Phrasal Verb । All about phrasal verbs

All about phrasal verbs

-Published on 09th Feb 2023 by Oxford School of English-

We use them all the time without even giving them a second thought - “don’t give up!”, “stand by your principles”, “I met up with an old friend”, “she handed in her homework”, “kindly look into it”; the list is virtually endless! Phrasal verbs are idiomatic phrases that consist of a verb and an additional word, which may be an adverb (such as in the phrase ‘shut down’), or a preposition (such as in the phrase ‘turn off’), or even a combination of both (such as in the phrase ‘look up to’). Let’s take a look at some of the various phrasal verbs in popular usage today!

1. Fit in - This phrase means ‘to be compatible with other people, usually in a group’. Example: ‘I tried so hard to fit in with my classmates during my university studies.’

2. Own up - This phrase means ‘to confess having done something wrong or having made a mistake’. Example: ‘She owned up to cheating in her exams.’

3. Give up - This phrase means ‘to admit one’s defeat or to stop putting in an effort in something’. Example: ‘He had given up playing for his football club after losing several matches in a row.’

4. Slow down- This phrase means ‘to decelerate’. Example: ‘My driving instructor always tells me to slow down before a crossing.’

5. Speed up - This phrase means ‘to accelerate’. Example: ‘You should speed up if you want to make it to your office in time!’

6. Take on - This phrase means ‘to engage with or confront’. Example: ‘After a nasty fight broke out on the shop floor, the human resource manager decided to take on the quarrelling employees.’

7. Tone down - This phrase means ‘to make something less intense or extreme’. Example: ‘The politician asked members of the opposition to tone down their criticism of his party’s efforts to improve the country’s infrastructure.’

8. Chalk out - This phrase means ‘to plan something’. Example: ‘The minister has already chalked out a strategy to increase social welfare projects.’

9. Carry out - This phrase means ‘to execute or perform’. Example: ‘A group of researchers carried out a survey on 5000 users of skin care products.

10. See to - This phrase means ‘to attend to or deal with something’. Example: ‘Please see to it that my package gets delivered on time.’

11. Look after - This phrase means ‘to take care of a person, an object or ensure an activity is performed’. Example: ‘Look after the assembly line in the factory manager’s absence.’

12. Run into - This phrase means ‘to collide with something, or to meet someone unexpectedly’. Examples: ‘I ran into an old colleague at the train station’, ‘He ran into a fire hydrant while driving’.

13. Set up - This phrase means ‘to establish or construct something’. Example: ‘The company set up a factory in the suburbs.’

14. Hand out - This phrase means ‘to distribute’. Example: ‘The volunteers handed out food packets at the charity event’.

15. Keep up - This phrase means ‘to maintain or continue a particular course of action, or to move at the same rate as something else’. Examples: ‘Keep up the good work!’, ‘The professor taught her subject in such a way that all her students could keep up

Description:- Phrasal Verbs are idiomatic phrases consisting of a verb and another word (adverb /preposition). They convey a different meaning when taken together than the original words