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Article Post
Jan 25 2022
What are phrasal verbs?
15 examples using one of the most commonly used English verbs
Some verbs in English are made up of two (or sometimes more) words. These are called phrasal verbs. They are very common in English and help to make you sound more idiomatic and fluent in your speaking and writing.
Sometimes the same verb with a different particle can mean several different things. This is the magic of phrasal verbs. To show you this in action we have 15 examples using one of the most commonly used English verbs: get/got.
All the material below is taken from our newest English for Everyone course title, English for Everyone: English Phrasal Verbs.
Stick around until the end for a free treat!
1. As soon as we got to the ski resort, we went straight to the slopes.
got to – arrive at
2. Claude got up from his chair and went to make some tea.
got up (from) – stood up (from sitting)
3. Lee got his fishing rod out of the garage and carried it to his car.
got out (of) – removed something (from a bag, box, room, etc)
4. Get out!
get out – tell someone to leave a room in an angry way
5. Mel let Dave borrow her lawnmower a month ago, and she finally got it back from him.
got it back (from) – retrieve something
6. Olivia is trying to get into journalism. She’s just started an internship at a radio station.
get into – become involved in something, start a career
7. When Al saw how many people were making money by selling things online, he decided to get in on it.
get in on – become involved in a successful activity
8. Carolina went on a training course to help her get ahead at work.
get ahead (at) – improve your position at work
9. Steve gets off work early on Fridays so he can collect his children from school.
get off – finish work
10. It was great to get away for a few days!
get away – go somewhere for a break or to relax
11. Mateo and Juanita are very naughty, but Martina lets them get away with it.
get away with – do something wrong without being punished for it
12. By the time we got back from our bicycle ride, it was already getting dark.
got back from – return from
13. He asked me to get back to him as soon as possible.
get back (to) – reply to a phone call or email, contact someone (with a response to a question)
14. I recently got back into cycling. I hadn’t done it since I was a teenager.
got back into – start doing something again after not doing it for some time
15. Nick doesn’t earn much money, but it’s enough to get by.
get by – have just enough money to survive
Would you like to know more?
Phrasal verbs can seem confusing at first, and if this list has given you a hunger to learn more, we have a free downloadable pack called Introducing Phrasal Verbs, packed full of even more content from English for Everyone: English Phrasal Verbs.
