Common Phrasal Verbs with Examples

Ask someone out

- invite on a date- Brian asked Judy out to dinner and a movie.

Ask around

- ask many people the same question- I asked around but nobody has seen my wallet.

Add up to something

- equal- your purchases add up to $204.24

Back something up

- reverse- you'll have to back up your car so that I can get out

Back someone up

- support- my wife backed me up over my decision to quit my job

Blow up

- explode- the racing car blew up after it crashed into the fence

Blow something up

- add air- we have to blow up 50 balloons for the party

Break down

- stop functioning- our car broke down at the side of the highway in the snowstorm

Break down

- get upset- the woman broke down when the police told her that her son had died

Break something down

- divide into smaller parts- our teacher broke the final project down into three separate parts

Break in

- force entry to a building- somebody broke in last night and stole our stereo

Break into something

- enter forcibly- the firemen had to break into the room to rescue the children

Break something in

- wear something a few times so that it doesn't look/feel new- I need to break these shoes in before we run next week

Break in

- interrupt- the TV station broke in to report the news of the president's death

Break up

- end a relationship- my boyfriend and I broke up before I moved to America

Break up

- start laughing- the kids just broke up as soon as the clowns started talking

Break out

- escape- the prisoners broke out of jail when the guards weren't looking

Break out in something

- develop a skin condition- I broke out in a rash after our camping trip

Bring someone down

- make unhappy- this sad music is bringing me down

Bring someone up

- raise a child- my grandparents brought me up after my parents died

Bring something up

- start talking about a subject- my mother walks out of the room when my father brings up sports

Bring something up

- vomit- he drank so much that he brought his dinner up in the toilet

Call around

- phone many different people/places- we called around but we weren't able to find the car part we needed

Call someone back

- return a phone call- I called the company back but the offices were closed for the weekend

Call something back

- cancel- Jason called the wedding off because he wasn't in love with his fiancé

Call on someone

- ask for an answer or opinion- the professor called on me for question 2.