Phrasal Verbs are combinations of verbs and prepositions or adverbs that create meanings different from the original verb. In CUET English, phrasal verbs are tested through fill-in-the-blanks, error spotting, and sentence improvement questions. Mastering common phrasal verbs and understanding their separable/inseparable nature is essential for scoring well.
1. What are Phrasal Verbs?
Phrasal Verbs are combinations of a verb and one or more particles (prepositions or adverbs) that together create a meaning different from the original verb alone.
- Structure: Verb + Particle (preposition/adverb)
- Example: ''The alarm goes off at 7:00.'' — 'goes off' means 'rings' or 'sounds', not the literal meaning of 'go' + 'off'.
Common Examples in Daily Use:
- wake up — to stop sleeping
- turn off — to switch off
- put on — to dress oneself in
- set off — to start a journey
- get on / get off — to board / to leave a vehicle
Example Paragraph: ''The alarm goes off at 7:00. I wake up, lean over and turn off the alarm. I get up quickly and go downstairs. I put on the coffee. I go back upstairs and have a shower. I put on my clothes. I wash my cup and tidy up the kitchen. I take my bag and set off to work. I lock up the house before I go. I get on the bus and go for three or four stops. Then I get off the bus.''
2. Types of Phrasal Verbs
1. Transitive Phrasal Verbs — Take an object.
- ''She filled out the application form.'' (object: application form)
- ''He handed in his assignment.'' (object: assignment)
2. Intransitive Phrasal Verbs — Do not take an object.
- ''The bus broke down on the way to work.''
- ''She woke up late.''
3. Separable Phrasal Verbs — The object can come between the verb and the particle.
- ''I picked Tom up.'' OR ''I picked up Tom.''
- Important: When using a pronoun, the phrasal verb MUST be separated.
- ''I picked him up at the station.'' ✅ (NOT ''I picked up him'')
4. Inseparable Phrasal Verbs — The verb and particle must stay together.
- ''We set off for the beach.'' ✅ (NOT ''We set the beach off'')
- ''They are looking after the children.'' ✅ (NOT ''They are looking the children after'')
3. Common Separable Phrasal Verbs
| Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| blow up | explode | ''The terrorists tried to blow up the railroad station.'' |
| bring up | mention a topic / raise children | ''She brought up that matter again.'' / ''It isn't easy to bring up children.'' |
| call off | cancel | ''They called off this afternoon's meeting.'' |
| do over | repeat a job | ''Do this homework over.'' |
| fill out | complete a form | ''Fill out this application form and mail it in.'' |
| find out | discover | ''She found out that her husband had been planning a surprise party.'' |
| give away | give something for free | ''The station was giving away free gas.'' |
| give back | return an object | ''I have a feeling he's not about to give it back.'' |
| hand in | submit something | ''The students handed in their papers and left the room.'' |
| hang up | put something on hook/receiver | ''She hung up the phone before she hung up her clothes.'' |
| hold up | delay / rob | ''I hate to hold up the meeting.'' / ''Three masked gunmen held up the bank.'' |
| leave out | omit | ''You left out the part about the police chase.'' |
| look over | examine, check | ''The lawyers looked over the papers carefully.'' |
| look up | search in a list | ''You'd better look it up in the dictionary.'' |
| make up | invent a story or lie | ''She made up a story about going to the movies with her friends.'' |
| make out | hear, understand | ''We couldn't make out what he was saying.'' |
| pick out | choose | ''She picked out the guy she thought had stolen her purse.'' |
| pick up | lift something off something else | ''The crane picked up the entire house.'' |
| point out | call attention to | ''She pointed out the major historical sites.'' |
| put away | save or store | ''We put away money for our retirement.'' |
| put off | postpone | ''We asked the boss to put off the meeting until tomorrow.'' |
| put on | put clothing on the body | ''I put on a sweater and a jacket.'' |
| put out | extinguish | ''The fire-fighters put out the house fire.'' |
| take down | make a written note | ''Take them down before you forget.'' |
| take off | remove clothing | ''I had to take off my shirt because it was so hot.'' |
| talk over | discuss | ''Let's talk them over like adults.'' |
| throw away | discard | ''Don't just throw it away.'' |
| try on | put clothing on to see if it fits | ''She tried on fifteen dresses before she found one she liked.'' |
| try out | test | ''I tried out four cars before I could find one that pleased me.'' |
| turn down | lower the volume / reject | ''Please turn it down.'' / ''He was turned down both times.'' |
| turn up | raise the volume | ''He turned up his hearing aid.'' |
| turn off | switch off electricity / repulse | ''We turned off the lights.'' / ''It really turned me off.'' |
| turn on | switch on the electricity | ''Turn on the CD player so we can dance.'' |
| use up | exhaust, use completely | ''The gang members used up all the money.'' |
4. Common Inseparable Phrasal Verbs
| Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| call on | ask to recite in class / visit | ''The teacher called on students in the back row.'' |
| get over | recover from sickness or disappointment | ''I got over the flu, but I don't know if I'll ever get over my broken heart.'' |
| go over | review | ''The students went over the material before the exam.'' |
| go through | use up, consume | ''The country went through most of its coal reserves in one year.'' |
| look after | take care of | ''My mother promised to look after my dog while I was gone.'' |
| look into | investigate | ''The police will look into the possibilities of embezzlement.'' |
| run across | find by chance | ''I ran across my old roommate at the college reunion.'' |
| run into | meet | ''Carlos ran into his English professor in the hallway.'' |
| take after | resemble | ''My second son seems to take after his mother.'' |
| wait on | serve | ''It seemed strange to see my old boss wait on tables.'' |
5. Three-Word Phrasal Verbs
Some verbs are followed by two prepositions (or adverbs). These phrasal verbs are ALWAYS inseparable.
- ''I'm looking forward to meeting John.'' ✅
- ''They didn't get on with their mother.'' ✅
| Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| break in on | interrupt (a conversation) | ''The operator broke in on our call.'' |
| catch up with | keep abreast | ''It was time to catch up with the neighbours and the news.'' |
| check up on | examine, investigate | ''The boys promised to check up on the condition of the computer.'' |
| come up with | contribute (suggestion, money) | ''He was able to come up with a thousand-dollar donation.'' |
| cut down on | curtail (expenses) | ''We tried to cut down on the money we were spending on entertainment.'' |
| drop out of | leave school | ''I hope none of my students drop out of school this semester.'' |
| get along with | have a good relationship with | ''I found it very hard to get along with my brother when we were young.'' |
| get away with | escape blame | ''Janik cheated on the exam and then tried to get away with it.'' |
| get rid of | eliminate | ''The citizens tried to get rid of their corrupt mayor.'' |
| get through with | finish | ''When will you ever get through with that program?'' |
| keep up with | maintain pace with | ''It's hard to keep up with the Joneses when you lose your job!'' |
| look forward to | anticipate with pleasure | ''I always look forward to the beginning of a new semester.'' |
| look down on | despise | ''It's typical of narrow-minded citizens to look down on their neighbours.'' |
| look in on | visit (somebody) | ''We were going to look in on my brother-in-law.'' |
| look out for | be careful, anticipate | ''Good instructors will look out for early signs of failure in their students.'' |
| look up to | respect | ''First-graders really look up to their teachers.'' |
| make sure of | verify | ''Make sure of the student's identity before you let him into the classroom.'' |
| put up with | tolerate | ''The teacher had to put up with a great deal of nonsense from the new students.'' |
| run out of | exhaust supply | ''The runners ran out of energy before the end of the race.'' |
| take care of | be responsible for | ''My eldest sister took care of us younger children after Mom died.'' |
| talk back to | answer impolitely | ''The star player talked back to the coach and was thrown off the team.'' |
| think back on | recall | ''I often think back on my childhood with great pleasure.'' |
| walk out on | abandon | ''Her husband walked out on her and their three children.'' |
6. Intransitive Phrasal Verbs (No Object)
Some phrasal verbs do not take objects. These phrasal verbs are ALWAYS inseparable.
- ''The thieves got away.''
- ''The bus broke down on the way to work.''
- ''She got up early.''
| Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| break down | stop functioning | ''That old Jeep had a tendency to break down just when I needed it the most.'' |
| catch on | become popular | ''Popular songs seem to catch on in Bangalore first and then spread around.'' |
| come back | return to a place | ''My father promised that we would never come back to this horrible place.'' |
| come in | enter | ''They tried to come in through the back door, but it was locked.'' |
| come to | regain consciousness | ''After several minutes, he started to come to again.'' |
| come over | to visit | ''The children promised to come over, but they never do.'' |
| drop by | visit without appointment | ''We used to just drop by, but they were never home, so we stopped doing that.'' |
| eat out | dine in a restaurant | ''When we visited Paris, we loved eating out in the sidewalk cafes.'' |
| get by | survive | ''Uncle Harish didn't have much money, but he always seemed to get by without borrowing.'' |
| get up | arise | ''Grandmother tried to get up, but the couch was too low.'' |
| go back | return to a place | ''It's hard to imagine that we will ever go back to Pune.'' |
| go on | continue / happen | ''He would finish one Dickens novel and then just go on to the next. / The cops stopped to see what was going on.'' |
| grow up | get older | ''Ramanuj grew up to be a lot like his father.'' |
| keep away | maintain distance | ''The judge warned the stalker to keep away from his victim's home.'' |
| keep on | continue with the same | ''He tried to keep on singing long after his voice was ruined.'' |
| pass out | lose consciousness | ''He had drunk too much; he passed out on the sidewalk outside the bar.'' |
| show off | show haughtily | ''Whenever he sat down at the piano, we knew he was going to show off.'' |
| show up | arrive | ''Day after day, Danesh showed up for class twenty minutes late.'' |
| wake up | arouse from sleep | ''I woke up when the rooster crowed.'' |
7. Phrasal Verbs with 'Up'
Many phrasal verbs use the particle 'up'. Here are common ones:
- act up — misbehave / malfunction
- blow up — explode / inflate
- break up — end a relationship / disperse
- bring up — mention / raise (children)
- brush up — improve (a skill)
- catch up — reach the same level
- clean up — make clean / tidy
- close up — shut / close completely
- get up — rise from bed
- give up — quit / surrender
- grow up — become an adult
- hang up — put on hook / end phone call
- keep up — maintain pace
- line up — arrange in a line
- look up — search for information
- open up — reveal / make accessible
- pass up — decline / refuse
- show up — arrive
- sign up — register / enrol
- take up — start (a hobby/activity)
- tear up — rip into pieces
- throw up — vomit
- turn up — increase volume / arrive
- wrap up — finish / conclude
8. Key Rules for Phrasal Verbs
Rule 1: Separable vs Inseparable
- Separable: Object can come between verb and particle. ''I picked Tom up.''
- Separable with Pronoun: MUST be separated. ''I picked him up.'' (NOT ''I picked up him'')
- Inseparable: Verb and particle must stay together. ''We set off for the beach.''
Rule 2: Transitive vs Intransitive
- Transitive: Takes an object. ''She filled out the form.''
- Intransitive: Does not take an object. ''The bus broke down.''
Rule 3: Three-Word Phrasal Verbs
- Always inseparable. ''I'm looking forward to meeting him.''
Rule 4: When in doubt, use a noun phrase
- If you are unsure whether a phrasal verb is separable or inseparable, always use a noun or noun phrase and do NOT separate. This way, you will always be correct!
9. Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Confusing separable and inseparable phrasal verbs. Check if the verb can be separated with a pronoun.
- Using the wrong particle. e.g., 'get up' vs 'get on' vs 'get off' — each has a different meaning.
- Using a pronoun incorrectly with separable verbs. ''I picked up him'' ❌ → ''I picked him up'' ✅
- Not learning phrasal verbs in context. Phrasal verbs are best learned through reading and practice, not rote memorisation.
- Confusing phrasal verbs with prepositional verbs. Phrasal verbs have idiomatic meanings; prepositional verbs are literal. ''Look up'' (search) vs ''Look at'' (see).
- Overlooking the meaning of the particle. 'Up' often means 'completely' (use up), 'on' means 'continue' (keep on), 'off' means 'away' (set off).
10. Practice Tips for CUET
1. Read fiction regularly. Fictional works are recommended for encountering phrasal verbs in context. Make a note of all the phrasal verbs you encounter.
2. Practice making sentences. Use each phrasal verb in your own sentence to reinforce its meaning and usage.
3. Focus on high-frequency phrasal verbs. The ones listed in this chapter are the most commonly tested in CUET.
4. Learn the meanings of particles.
- Up — often means 'completely' (use up, eat up) or 'increase' (turn up, grow up)
- Down — often means 'decrease' (turn down, cut down) or 'fall' (break down)
- Off — often means 'away' (set off, take off) or 'stop' (turn off, switch off)
- On — often means 'continue' (keep on, go on) or 'activate' (turn on, switch on)
5. Practice phrasal verbs with 'up'. These are particularly common in everyday English.
Common Mistakes
- Confusing separable and inseparable phrasal verbs — e.g., using 'look up it' instead of 'look it up'.
- Using a pronoun incorrectly with separable verbs — 'I picked up him' ❌ → 'I picked him up' ✅.
- Confusing phrasal verbs with similar meanings — e.g., 'get over' (recover) vs 'get on' (board) vs 'get off' (leave).
- Using the wrong particle — e.g., 'turn up' (increase volume) vs 'turn down' (decrease/reject).
- Not learning phrasal verbs in context — rote memorisation is less effective than reading and practice.
- Confusing phrasal verbs with prepositional verbs — phrasal verbs have idiomatic meanings; prepositional verbs are literal.
- Overlooking that three-word phrasal verbs are always inseparable.