You’ve met the first fifty — the wake ups, the get ups, the give ups. But English didn’t stop there. The moment money, phone calls and sore throats walk into your day, a second team of phrasal verbs walks in with them.
On this page you’ll find 50 more phrasal verbs with simple meanings and natural examples — this time grouped around money and shopping, talking with people, problems and decisions, time and plans, and health. New here? Start with our first set of 50 common phrasal verbs, then come back for round two.
Still unsure what these little word teams even are? Our guide to what a phrasal verb is explains the types in plain English — read that first if “phrasal verb” still sounds like grammar fog.
More Phrasal Verbs: Why the First Fifty Aren’t Enough
English owns thousands of these verbs, and daily life keeps changing rooms on you. The bank speaks one set, the clinic another, the office a third. The fifty below aren’t leftovers — they’re the ones most learners meet in their second month, right after the basics stop being enough.
There’s good news hiding here: the partners repeat. Once up, back, out and off start feeling familiar, new verbs stop looking like strangers. You begin to guess — and guessing right, even half the time, is how real fluency grows.
How to Learn This Second Set (Without Drowning)
Same method as Part 1, because it works: learn in situation groups, inside sentences about your own life. “I must pay Tom back on Friday” sticks because Tom is real. Five verbs a day, said out loud, one used for real before dinner — ten days, and the page is yours.
Phrasal verbs have close cousins, too — fixed word pairs like heavy traffic and keep a promise. If pairs are your weak spot, our 50 more English collocations page trains exactly the same habit from the other side.
Phrasal Verbs for Money & Shopping (10)
Wallets open and close with these ten: borrowing, saving, returning, choosing. Cashiers and friends use them so often that they stop sounding like “grammar” at all.
- pay back — return money you borrowed from someone. “I borrowed twenty pounds from Sara, and I’ll pay her back on Friday.” Splits: pay it back.
- save up — keep money little by little for something you want. “We’re saving up for a new car.”
- shop around — compare prices in different shops before you buy. “Shop around before you buy a phone — prices change from shop to shop.”
- sell out — sell everything, so nothing is left. “The concert tickets sold out in one day.” Shops also sell out of things: “They’ve sold out of bread.”
- take back — return something to a shop because it’s wrong or broken. “The shoes were too small, so I took them back.” Splits: take them back.
- pick out — choose one thing from a group of things. “She picked out a blue dress for the party.” Splits: pick it out.
- try on — put on clothes in a shop to see if they fit. “Try the jacket on before you pay for it.” Pronouns must split it: try it on, never “try on it”.
- add up — calculate the total of numbers. “Add up your bills before you pay them.” Splits: add them up. Careful: “It doesn’t add up” means it doesn’t make sense.
- cut back — spend less money than before. “We’re cutting back this month — no eating out, no new clothes.” Often with on: cut back on taxis.
- pay off — finish paying all the money you owe. “It took them five years to pay off the loan.” Splits: pay it off.
Phrasal Verbs for Talking & Communication (10)
Phone calls, messages, meetings, small talk — conversation runs on these. Several live almost entirely on the phone, so learn them with a hand at your ear.
- speak up — talk louder so people can hear you. “Please speak up — we can’t hear you at the back.”
- talk over — discuss something together carefully. “Let’s talk it over with the team tomorrow.” Splits: talk it over.
- ask around — ask many people the same question. “I asked around, but nobody knows a good plumber.”
- call back — phone someone again, or return their call. “I’m busy now — can I call you back in an hour?” Splits: call you back.
- hang up — end a phone call. “She said goodbye and hung up.”
- pass on — give a message or information to another person. “Please pass on the news to your brother.” Splits: pass it on.
- get back to — reply to someone later, when you have the answer. “I don’t know yet, but I’ll get back to you tomorrow.” Never splits.
- hear from — receive a call, letter or message from someone. “Have you heard from Tom since he moved to Canada?” Never splits.
- break in — interrupt someone while they’re speaking. “Sorry to break in, but there’s an urgent call for you.”
- join in — take part in a conversation or activity with others. “Come and sit with us — join in the conversation!”
Phrasal Verbs for Problems & Decisions (10)
Things go wrong; plans need choosing. These ten are the verbs of fixing, thinking and deciding — the ones managers, doctors and tired parents reach for first.
- deal with — handle a problem or difficult situation. “The manager deals with complaints every day.” Never splits: you deal with a problem, never “deal a problem with”.
- sort out — organize something messy, or fix a problem. “We need to sort out this bill before Friday.” Splits: sort it out.
- think over — consider something carefully before deciding. “He asked for a week to think it over.” Splits: think it over.
- come up with — think of an idea, plan or answer. “She came up with a clever way to save money.” Never splits.
- put off — delay something to a later time. “Don’t put off your homework until Sunday night.” Splits: put it off.
- do without — manage when something you want isn’t there. “There’s no milk for the tea — we’ll have to do without.”
- look into — investigate a problem to learn the facts. “The company is looking into the mistake.” Never splits.
- rule out — decide something is impossible and stop considering it. “The doctor ruled out a broken bone.” Splits: rule it out.
- narrow down — reduce the number of choices to a smaller list. “We’ve narrowed it down to three houses.” Splits: narrow it down.
- sleep on it — wait until tomorrow before making a decision. “It’s a big decision — sleep on it and tell me in the morning.” The it is fixed; it never moves.
Phrasal Verbs for Time & Plans (10)
Calendars, deadlines and busy weeks — these verbs squeeze hobbies into full days, move meetings along, and describe how plans actually end: rarely where you expected.
- take up — start a new hobby, sport or activity. “He took up swimming to get fit.” Splits: take it up.
- set aside — save time or money for a special purpose. “Try to set aside an hour a day for English.” Splits: set it aside.
- fit in — find time for something in a busy day. “I can fit in a quick call at lunch.” Splits: fit it in.
- hold on — wait for a short time. “Hold on — I’m coming!” On the phone: “Hold on, please, I’ll check.”
- carry on — continue doing something, even when it’s hard. “Sorry for the noise — please carry on with your work.”
- move on — go to the next thing and stop thinking about the past. “After ten minutes of questions, the teacher moved on to the next lesson.”
- slow down — go or work more slowly. “You’ve been working all day — slow down and rest a little.”
- speed up — go or happen faster. “We need to speed up if we want to finish by five.” Splits: speed it up.
- end up — finally arrive somewhere, or finish in an unexpected situation. “We got lost and ended up at the wrong station.”
- catch up — do work you should have finished earlier. “I missed two classes, so I stayed late to catch up.” Often catch up on: “I need to catch up on my reading.”
Phrasal Verbs for Health & the Body (10)
Gyms, doctors and bad winter colds — the last group looks after your body: warming it up, resting it, and getting it well again.
- warm up — move your body gently before sport so your muscles are ready. “Always warm up before you run.” Splits: warm them up (your legs).
- cool down — slow your body down gently after exercise. “Walk for five minutes to cool down after your run.”
- cut down on — do or use less of something unhealthy. “He’s trying to cut down on sugar.” Never splits.
- pass out — suddenly become unconscious for a short time. “It was so hot in the room that she passed out.”
- come down with — become ill with something, usually not serious. “I think I’m coming down with a cold.” Never splits.
- get over — become well again after an illness. “It took him two weeks to get over the flu.” Never splits.
- throw up — bring food back up from your stomach when you’re ill. “The child felt sick on the bus and threw up.”
- build up — slowly make something stronger, bit by bit. “Walking every day builds up your strength.” Splits: build it up.
- fight off — stop an illness from making you worse. “Rest and hot drinks help you fight off a cold.” Splits: fight it off.
- shake off — finally get rid of an illness or bad feeling. “I can’t seem to shake off this cough.” Splits: shake it off.
Quick Practice
Try these without scrolling back — one verb from this page fits each gap.
One: “I need to ___ these shoes before I buy them.” Two: “Sorry, I missed that — could you ___ a little?” Three: “Don’t decide tonight; ___ it and tell me tomorrow.” Four: “She decided to ___ painting this year.” Five: “After the flu, it took him weeks to ___ it.” Six: “The tickets are expensive, so we’re ___ for them now.”
Answers: 1. try on. 2. speak up. 3. sleep on. 4. take up. 5. get over. 6. saving up. Most of them right? Round two is settling in. Missed a couple? That group gets five minutes tomorrow — small, daily, done. For whole-sentence practice, work through our 100 more daily use English sentences, then test yourself with our free idiom quiz.
Meeting a verb that isn’t on either page? Both the Cambridge Dictionary entry for “phrasal verb” and the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries entry for “phrasal verb” define it clearly — and list thousands more with examples.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to learn Part 1 before this page?
No — each page stands alone, and you can start with whichever group matches your life. Together, though, the two pages give you a hundred of the hardest-working verbs in everyday English, and that’s a serious toolbox.
What’s the difference between “cut back” and “cut down on”?
They’re close cousins. Cut back usually talks about money and spending: “We’re cutting back this month.” Cut down on talks about amounts you eat, drink or use: “Cut down on sugar.” In real life people mix them, and you’ll be understood either way.
Which verbs on this page can I split?
Quite a few: pay back, take back, pick out, try on, add up, sort out, think over, put off, talk over, pass on, take up, set aside and more — each list entry tells you. Remember the pronoun rule: with it or them, splitting isn’t a choice — try it on, never “try on it”.
Does “get over” only work for illness?
Illness is its home, but it travels. You can get over a shock, a surprise, or a disappointment — anything your body or mind needs time to recover from. “I still can’t get over how kind they were” means the surprise hasn’t left you yet.
Are these verbs British or American?
Nearly all of them live happily on both sides of the ocean. A few lean one way — shop around and sleep on it are heard everywhere — and a couple, like fill in versus fill out a form, split by country. Learn one version; simply recognise the other.
What’s the best way to remember all fifty?
The same way you learned the first fifty: in groups, in sentences, in your own life. Five a day, each inside one true sentence about your week, said out loud and used once for real. Verbs you keep meeting are verbs you keep — so arrange the meetings.