Phrasal Verbs

At a glance 9 rules

1. 1Verb plus particleVerb and particle (up, out, off, through) join into one new meaning: 'bear out' means confirm, and 'put up with' means tolerate.
2. 2Particles give hints'Off' often cancels or removes (call off, take off), 'out' removes or ends (phase out, bow out), 'down' reduces, rejects or fails (cut down, turn down, break down).
3. 3Same verb, four particlesWhen all four options share one verb, find the clue in the sentence and match its sense: 'until Friday' points to put off, 'a cry' to let out.
4. 4Object or no objectSome phrasal verbs need an object (turn down an offer, let a friend down); others stand alone (talks break down, plans fall through).
5. 5Three-word verbsRead all three words as one unit: put up with (tolerate), come up with (think of), catch up with (draw level), run out of (have none left).
6. 6Strike the literal senseIn meaning questions the literal reading is the usual trap: to 'brush off' a concern is to dismiss it, not to clean it.
7. 7Same words, new senseJudge the sense from the sentence: an alarm goes off (rings) but milk goes off (turns sour), while fill in and fill out a form mean the same.
8. 8Where the pronoun goesA pronoun sits inside a separable verb (turn it down, never 'turn down it') but after an inseparable one (look after her). A noun can go either side.
9. 9Learn the rarer onesiron out (settle), gloss over (skim past to hide), stave off (hold off for now), drum up (gather support), bow out (withdraw), chip in (pay a share).