A phrasal verb is a combination of a basic verb and one or two more words that together form a new phrase. This phrase, the phrasal verb, is a unit by itself and usually has a different meaning from that of the basic verb. The words that follow the basic verb are called particles, and they are either a preposition or an adverb, which is a word that describes a verb. A few examples of phrasal verbs are go over, look into, cut back on, and look forward to.

When It Comes to Phrasal Verbs, There Are 3 Possible Combinations

1. Verb+preposition. For example, I’ve just picked up my brother from the airport. Pick is a verb and up is a preposition.
2. Verb+adverb. For example, she pulled back the hair from her face. Pull is a verb and back is an adverb.
3. Verb+adverb+preposition. For example, I’m looking forward to meeting you. Look is a verb, forward is an adverb, and to is a preposition.

Phrasal Verbs vs. Regular Verb and Preposition Combinations

Phrasal verbs are not regular verb and preposition combinations. When it comes to phrasal verbs, the preposition or adverb that follows the verb is considered an inseparable part of it.

For example, if I say, I need to hang these pictures on the living room wall, the preposition on adds information about where I need to hang these pictures. It’s not part of the verb. I can also break it down and say, I need to hang these pictures. I’ll do it on the living room wall.

But if I tell you, please hang on for a minute, I’ll be quick, in this case, the preposition on IS part of the verb. It is, in fact, a particle, that together with the basic verb hang, forms a new meaning. The phrasal verb hang on means to wait.

Or let’s say that you take your dog out for a walk and when you get back to your building, she follows you up the stairs, which means that she’s walking behind you. Again, in this case, the verb follow and the preposition up do not make an inseparable unit. I can simply say, my dog follows me when we climb the stairs. The preposition up is not an integral part of the sentence.

But the phrasal verb to follow up is one unit and means to pursue in an effort to take further action. For example, an ad about a sales course could say something along the lines of, this course will teach you how to follow up efficiently after you've captured leads off of your website.

Let’s Look at Some More Examples

Let’s take the verb look, attach different prepositions to it, and see what happens.

The original meaning of the verb look is to direct one's gaze toward someone or something or in a specified direction.

If we take the verb look and attach the word back to it, we get a slightly different meaning. To look back is to reconsider something from the past. For example, looking back on those days, we had a very happy life.

Now, let’s attach the adverb down and the preposition on to the verb look. To look down on is to think of or treat (someone or something) as unimportant or not worthy of respect. For example, she looks down on me because of my lack of experience.

To look out for. That means to take care of somebody and make sure that they’re well. For example, we look out for each other as if we were family.

To look forward to. That means to anticipate with pleasure or satisfaction. For example, she’s looking forward to your visit.

To look into. That means to explore, to investigate. For example, investigators are looking into the cause of the accident.

So you see how we took the verb look, attached different prepositions to it, and got a different meaning every time? These are phrasal verbs.

Here Are a Few More That I’m Sure You’ve Encountered Before

Why are you bringing up this topic?

I’ll go up to him and introduce myself.

I was trying to keep up but he was talking way too fast.

You have to get over your fear of public speaking

We might have to back out of the deal.

I had to call in the big guns.

This feeling of exhaustion has come out of nowhere.

I have to figure out what to do about it.

Are we allowed to let him in?

I’m freaking out right now. What am I supposed to do?

What can I do to make him open up to me?

We were successful in getting our message across.

It turns out that I don’t need to retake the test.

Why Are Phrasal Verbs So Confusing?

1. Phrasal verbs can be random

Sometimes the meaning of a phrasal verb is transparent and easy to understand, but more often than not, it seems random and illogical.

For example, the meaning of to sit down is pretty straightforward – to move from a standing position to a sitting position.

But to take off, which means to leave the ground and rise into the air, is a bit less intuitive, e.g., the plane took off at 7 AM.

2. Knowing just the meaning of the basic verb is not enough

You may know the meaning of many verbs in English, but when it comes to phrasal verbs, it’s not enough. We simply can’t understand the phrasal verb based on the basic verb itself, especially since verbs can come with many different particles.

3. One phrasal verb can have different meanings

One phrasal verb can have different meanings in different contexts, making them all the more confusing. For example, the phrasal verb to work out can have four different meanings as given below.

1. To plan, devise, or think about something carefully or in detail. For example, we still need to work out the details of the procedure.
2. It also means to exercise. For example, he works out at the gym five times a week.
3. The third meaning of to work out is to happen or develop in a particular way. For example, everything worked out well in the end.
4. Lastly, to work out means to prove to be successful. For example, despite our efforts, it just didn’t work out.

Common Business Phrasal Verbs (With Meanings and Examples)

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example Sentence
Aim for	To make something a goal or target.	We are aiming for a 50% share of the market.
Ask around	To ask multiple people to find the answer to something.	Could you please ask around and find out what’s causing this problem?
Back out	To withdraw from a commitment.	If he backs out of the deal, they'll sue him.
Bail out of	To stop doing or being involved in something, especially to avoid failure or difficulty.	Unfortunately, we had to bail out of the deal. We didn’t have the manpower to complete it.
Bank on	To count on or depend on something happening.	We’re banking on the new feature to be a success.
Block off	If you block off time in your schedule, you keep that time free.	Please make sure you block off a big chunk of time to work on this project.
Bottom out	To reach the lowest or worst point, usually before beginning to rise or improve.	Real estate prices seem to have bottomed out, and sellers can expect to get higher prices in coming months.
Branch out	To start to do something different from what you usually do.	The company specializes in casual clothing but it is branching out into formal wear.
Break down	To break down something, such as an idea or statement, means to separate it into smaller parts in order to make it easier to understand or deal with.	The report breaks down the results region by region.
Break into	To begin working in a new business or a new area.	It’s tough to break into the vacation rental market right now.
Bring/push forward	To move a deadline or agreed time closer to now.	Do you mind if we bring/push our meeting forward from 11:00 to 9:00 AM?
Bring up	To begin a discussion about a topic.	She said that the issue would be brought up again at the next company meeting.
Burn out	To become completely exhausted through overwork.	If you continue to work as hard as you do, you’ll burn yourself out.
Buy out	To buy a large enough portion of a company to take control of it.	Many companies buy out their competitors to increase their market share.
Call for	To demand or need something.	The shareholders are calling for the CEO’s resignation.
Call off	To cancel.	I’m afraid I have to call off our team meeting tomorrow.
Carry on	To continue.	He moved to Los Angeles to carry on with his work.
Carry out	If you carry out a threat, task, or instruction, you do it or act according to it.	Commitments have been made with very little intention of carrying them out.
Cash in on	To take advantage of.	Although the market crash left many people with overpriced mortgages, some savvy homeowners cashed in on the chance to purchase property at rock-bottom prices.
Catch up (with)	To reach the same quality or standard as someone or something else.	Will Western industry ever catch up with Japanese innovations?
Check in with	To talk with someone in order to report or find out new information.	I have to go to a meeting now, but I'll check in with you later.
Chip away	To gradually make something weaker, smaller, or less effective.	The company’s dominance of the market is gradually being chipped away.
Chip in	To give some money, especially when several people are giving money to pay for something together.	Everyone chipped in for the gift.
Close down	To permanently stop a business, or part of a business.	Many businesses had to close down due to the introduction of a new round of coronavirus restrictions.
Come across	a) To give other people a certain feeling or opinion. b) To meet someone, or to find something by chance.	a) A lot depends on how well you come across in the interview. b) I came across a word I’d never seen before.
Come up	To happen.	I’m deeply sorry, but something unexpected has come up and we won’t make our deadline.
Come up with	To suggest or think of an idea or plan.	She's come up with some amazing scheme to double her income.
Contract out to	To agree by contract to pay someone outside an organization to perform a job.	We’re going to contract our website design out to an Indian company.
Cut back	To reduce the amount or quantity of something, especially expenditure.	They've cut back on costs.
Deal with	To handle a problem.	He’s good at dealing with pressure.
Draw up	To prepare and write something such as a document or plan.	They instructed an attorney to draw up a sales agreement.
Drop by	To visit.	Drop by whenever you’re in the neighborhood.
Fall through	To fail or stop in a sudden or final way.	Contract negotiations have fallen through.
Fill in for	To temporarily replace something or someone.	The supervisor is forbidden by the union contract to fill in for an employee who is on a break.
Fill out	To complete or put details into a form or survey.	Could you please take the time to fill out our customer survey?
Find out	To discover a fact or piece of information.	I don’t want anyone else to find out about this.
Go over	To consider, examine, or check something.	I want to go over these plans with you again.
Hold off on	To postpone something until a later date.	They will need to hold off on the release of their new phone until they fix the battery.
Hone in on	To give all your attention to something.	Let’s hone in on a solution to our customer churn problem.
Join in on	To take part in an activity.	Could you please ask your assistant to join in on the meeting?
Keep up with	To do something or move at an acceptable rate, or at the same rate as someone or something else.	They pioneered the product, but now they have to keep up with the competition as regards innovation and price.
Lay off	To fire.	She was laid off along with many others when the company moved to New York.
Level off	To stop rising or falling and become steady.	Inflation has begun to level off.
Look forward to	To feel excited about something that is going to happen.	I’m looking forward to finally meeting you in person.
Look into	To research to find more information.	I wrote a letter of complaint, and the airline have promised to look into the matter.
Look through	To examine or read briefly.	The team and I quickly looked through your proposal.
Look up to	To admire and respect someone.	Do you look up to your boss?
Make up for	To compensate for something.	The office needs to make up for being closed last week.
Note down	To write something quickly to use again later.	I noted down some ideas for you.
Pencil in	To make flexible plans for something that can still change.	Could we pencil in next Thursday at 12:00 PM for your interview?
Pick up	To increase or improve after a period of slow or no results.	Sales have really picked up since last August.
Point out	To bring attention to something.	He was quick to point our mistake out.
Pull out	To stop doing something or being a part of something.	The project became so expensive that we had to pull out.
Push back	To postpone or delay an event.	The show's start time has been pushed back 10 minutes.
Put off	To delay.	They can't put off a decision much longer.
Put together	To prepare a piece of work by collecting several ideas and suggestions and organizing them.	The board is putting together a plan to rescue the company.
Report back	To return to a boss or superior person with new information found.	It’s part of your job to report back any issues you find within the company’s servers.
Run by	If you run something by someone, you tell them about it or mention it to see if they think it is a good idea or can understand it.	Can I run a few ideas by you?
Run out of	To not have any more of something.	The startup is starting to run out of money.
Sell out	To sell all of the supply that you have of something.	We sold out of the tickets for the live event in the first couple of hours.
Set up	a) To start a business. b) To organize or plan something.	a) The group plans to set up an import business. b) I’ll set up a meeting for Thursday.
Shop around	To compare prices and products at different places before buying.	She is shopping around for a bank with low fees.
Sign off on	To approve something officially.	Both sides signed off on a legally binding agreement last month.
Sign up	To agree to receive or to do something.	Many website companies want their site’s visitors to sign up for a newsletter.
Sort out	To fix or solve a problem.	The company had to recall all the phones to sort out the battery problem.
Spell out	To explain in plain and simple terms.	Certain tech companies need to really spell out their product’s advantages to customers.
Step down	To resign or leave a job.	The chairman was forced to step down due to mismanagement.
Step up	To try or work harder.	Our company needs to step it up if we want to compete with Google.
Take off	To become highly successful or popular quickly.	Her business has really taken off.
Take on	To accept or agree to deal with.	The boss thinks that you’ve taken on too much work and wants me to help you.
Take over	To begin to have control of or responsibility for something.	He understands the business and can take over when I’m away.
Talk over	To review or consider in conversation.	Employees had two weeks to talk the proposal over with their families before making a decision.
Tap into	To access some large, abundant, or powerful resource.	In today’s world of work, organizations can tap into talent anywhere in the world.
Team up	To join another person, or form a group with other people, in order to do something together.	They teamed up to get the work done quickly.
Turn down	To refuse to accept or agree to something, or to refuse someone's request.	She turned down my job offer.
Turn to	To ask a person or organization for help or support.	Without someone to turn to for advice, making the most appropriate choice can be difficult.
Venture into	If you venture into an activity, you do something that involves the risk of failure because it is new and different.	He enjoyed little success when he ventured into business.
Weigh up	To think carefully about the advantages and/or disadvantages of a situation before making a decision.	I'm weighing up my options before I decide to apply for the job.
Work out	To find a solution for something.	Negotiators are due to meet later today to work out a compromise.
Wrap up	To complete or finish something.	Let’s wrap up this meeting and get back to work.