The lead singer of 'The Rolling Beatles' pop group is ill, so tonight's concert is off. We hadn't bargained for there being so much traffic, and we missed the plane.īe off (1) usually used in the present tense (of an event / an arrangement etc.) When my computer crashed, I lost many of my files. Make a 'protection' copy to use if there are problems with the original You're too close! Back your car up so I can open the garage door. We won't be able to open it unless they back up.' 'The people waiting in line are too close to the door. You missed the lines in the parking space. Tom was ready to call the police when I told him I'd wrecked his car, but he backed off when I said I'd pay for the damages. Shella was right, so Paul had to back down. Tom was going to call the police when I told him I'd wrecked his car, but he backed down when I said I'd pay for the damages. What's the total of those bills? Could you add them up and see? 'His theory seems, at first, to be plausible, but the facts in his research don't add up.'

His theory is hard to believe, but his research adds up. Logically fit together Note: This phrasal verb is often negative 'I guess I'd better take my car to the garage. Misbehave (for people) not work properly (for machines) What's wrong with Bob? He's acting like an idiot. Phrasal Verbs 4 Exercise.Behave in a way that's like _ Note: This phrasal verb is very informal. Even though 'go on' means 'happen', we can use 'happen' in a lot more situations than we can use 'go on'. These are the situations that it's important to learn. They have narrow meanings and you will often see the same examples again and again.

Third, phrasal verbs are often used only in very specific situations. Here I'm looking at the most common meaning for each phrasal verb. How can we choose which meanings to study? Again, the list made by Garnier and Schmitt is helpful. 'Go on' has eight meanings in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary. 'Take off' can mean both 'leave the ground' and 'become successful'. Second, phrasal verbs often have more than one meaning.

My explanations below each look at 15 of the most common phrasal verbs. However, two linguists called MÃ©lodie Garnier and Norbert Schmitt have made a very useful list of the 150 most common ones. Phrasal verbs are very common in English but they also cause a few problems.įirst, there are very, very many phrasal verbs and it can be hard to know where to start.

Phrasal verbs list