10 important phrasal verbs for elementary learners

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A phrasal verb is made up of a verb + a short word (up, off, in, etc.).

There and many phrasal verbs in English, but you don’t need to know them all! Here are 10 important phrasal verbs for elementary learners of English to start with.

wake up

definition: to stop sleeping 
irregular verb: wake, woke, woken

  • I wake up at 6 o’clock every morning.
  • I woke up at 7 o’clock yesterday morning.

get up

definition: to get out of bed 
irregular verb: get, got, got (US English gotten)

  • I always wake up at 6.30 and then I get up at 6.40.
  • I got up late yesterday.

speak up

definition: to speak more loudly
irregular verb: speak, spoke, spoken 

  • Speak up, please! I can’t hear you.

hurry up

definition: to go more quickly 

  • We are late. Hurry up!
  • You’re so slow. Please hurry up!

give up

definition: to stop a habit
irregular verb: give, gave, given

  • I want to give up smoking; it’s unhealthy and expensive.
  • I gave up smoking last year. I feel much healthier now.

wash up

definition: to wash the plates, cups and cutlery

  • My wife cooked the dinner and afterwards I washed up.

slow down

definition: to go more slowly 

  • Don’t drive so quickly – slow down!
  • You’re speaking too quickly. Please slow down!

break down

definition: when a car or machine stops working 
irregular verb: break, broke, broken

  • Old cars often break down.
  • I was late for work yesterday because my car broke down.

look out

definition: to be careful, to pay attention

  • Look out! The floor is wet.

grow up

definition: to stop being a child, become an adult 
irregular verb: grow, grew, grown

  • My daughter is growing up fast.
  • He grew up in London, but now he lives in Paris.

7 Comments

  1. Iloveengland - October 16, 2015, 5:01 pm Reply

    Thanks for the information!

  2. Anonymous - September 18, 2019, 5:25 pm Reply

    Thanks a lot for your support….

  3. Shahzad - October 30, 2019, 10:20 pm Reply

    Thanks for your effort to learn English learning to everybody.

    Be succeed

  4. David manasseh - May 18, 2020, 7:30 pm Reply

    Wow! I love these,.Thanks so much.

  5. Ilkin - December 15, 2020, 6:00 pm Reply

    thanks so much

  6. Anonymous - March 2, 2021, 3:44 pm Reply

    Thanks a lot, it’s really helpful.

  7. Susan - November 18, 2021, 4:18 pm Reply

    thank you, this is very helpful

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