75 ESSENTIAL PHRASAL VERBS (INTERMEDIATE)
AGREE WITH - estar de acuerdo - "All women are bad drivers." "I don't agree with you."
ASK FOR – pedir, preguntar por – The workers asked for higher wages.
BE ABOUT TO - estar a punto de -I was about to leave the house when my friends arrived.
BE BACK - regresar -I'm working late at the office tonight so I won't be back until 10.
BE OUT OF - quedarse sin - We're out of eggs so we can't make a tortilla.
BE OVER - terminarse - When the football match was over, we went to the pub.
BE UP - estar levantado - "Phil isn't up yet: he's still in bed. Phone again in ten minutes."
BLOW UP - estallar (una bomba) - The bomb blew up killing six people.
BLOW UP - inflar - We blew up at least a hundred balloons for the Christmas party.
BREAK DOWN - averiarse - My car broke down on the way to Motril.
BREAK UP – romper completamente (relationships) - My sister and her boyfriend broke up
last summer.
BRING UP – educar – My father was brought up in a severe boarding school.
BRING ABOUT – provocar, causar (accident) The accident brought about a terrible traffic
jam.
CALL BACK - volver a llamar - "I'm afraid the manager isn't here at the moment. Could you
call back later?"
CALL ON – visitar, ir a ver, invitar – Now I call on Mr Smith to say a few words.
CARRY ON - seguir. continuar - I'm sorry if I interrupted you. Please carry on.
CARRY OUT - cumplir (una promesa) - The President carried out his promise to reduce
taxation.
CARRY OUT - llevar a cabo - The execution was carried out at seven o'clock in the
morning.
CATCH ON – entender, darse cuenta – Did you catch on her words?
CATCH UP WITH – poner al día – You should catch up with your English notebook.
CHECK IN – facturar el equipaje (airports) You must check in before 11.30 am.
CLEAR UP - poner en orden - It took four hours to clear up after the party.
COME ACROSS – encontrarse, toparse, dar con - I came across an old friend on the metro
in Madrid.
COME BACK - regresar - I'm going to England for two weeks. I'm coming back on the fifth.
COME IN - entrar - "Good morning. Come in and sit down."
COME ON - ¡Vamos!, ¡Date prisa! - Come on. We're going to be late.
COME OVER – hacer una visita – Come over and see us when you like.
CUT DOWN ON - consumir menos - You must cut down on cholesterol or you'll have a
heart attack.
CUT OFF - cortar, desconnectar - When we didn't pay the bill, the electricity was cut off.
CUT UP - cortar en pedazos - We cut up the birthday cake and gave everyone a slice.
DO UP - abrochar, atar - I was five before I knew how to do up my shoelaces.
DO WITH - tener algo que ver con, tener relación con - "What's MS DOS?" "It's got
something to do with computers."
DO WITHOUT - pasarse sin, prescindir de - The shops are shut so we'll have to do without
sugar.
DRAW UP - pararse - The car drew up at the zebra crossing.
FADE AWAY – desvanecerse, marchitarse. The flowers faded away in a few days.
FALL OUT – reñir, pelearse – Let´s not fall out over this!
GO AHEAD - ¡Siga! ¡Adelante! - "Can I use the telephone?" "Yes, go ahead."
GO AWAY - irse, marcharse - Are you going away for Christmas, or are you staying at
home.
GO BACK - volver, regresar - Although she's forty, she's going back to University to study
French.
GO DOWN - bajar - The price of fruit goes down in the summer.
GO OUT - salir (por la calle) - I always go out and have a few drinks on Saturday night.
GO UP - subir - The price of cigarettes went up in January 1992.
HANG ON/HOLD ON - esperar - Hold on for a minute as Pablo will be back in five minute.
HANG UP - colgar (el teléfono) - My ex-girlfriend hung up when I phoned her.
JOIN IN – participar – I joined in the debate but my sister didn´t.
KEEP AWAY – mantener a distancia – Keep plastic bags away from children.
KEEP UP WITH - mantenerse (a la altura de) - I can't keep up with my father when we go
cycling as he goes too fast.
KNOCK OUT – dejar sin conocimiento (boxing) eliminar (sports) Spain was knocked out at
semifinals.
KNOCK DOWN - derribar, atropear, demoler - My grandfather's old house was knocked
down and a bank was built.
LEAVE BEHIND - olvidar, dejar - When I got to the airport, I realised I had left my passport
behind.
LEAVE OUT – Omitir – Leave out the relative when it is possible.
LET DOWN – decepcionar, defraudar – Please, don´t let me down again!
LET IN - dejar entrar - She opened the door and let in the cat.
MAKE UP – hacer las paces. We kissed and made up.
MOVE AWAY – alejarse, apartarse, mudarse de casa. We moved away because our
neighbours were very noisy.
MOVE FORWARD – moverse hacia adelante – We had to move forward when our names
were named.
PASS BY – pasar – She watched the people passing by.
PICK UP – recoger, coger – The children picked up some oranges.
PULL DOWN – derribar, tirar abajo – They pulled down the old supermarket and built their
new factory last year.
SET OFF - ponerse en camino - We set off to Madrid at five o'clock to avoid the traffic.
SEND DOWN – expulsar (school) – The student was sent down because of his bad
behaviour.
SEND OFF – expulsar (football) – The referee whitled penalty and sent off the goalkeeper.
STAND DOWN – Retirarse, dimitir – The scandal made the minister stand down.
STAND OUT – destacar, sobresalir – My eldest brother always stands out in Maths.
STAND BACK – apartarse, echarse para atrás – The woman stood back and let me in.
STAND BY – respaldar, apoyar, defender, no abandonar – You should always stand by your
family. / Stand by me (pop songs). No hacer nada. Modo “espera” – When you switch off the
television with your remote control, the television is not totally off , it is in standby mode.
STAND UP – ponerse de pie – They all stood up when the judge came into the room.
STAND FOR – significar, querer decir – What does NATO stand for?
STAY IN – quedarse en casa, no salir – I don´t want to go out today, I prefer to stay in.
SUM UP – resumir, hacer un resumen, sintetizar. To sum up, I would like to thank you your
attention and patience in all our meetings.
SWITCH OVER – cambiar de canal – Switch over and see another programme.
THROW AWAY - tirar (en la basura) - Don't throw these papers away: they're important.
TELL OFF – echar la bronca – My father told me off when he saw my marks.
TRY ON – probarse ropa – Excuse me, could I try this shirt on, please?
USE UP – gastar, acabar – We have used up all the wood!
