Module 5 · Articles & Prepositions

Phrasal Verbs — Introduction & Top 100

Intermediate–Advanced1 h25 questions8 sections

Step 1

Quick Look

A phrasal verb is a verb + small word (up, off, out, on...) whose combined meaning is NEW — ‘give up’ has nothing to do with giving or upward. Native English runs on these: spoken English uses ‘find out’ where written English uses ‘discover’. This chapter teaches the two grammar rules that govern all of them, then hands you the Top 100 as a themed reference bank — your revision asset for months.

Sentence TypeStructure + Example

What they are

verb+particle = new meaning

give up (quit), find out (discover), put off (postpone), break down (stop working)

Separable

the object can split the pair — turn off the light = turn the light off. BUT a pronoun MUST go inside: turn it off (never ‘turn off it’).

Inseparable

some never split: look after her, get over it, run into an old friend, come across a file

The golden rule: with separable phrasal verbs, a PRONOUN is forced inside — pick it up, call her back, put it off, turn it down. ‘Pick up it’ and ‘call back her’ are impossible. With nouns you have a choice (pick up the file / pick the file up); with pronouns you have none.

Verb + particle = a brand-new meaning

Learn each phrasal verb as one unit: the meaning is not the sum of its parts.

Step 2

When to Use It

Use 1

Why they matter — the register gap

Formal verb vs. phrasal twin: both correct, different rooms.

postpone put off | cancel call off | discover find out
tolerate put up with | continue carry on | investigate look into
In agreements, write ‘postpone’; on WhatsApp, say ‘put off’. Knowing both is the skill.

Use 2

Separable in action

Noun: both positions. Pronoun: inside only.

Fill in the form. = Fill the form in. Fill it in.
She turned down the offer. = She turned the offer down. She turned it down.
Drop off the keys at the office. Drop them off.

Use 3

Inseparable in action

The pair stays glued — object always after.

Who will look after the site during Holi? look after it.
He finally got over the Kanpur loss. got over it.
I ran into Sharma ji at the registrar’s office.
Three-part verbs are always inseparable: put up with, look forward to, run out of, get along with, cut down on.

Use 4

The business twenty — learn these first

The phrasal verbs your work actually needs.

set up (start a company), take over (acquire), call off (cancel), put off (postpone), draw up (draft a document)
hand over (transfer possession!), back out (withdraw from a deal), follow up, sort out, work out (find a solution)
pay off (clear a loan), put down (pay a token/deposit), bring down (reduce a price), take out (a loan), fall through (deal collapses)
The buyer backed out, so the deal fell through — now we must sort it out and draw up a fresh agreement.

Where can the object go?

A noun can sometimes split the pair; a pronoun must go inside a separable verb and after an inseparable one.

Extra

The Top 100 — Themed Reference Bank

Theme A — Daily life & home (20)

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Phrasal verb	Meaning
wake up	stop sleeping	get up	leave the bed
turn on	start (a device)	turn off	stop (a device)
put on	wear	take off	remove (clothes); (plane) depart
pick up	lift; collect someone	drop off	deliver / leave someone
throw away	discard	clean up	make tidy
run out of	have none left	look for	search
plug in	connect to power	hang up	end a call
sit down	take a seat	stand up	rise
lie down	rest flat	get in / get out of	enter / exit (a car)
get on / get off	board / leave (bus, train)	wash up	clean dishes/hands

Theme B — Work & business (20)

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Phrasal verb	Meaning
set up	establish, start	shut down	close permanently
take over	acquire control	take on	hire; accept (work)
call off	cancel	put off	postpone
carry out	perform, execute	carry on	continue
fill in / fill out	complete (a form)	hand in	submit
hand over	transfer possession	draw up	draft (a document)
back out	withdraw (from a deal)	fall through	(deal) collapse
follow up	chase, check progress	sort out	resolve
come up with	produce (an idea)	go through	review, examine
point out	highlight	work out	solve; turn out well

Theme C — Money & deals (20)

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Phrasal verb	Meaning
pay off	clear (a loan) fully	pay back	return borrowed money
put down	pay (a deposit/token)	take out	obtain (a loan)
save up	accumulate money	shell out	pay (unwillingly)
cut down on	reduce (spending)	run up	accumulate (bills, debt)
bring down	reduce (a price)	go up / come down	(prices) rise / fall
sell off	sell quickly/cheaply	buy out	purchase someone’s share
mark up	increase the price	write off	cancel (a debt); declare a loss
rip off	cheat, overcharge	chip in	contribute money
put aside	reserve (money)	break even	make neither profit nor loss
cash in on	profit from	settle up	pay what is owed

Theme D — People & communication (20)

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Phrasal verb	Meaning
call back	return a call	call up	phone
get along with	have a good relationship	fall out (with)	quarrel
make up	reconcile; invent	break up	end a relationship
let down	disappoint	stand by	support
show up / turn up	arrive, appear	turn down	reject
look up to	respect	look down on	consider inferior
bring up	raise (a child / a topic)	grow up	become an adult
count on	rely on	catch up (with)	reach the same level; update
speak up	talk louder; voice opinion	calm down	become calm
cheer up	become/make happier	tell off	scold

Theme E — Movement & change (20)

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Phrasal verb	Meaning
set off / set out	begin a journey	take off	(flight) leave the ground
check in	register (hotel/flight)	check out	leave (hotel); examine
pull over	stop at the roadside	speed up / slow down	go faster / slower
move in	start living somewhere	move out	leave a residence
come back / go back	return	turn around	reverse direction
break down	(machine) stop working	pass away	die (politely)
give up	quit	put up with	tolerate
look into	investigate	come across	find by chance
run into	meet by chance	get over	recover from
end up	finally be/become	watch out	be careful

Revision method: one theme a week, five verbs a day, and one self-written sentence per verb. Passive reading builds recognition; writing builds ownership.

Step 4

Hindi Concept Note

अHindi Concept Noteहिंदी में समझिए

Phrasal verb = verb + छोटा शब्द (up/off/out/on), और मतलब बिल्कुल नया: give up = हार मानना/छोड़ देना (देने या ऊपर से कोई रिश्ता नहीं!)।

बोलचाल की English इन्हीं पर चलती है: पता लगाना find out; टालना put off; ख़राब हो जाना break down; बर्दाश्त करना put up with।

दो नियम राज करते हैं: 1) Separable में noun दोनों जगह जा सकता है (turn off the light = turn the light off), पर pronoun हमेशा बीच में: turn IT off (‘turn off it’ कभी नहीं!)।

2) Inseparable कभी नहीं टूटते: look after her (माँ की देखभाल), get over it (उबर जाना)। तीन शब्द वाले हमेशा inseparable: put up with, look forward to, run out of।

Business के लिए सोने के बीस पहले रटो: hand over (क़ब्ज़ा देना), back out (सौदे से मुकरना), fall through (सौदा गिर जाना), put down (token देना), draw up (agreement बनाना), pay off (loan चुकाना)।

Step 5

Common Mistakes Hindi Speakers Make

Wrong

Right

Why

Please turn off it — the meter is running.

Please turn it off — the meter is running.

Pronouns go INSIDE separable phrasal verbs, always.

She is looking after very well her old parents.

She is looking after her old parents very well.

Inseparable — the pair never splits, and the object follows immediately.

The deal fell down at the last minute.

The deal fell through at the last minute.

Collapse of a plan/deal = fall through. (Fall down = physically topple.)

He gave up to smoke last Diwali.

He gave up smoking last Diwali.

Phrasal verbs ending in a particle take the gerund — Module 4’s preposition law.

We are looking forward to meet you.

We are looking forward to meeting you.

The three-part TO-trap, one last time — this to is a preposition.

Pick up me at the metro station at 6.

Pick me up at the metro station at 6.

Pronoun inside: pick ME up.

Step 6

Signal Words

Working rules:

New combined meaning? It’s a phrasal verb — learn it as one unit

Separable + pronoun pronoun inside (turn it off, call her back, drop them off)

Three-part verbs always inseparable (put up with, look forward to, run out of, get along with)

Particle at the end + another verb follows that verb wears -ing (gave up smoking)

Formal document prefer the Latin twin (postpone, cancel, discover); speech the phrasal twin

Step 7

Practice

Set A

Fill in the blanks

0 / 10

1
The buyer (back out) at the registry table, and the whole deal (fall through). (two blanks, past)
2
Can you (drop/I) at the tehsil office on your way? (pronoun placement)
3
We’ve (run out) letterheads — order a new box. (complete the three-part verb)
4
The lawyer will (draw up) the fresh agreement by Monday.
5
(fill) this form and (hand) it at counter 3. (two phrasal verbs, object placement free)
6
He finally (pay off) the Ghaziabad shop loan last month.
7
The generator (break down) twice during the event.
8
I (run into) an old school friend at the property expo yesterday.
9
Don’t (put off) the fire-NOC renewal again.
10
She (turn down) their first offer — it was 15% below market. (past)

Set B

Correct the mistake

0 / 8

11
Please pick up her from the airport at 9.
12
He gave up to drink cold water during fever. (habit meaning)
13
The society decided to call the event off it. (fix the object)
14
I look forward to meet your senior partner.
15
The tempo broke off on the highway near Dadri. (machine stopped working)
16
We must put up this nonsense no longer. (tolerate — fix the verb)
17
Turn on it — the inverter light is blinking.
18
They handed the possession over to the buyer... acceptable, but now replace the noun with a pronoun correctly.

Set C

Translate into English

0 / 7

19
बत्ती बुझा दो... मतलब, उसे बंद कर दो। (pronoun के साथ)
20
सौदा आख़िरी वक़्त पर गिर गया।
21
उसने सिगरेट छोड़ दी। (phrasal verb से)
22
मुझे station से उठा लेना। (pronoun के साथ)
23
हम आपके जवाब का इंतज़ार कर रहे हैं... मतलब, उत्सुक हैं। (3-part verb)
24
गाड़ी रास्ते में ख़राब हो गई।
25
form भरकर counter पर जमा कर दो। (दो phrasal verbs)

Step 8

Answer Key

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Answers · Set A

backed out ... fell through

drop me off

run out of

draw up

Fill this form in (Fill in this form) ... hand it in

paid off

broke down

ran into

put off

turned down

Answers · Set B

Please pick her up from the airport at 9. (Pronoun inside.)

He gave up drinking cold water during fever. (Particle + gerund.)

The society decided to call it off. / ...to call the event off. (One object, pronoun inside.)

I look forward to meeting your senior partner. (TO-trap -ing.)

The tempo broke down on the highway near Dadri. (Machine failure = break down.)

We must not put up with this nonsense any longer. (Three-part verb, complete.)

Turn it on — the inverter light is blinking. (Pronoun inside.)

They handed it over to the buyer. (Pronoun inside: handed IT over.)

Answers · Set C

Turn it off. / Switch it off.

The deal fell through at the last moment.

He gave up smoking.

Pick me up from the station.

We look forward to hearing from you.

The car broke down on the way.

Fill in the form and hand it in at the counter. / Fill the form in and hand it in.

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Next up · Chapter 10Grand Review & Practice Tests

The complete article decision tree, the preposition master tables, and two mixed practice tests.