Phrasal verbs

A phrasal verb is a verb plus a small word, such as on, off, up, or after. The two words together make the meaning. Get on means step onto a bus. Look after means take care of someone. You cannot guess every one from the separate words, so it helps to learn them as a pair.

Use the sentence column when you write. “Mum dropped me off at school” is clearer than a long explanation. Take off appears twice, because it can mean a plane leaving the ground or removing your shoes. The sentence shows which one it is.

1. Movement & Travel (1–20)

No.	Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example 1	Example 2 (Composition Style)
1	get on	To board a vehicle	Please get on the bus now.	We quickly got on the MRT before the doors closed.
2	get off	To leave a vehicle	Don’t get off the bus yet.	I got off the bus at the wrong stop and got lost.
3	get in	To enter a car or small space	Get in the car quickly.	We got in the taxi and rushed to the airport.
4	get out	To leave a car or enclosed space	Get out of the car carefully.	The children got out of the car and ran to the playground.
5	set off	To start a journey	We set off early in the morning.	My family set off for Malacca at 6 a.m.
6	move in	To start living in a new place	They are going to move in next week.	We moved in to our new flat last month.
7	move out	To leave a place where you live	They decided to move out of their old house.	My uncle moved out and bought his own apartment.
8	go back	To return to a place	I need to go back home now.	After the holiday, we had to go back to school.
9	come back	To return	Please come back before dinner.	The dog ran away but came back after two hours.
10	run away	To escape by running	The thief tried to run away.	The little boy was scared and wanted to run away from home.
11	walk away	To leave a place by walking	He just walked away without saying goodbye.	She walked away from the argument to calm down.
12	drive away	To leave by driving	The car drove away quickly.	We watched the taxi drive away with our luggage.
13	fly away	To leave by flying (birds/planes)	The birds flew away when I got close.	The plane flew away into the clouds.
14	take off	(Plane) to leave the ground	The plane will take off soon.	Our flight took off 30 minutes late.
15	land	(Plane) to come down to the ground	The plane will land in 10 minutes.	We finally landed in Singapore after a long flight.
16	check in	To register at a hotel or airport	We need to check in at the counter.	My family checked in at the hotel before going to our room.
17	check out	To leave a hotel and pay	We will check out at 11 a.m.	We checked out of the hotel and took a taxi to the airport.
18	drop off	To take someone somewhere and leave them	Can you drop me off at the mall?	Dad dropped me off at school before going to work.
19	pick up	To collect someone from a place	I will pick you up after school.	Mum picked me up from tuition class at 7 p.m.
20	head for	To go towards a place	We are heading for the beach.	The family headed for the hawker centre for dinner.

2. Daily Life & Routines (21–40)

No.	Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example 1	Example 2 (Composition Style)
21	get up	To wake up and leave the bed	I usually get up at 6:30 a.m.	I got up early to finish my homework.
22	wake up	To stop sleeping	Please wake up now.	I woke up late and missed the school bus.
23	put on	To wear something	Put on your jacket. It’s cold.	I put on my school uniform and rushed to school.
24	take off	To remove clothing	Please take off your shoes.	I took off my wet clothes after playing in the rain.
25	turn on	To start a machine or light	Can you turn on the fan?	I turned on the light because it was dark.
26	turn off	To stop a machine or light	Don’t forget to turn off the lights.	Before sleeping, I turned off all the lights.
27	switch on	Same as turn on	Please switch on the computer.	I switched on the air-conditioner because it was hot.
28	switch off	Same as turn off	Switch off the TV now.	Mum told me to switch off my phone before dinner.
29	put away	To return something to its place	Please put away your toys.	After playing, I put away all my books neatly.
30	clean up	To make a place tidy	We need to clean up the classroom.	After the party, everyone helped to clean up the house.
31	throw away	To discard something	Don’t throw away the plastic bottles.	I threw away the old toys that I no longer played with.
32	give away	To give something for free	She decided to give away her old clothes.	My mother gave away some old furniture to charity.
33	look for	To search for something	I am looking for my pencil case.	I spent 10 minutes looking for my lost wallet.
34	find out	To discover information	I want to find out who won the competition.	We found out that the school trip was cancelled.
35	eat out	To eat at a restaurant	We sometimes eat out on weekends.	My family ate out at a seafood restaurant last night.
36	eat up	To finish all the food	Please eat up your vegetables.	The hungry boy ate up everything on his plate.
37	drink up	To finish drinking	Drink up your milk.	I drank up the whole bottle of water after running.
38	hurry up	To do something faster	Hurry up or we will be late!	I told my brother to hurry up because the bus was coming.
39	slow down	To go or do something more slowly	Please slow down when you are driving.	The teacher told us to slow down and check our answers carefully.
40	calm down	To become relaxed	Please calm down and tell me what happened.	After the argument, I took a deep breath to calm down.

3. Emotions & Feelings (41–55)

No.	Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example 1	Example 2 (Composition Style)
41	cheer up	To become happier	Try to cheer up. Everything will be fine.	I tried to cheer up my friend who was feeling sad.
42	calm down	To become less angry or worried	You need to calm down first.	After crying, she slowly calmed down.
43	give up	To stop trying	Never give up on your dreams.	Even though the puzzle was hard, I refused to give up.
44	break down	To become very upset and cry	She broke down when she heard the bad news.	The little girl broke down in tears after losing her toy.
45	look forward to	To feel excited about something	I look forward to the holidays.	The students looked forward to the school camp.
46	put up with	To tolerate something annoying	I can’t put up with the noise anymore.	My mother has to put up with my noisy little brother every day.
47	get over	To recover from something bad	It took her a long time to get over the loss.	I finally got over my fear of speaking in front of the class.
48	feel like	To want to do something	I feel like eating ice cream.	After the long day, I felt like lying down and resting.
49	burst into tears	To suddenly start crying	She burst into tears when she saw her result.	The boy burst into tears after falling down.
50	hold back	To stop yourself from showing emotion	I tried to hold back my tears.	She held back her tears and tried to smile.
51	let down	To disappoint someone	I don’t want to let my parents down.	He worked hard because he didn’t want to let his teacher down.
52	stand up for	To defend someone	You should stand up for yourself.	The brave boy stood up for his friend who was being bullied.
53	get along with	To have a good relationship	I get along with my classmates.	My sister and I get along with each other very well.
54	fall out with	To have a quarrel	They fell out with each other last week.	I fell out with my best friend over a small matter.
55	make up	To become friends again after a fight	They finally made up after the argument.	After two days, my brother and I made up and played together again.

4. School & Learning (56–70)

No.	Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example 1	Example 2 (Composition Style)
56	hand in	To submit work	Please hand in your homework tomorrow.	I handed in my composition just before the deadline.
57	hand out	To distribute something	The teacher handed out the worksheets.	The prefect handed out the exam papers to the class.
58	look up	To search for information	I need to look up the meaning of this word.	I looked up the information on the internet for my project.
59	write down	To note something on paper	Please write down the important points.	I wrote down the new vocabulary words in my notebook.
60	figure out	To understand or solve something	I can’t figure out this math problem.	After thinking hard, I finally figured out the answer.
61	work out	To solve or calculate	Did you work out the answer?	We worked out the total cost of the class party together.
62	give back	To return something	Please give back the book you borrowed.	I gave back the pencil I borrowed from my friend.
63	take back	To return something to a shop	I want to take back this faulty toy.	Mum decided to take back the wrong size shirt.
64	put off	To delay doing something	Don’t put off your revision until the last minute.	I kept putting off my project until the teacher reminded me.
65	catch up	To reach the same level as others	I need to catch up with my classmates.	After being sick, I had to study hard to catch up with the class.
66	keep up with	To stay at the same level	It’s hard to keep up with all the homework.	She studied every day to keep up with the fast learners.
67	drop out	To leave school or a course	He decided to drop out of the competition.	Very few students drop out of primary school in Singapore.
68	sign up	To register for something	I want to sign up for the art club.	My brother signed up for the swimming lessons.
69	take part in	To participate in an activity	Everyone should take part in the games.	I took part in the storytelling competition last year.
70	come up with	To think of an idea or solution	We need to come up with a good plan.	The group came up with many creative ideas for the project.

5. Problems, Help & Solutions (71–85)

No.	Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example 1	Example 2 (Composition Style)
71	deal with	To handle a problem or situation	I don’t know how to deal with this issue.	The teacher helped me deal with the difficult situation.
72	sort out	To solve a problem	We need to sort out this misunderstanding.	My parents helped me sort out the problem with my friend.
73	work out	To find a solution	I’m sure we can work out a solution.	After discussing, we worked out a plan to finish the project.
74	run out of	To have no more of something	We ran out of time during the test.	I ran out of ideas for my composition.
75	give in	To surrender or accept defeat	He refused to give in to the bully.	After arguing for a long time, I finally gave in.
76	break into	To enter a place by force	Someone tried to break into our house.	The thief broke into the shop last night.
77	get into trouble	To be in a difficult situation	Don’t get into trouble at school.	He got into trouble because he forgot to do his homework.
78	get out of	To avoid doing something	He tried to get out of doing the dishes.	I couldn’t get out of helping my mother clean the house.
79	look after	To take care of someone/something	Can you look after my pet while I’m away?	My grandmother looked after me when my parents were working.
80	take care of	To look after	Please take care of your younger brother.	I had to take care of my sick sister yesterday.
81	help out	To assist someone	Can you help out in the kitchen?	My neighbour kindly helped out when we moved house.
82	count on	To rely on someone	You can always count on your friends.	I know I can count on my best friend when I need help.
83	back up	To support someone	My parents always back me up.	My teacher backed me up when I explained what happened.
84	stand by	To support someone in difficulty	I will always stand by you.	My best friend stood by me when others criticised me.
85	get through	To finish or survive something difficult	I finally got through the difficult exam.	We got through the busy week and felt relieved.

6. Other Useful Phrasal Verbs (86–100)

No.	Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example 1	Example 2 (Composition Style)
86	come across	To find something by chance	I came across an old photo yesterday.	While cleaning my room, I came across my old diary.
87	come up	To happen unexpectedly	Something important came up at the last minute.	A problem came up and we had to change our plans.
88	go on	To continue	Please go on with your story.	Even though it was raining, the match went on.
89	carry on	To continue doing something	Just carry on with your work.	Despite feeling tired, she carried on studying.
90	keep on	To continue	He kept on talking even though no one was listening.	The baby kept on crying throughout the night.
91	hold on	To wait	Please hold on for a moment.	Hold on! I’m coming with you.
92	wait on	To serve someone (in a restaurant)	The waiter waited on us politely.	The staff waited on the customers quickly.
93	show up	To arrive	He didn’t show up for the meeting.	My friend showed up late for the birthday party.
94	turn up	To arrive (unexpectedly)	She turned up at my house without calling.	Many people turned up for the free giveaway.
95	go through	To experience something difficult	She went through a lot of hardship.	Our family went through a difficult time last year.
96	get by	To manage with difficulty	We can get by with the money we have.	Even though we were poor, we managed to get by.
97	cut down on	To reduce the amount of something	I need to cut down on eating fast food.	My father decided to cut down on his working hours.
98	do without	To manage without something	We had to do without electricity for a day.	I had to do without my phone for a week.
99	make up for	To compensate for something	I will make up for being late.	She worked extra hard to make up for her mistake.
100	get away with	To do something wrong without being punished	He tried to get away with cheating.	The naughty boy thought he could get away with lying, but he got caught.