- Phrasal Verbs (Sentence examples: get about – get up to)
- Phrasal Verbs (Sentence examples: hand around/round – hold up as)
Phrasal Verb |
Meaning |
Example Sentence |
give away |
To present bride to bridegroom. |
Is it the bride’s father, mother or eldest brother who gives the bride away? |
|
To make free offer. |
The store is giving away a packet of rat poison with every packet purchased. |
|
To unintentionally disclose secret information. |
She was to keep it a secret, but she gave it away. |
|
To let others have the things we no longer need. |
Since we no longer use all these clothes, why don’t we just give them away? |
give back |
To return. |
He hasn’t given back the money I lent him two years ago. |
give in |
To stop opposing. |
We are a weak team, but we always play to win; we never give in. |
give in to |
To submit. |
My best friend, a henpecked husband, always gives in to his wife. |
give of |
To devote one own self. |
She used to give of her free time to help charitable work. |
give off |
To send forth smell, energy, heat, etc. |
Some insects give off unpleasant smell. |
give out |
To distribute. |
Someone is giving out free samples of a brand-new snake oil. |
To fail to operate in the usual or proper way. |
Near the end of the race, his legs gave out causing him to knee down. |
|
give over to |
To submit oneself to feeling or doing something. |
After his girlfriend left him, he gave himself over to excessive drinking. |
give up |
To stop doing something. |
They searched for the missing child, but eventually gave up and made a police report. |
To surrender. |
The fugitive wanted by police gave himself up. |
|
To abandon what one has been trying to do. |
She gave up writing a book on the diverse sizes and shapes of the dinosaurs. |
|
give up on |
To lose hope. |
After waiting for two hours for the rain to stop, we soon gave up on it stopping any time soon. |
give up to |
To be emotionally overwhelmed. |
The family of the deceased gave themselves up to considerable grief. |
go about |
To begin to deal with something. |
We should discuss how to go about imposing discipline in the workplace. |
To begin working at something. |
The police recruits were shown how to go about patrolling the areas. |
|
To do what one usually does. |
Despite some civil unrest, people go about their business as usual. |
|
go after |
To try to catch someone. |
Police went after him in an abandoned house, but he had already fled. |
To try to get something. |
He preaches that you can get what you go after in life if you have the determination. |
|
go against |
To disagree. |
She went against her mother’s advice when she divorced her husband. |
To be unfavourable to. |
The judgment went against them, and they intend to appeal to a higher court. |
|
go ahead |
To happen. |
They went ahead with building the chemical plant despite strong local opposition. |
To give permission. to do something |
When asked if I could borrow some of his tools, he told me to go ahead. |
|
go along |
To continue with something. |
We will make the necessary adjustments as we go along with the project. |
go along with |
To agree. |
I’m afraid I can’t go along with your idea. |
go around |
To happen in the present time. |
A rumour is going around that someone is going to be fired. |
To meet the requirement. |
The problem now is we don’t have enough chairs to go around. |
|
To do something that is not supported or proven by evidence. |
You can’t go around thinking everyone is unfriendly to you. |
|
To go here and there. |
She often goes around talking to her own self. |
|
go at |
To attack with energy and enthusiasm. |
The two fighting cocks went at each other with killing intent. |
To commit oneself to an undertaking. |
They went at building the levee with urgency and energy. |
|
go away |
To spend time elsewhere from home. |
We are going away to one of those tropical islands this Summer. |
To leave. |
She was so angry with him that she told him to go away and leave her alone. |
|
go back |
To return for something. |
I left my wallet at home and now I’ve to go back for it. |
To return home, hotel, etc. |
We had better go back; it’s going to rain. |
|
To break one’s promise. |
She has gone back on her word to marry him. |
|
go back to |
To do something again. |
She decided not to go back to work after her delivery. |
go by |
To act in accordance with a rule, decision, etc. |
Go by the rules or I am not playing. |
To follow something. |
You go by that old map and now we are lost. |
|
To pass. |
Years have gone by and there’s still no news about the escaped prisoner. |
|
go down |
To move below the horizon. |
While having a meal at a seaside resort, we watched the sun go down. |
To be accepted. |
Your proposal didn’t go down well with the others at the meeting. |
|
go for |
To like a particular type of person or thing. |
Jenny is known to go for tall and handsome men with considerable wealth. |
To attack physically or with words. |
The untruth of what he said about her made her go for him. |
|
To make great efforts to get something. |
James is determined to go for the gold medal this time. |
|
To like someone or something better than another or others; to choose. |
Unlike her friends, she always goes for fast food. |
|
go in |
To enter a place. |
No one knows why he goes in the cemetery after dark. |
To start a business with someone. |
He is not going in with his inexperienced friends to start a catering business. |
|
go in for |
To hunt and kill for food. |
The rodent was injured, and the hawk went in for the kill. |
go into |
To join a profession. |
He hasn’t decided to go into teaching or journalism. |
To do or produce something. |
Considerable effort, time and money went into organizing the event. |
|
To discuss or explain in detail. |
I don’t want to go into any more detail than absolutely necessary. |
|
go off |
To explode. |
The bomb went off prematurely and killed the bomber. |
To make a loud noise. |
His alarm clock went off at 6.30 and woke me up as well. |
|
To stop working. |
The whole stadium was plunged into complete darkness when the lights went off. |
|
go off with |
To leave a loved one for someone else. |
She has gone off with her brother-in-law. |
To use something without permission. |
This is the third time he’s gone off with my motorbike. |
|
go on |
To pass. |
As time went on, I became more attracted to her. |
To do something next. |
Can you go on to the next topic? This one is very boring. |
|
To take place. |
I just woke up and I didn’t know what was going on. |
|
To go on to do something or become somebody. |
He went on to become the first mayor of the city. |
|
To continue. |
We are waiting for her to go on with the ghost story. |
|
go out |
To go to any place outside one’s home. |
I don’t usually go out unless I have to. |
To stop burning. |
The fire in the fireplace had gone out while we were sleeping. |
|
To have a relationship. |
He has been going out with somebody’s wife. |
|
To lose in a sports competition. |
It’s the first time they went out at the quarter-final stage. |
|
go over |
To look at closely. |
Let’s go over the figures again and see why they don’t tally. |
go through |
To experience. |
She went through the terrible five-hour ordeal while being held as a hostage. |
To examine carefully. |
The officers went through our luggage very carefully. |
|
To be discussed and voted on to become law. |
A bill has to go through Parliament before it can become law. |
|
go through with |
To do something that has been agreed or promised. |
Jane feels she isn’t ready yet to go through with the wedding. |
go together |
To be well-suited. |
Purple trousers and an orange shirt don’t go together. |
To be found together. |
If you know her, you will know brain and beauty do go together. |
|
go under |
To fail. |
Many small businesses go under in the first year of operation. |
To sink. |
The ship went under shortly after colliding with a giant iceberg. |
|
go up |
To be built. |
Many tall buildings have gone up since my last visit here. |
To explode. |
The accident caused one of the cars to go up in flame. |
|
To increase. |
The price of petrol has gone up again. |
|
go with |
To suit. |
Does Ivan’s baldness go with his bushy beard? |
To have a romantic relationship. |
His wife was the only woman he ever went with. |
|
To combine something with something else. |
A chauffeur-driven car goes with the job. |
|
To accept an idea. |
Bob has come up with the best plan, let’s go with it. |
|
go without |
To not have something. |
A new car is something we have to go without as we cannot afford it. |