Exercises for this card
Complete them: results are saved and count towards Analysis and Progress.
A2 · ⑮ Phrasal verbs
Phrasal verbs
Thousands of them, but the particles repeat — and only one grammar rule really matters.
50minthe whole
sheet
36questions
in the practice
3pages,
one at a time
01 · First page · grouped by particle, not by verb
The families
up · finishing, completely
eat updrink upuse upgive upwake up
out · outwards, or to the end
go outfind outrun out ofsort outwork out
off · separating, leaving
take offturn offset offput offget off
on · continuing, connecting
carry onget on withput onturn oncount on
down · reducing, writing
turn downslow downwrite downbreak downcalm down
back · returning
come backcall backgive backpay backlook back
phrasal verb: A phrasal verb is a verb plus a small word that changes its meaning: look means one thing, look after means another, look for a third. The two words behave as one, and the meaning of the pair is rarely the sum of its parts.
separable: A separable phrasal verb lets the object sit either after the particle or between the two words: turn on the light or turn the light on. Both are correct, and you will hear both.
the pronoun rule: This is the one rule with no exceptions: if the object is a pronoun — it, them, him, her — it MUST go in the middle. turn it on, never turn on it. A noun may stand on either side, but a pronoun has only one place.
- Turn the light on.
- Turn it on.
- I gave up smoking.
- She looks after her mother.
- We ran out of milk.
| With a noun | With a pronoun | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Noun object | Pronoun object |
| separable · turn on | turn on the TV / turn the TV on | turn it on |
| inseparable · look after | look after the baby | look after her |
| three words · look forward to | look forward to the trip | look forward to it |
| no object at all · break down | The car broke down. | — |
Golden rule
Learn the particle, not just the pair. up often means finishing something completely, out means outwards or to the end, off means separating, back means returning. The particle will not give you the exact meaning, but it will stop the whole thing feeling random — and it makes a new phrasal verb guessable instead of blank.
Phrasal verbs are the everyday register. In speech people say put off, in a formal report they write postpone. Both are correct English, but choosing the formal word in a conversation sounds stiff, and choosing the phrasal verb in a contract sounds careless. Learn both and pick by the situation.
02 · Second page · the ones you will actually use
The uses
Everyday routine
The ones that fill an ordinary morning. Learn these before any others.
wake upget upget dressedset offget on the bus
Technology
Switching things on and off, and what happens when they stop working.
turn on / offplug incharge upbreak downlog in
Arranging and cancelling
The vocabulary of a calendar: postponing, cancelling, turning up.
put offcall offturn upshow upsort out
People
Relationships and how they go: getting on, splitting up, looking after.
get on withlook aftersplit upfall out withgrow up
A noun may move
With a separable verb the noun can go in the middle or at the end. Both sound natural.
Take your coat off.Take off your coat.
A pronoun cannot
The pronoun always goes in the middle. This one has no exceptions at all.
Take it off.Turn them on.not: take off it
Some never split
look after, get on with, run out of and all three-word verbs stay together.
look after herrun out of itget on with them
Some take no object
break down, grow up, turn up, set off need nothing after them.
The car broke down.He didn't turn up.
One verb, five meanings: the case of get
get is the busiest verb in the language, and with a particle it becomes five different verbs. get up is leaving your bed. get on is climbing onto a bus, and get on with is having a good relationship. get over is recovering from an illness or a shock. get off is leaving a bus or a train. get by is managing with just enough. None of these can be worked out from get on its own — which is exactly why phrasal verbs are learned as whole units, never as a verb plus a translated preposition.
🌍 For everyone
Both languages place the pronoun before the verb (lo spengo, wyłączam go), and English does the opposite: it goes after the verb and before the particle. turn it off is the shape to drill, because the instinct puts the pronoun in the wrong place twice over.
Lo spengo. → I turn it off.
A three-word phrasal verb never splits: look forward to it, get on with them, run out of it. The object always goes at the end, whether it is a noun or a pronoun. That makes them easier than the two-word ones, not harder.
Turn on it. → Turn it on.
A pronoun object always goes between the verb and the particle.
I'm looking after for my keys. → I'm looking for my keys.
look for is searching; look after is taking care of somebody.
She looks after of her mother. → She looks after her mother.
look after is already complete: nothing goes between it and the object.
I look forward to see you. → I look forward to seeing you.
Here to is a preposition, so the verb after it takes -ing.
We ran out the milk. → We ran out of milk.
run out of is a three-word verb: the of is part of it.
He got on well the new manager. → He got on well with the new manager.
get on with keeps its with when there is a person involved.
- Could you turn the music down?
- Don't put it off any longer.
- I get on well with my colleagues.
- The meeting was called off.
03 · Third page · now it's your turn
Exercises
Ask Nova
Something unclear? Ask a question about this card.