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Phrasal verbs by level

Forty-eight phrasal verbs in three levels, ordered by how soon you need them rather than how hard they are. Separable ones are marked.

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48 phrasal verbs

Splitting phrasal verbs into “beginner, intermediate and advanced” means very little: get by is not grammatically harder than get up, it is simply rarer. Here the levels answer a different question — how soon does not knowing this cost you something.

Within each level the particle is what matters: up finishes things, out empties or reveals them, off separates them. Seeing them together is the only thing that stops phrasal verbs feeling arbitrary.

“Separable” means the object can sit in the middle: turn the light off is as correct as turn off the light. And when the object is a pronoun it MUST sit in the middle: turn it off, never turn off it.

The everyday ones

An ordinary day does not hold together without these: getting up, turning something on, going out, looking for your keys. The first anyone learns and the most repeated.

  • get up

    levantarse

    I get up at six most days.

  • wake up

    despertarse

    separable

    I woke up before the alarm.

  • turn on

    encender

    separable

    Could you turn the heating on?

  • turn off

    apagar

    separable

    Turn it off before you leave.

  • put on

    ponerse (ropa)

    separable

    Put a coat on, it's freezing.

  • take off

    quitarse; despegar

    separable

    She took her shoes off at the door.

  • sit down

    sentarse

    Sit down, this will take a while.

  • stand up

    levantarse, ponerse de pie

    Everyone stood up when she came in.

  • come back

    volver

    He came back three hours later.

  • go out

    salir

    We're going out for dinner.

  • look for

    buscar

    I'm looking for my keys.

  • pick up

    recoger

    separable

    Can you pick the kids up at four?

  • give up

    rendirse, dejar (un hábito)

    separable

    She gave up smoking two years ago.

  • find out

    averiguar, enterarse

    separable

    I found out this morning.

  • write down

    apuntar

    separable

    Write the address down before you forget.

The ones you need at work

A meeting, an email, a call. Not knowing the phrasal verb here does not leave you silent — it leaves you saying in three words what a native says in two.

  • carry out

    llevar a cabo

    separable

    They carried out the audit in March.

  • set up

    montar, organizar

    separable

    We set up the account yesterday.

  • follow up

    hacer seguimiento

    I'll follow up with them on Monday.

  • sort out

    resolver, arreglar

    separable

    Let's sort this out before Friday.

  • deal with

    ocuparse de, tratar con

    She deals with the difficult clients.

  • point out

    señalar, hacer notar

    separable

    He pointed out a flaw in the plan.

  • bring up

    sacar un tema

    separable

    Don't bring that up in the meeting.

  • call off

    cancelar

    separable

    They called the launch off.

  • put off

    aplazar

    separable

    We keep putting the decision off.

  • take over

    hacerse cargo, tomar el control

    separable

    She took over the team in June.

  • run out of

    quedarse sin

    We've run out of time.

  • catch up

    ponerse al día

    Let's catch up next week.

  • figure out

    descifrar, entender

    separable

    I can't figure out what went wrong.

  • back up

    respaldar; hacer copia

    separable

    Nobody backed me up in that meeting.

  • turn down

    rechazar; bajar el volumen

    separable

    He turned the offer down.

  • look into

    investigar

    We're looking into the complaint.

  • hand in

    entregar

    separable

    She handed in her notice.

The ones that sound native

These are not necessary any more: they are the difference. They are what turns up when somebody speaks without thinking about how they are saying it.

  • get by

    arreglárselas, ir tirando

    My French is bad but I get by.

  • put up with

    aguantar, soportar

    I don't know how she puts up with him.

  • come across

    toparse con; dar la impresión

    I came across it by accident.

  • get away with

    salirse con la suya

    He got away with it completely.

  • look forward to

    tener ganas de

    I'm looking forward to it.

  • run into

    encontrarse con alguien por casualidad

    I ran into your brother on the tube.

  • make up for

    compensar

    Nothing makes up for losing that year.

  • get over

    superar

    It took her months to get over it.

  • turn out

    resultar (ser)

    It turned out to be much easier.

  • end up

    acabar (haciendo algo)

    We ended up walking home.

  • cut down on

    reducir el consumo de

    I'm cutting down on sugar.

  • go through

    pasar por (algo difícil); repasar

    She's going through a rough patch.

  • stand out

    destacar

    Her application stood out immediately.

  • fall through

    irse al traste

    The deal fell through at the last minute.

  • get around to

    sacar tiempo para

    I never got around to reading it.

  • look up to

    admirar

    He's always looked up to his sister.

A phrasal verb is not learned, it is picked up

It sticks once you have used it wrong and somebody has told you how it is said. That is exactly what Fluvia does, in conversation and without signing up.

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