbs.

These topics are especially important as they tend to be used in more informal conversations, which, for the most part are the type of conversations that occur in the English language. On top of this, understanding which phrasal verbs relate to which topic is an excellent way to make your English sound much more natural and fluid.

Phrasal Verbs List about Family

List of common phrasal verbs about Family Life in English:

Be named after: Be given the name of another person
Bring sb up: Look after a child until he or she becomes an adult
Fall out with sb: Argue with sb and you are no longer friendly with them
Get along/on with: Have a good, friendly relationship with sb
Get together: Spend time together
Go by: Prefer to be called by a particular name
Grow apart: Stop having a close relationship with somebody over a period of time
Grow up: Develop into an adult
Look after: Take care of someone
Look up to: Respect and admire someone
Take after: Look or behave like an older relative
Tell off: Criticize someone angrily for doing something wrong
Settle down: Begin to live a quieter life by getting married
Split up: End a marriage relationship
Make up: Become friendly with someone again after an argument
Break up: End a relationship
Put up with: Tolerate; accept an unpleasant situation without complaining
Pass away: To die (to avoid saying ‘die’ when you think this might upset someone)

Phrasal Verbs List for Relationships

List of phrasal verbs for Relationships in English:

Fall for: Begin to be in love with someone
Go out: Date someone
Make up: Forgive each other after an argument or disagreement
Split up: End a relationship
Break up: End a relationship
Look up to: Respect and admire someone
Fall out: Argue with someone and stop being friendly with them
Put down: Say bad things about someone; to insult

Phrasal Verbs List for Travel

Phrasal verbs list – travel

List of useful phrasal verbs for Travel in English:

See off: Go to the airport or station to say goodbye to someone

Set off: Start a journey

Get in: Arrive (train, plane)

Hold up: Delay when travelling

Take off: When a plane departs or leaves the ground

Check in: Arrive and register at a hotel or airport

Get off: Leave a bus, train, plane

Check out: Leave the hotel after paying

Get away: To have a holiday or vacation

Get on: Enter a bus, train, plane, to climb on board

Drop off: Take someone to a place and leave them there

Pick up: Let someone get into your car and take them somewhere

Set out: Start a journey, especially a long journey

Speed up: Increase speed

Look around: Explore what is near you, in your area

Hurry up: Rush and not waste time

Go back: Go the place someone is leaving from to say goodbye

Look forward: Look forward to something that is going to happen in the future

Stop over: Stay somewhere for a short time during a long journey

Touch down: To land at an airport

Put up with: Tolerate; accept an unpleasant situation without complaining

Telephones Phrasal Verbs List

List of commonly used Telephones phrasal verbs in English:

Break up: To be inaudible over the mobile phone
Call back: To return a phone call
Call up: Call someone on the phone
Cut off: To interrupt a telephone conversation
Get through: To contact by telephone
Hang on: Wait for a short time (informal)
Hang up: End a telephone call by breaking the connection
Hold on: Wait for a short time
Pick up: Answer the phone
Put through: Connect by phone
Speak up: Speak louder
Get back to: Telephone someone later
Get off: Finish talking on the phone
Turn off: Disconnect using the power button
Turn on: Connect using the power button
Pass on (a message): To communicate (to convey) a message to someone else
Phone in: Call in by telephone to a central person or central point

Phrasal Verbs List for Cooking

List of useful phrasal verbs for Cooking in English:

Bake off: Finish baking partly baked food
Boil away: Cause liquid to evaporate completely by boiling
Boil down: If a food or liquid boils down it becomes less after it is cooked
Boil over: Cause liquid to rise and flow over the side of the container
Bolt down: Eat a large amount of food very quickly
Chop up: Cut into pieces, usually with several sharp blows
Cut off: Remove something by cutting it
Cut out: Shape or form by cutting
Cut up: Cut something into small pieces
Fry up: Cook something by frying
Pick at: Eat only small amounts of a meal
Pig out: Eat an extremely large amount of food
Slice off: Cut something from a larger piece
Whip up: Quickly make a meal or something to eat
Cook away: Slow cooking; to cook slowly over a long period of time
Peel off: To remove the skin from a vegetable or fruit
Thaw out: To warm up from being frozen
Mix in: To mix or combine with substances
Warm up: To reheat a food to a desired temperature

Phrasal Verbs List for Shopping

List of common phrasal verbs for Shopping in English:

Bring down: Reduce the amount of something
Pay for: Give money in order to buy something
Put on: To see something is worth trying
Queue up/line up: Wait for something in a line
Ring up: Record an amount of money by pressing buttons on a cash register
Sell out: Sell the whole supply/ capacity
Shop around: Compare prices before buying
Take off: Remove a piece of clothing
Try on: Put on a piece of clothing to see if it fits
Try out: Test something to see if you like it
Pop into: To visit briefly
Do up: To fasten something
Stand out: To be very noticeable
Pick out: To choose / select
Wear in: To loosen or soften some new clothing by wearing it
Set (someone) back: To cost someone a particular amount of money, especially a large amount
Look out for: To watch or check regularly for something or to search for something
Go with smt: To seem good, natural, or attractive in combination with something
Splash out: Spend money freely

Phrasal Verbs List for Business

List of frequently used phrasal verbs for Business in English:

Branch out: Expand or extend one’s interests
Break into: Enter (with effort or force)
Carry on: Continue
Close down: Stop operating
Look forward to: Feel pleased and excited about something that is going to happen
Note down: Write something down
Step down: Resign or leave (a position/job)
Take off: Become successful or popular very fast
Take up: Fill a particular amount of space or time
Weigh up (UK): Consider carefully the advantages or disadvantages of a situation
Back up: Make a copy of information
Carry out: Do and complete a task
Come up: Happen or arise
Get on (UK): Continue or start doing something
Keep up with: Follow
Set up: Start (a business)
Go through: Experience something difficult or unpleasant
Find out: Discover a fact or piece of information
Call off: Cancel something
Call back: To return a call or telephone someone again.
Deal with: Handle (a problem)
Drop in: Make a short visit without making an arrangement in advance
Fill out: Complete (a form)
Hold on: Wait
Join in: Participate
Lay off: Fire (staff)
Put back (UK): Delay or postpone
Run out of: Have no more of something
Sort out: Organise or fix the contents of something
Take on: Employ (staff)
Take over: To begin to have control of or responsibility for something
Bail out: To rescue somebody from a difficult situation, especially financial problems
Cut back: To reduce something
Go under: To become bankrupt
Fall through: If an agreement, plan, sale etc. falls through, it is not completed successfully
Pull out: To move away from something or stop being involved in it
Bottom out: To reaches the lowest level before starting to improve again
Level off: To stop rising or falling and become steady

Clothes Phrasal Verbs List

List of useful clothes phrasal verbs in English:

Do up: Fasten an item of clothing
Dress up: Dress (oneself or another) in your best clothes
Dress up: Put on fancy dress in children’s games
Dress down: Wear clothes that are more informal than those you usually wear
Hang out: Dry clothes outside after washing
Hang up: Put something on a hook or a hanger
Have on: Wear an item of clothing on one’s person
Kick off: Make your shoes come off by shaking your feet
Put on: Dress yourself or someone else with an item or items of clothing
Slip on: Put on an item of clothing easily
Take off: Remove any item of clothing
Take in: Make clothing narrower
Take up: Reduce the length of a piece of clothing
Try on: Put on an item of clothing to find out whether it fits or is suitable
Throw on: Put on a piece of clothing quickly and carelessly
Turn up: Shorten trousers, a dress or a skirt so that they fit better
Wrap up: Put warm clothes on
Zip up: To be closed by means of a zip
Let out: Make clothing wider
Let down: Use the extra cloth in the hem of a piece of clothing to make it longer

Animals Phrasal Verbs List

Animals Phrasal Verbs List Pin

Phrasal verbs list – Animals

List of essential animals phrasal verbs in English:

Chicken out: Not do something because you’re afraid
Duck out: Leave quickly and unannounced
Fish for: Ask for or try to get something in an indirect way
Fish out: Pull something out of a place
Horse around: Play in a loud/rough way
Pig out: Eat a lot of food at once
Wolf down: Eat very quickly
Monkey around: To do things in an unserious way; to play or waste time
Beaver away: Work hard doing something
Ferret out: Discover information by searching for it in a determined way
Worm out of: Draw or manipulate information out of someone
Rat on: Inform on (someone) to a person in a position of authority
Rabbit on (UK): Continue talking about something that is not interesting to the person you are talking to
Monkey with: Bother or interfere with someone or something
Turn turtle: Turn upside down; to flip over
Squirrel away: Stash, hide or hoard something for future use
Drone on: Talk for a long time in a boring way
Clam up: Become silent; to stop talking, to shut up
Ferret around: Search for something by sorting through materials
Lark about/around (UK): Behave in a silly way because you think it is funny
Leech off: Use someone, or cling to s.o for personal gain, often not giving anything in return

Phrasal Verbs Around the House

List of common phrasal verbs around the house in English:

Take out of the trash: Remove trash from the house
Throw away: Put something into the trash can/to discard
Pick up: Remove something from the floor to put into their proper place
Hang up: Put your clothes on a hanger to hang in the closet
Put away: Put items into their proper place (a drawer, cabinet, etc…)
Clean up/ tidy up: Remove the dirt, stains & unwanted material
Mop up: Use a mop (towel or sponge) to remove liquid from the floor.
Build on: Construct an additional part of to the house, to add more space/rooms/etc…
Turn on: Give (lamp/TV) power, to start
Put up: Attach (a picture, or other object) to the wall to hang
Turn off: Cause the power of (lamp/tv) to stop
Take down: Remove (a picture or object) from the wall
Stock up: Buy a lot of something (food, drink, etc) to fill the refrigerator or pantry.
Put on: Get dressed
Put on (music): Turn on the radio or some music
Put on: Put (the pot/kettle/etc…) on the stove
Put out: Extinguish/ to make a fire stop working

Phrasal Verbs List for Party

List of phrasal verbs for Party in English:

Blow up: Fill something with air or gas
Turn up: Increase the amount of sound, heat, or light of a machine
Blow out: Use your breath to make a flame stop burning
Pull off: Succeed in doing something that is difficult
Go out: Leave home and go somewhere, especially to do something enjoyable
Dress up: Put on formal clothes for a special occasion
Hang out: Spend time relaxing, usually with friends
Pick up: Meet someone at their home to go somewhere, often in a car
Eat out: Eat in a restaurant

Phrasal Verbs for Driving

List of phrasal verbs for Driving in English:

Back up: Make a car go backwards
Buckle up: Fasten your seat belt in a car, plane etc.
Cut off: Block someone’s way
Drive by: Do something out of a car
Fill up: Put gasoline in the car until it’s completely full
Get out of: Leave
Pull over: Stop on the side of the road
Run over: Hit something/someone with a car and drive over them
Slow down: To decrease speed; to go slower
Turn off: Stop a piece of equipment working temporarily by pressing a button
Pull in: Move to the side of the road
Pull out: Move away from the side of the road, etc.
Run into: Crash into somebody/something
Knock down: Hit somebody and make them fall to the ground
Pick up: Take someone in vehicle

Phrasal Verbs List for Education

List of useful phrasal verbs for Education in English:

Be into: Be interested in sth in active way
Take up: Start doing a new activity
Fall behind: Make less progress than other people
Catch up: Improve and reach the same standard as other people
Go over: Check something carefully
Go over: Practise and repeat something in order to learn it
Read up on: Study something by reading a lot about it
Hand in/turn in: Give your finished work to a teacher
Hand out: give things to the members of a group
Copy out: Write sth again exactly as it was written
Drop out: Leave school without finishing your studies

Phrasal Verbs List for Work

List of common phrasal verbs for Work in English:

Burn out: Be extremely tired
Call off: Cancel
Carry out: Do a particular piece of work, research etc
Draw up: Prepare something in writing, especially an official document
Fill in for: To do somebody’s job for a short time while they are not there
Hand in: Give something to a person in authority
Knock off: Stop working
Knuckle down: Start working harder
Lay off: Stop employing someone because there is not enough work for them to do
Run by: Tell someone about an idea or plan so that they can give you their opinion
Slack off: Do something with less energy and effort than is usual or necessary
Take on: Employ someone
Take over: Take control of something
Work out: To develop in a successful way

Phrasal Verbs for Health

List of phrasal verbs for Health in English:

Get over: Recover from something
Pass away: Die
Run over: Hit by a vehicle
Break out: Develop skin sores or irritation
Fight off: Resist an illness
Come to: Become conscious
Pass out: Faint, lose consciousness
Come down with: Become sick (not seriously)
Throw up: Be sick, vomit
Work out: Train the body by physical exercise
Warm up: Begin a physical activity gradually
Block up: Stop something from moving through something else
Lay (laid) up: Unable to work, etc. because of an illness or injury
Swell up: Become large, inflated, or bulging
Clog up: Become or cause to become obstructed
Dose up (UK): Give medicine to
Lay low: Render someone unable to move or leave their bed
Let up: Become less strong or stop
Come round: Become conscious
Shake off: Shake something in order to get something off of it

Phrasal Verbs for Idea and Innovation

Phrasal verbs list for Idea and Innovation in English:

Think up: Invent or to imagine something; to produce a new idea
Come up with: Think of or suggest an idea, plan, or solution
Start over: Begin again
Figure out: Think about somebody/something until you understand them/it

Phrasal Verbs for Money

List of phrasal verbs for Money in English:

Pay off: Finish paying money owed for something
Fork out: Spend a lot of money on something, especially unwillingly
Run up: Create lots of debt
Rip off: Charge too much
Save up: Not spend money
Put aside: Save an amount of money
Squirrel away: Put something away in a secret place, especially money
Pay back: Give someone the same amount of money that you borrowed from them
Splash out: buy something expensive
Put down: Pay part of the cost of something
Come into: To be left money by somebody who has died

Phrasal Verbs for Sleep

List of phrasal verbs for Sleep in English:

Wake up: Stop sleeping
Get up: Stop sleeping and leave bed
Lie down: Rest on your back
Sleep in: Sleep longer than wanted
Drop off: Fall asleep easily, without intending to
Sleep over: Sleep at a friend’s house
Lie in: Stay in bed after the time you usually get up
Stay up: Go to bed later than usual
Go off: Ring
Sleep through: sleep continuously for a long time
Sleep on it: Delay making a decision until the following day
Doze off: Go to sleep especially when you did not intend to

Phrasal Verbs for Problems

List of phrasal verbs for Problems in English:

Talk over: Discuss a problem with someone before deciding what to do
Wrestle with: Try to understand or find a solution to a difficult problem
Run up against: Deal with unexpected problems or a difficult opponent
Think through: Think carefully about the possible results of something
Sort out: Solve a problem or situation
Knuckle down: Begin to work hard at something
Run into problems: Start to experience difficulties
Deal with: Take the necessary action, especially in order to solve a problem

Phrasal Verbs about Crime

List of common phrasal verbs for Crime in English:

Break into: Enter a building or car by using force, in order to steal something
Break out of: Escape from a prison
Tip off: Warn somebody about something that is going to happen, especially something illegal
Stake out: Watch a place secretly, especially for signs of illegal activity
Bring in: Bring somebody to a police station in order to ask them questions or arrest them
Lock up: Put someone in prison

Phrasal Verbs for Environment

List of useful phrasal verbs for Environment in English:

Wipe out: Destroy something completely
Break down: Decompose, when something slowly reduces to its smallest parts
Scale back: Make something smaller in size, amount, etc. than it used to be
Used up: Exhaust of strength or useful properties
Throw away: Get rid of something that you no longer want or need
Run out of: Finish the supply of something
Die out: Stop existing
Spread out: Cover a large area
Rely on: Need or depend on somebody/something
Cut down: Kill trees

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