Separable Phrasal Verbs

The object may come after the following phrasal verbs or it may separate the two
parts:
You have to do this paint job over.
You have to do over this paint job.

When the object of the following phrasal verbs is a pronoun, the two parts of the
phrasal verb must be separated:

You have to do it over.

Verb Meaning Example
blow up explode The terrorists tried to blow up the railroad station.
My mother brought up that little matter of my prison
bring up mention a topic
record again.
bring up raise children It isn't easy to bring up children nowadays.
call off cancel They called off this afternoon's meeting
do over repeat a job Do this homework over.
fill out complete a form Fill out this application form and mail it in.
fill up fill to capacity She filled up the grocery cart with free food.
My sister found out that her husband had been planning a
find out discover
surprise party for her.
give something to
give
someone else for The filling station was giving away free gas.
away
free
give My brother borrowed my car. I have a feeling he's not
return an object
back about to give it back.
submit something
hand in The students handed in their papers and left the room.
(assignment)
put something on
hang up She hung up the phone before she hung up her clothes.
hook or receiver
I hate to hold up the meeting, but I have to go to the
hold up delay
bathroom.
hold up Three masked gunmen held up the Security Bank this
rob
(2) afternoon.
You left out the part about the police chase down Asylum
leave out omit
Avenue.
The lawyers looked over the papers carefully before
look
examine, check questioning the witness.
over
(They looked them over carefully.)
look up search in a list You've misspelled this word again. You'd better look it up.
She knew she was in trouble, so she made up a story about
make up invent a story or lie
going to the movies with her friends.
He was so far away, we really couldn't make out what he
make out hear, understand
was saying.
There were three men in the line-up. She picked out the
pick out choose
guy she thought had stolen her purse.
lift something off The crane picked up the entire house. (Watch
pick up
something else them pick itup.)
As we drove through Paris, Francoise pointed out the
point out call attention to
major historical sites.
We put away money for our retirement. She put away the
put away save or store
cereal boxes.
We asked the boss to put off the meeting until tomorrow.
put off postpone
(Please put it off for another day.)
put clothing on the
put on I put on a sweater and a jacket. (I put them on quickly.)
body
The firefighters put out the house fire before it could
put out extinguish
spread. (They put it out quickly.)
read I read over the homework, but couldn't make any sense of
peruse
over it.
My wife set up the living room exactly the way she
set up to arrange, begin
wanted it. She set it up.
take These are your instructions. Write them down before you
make a written note
down forget.
take off remove clothing It was so hot that I had to take off my shirt.
We have serious problems here. Let's talk them over like
talk over discuss
adults.
throw
discard That's a lot of money! Don't just throw it away.
away
put clothing on to She tried on fifteen dresses before she found one she
try on
see if it fits liked.
I tried out four cars before I could find one that pleased
try out test
me.
turn
lower volume Your radio is driving me crazy! Please turn it down.
down
turn reject He applied for a promotion twice this year, but he
down (2) wasturned down both times.
turn up raise the volume Grandpa couldn't hear, so he turned up his hearing aid.
switch off
turn off We turned off the lights before anyone could see us.
electricity
turn off
repulse It was a disgusting movie. It really turned me off.
(2)
switch on the
turn on Turn on the CD player so we can dance.
electricity
exhaust, use The gang members used up all the money and went out to
use up
completely rob some more banks.

Inseparable Phrasal Verbs (Transitive)

With the following phrasal verbs, the lexical part of the verb (the part of the phrasal
verb that carries the "verb-meaning") cannot be separated from the prepositions (or
other parts) that accompany it: "Who will look after my estate when I'm gone?"
Verb Meaning Example
call on ask to recite in class The teacher called on students in the back row.
The old minister continued to call on his sick
call on (2) visit
parishioners.
recover from
I got over the flu, but I don't know if I'll ever get
get over sickness or
overmy broken heart.
disappointment
The students went over the material before the
go over review
exam. They should have gone over it twice.
They country went through most of its coal
go through use up; consume reserves in one year. Did he go through all his
money already?
My mother promised to look after my dog while I
look after take care of
was gone.
The police will look into the possibilities of
look into investigate
embezzlement.
I ran across my old roommate at the college
run across find by chance
reunion.
run into meet Carlos ran into his English professor in the hallway.
take after resemble My second son seems to take after his mother.
wait on serve It seemed strange to see my old boss wait on tables.

Three-Word Phrasal Verbs (Transitive)

With the following phrasal verbs, you will find three parts: "My brother dropped out
of school before he could graduate."
Verb Meaning Example
interrupt (a I was talking to Mom on the phone when the
break in on
conversation) operator broke in on our call.
After our month-long trip, it was time to catch up with the
catch up with keep abreast
neighbors and the news around town.
examine, The boys promised to check up on the condition of the
check up on
investigate summer house from time to time.
to contribute
After years of giving nothing, the old parishioner was able
come up with (suggestion,
to come up with a thousand-dollar donation.
money)
curtail We tried to cut down on the money we were spending on
cut down on
(expenses) entertainment.
I hope none of my students drop out of school this
drop out of leave school
semester.
have a good
get along I found it very hard to get along with my brother when we
relationship
with were young.
with
get away Janik cheated on the exam and then tried to get away
escape blame
with withit.
The citizens tried to get rid of their corrupt mayor in the
get rid of eliminate
recent election.
get through
finish When will you ever get through with that program?
with
maintain pace It's hard to keep up with the Joneses when you lose your
keep up with
with job!
look forward anticipate with
I always look forward to the beginning of a new semester.
to pleasure
look down It's typical of a jingoistic country that the citizens look
despise
on down on their geographical neighbors.
visit We were going to look in on my brother-in-law, but he
look in on
(somebody) wasn't home.
be careful, Good instructors will look out for early signs of failure in
look out for
anticipate their students
look up to respect First-graders really look up to their teachers.
Make sure of the student's identity before you let him into
make sure of verify
the classroom.
The teacher had to put up with a great deal of nonsense
put up with tolerate
from the new students.
run out of exhaust supply The runners ran out of energy before the end of the race.
be responsible My oldest sister took care of us younger children after
take care of
for Mom died.
answer The star player talked back to the coach and was thrown
talk back to
impolitely off the team.
think back on recall I often think back on my childhood with great pleasure.
walk out on abandon Her husband walked out on her and their three children.

Intransitive Phrasal Verbs

The following phrasal verbs are not followed by an object: "Once you leave home, you
can never really go back again."
Verb Meaning Example
That old Jeep had a tendency to break down just when I
break down stop functioning
needed it the most.
Popular songs seem to catch on in California first and
catch on become popular
then spread eastward.
Father promised that we would never come back to this
come back return to a place
horrible place.
They tried to come in through the back door, but it was
come in enter
locked.
regain He was hit on the head very hard, but after several
come to
consciousness minutes, he started to come to again.
come over to visit The children promised to come over, but they never do.
visit without We used to just drop by, but they were never home, so we
drop by
appointment stopped doing that.
dine in a When we visited Paris, we loved eating out in the
eat out
restaurant sidewalk cafes.
Uncle Heine didn't have much money, but he always
get by survive seemed to get by without borrowing money from
relatives.
Grandmother tried to get up, but the couch was too low,
get up arise
and she couldn't make it on her own.
It's hard to imagine that we will ever go back to
go back return to a place
Lithuania.
He would finish one Dickens novel and then just go on to
go on continue
the next.
The cops heard all the noise and stopped to see what
go on (2) happen
wasgoing on.
grow up get older Charles grew up to be a lot like his father.
remain at a The judge warned the stalker to keep away from his
keep away
distance victim's home.
keep on
continue with the He tried to keep on singing long after his voice was
(with
same ruined.
gerund)
lose
He had drunk too much; he passed out on the sidewalk
pass out consciousness,
outside the bar.
faint
demonstrate Whenever he sat down at the piano, we knew he was
show off
haughtily going to show off.
Day after day, Efrain showed up for class twenty minutes
show up arrive
late.
arouse from
wake up I woke up when the rooster crowed.
sleep
Many of these verbs and definitions (but by no means all) are adopted from Grammar Context by
Sandra N. Elbaum. Second Edition, Book 2. (Heinle & Heinle Publishers, Boston, 1996.) The
examples are our own.

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