A phrasal verb is a verb plus a small word that changes its meaning entirely. Give means one thing; give up means something completely different. There is no shortcut but the good news is that a few dozen cover most conversation.
Around people
- get along — to have a good relationship. "I get along with my manager."
- catch up — to talk after time apart. "Let's catch up next week."
- drop by — visit briefly. "I'll drop by after work."
- run into — meet by chance. "I ran into an old classmate."
- put up with — tolerate. "I can't put up with that noise."
At work
- carry out — perform a task. "We carried out a survey."
- follow up — check on progress. "I'll follow up tomorrow."
- sort out — resolve. "Let me sort out the billing issue."
- take on — accept work. "She took on two more projects."
- put off — postpone. "They put off the meeting."
Daily life
- run out of — have none left. "We ran out of milk."
- turn up / turn down — raise or lower volume.
- get up — leave your bed.
- look after — take care of. "I look after my grandmother."
- throw away — discard.
Talking and thinking
- bring up — mention a topic. "He brought up the budget."
- figure out — understand after effort. "I figured out the problem."
- point out — draw attention to. "She pointed out my mistake."
- come up with — invent. "We came up with a plan."
- find out — discover. "I found out yesterday."
How to learn them
Do not study the list. Pick three, use each in a real sentence about your own life today, and return tomorrow for three more. Twenty phrasal verbs used once each beat two hundred read passively.
