Natural English
Phrasal Verbs
Verb + preposition/particle combinations that carry meanings you can't guess from the individual words — a core part of sounding natural in English.
Phrasal verbs (like "give up," "look into," or "run out of") are everywhere in spoken and informal written English. This section covers them by theme, by conversation, and — for one of the most productive verbs in English — by verb family.
Useful if you're: working on sounding more natural in conversation, preparing for listening/speaking sections of an exam, or building vocabulary beyond single-word verbs.
Notes in this section
100+ Common Phrasal Verbs, by Theme
Organised by work, daily life, travel, and communication — with meanings and examples.
A2–B120 Phrasal Verbs for Daily Conversation
A fresh set shown inside realistic conversation snippets.
B1–B220 Phrasal Verbs with GET
A deep dive into one of English's most flexible and useful verbs.
Keep exploring
Related on English Notes
Frequently asked
Questions about phrasal verbs
What's the difference between a phrasal verb and an idiom?
Phrasal verbs are verb + particle combinations (get up, look after) that function as a single verb. Idioms are broader — fixed expressions whose meaning isn't literal (break the ice, cost an arm and a leg), and some idioms happen to be built from phrasal verbs. See our full Idioms & Phrases section.
Why focus a whole page on phrasal verbs with just one verb, like GET?
Verbs like "get," "take," and "put" form dozens of phrasal verbs each, and learning them as a family — noticing how the particle changes the meaning — builds a much stronger mental pattern than memorising isolated phrases scattered across different lists.
What does 'separable' mean for a phrasal verb?
A separable phrasal verb allows an object to go between the verb and the particle: "turn off the light" or "turn the light off" are both correct. Inseparable ones don't allow this.
More phrasal verbs notes are added every week.
Have a topic you'd like explained? Tell us and we'll add it to the notebook.