The Phrasal Verb List (1-30)
Topic A: Daily Life & Routines
- Wake up: To stop sleeping.
- Sentence: “I usually wake up at 6 a.m. to study before work.”
- Get up: To leave your bed.
- Sentence: “It’s difficult to get up on cold winter mornings.”
- Turn on/off: To activate/deactivate a device.
- Sentence: “I turn on the news every evening to stay informed about current events.”
- Put on: To wear clothes.
- Sentence: “I always put on comfortable clothes when I’m at home.”
- Take off: To remove clothes.
- Sentence: “The first thing I do when I get home is take off my shoes.”
- Look for: To search for.
- Sentence: “I spent ten minutes looking for my keys this morning.”
- Find out: To discover information.
- Sentence: “I was shocked when I found out the exam date had changed.”
- Pick up: To collect someone or something.
- Sentence: “My father used to pick me up from school every day.”
- Drop off: To take someone or something to a place.
- Sentence: “Could you drop me off at the train station?”
- Hurry up: To do something more quickly.
- Sentence: “I had to hurry up to finish my essay before the deadline.”
Topic B: Family, Friends & Relationships
11. Grow up: To change from a child to an adult.
* Sentence: “I grew up in a small coastal town, which was a wonderful experience.”
12. Bring up: To raise a child.
* Sentence: “My grandparents brought me up after my parents passed away.”
13. Look after: To take care of.
* Sentence: “I had to look after my younger sister when my parents were at work.”
14. Get along (with): To have a friendly relationship.
* Sentence: “I get along very well with my colleagues; we’re like a family.”
15. Fall out (with): To have an argument and stop being friendly.
* Sentence: “We fell out over a silly misunderstanding, but we made up later.”
16. Make up: To reconcile after an argument.
* Sentence: “It’s important to make up quickly after a disagreement with a friend.”
17. Count on: To rely on.
* Sentence: “I know I can always count on my best friend for support.”
18. Look up to: To admire and respect.
* Sentence: “I’ve always looked up to my elder brother for his determination.”
19. Catch up (with): To talk to someone you haven’t seen for some time and learn their news.
* Sentence: “I love catching up with my old university friends.”
20. Meet up: To come together with someone socially.
* Sentence: “We should meet up for a coffee sometime soon.”
Topic C: Work, Study & Goals
21. Take up: To start a new hobby or activity.
* Sentence: “I recently took up photography to be more creative.”
22. Carry on: To continue.
* Sentence: “Despite the difficulties, I decided to carry on with my research.”
23. Give up: To stop trying or quit a habit.
* Sentence: “You should never give up on your dreams, no matter how hard it gets.”
24. Work out: To solve a problem or plan.
* Sentence: “We need to work out a better schedule for our group project.”
25. Hand in: To submit work.
* Sentence: “I handed in my application for the scholarship yesterday.”
26. Look into: To investigate.
* Sentence: “The government should look into the causes of urban pollution.”
27. Point out: To indicate or mention.
* Sentence: “My teacher pointed out several mistakes in my essay.”
28. Set up: To arrange or establish.
* Sentence: “My ambition is to set up my own business one day.”
29. Go over: To review or check.
* Sentence: “Let’s go over the vocabulary one more time before the test.”
30. Turn down: To reject an offer.
* Sentence: “I had to turn down a job offer because it required too much travel.”
Activity 1: The Separability Sort
Instructions: A key skill is knowing if a phrasal verb is separable (you can put the object between the verb and particle) or not. Sort these 10 phrasal verbs from the list into the correct column.
Phrasal Verbs: look after, turn on, get along with, hand in, wake up, point out, take up, fall out with, set up, give up.
| Separable | Inseparable |
|---|---|
(e.g., You can turn the light on / turn on the light) | (e.g., You can only wake up) |
Answer Key: Separable: turn on, hand in, point out, set up, give up. Inseparable: look after, get along with, wake up, take up, fall out with.
Activity 2: Personalisation Sprint
Instructions: This is the most important activity. Choose FIVE phrasal verbs from the list. For each one, write one sentence that is TRUE about your own life. This creates a personal memory hook.
- Example: “I need to look into buying a new laptop soon.”
- Example: “I really look up to my former English teacher.”
Activity 3: The Mini-Dialogue
Instructions: Complete the short conversation with the correct phrasal verb in the correct tense.
A: “How’s your new fitness routine going?”
B: “Not great, to be honest. I ________ (give up) last week. It was just too hard to ________ (wake up) at 5 a.m. every day.”
A: “That’s a shame! Don’t ________ (give up) completely. Maybe you should ________ (take up) something you enjoy more, like swimming.”
B: “That’s a good idea. I’ll ________ (look into) the classes at the local sports centre.”
Answer Key: gave up, wake up, give up, take up, look into.