Vanessa:
Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com. Are you ready to master the top 50
phrasal verbs in English? Let's do it. Have you ever been listening to an English
conversation and you just can't figure out what they're saying? You understand the
individual words, but the overall meaning just doesn't add up. Well, if you have
been putting off learning phrasal verbs, today is your day. This lesson will take you from
huh to bring it on in no time. But first, we need to talk about what in the world is a phrasal verb.
Well, phrasal verb is a two or three-part verb, and in fact, I just used quite a few of them.
Did you notice? Figure out, add up, put off. Well, when you use a phrasal verb, there is
a main verb such as put and a second part, sometimes a third part as well, which is a
preposition or sometimes it's called a participle. When you put these two together, it changes
the meaning of the verb. Well, the verb put, I put the comb on the table, means to place
something. But when I say put off, it has a completely different meaning. It means to delay
something, to procrastinate. Stop putting off learning phrasal verbs. Well, you're here today,
so you're not going to put it off any longer. To help you remember all 50 top phrasal verbs,
I have created a free PDF worksheet for you that you can download right now with all of these
phrasal verbs, definitions, sample sentences, and at the bottom of the PDF worksheet, you
can answer Vanessa's challenge question so that you never forget what you're about to learn.
You can click on the link in the description to download that free PDF worksheet today.
All right, let's get started with our first phrasal verb. I'm going to tell you the phrasal
verb, and then I'm going to tell you a sample sentence and I want you to guess what you think
that phrasal verb means. It's like a little test. You need to use all of your English knowledge,
pull it from your brain, and guess what you think it means. Then, I'll tell you the answer. All
right, let's look at number one. To ask around. Take a look at this sentence. I haven't seen
your dog. I'm sorry, but I'll ask around in the neighborhood and see if anyone else has seen it.
What do you think to ask around means? It means to ask multiple people. You can also use this in the
workplace. I'm not sure if my company is hiring, but I'll ask around and find out for you. Great.
Let's go to number two. To ask someone out. Take a look at this sentence. Well, are you going
to ask him out or not? Are you going to ask him out or not? What do you think this means?
It means to ask someone on a date. If you've ever asked someone on a date, I'm sure you
understand how nerve-racking that can be. Let's take a look at another sentence. My
husband asked me out on a date 17 years ago, and now we've been married 12 years. Great.
All right, let's go to number three. To be in control of something. Everyone thinks that
they want to be in control of a business, but it's a lot of work. What does this mean?
Think about it for a moment. It means to have the power over something. Let's look at another
sentence. I need you to be in control of planning the party. I'm too busy right now, but I
could probably help you a little bit. Great. Let's look at the next one. To break down. It's
a terrible day for my car to break down. It's raining, and my phone just died. What am I going
to do? What do you think this means to break down? Means to stop functioning. Let's look at another
sentence. If you don't take care of your things, they're going to break down faster. I want
to let you know that we use to break down in a general category of machines, often for your
car. Your car can break down. We sometimes use this for big machines like, my washing machine
just broke down. What am I going to do for big machines like this? It's less common to use this
for your phone. My phone broke down. You'd be more likely to just say my phone broke. This
is the nuance that we need with phrasal verbs. All right, let's go to the next one. Number
six, to break something down. There's a slight difference here, to break something down. Look
at this. The teacher broke down the lesson so that we could easily understand. I hope that I'm
doing that now. This means to explain something in simple terms, to break down a difficult concept
and make it simpler. A lot of my English students feel really overwhelmed when it comes to phrasal
verbs, but it is my job. I hope I'm doing it well to break them down, to break down phrasal
verbs and help you to understand them better. Number six, to break into something. I forgot my
key so I had to break into my own house. What does this mean? It means you enter forcibly. This might
be an enemy breaking into the enemy's territory, or it could be a burglar breaking into your
house, hopefully not. But if you forget your key, what are you going to have to do? You're going
to have to break into your own house. Let's look at another sentence. Where I live here in
the mountains, we have a lot of wild animals, bears, raccoons, foxes, all sorts of things, and
if you leave your trash outside, wild animals will break into your trash can. Most people in
my neighborhood keep their trash cans inside until the trash truck comes and it can be taken
away because no one wants their trash scattered all over their lawn because a silly raccoon or
bear got into it and scattered it everywhere. Don't let wild animals break into your trash.
To break out. We were going to go on vacation and then COVID broke out and we had to cancel
it. I think we're not alone. Many people had to do this over the last few years. This is talking
about something that spreads. COVID broke out, so we can imagine it was contained before
and then it spreads. We can look at this in another situation as well. Take a look at this
sentence. When the news breaks out about the war, a lot of people are going to protest. We
can imagine that the news about the war is contained right now, but when the news breaks
out, a lot of people are going to be upset and they're going to protest. This is talking
about something spreading. It could be a virus, it could be news, but something is being led out.
Let's go to the next one. To bring someone or something down. Well, we could say, I hate to
bring down the mood of this party, but the cake just fell off the table and now it's ruined.
Can you guess what this means? I hate to bring down the mood of the party. This means to make
someone unhappy or lower the mood. Well, we could even say this. My coworker just really brings me
down. She's always unhappy and complaining about something. Have you ever talked to someone like
this and they just never have anything positive to say? You might be feeling good about your day
and then after you talk with them, they really bring you down. Try not to be that person in
someone else's life. Try to bring other people up. Let's look at the next one. To call around.
I have some extra tickets to the concert so I'm going to try to call around and see if
any of my friends want them. Do you remember the first phrasal verb we talked about, to
ask around? To call around is very similar. It means that you are calling multiple people.
Just like ask around is to ask multiple people, here this person is calling around, calling
multiple friends to see if they want to get the free concert tickets. The other week, I was
at the mechanic and I needed a new part from my car and the mechanic said, "Well, I don't have the
part with me right now, but I'll call around and see if any other mechanic has it and then I'll let
you know." Beautiful way to use this phrasal verb. To call back. My doctor called and left a
message. I need to call him back. What do you think this means? Well, it simply means to return
a phone call. If the doctor calls you and leaves a message, well, it's a good idea to call them back.
If you have to speak in English for your job and you often speak on the phone, this is a wonderful
phrasal verb to use. When you pick up the phone, you could say, "I'm sorry, I'm in a meeting
right now, but I can call you back at 11:00." Beautiful, great phrasal verb.
To cheer up. I brought you these flowers to cheer you up. Am I trying to bring
you down? Nope, instead I'm trying to cheer you up. This means to make someone happier.
I hope that my English lessons cheer you up. To cheer on. Does this mean you're
standing on someone and cheering, go, go, go? No. To cheer on, take a look
at this sentence. Let's cheer on our team. This means to encourage or support
someone. We often use this for a team, but you can even use this for your friends and
family. My friend is running a marathon next week and I'm going to stand at the finish
line to cheer her on. Oh, that's so nice. To clean up. I'm trying to teach my sons to
clean up after themselves. It is a work in progress. This means to tidy something. If there
are a lot of toys on the ground, you need to clean them up at least by the end of the day. I'm
curious about you, do you clean up your house at the end of the day? Let me know in the comments.
The next one is a fun one. To come across as. It's got three parts, come, across, as. Take a look at
this sentence. If you don't want to come across as rude, you should smile when you meet people. This
is talking about the impression that you give, to give a specific impression. You don't want
to have a rude impression. What should you do? You should smile. You don't want to come
across as rude. This is another one that you can use in the workplace. I want to come
across as professional, so I'm going to wear my best suit to the interview. I want to appear
professional. I want that impression to be, she is a professional person. I want to come across as
professional, so I'm going to wear my best suit. To come apart. Oh no! I put my favorite sweater
in the washer and now it's coming apart. Do you think that this means I'm very happy about
the situation? This means to separate. My sweater is coming apart, or you could say, be careful
with that old book, it's coming apart and the pages might fall out. Be very careful please.
To come forward. They're asking for donors and volunteers to come forward to help with disaster
relief. This means they want someone to take responsibility. This could also be if someone did
something bad. Take a look at this sentence. The police are asking that the vandals, this means
the burglars or somebody who spray painted on a building. The police are asking that the vandals
come forward and repair the damage that they did. They want the vandals to claim responsibilities,
say, "Sorry, I did it. I'll try to fix it. Please just don't send me to jail." They're asking that
the vandals come forward. It's not an easy thing to do, but often it's the right thing to do.
To come from. Where does the inspiration for your art come from? This is asking where does it
originate from, the beginning, the source of your inspiration. When you are learning English,
someone might ask you, "Why are you learning English?" You could use this great phrasal verb
and say, "Well, my love of English comes from my teacher Vanessa," or you might say, "I visited
New York and I realized I don't know as much English as I want to, so really, my motivation
came from that trip. I realized I needed to put in more effort." That's what you're doing now.
To count on. I know I can count on my neighbor when I need help. This means to rely on someone,
to depend on someone. I can count on my neighbor. Whenever I need some extra help, I can just go
to her house and she will be there in a minute. This is also a great phrasal verb to use in the
workplace even in an interview. You could say, "You can count on me. I will always finish
the project on time because I have great time management skills. You can count on me." Great.
The next phrasal verb is two for one, to cross off and to cross out. Take a look at
this. I have crossed off, or I have crossed out everything on my to-do list already and it's
only noon. This means that you draw a line through something signifying that it's finished.
You're done with that task. I already crossed off everything on my to-do list. It feels great.
To cut something out. If you cut out these sections of the report, I think it will flow
better. What do you think this means? Well, you are removing pieces of something.
If you remove this piece and this piece, the entire report will just feel better. But, we
can also use this in a physical way. Let's imagine that my son is chewing some gum and somehow it
gets stuck in my hair. Oh no. Well, we could say now I need to cut out the gum. I'm not going
to cut all of my hair. I'm just going to try to cut the most minimal amount possible. I need to
cut out the gum. I hope that this never happens. To do something over. If you make a mistake,
it's okay. You just have to do it over until it's right. This means to repeat something.
Usually, this is a fixed phrase. Do it over. A teacher might say that to you. Your homework was
so bad, you need to do it over. My dog just ate my homework, I need to do it over. Because in all
of these situations, we already have the context. Your dog ate your homework, that's a bummer so you
need to do your homework over, but we don't need to repeat homework. You can just say do it over.
Let's take a look at one more sentence. I put the wrong ingredients in the cake. Now I need to do
it over. You have the context already, the cake, so you can say do it over. You could say, I put
the wrong ingredients in the cake. Now I need to do the cake over or do the recipe over, but
it sounds a little bit clunky and uncomfortable because we're just repeating the topic twice. I
recommend using this as a fixed expression. I put the wrong ingredients in the cake and now I need
to do it over. That's all right, I'll do it again. To do away with something. We just need to do
away with all papers and go digital. This might be something that's happening in a company where
you work. You're trying to do away with papers and go digital. This means to stop something. To
do away with papers. You're going to scan in the papers. You're going to try to make them digital
in some way so that you stop using paper. Pretty good idea, or maybe in your family, you might
decide, we decided to do away with gifts. Instead, we will purchase experiences to have together as
a family. Also, not a bad idea. Do away with gifts and just have wonderful experiences together.
To dress up. I decided to dress up for my date so I wore a new dress. This means to wear nicer
clothes than usual. You dress up. For example, it's a good idea to dress up for a job interview.
You want to come across as professional. To drop out of. I dropped out of medical school
when I realized how hard it was. This means that you quit some program. You might say, "My
grandparents both dropped out of high school so that they could spend more time on their family
farm." It was kind of necessary back then. Do you have any family members who dropped out of school
so that they could start working because their family needed it? Let me know in the comments.
To fall through. No, this is not falling. Take a look at this sentence. Our plans fell through when
the flight was canceled, so we decided to take a road trip instead. This means that something
ends up not happening. Something fails. There is a kind of indirectness about this phrasal verb.
Our plans fell through. You're not blaming anyone. You're not saying, "When the airline canceled
our appointment, those awful people..." Well, no, you're just saying our plans fell through.
Take a look at the next sentence, which is even more indirect. Our engagement fell through, so
the wedding was canceled. You're not blaming anyone. You're just really indirectly saying,
"Well, the engagement ended up not happening. He proposed. I said yes. Then after some time
we broke up," but I'm not really blaming anyone here. I'm indirectly saying our engagement
fell through, so we canceled the wedding. To follow through. It was a hard project,
but she followed through and got it done. What do you think this means? This means to keep
doing something until it's finished. Right now, we are just over halfway through these 50 phrasal
verbs, I want you to follow through and finish this entire lesson. You can do it. Fill your brain
with more wonderful phrasal verbs so you can use them in daily conversation. Let's take a look
at another sentence. He always has big promises, but he never follows through. This is a really
bad character trait and definitely not something that you want someone to say about you. You
should say you're going to do something and you should follow through, or you could use this
as an apology. Sorry, I know I said that I was going to help you this weekend and I just didn't
follow through. I'm really sorry. I got sick. I had so much on my plate. I really need to work
on following through. Thanks for forgiving me. To follow up. It's a good idea to follow up
an interview with a thank you letter or a nice email. What do you think this means? To pursue
something further. You're doing an action after the main action. You had an interview and then
you follow up the interview with a nice email or a thank you card. Take a look at this. She
said she had something to tell me, so I need to follow up with her later. She didn't tell me
what it is, but I'm really curious. I need to follow up with her later and ask her, "What were
you going to tell me? Please, I need to know." To get away. It's been such a busy week, I can't
wait to get away this weekend to the beach. This means that you are leaving a stressful
situation. You're going on vacation. In some way, you are getting away from your stresses.
You could say, "I really need to get away, but I'm just so busy. I don't think I'll have
any time for a vacation. I need to get away now." Now, if we add one little word, it can completely
change the meaning. To get away with something. We just said to get away means to leave on
vacation, but what about to get away with? Look at this sentence. He stole money from
the company, but he won't get away with it. They'll catch him at some point. This means to
do something, usually something wrong. It doesn't have to be very wrong, but to do something
wrong without being noticed or punished. He thinks he can steal money from
the company and get away with it, I don't think so. Let's take a look at a less
serious situation. You could probably get away with leaving work early, but I don't recommend
it. They might catch you. In this situation, you're not stealing money from the company, but
you're not supposed to leave work early. You could probably get away with it if no one calls you or
asks for you. But in the end, I don't recommend it even though you could get away with it.
To get something across. Are we talking about a bridge to go across a bridge? Not exactly. It's
a little more figurative. Take a look at this sentence. She is such a great speaker that she
has no problem getting her point across. Here, we're talking about communication, to communicate.
She can explain difficult concepts and make them simple. No matter what she's talking about, the
other person can easily understand. She can get her point across. We often insert in the middle
of this phrasal verb similar words to get the point across, to get the idea across, to get the
message across, to get my thoughts across. Here, we're talking about communicating something.
All right, let's go to the next phrasal verb. To get back. I love vacation, but I'm always happy
to get back home too. This means to return, to get back home. Take a look at this. I left early
from work. I thought I could get away with it, and then my boss called and asked if I could get
back to work and finish my project. I guess I have to return to work and finish my project. It's just
the way it goes. At least, I didn't get fired. To get on. We got on the ferry to go to the
other side of the lake. This phrasal verb means to board some kind of transportation. You can
get on a plane, get on a train, get on a bus, get on a ferry. Let's take a look at another
sentence. Oh no! I got on the wrong train. What should I do? If this has ever happened
to you, it can be a little bit of panic mode, especially if you're in a different country.
All right, let's go to the next phrasal verb. To get over. I'm getting over a bad cold and
I still don't feel that great. This means to recover from something. It could be an illness,
I'm getting over a bad cold, or it could be a little bit more sentimental. I'm still getting
over the heartbreak of our breakup. I don't know what I can do to feel better. I'm getting over
the heartbreak. When you break up with someone, you want to recover. You want to move on with your
life and we can use this phrasal verb. I need to get over this heartbreak, but it's so hard.
All right, let's go to the next phrasal verb. To get together. I love to get together with
friends and family during the holidays. This means to spend time together. Let's get
together while you're in town. I'll take you to my favorite coffee shop. Let's
get together. We'll spend time together. To give away. I don't want to give away the
ending, but that movie was fantastic. Here, we're talking about something that is hidden
and being revealed. I don't want to reveal the ending of that movie, but it was fantastic,
let me just tell you. We can use this in a similar but slightly different way. Take a
look at this sentence. After I broke my leg, I decided to give away my roller skates. Well,
this means that I am not selling them, but I am giving them for free. There is an implication
in this phrasal verb to give away something that means for free. You do not need to say I gave away
my roller skates for free. It's already implied. You can say for free if you want,
but if you just say, "Oh yeah, I'm giving away my couch." People will know your
couch is free. You could say, "I'm giving away my couch for free." That's fine, it's a little
more, I don't know, just emphasize for free, but overall, you can say, "I'm giving away my
roller skates. I'm giving away my couch," and it means for free. Lovely way to use phrasal verbs.
Let's go to the next one. To give back. I borrowed a coat from my cousin for our ski trip, and now I
need to give it back. This simply means to return something. You could say, "Give that bone back
to the dog and he'll stop barking. Please give that bone back. I can't stand the noise anymore."
Let's go to the next one. To go after something. Does this mean second comes after first, third
comes after second, like in order? Not exactly. Let's take this a little more figuratively.
Look at this sentence. You should always go after your dreams. Oh, how lovely. This means
that you should try to achieve something. I'm going after the top prize and I hope I'll win. You
are trying to achieve something. I'm going to go after that position as manager and I won't stop
until I get it. You're trying to achieve that. Now, here's a tricky one. We just
said go after, what about go against? Look at this. I'm going against what everyone is
telling me I should do and I'm following my heart. I'm going against. This means you are opposing
what everyone else is telling you to do, and instead, you're following your heart. This is not
easy to do. It's not always right, but sometimes it is right. It's not easy to go against what
other people are telling you to do. Take a look at this. If you go against the company policy,
you will have to face the consequences. You have to know what they are. Don't go against them.
To go ahead. Yes, we have a lot of phrasal verbs with go. There's, in fact, two more after this.
To go ahead. Look at this sentence. Sorry for interrupting you, go ahead with your story. This
means proceed with your story, continue going. Let's look at this one. Do you want me to go ahead
with the plan we discussed? Do you want me to proceed with the plan we discussed? Do you want
me to go ahead with the plan we discussed? This is perfectly acceptable to use in the workplace.
In fact, I imagine it is used all the time. Let's go ahead with our plan and I'll see everyone
tomorrow and we'll discuss how it's going. To go back. I had a great summer vacation, but
I'm ready to go back to school. This is often a fixed phrase, to go back to school, and it means
to return to school. It's the end of the summer and it's time to go back to school, or you could
say, "I love visiting the mountains. I am ready to go back at any time." You want to return to the
mountains. It's a nice, calm and peaceful place. To go over. Are you going over a bridge? Take
a look at this sentence. I need to go over the contract before I sign it. I highly recommend
this. I need to go over the contract. This means you need to review something, usually to clarify
some details. I need to go over the contract, look at all of the details and make sure
you know exactly what you're signing, or take a look at this. I have some questions
about the project. Can we go over it together? This means you are reviewing something to
clarify the details with someone else. Can we go over this together? You might even hear
a teacher say this in the classroom. I want you to finish your homework, and tomorrow we'll
go over the answers together. You're going to review them in detail together. Great.
To grow apart. We were best friends when we were children, but as we got older, we just grew
apart. This means that there's some distance in your relationship. You're not as close as you
used to be and it's something that sometimes naturally happens with relationships. If you have
a long-term relationship with someone you know, if you don't spend quality time together, you will
grow apart. It's just a fact. You need to spend quality time together in order to stay close.
To grow into something. I bought this jacket a size too big because I know that eventually
my son will grow into it. Well, my son is five. My other son is two. They will absolutely be
getting bigger so I can buy clothes that are a little bit bigger and I know that they will grow
into them. This means that they will become big enough to fit in them. If I buy a size six or
size seven clothes for my five-year-old, well, he can wear them next year or the next year, and
that's all right. Or you might say in a kind of funny way, "This puppy's paws are so big. Do
you think that she'll grow into them?" They seem kind of disproportionate. Her paws are
so big. Of course, as the dog grows bigger, her paws will seem more normal sized, but that's
something kind of funny that you can say about a small animal or even a baby, "Oh, his ears are
so big. Do you think that he'll grow into them?" They seem disproportionate now, but as his head
gets bigger, it'll be fine. He'll grow into them. Another phrasal verb with grow is to grow
out of something. He grew out of all of his clothes and now we need to buy new ones. This
seems to happen many times a year with my kids. They get too big for their clothes. Of course,
it's natural for children to grow out of their clothes. We can use this in a more figurative
way as well. You could say she has grown out of her role in the company so she's leaving for
a more challenging job. This means that doesn't mean that her body has gotten bigger, it means
that her capacity, her mental capacity is much more now and the job just isn't as challenging, so
she's going to leave to go to a more challenging job. She's grown out of the role and now she's
going to go on to bigger and better things. To hand out something. I volunteered to hand out
water and snacks at the marathon. This means that you're distributing something. You're not giving
your hand, but your hand is probably physically moving out towards someone. I'm handing out
water. I'm handing out snacks. Here in the U.S., most people hand out candy on Halloween and most
kids love this. They'll go door to door and say, "Trick or treat. Give me something good to eat."
All of the neighbors will open the door and say, "Oh yes, sweetie, here you go. Happy
Halloween." They enjoy handing out candy. To hold someone or something back. When
my boss told me that I got a promotion, I had to hold back my excitement until I left
his office. Then I said, "Yes!" This means that you are stopping something. I had to hold back my
excitement. I wanted to scream with excitement, but instead, I was professional. I
want to come across as professional, so I tried to hold back my level of excitement.
Let's take a look at another situation. Let's imagine you're in the grocery store and someone
says something rude to you. Well, you could say, "I wanted to say something to the rude man,
but my husband held me back." This could be physically stopping you from getting aggressive
or it could just be, he looks at you and gives you a face like, don't worry about it. Just let
it pass. Don't get worked up about it. He's kind of emotionally holding you back, just trying to
help you feel steady. He held me back and I said, "Okay, it's going to be okay. Forget about
what that rude man said." There's different ways to use hold back to mean stop.
To let someone down. My parents always believed in me, so I never wanted to let them
down. What do you think this means? It means simply to disappoint someone. I don't want to
disappoint my parents. I don't want to let them down. This has a really heavy, emotional feeling.
If you feel like someone really disappointed you, you can use this phrasal verb and say, "Hey, you
know what? When you lied to me, you really let me down." Or we could switch this and say, "When
you lied to me, I really felt let down. Something happened and I don't know if I can trust you now."
All right, let's go to the next phrasal verb. To look up to someone. My parents are
both hard workers and I look up to them. Are they tall people, I look up to them? Not
really, but they are figuratively tall people. We could say, "I respect them. I look up to
them." Now, it can be a little bit tricky because sometimes people that we look up to can
let us down and that really hurts. When someone we respect disappoints us, that can hurt even
more than just when any old person disappoints us. Make sure you're careful who you look up to.
Are you ready? Drum roll. Final phrasal verb is to point out something. I would like to point
out that my performance has led to an increase in revenue this quarter. You are indicating
something specifically. I would like to point out that my performance has helped our company.
You're kind of nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Hey, I should get a raise. I want to let you
know that I've done a good job. I want to point out that my performance has helped the
company. Let's look at another sentence. Can you point out your neighborhood on this map? Here,
we're talking about a physical indication. Can you point out your neighborhood? Which one
are you talking about? This is indicating something specifically and physically. Great.
How did you do? Did I get the point across with all these phrasal verbs? Well, don't let me down.
Now, it's your turn to follow through. Let me know in the comments who is someone who you look up
to, who is someone who you respect? Let me know in the comments and don't forget to download the
free PDF worksheet for this lesson with all of the phrasal verbs, definitions, sample sentences, and
you can answer Vanessa's challenge question at the bottom of the worksheet. Click on the link in the
description to download that free PDF worksheet today. Well, thank you so much for learning
English with me and I'll see you again next Friday for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye.
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be a confident English speaker. Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for
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