Phrasal verbs

Phrasal verbs, Prepositional verbs with special meaning (A-H)Phrase Example
A
agree to I wish she would agree to my proposal.
agree with I agree with him on that point.
ask after Mr. Smith asked after John.
ask in He was asked in.
ask over Yes, you can ask your friend over.
B
back off She was told to back off.
be in Are your parents in?
be off I'm off now.
bear (up) on These facts do not bear on this matter.
bear with Please bear with him for a moment while he tries to put this straight.
beg off I'm sorry, I have to beg off.
black out And then she just blacked out.
blame on Don't blame it on her.
blow up The bomb might have blown up.
( break away
break free
break loose) At last, the hostage could break away from his captors.
break down Finally her sister broke down.
break off I didn't mean to break off anything.
break up Sue and Tim broke up last year.
bring along This year has brought along some significant changes.
bring down (1) Taxes were never brought down.
(2) The president was brought down by this scandal.
bring in My job brings in 400 dollars per week.
bring up (1) She was brought up in Wisconsin.
(2) Why do you have to bring that up?
build up He needs to do some exercises to build himself up.
burst in with She burst in with the bad news.
butt in How can we talk when you keep butting in all the time?
C
call down The teacher called down all the students who were late.
call in He called Kelly in.
call off I had to call off the barbecue because of the bad weather.
calm down Please calm down.
carry on Please carry on with your homework.
catch up (on) I need some time to catch up on that incident.
check out I will check it out.
check up (on) There is no need to check up on me.
clean down My hands were covered with mud, and so I cleaned them down.
clean off Can you clean off the table, please?
clean up Can you clean your room up a little?
clear away Please clear your stuff away.
close down The shop was closed down by the police.
close in (on) She closed in quietly.
close up The restaurant was closed up by the health department.
come around I knew he would come around in the end.
come back Will the good old days ever come back?
come by (1) My aunt came by yesterday.
(2) I hope he came by this money honestly.
come over Why don't you come over next weekend?
cool down / off (1) It began to cool off after the thunderstorm.
(2) Cool down guys!

count (up) on Can we count on you?
cut back (on) I have to cut back on the water usage.
cut out Cut it out!
D
decide (up) on I decided on ice tea.
die off/out That species died out million years ago.
dirty up Don't dirty your pants up!
do in He tried to do his father in.
do over I probably wouldn't do it over.
do up (1) Do up the present quickly.
(2) Please do up your buttons.
do without I guess I will have to do without lunch today.
draw near As the time drew near,...
dress down His father dressed him down again.
drink up Drink up, and let's going.
drive at Well, you must see what I'm driving at.
drive on We drove on till night.
drop by I hope you guys can drop by our house some time.
drop in (on) I can't believe who dropped in on us last night.
drop off You can drop me off at the next red light.
dry out The clothes finally dried out.
E
ease off The storm eased off a little.
eat up Eat up, and let's get going.
edge away The students laughed and edged away from him.
end up When will all this end up?
enter (into) We need more members to enter our team.
even out The surafce of the road was evened out.
even up Can they even up the score tonight?
F
face up (to) You have to face up to challenges.
fall apart The whole thing falls apart.
fall back on
I had to fall back on my savings.
fall behind (in/on)
get behind (in/on) He's falling behind in his car payments.
fall through I hope my party next Saturday doesn't fall through.
fasten up Please fasten up your jacket.
feel for I really feel for you.
fight back (at) It's hard for him to fight back.
fight down I fought down the anger.
figure on I figure on the extra income.
figure out I just can't figure her out.
fill in (1) I better fill the cracks in with something.
(2) Would you fill in the form, please?
fill in (for) I will have to fill in for him till he gets back from his vacation.
fill out Would you fill out the form, please?
fill up (1) The hole filled up with water and had to be pumped.
(2) We will fill up at the next gas station.
finish off Finish off your cup of cofee, please.
finish up I will finish my homework up in a few minutes.
fit in(to) It just doesn't fit in.
fix up Is my bike fixed up yet?
fly in(to) When did you fly in?
fool around Stop fooling around.