Phrasal Verbs Exercises and Examples - 100 Common Phrasal Verbs in English

Phrasal Verbs Exercises

These exercises focus on phrasal verbs.

A phrasal verb consists of:

The particle can completely change the meaning of the verb.

Verb	Phrasal Verb	Meaning
Call	Call off	Cancel
Look	Look after	Take care of
Pick	Pick up	Collect someone or something

For example:
✅ I called my friend. (called = telephoned)
✅ They called off the game. (called off = canceled)

Some phrasal verbs can be separated by an object.

✅ She turned down the offer.
✅ She turned the offer down.

But if the object is a pronoun (it, them, him, her, etc.), the verb must be separated.

✅ She turned it down.
❌ She turned down it. (incorrect)

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
Bring up	Mention	She brought up an interesting point.
Pick up	Collect	I'll pick up my sister at 5.
Turn down	Refuse	He turned down the job.
Fill in	Complete	Please fill in this form.

Some phrasal verbs cannot be separated. The verb and particle must stay together.

✅ Who looks after the dog?
❌ Who looks the dog after? (incorrect)

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
Look after	Take care of	She looks after her grandma.
Get over	Recover from	It took months to get over the flu.
Turn into	Become	The caterpillar turned into a butterfly.
Look into	Investigate	Police are looking into the crime.

Some phrasal verbs have two particles and are always inseparable.

✅ I came up with a new idea.
❌ I came a new idea up with. (incorrect)

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
Come up with	Think of	She came up with a great plan.
Get rid of	Remove	I need to get rid of my old clothes.
Get on with	Have a good relationship	I get on with my coworkers.
Put up with	Tolerate	I can’t put up with the noise.

A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and a particle (preposition or adverb) that creates a new meaning.

You need to learn them individually. A good way is to check a dictionary or use examples in context.

Phrasal verbs are mostly informal. In formal writing, try to use single-word verbs instead (e.g., "cancel" instead of "call off").

Practice with sentences, use them in conversations, and learn them in groups with similar meanings.

Phrasal verbs make speech sound more natural and conversational. Learning them will help you sound more fluent.