12 Phrasal Verbs from Perfect English Grammar

1: Narrow down (reduce the number of options)

• Let’s narrow the candidates down to these two.

• She narrowed the choices down.

2: Mug up on (quickly learn something)

• We mugged up on the kings of England before the test.

• I need to mug up on my grammar before I speak to the teacher.

3: Run up (owe money)

• She ran a huge phone bill up.

• They will run up a lot of debt if they keep going.

4: Back up (make a copy of computer information)

• She backed her laptop up.

• You should back your computer up often.

5: Turn into (to change from one thing to another)

• The frog turned into a prince.

• The problem turned into an opportunity.

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6: Move out (of) (to leave a house or flat to live somewhere else)

• She wants to move out. That place is too small.

• When did you move out of your parents’ house?

7: Skirt around (not talk directly about a topic)

• She skirted around the idea of a raise.

• You’ll need to skirt around the money.

8: Stem from (be caused by)

• The problems stem from the cold weather.

• The high rents stem from a lack of housing.

9: Pore over (read or look at carefully)

• They pored over the map together.

• She pored over the documents.

10: Get around to (to finally do something you have meant to do for a while)

• I really must get around to fixing that chair.

• He finally got around to learning phrasal verbs.

11: Do up (improve something old)

• She did up her kitchen and it looked amazing.

• He buys flats and does them up.

12: Head for (go in the direction of)

• Head for the station and you’ll find the coffee shop on the way.
• We were heading for the library but we stopped at the pub.

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 12 Phrasal Verbs Exercise

Which phrasal verb do we need?

1. I forgot to ____________________ my photos and I deleted them all by mistake.

2. They ate and drank a lot and ____________________ a huge bill.

3. We have too many choices! Can we __________ it __________?

4. We ____________________ the old photographs that we found in the attic.

5. The students will ____________________ studying the day before the exam.

6. He is planning to ____________________ his flat soon and find a new one.

7. I need to ____________________ my geography before the test.

8. He finished work and ____________________ home but he met his friend on the way.

9. Milk can ____________________ butter.

10. I want to ____________________ our living room. The paint is old and the floor looks

terrible.

11. The illness ____________________ too little iron.

12. He never asks directly - he always ____________________ the topic.

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 12 Phrasal Verbs Answers

1. I forgot to back up my photos and I deleted them all by mistake.

2. They ate and drank a lot and ran up a huge bill.

3. We have too many choices! Can we narrow it down?

4. We pored over the old photographs that we found in the attic.

5. The students will get around to studying the day before the exam.

6. He is planning to move out of his flat soon and find a new one.

7. I need to mug up on my geography before the test.

8. He finished work and headed for home but he met his friend on the way.

9. Milk can turn into butter.

10. I want to do up our living room. The paint is old and the floor looks terrible.

11. The illness stems from too little iron.

12. He never asks directly - he always skirts around the topic.

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May be freely copied for personal or classroom use