Here is a list of verbs combined with adverbs and prepositions. These combinations have special meanings, so they are illustrated with example sentences.

Phrase	Example
agree to	I wish she would agree to my proposal.
agree with	I agree with him on that point.
ask after	Mr. Smith asked after John.
ask in	He was asked in.
ask over	Yes, you can ask your friend over.

Phrase	Example
back off	She was told to back off.
be in	Are your parents in?
be off	I'm off now.
bear on	These facts do not bear on this matter.
bear with	Please bear with him for a moment while he tries to put this straight.
beg off	I'm sorry, I have to beg off.
black out	And then she just blacked out.
blame on	Don't blame it on her.
blow up	The bomb might have blown up.
break away / break free / break loose	At last, the hostage could break away from his captors.
break down	Finally her sister broke down.
break off	I didn't mean to break off anything.
break up	Sue and Tim broke up last year.
bring along	This year has brought along some significant changes.
bring down	(1) Taxes were never brought down. (2) The president was brought down by this scandal.
bring in	My job brings in 400 dollars per week.
bring up	(1) She was brought up in Wisconsin. (2) Why do you have to bring that up?
build up	He needs to do some exercises to build himself up.
burst in with	She burst in with the bad news.
butt in	How can we talk when you keep butting in all the time?

Phrase	Example
call down	The teacher called down all the students who were late.
call in	He called Kelly in.
call off	I had to call off the barbecue because of the bad weather.
calm down	Please calm down.
carry on	Please carry on with your homework.
catch up (on)	I need some time to catch up on that incident.
check out	I will check it out.
check up (on)	There is no need to check up on me.
clean down	My hands were covered with mud, so I cleaned them down.
clean off	Can you clean off the table, please?
clean up	Can you clean your room up a little?
clear away	Please clear your stuff away.
close down	The shop was closed down by the police.
close in (on)	She closed in quietly.
close up	The restaurant was closed up by the health department.
come around	I knew he would come around in the end.
come back	Will the good old days ever come back?
come by	(1) My aunt came by yesterday. (2) I hope he came by this money honestly.
come over	Why don't you come over next weekend?
cool down / cool off	(1) It began to cool off after the thunderstorm. (2) Cool down, guys!
count on	Can we count on you?
cut back (on)	I have to cut back on water usage.
cut out	Cut it out!

Phrase	Example
decide on	I decided on iced tea.
die off / die out	That species died out millions of years ago.
dirty up	Don't dirty your pants up!
do in	He tried to do his father in.
do over	I probably wouldn't do it over.
do up	(1) Do up the present quickly. (2) Please do up your buttons.
do without	I guess I will have to do without lunch today.
draw near	As the time drew near, everyone grew nervous.
dress down	His father dressed him down again.
drink up	Drink up, and let's get going.
drive at	You must see what I'm driving at.
drive on	We drove on till night.
drop by	I hope you guys can drop by our house sometime.
drop in (on)	I can't believe who dropped in on us last night.
drop off	You can drop me off at the next red light.
dry out	The clothes finally dried out.

Phrase	Example
ease off	The storm eased off a little.
eat up	Eat up, and let's get going.
edge away	The students laughed and edged away from him.
end up	When will all this end up?
enter into	We need more members to enter into our team.
even out	The surface of the road was evened out.
even up	Can they even up the score tonight?

Phrase	Example
face up to	You have to face up to challenges.
fall apart	The whole thing fell apart.
fall back on	I had to fall back on my savings.
fall behind (in/on)	He's falling behind in his car payments.
fall through	I hope my party doesn't fall through.
fasten up	Please fasten up your jacket.
feel for	I really feel for you.
fight back (at)	It's hard for him to fight back.
fight down	I fought down the anger.
figure on	I figure on the extra income.
figure out	I just can't figure her out.
fill in	(1) Fill the cracks in. (2) Please fill in the form.
fill in for	I will fill in for him while he is away.
fill out	Would you fill out the form, please?
fill up	(1) The hole filled up with water. (2) We will fill up at the next gas station.
finish off	Finish off your cup of coffee, please.
finish up	I will finish my homework up in a few minutes.
fit in (to)	It just doesn't fit in.
fix up	Is my bike fixed up yet?
fly in (to)	When did you fly in?
fool around	Stop fooling around.

Phrase	Example
gather up	Let's gather our things up and leave.
get across	How can I get it across to you?
get along with	He couldn't get along with his mother-in-law.
get at	What exactly is he getting at?
get back	When will you get back?
get back at	He will get back at him someday.
get back to	I will get back to you in a minute.
get by (on)	She can't get by on that much money.
get down to	Let's get down to homework.
get into	He managed to get into the class he wanted.
get off	I have to get off at the next stop.
get on	How are you getting on?
get on with	(1) I need to get on with my homework. (2) How do you get on with Sam?
get out of	You've got to get out of there.
get over	(1) He got over the illness. (2) He couldn't get over the rock.
get through	I tried calling you, but I couldn't get through.
get up	(1) Today I got up at 10 a.m. (2) We got up a team on short notice.
give away (to)	(1) He gave his car away to his brother. (2) Don't give the answer away.
give in (to)	Why does she always give in to her brother?
give up	Are you sure you want to give up your career?
glance over	My teacher glanced over my homework today.
go away	Please go away!
go back	I'll never go back.
go in	They went in after us.
go in for	He goes in for playing soccer.
go off	(1) The bomb went off. (2) The party went off as planned.
go off with	She went off with her new boyfriend.
go out (with)	Will she go out with Mike next Friday?
go through	(1) Go through the tunnel. (2) Search. (3) Use up. (4) Experience. (5) Practice.
go under	(1) The ship went under. (2) The company went under.
go without	I can't go without candy.

Phrase	Example
hand down	(1) The court handed down a ruling. (2) He handed it down to his granddaughter.
hand out	The teacher handed out the tests.
hang around (with)	I spend time hanging around with my friends.
hang on	(1) Hang on a minute. (2) They couldn't hang on much longer.
hang up	Why did you hang up on me?
happen upon	I just happened upon her.
heal up	My injury healed up in no time.
hear out	Hear me out, please.
heat up	How soon will lunch be heated up?
help out	Can you help me out?
hide away	Hide this book away.
hide out (from)	He was hiding out from the police.
hit back (at)	He hit me, but I didn't hit back.
hit on	Tom was hitting on Mike's fiancée.
hit upon	I think I have hit upon something.
hold back (on)	They held back on signing the deal.
hold on	Hold on a minute.
hold out	I don't know how long they can hold out.
hold up	Someone tried to hold me up.
hurry on / up	Hurry up, will you? I have errands to run.

Phrasal Verbs / Prepositional Verbs with Special Meaning (A–H)

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