Double Click 3

Phrasal Verbs
Prepared by Minerva Pons

Look after To take care of John is looking after Mark’s cat while he is abroad.
Look for To search for I can’t find my wallet. Please help me look for it.
Look forward to To anticipate We are really looking forward to the party on Saturday.
Unit 1

Look into To find out about sth The police is looking into the situation.
Look through To read quickly He usually looks through the newspaper while eating breakfast.
To find a word in a dictionary Look up the meaning of this word in your dictionary.
Look up
To find a phone number in a directory. Can you look up the restaurant number?

To stop working (train, car, etc) My car broke down in the middle of the road.
Break down
To lose control of feelings (in tears, etc.) People broke down when they heard the news.
Break into sth / break in To enter by force Thieves broke in the house yesterday.
Break up To end a relationship The Beatles broke up in 1970.
Unit 2

Bring forward To introduce/present an argument or proposal for consideration The Government will bring forward several proposals for legislation.
To introduce a law or a rule The government brought in a controversial law.
Bring in
To take sb to a police station for questioning The police officers brought in the suspect.
To raise a child He has brought up by his grandparents.
Bring up
To mention a subject He brought up a subject rarely raised during the course of this campaign.

To depart It’s great to get away from London sometimes.

Get away
To escape from danger I was almost mugged but I managed to get away.
Get away with To avoid punishment The murderer got away with his crime.
Unit 3

Get by To manage He can’t get by on the money he earns.

Get on (with) To start or continue doing sth Our priority is to get on with the job of developing a comprehensive test
Get over To recover from an illness/injury It can take weeks to get over an illness like that.

Turn back To stop and go back the way you came. Bad weather forced them to turn back.
To refuse a request or an offer. How could you turn down such a fantastic job?
Turn down
To reduce the amount of sound or heat. Can you turn the music down a bit?
Turn into To change and become something else. Our holiday turned into a nightmare.
Turn off To stop (TV, heater, light, etc.) from working. Will you turn the television off, please?
Unit 4

Turn on To start (TV, heater, light, etc.) working. Is your computer turned on?
To prove to be sth. Sarah was sure that things would turn out fine.
Turn out
To appear, be present. Only 62% of the electorate turned out to vote.
To arrive somewhere. There is no need to book – just turn up on the night.
Turn up
To increase the amount of sound or heat. Don’t turn the TV up – I’m trying to read.
 To reveal sth. If captured, they might give away vital military secrets.
Give away
To give sth for free Ten thousand copies of the software package are being given away.
To surrender The champion refused to give in and went on to win the set.
Give in
Unit 5

To finally agree to do sth Cindy’s parents finally gave in and allowed her to have a puppy.
To hand out. Ralph was giving out drinks.
Give out
To stop working. The engine gave out halfway through their trip.
Give up To stop doing sth. His wife finally persuaded him to give up smoking.

Set about To begin to do, especially in a determined or enthusiastic way. She set about the problem with her usual energy.
Set aside To save for a special purpose / occasion Have you set aside some money for your child’s education?
Set back To delay. The earthquake has set back the construction of the new Olympic Stadium.
Unit 6

Set off / out To start a journey. The Pattersons loaded up their car, locked the house up, and set off.
To build / erect sth. The army set up roadblocks to stop people trying to escape.
Set up To start sth (a business) Setting up your own business involves a lot of hard work.
To arrange sth (a meeting) We need to set up a meeting with the client to discuss costs.

Be / get carried away To be very excited. The fans really got carried away when Madonna walked onto the stage.
Carry on To continue doing sth. He moved to London to carry on his work.
Carry out To follow instructions, orders, etc. I expected my instructions to be carried out.
Carry over To let sth continue into a new situation. Stresses at work can often be carried over into your home life.
To complete sth successfully. It’s a tough job, and we’re relying on you to carry it through.
Unit 7

Carry through To survive. Some traditions have carried through over the centuries.
To enable to endure. Their strong faith carried them through the horrible ordeal.
Hold on To wait for a short time. Hold on! We can't go past this gate.
To make sb wait or delay sb. An accident on Main Street held up traffic for thirty minutes.
Hold up
To rob a bank. The mild-looking man held up the bank and shot a teller.

Make out To see / hear sth with difficulty I can just make a few words out on this page.
Make up To invent He made up some excuse about the dog eating his homework.
Make up one’s mind To decide I can’t make up my mind whether to go or not.
Put on To wear Dorothy put on her coat and went out.
Unit 8

Put off To postpone They had to put the wedding off because the bride’s mother had an accident.
Put out To extinguish It took firefighters three hours to put the blaze out.
Put through To connect sb by phone The switchboard operator refused to put the call through.
Put sb up To offer sb accommodation Could you put me up for the night when I come to London?
 Take after To look or act like sb. In looks she takes after her father.
To understand sth. I’m not sure how much of his explanation she took in.
Take in
To give shelter to sb or sth. We decided to take in some refugees.
To employ sb. We’re not taking on any new staff at the moment.
Take on To accept a task / responsibility. I can’t take on any more work at the moment.
To challenge. My mother took it on herself to invite them.
Unit 9

To remove sth. Henry took out his wallet.

Take out
To treat sb to a meal at a restaurant. She’s taking her parents out for dinner.
Take off To leave the ground (e.g., an airplane, etc) The plane should take off on time.
Take over To gain control of sth. Gibraltar was taken over by Spain in 1462.
To begin a new hobby or sport. Chris has taken up jogging.
Take up
To occupy (e.g., time, space) I’ll try not to take up too much of your time.

Come across To find by chance. Have you ever come across such a horrible person in all your life?
Come down with To become sick. She came down with a virus.
Come into To inherit. When his grandfather died, he came into some money.
Unit 10

To regain consciousness. When I came around I was on the kitchen floor.

Come around
To change opinion. It looks like they're coming around to our way of thinking.
To be mentioned. A number of interesting points came up at today’s meeting.
Come up
To arise / occur Other projects came up and the emphasis of my work altered.