Top 10 Phrasal Verbs in English (Part 2)

Phrasal verbs are very important in English. They are commonly used in informal texts and spoken language. Phrasal verbs usually consist of a verb and an adverb or a preposition. For example, go through, get up or turn down. But sometimes they can be made up of a verb and 2 prepositions (e.g. put up with, look up to).

What’s tricky about phrasal verbs is that attaching a preposition like “up” to a verb can completely change the meaning of the whole sentence. That’s why it is really important to know as many phrasal verbs as possible in order understand what native English speakers really mean when they talk to you.

Here is the second part of the list of most common English phrasal verbs:

6) Calm down

Meaning: to stop yourself or others from being angry or upset; to become calm.

Examples:

Nothing serious happened, please calm down!

She took a deep breath to calm herself down.

7) Dress up

Meaning: to wear more formal clothes than you usually wear.

Examples:

You didn’t need to dress up like that. Everyone was told to wear casual clothes.

Let’s dress up and go to a fancy restaurant this Friday. We deserve it!

8) Figure out

Meaning:  to find the solution or to understand the problem

Examples:

I can’t figure out how to solve this puzzle.

They finally figured out who was the thief

9) Hold on

Meaning: to wait

Examples:

Hold on for a second! I need to call my mom

Hold on! This is the wrong turn.

10) Work out

Meaning:  to train, exercise; to develop a successful solution

Examples:

I work out 4 times a week to keep fit.

Their plan to move to the city didn’t work out.