5 Phrasal verbs in English you need to know

You know phrasal verbs in English?

They make English so confusing sometimes.

Words like fill in, figure out, give up, etc. where you have a verb and a preposition.

Today you’ll learn 5 useful phrasal verbs in English that can replace Latin-based verbs. This will help you sound more natural.

Keep going

Romain: Um, excuse me. I’m looking for the entrance to museum. Do you know where it is.
Christina: Oh that’s easy. It’s over there. Keep going that way, then go around the corner, then keep going for another 5 minutes or so, and then you’ll see signs for the ticket office.

Keep going means “continue”.

Instead of “continue for another 5 minutes”, we often say“keep going for another 5 minutes.”

Fill out or fill in

Romain: Hi, I have an appointment with Dr. Sanchez.
Christina: OK, sure. I just need you to fill in this form for your insurance. And then fill out this form for your contact information. And then fill in this form so we can send you the bill.
Romain: Is that all?
Christina: You want more forms to fill out? I got more forms to fill out.

Fill out means to complete. And fill in also means complete.

Technically, out and in are opposites, but both fill out and fill in mean exactly the same thing: To complete.

Show up

Christina: Hey, I’m having a little party at my place this Saturday. Wanna come?
Romain: Oh, that sounds like fun. What time do you want me to show up?
Christina: For dinner, so around 5:30?
Romain: You’re having a dinner party at 5:30?
Christina: Well, it’s a bunch of Americans. If you show up at 8, we’ll be finished eating!

So what does “show up” mean?

It means arrive somewhere! You can show up to a party, or show up at 8 o’clock. To show up, to arrive.

Go back

Romain: Romain, do how often do you go back to the US?
Christina: Oh, I go back every year. That way, I can eat my mom’s gumbo.
Romain: Gumbo?
Christina: Yeah. Next time I go back home, I’ll get my mom’s recipe!

Do you know “go back”? It means “to return”.

Go back home, go back to the office, go back to the US. We say “go back” a lot more than we say “return”.

to figure out

Romain: Did you figure out why your Kindle wasn’t working?
Christina: Yeah, I did!
Romain: And what was the problem?
Christina: The battery was dead.
Romain: You called tech support for a dead battery?
Christina: Well, we figured out the problem!

So what does “figure out” mean? It means “to determine” or “identify”.

You can figure out a problem, identify a problem. And you can figure out a solution. Determine a solution.

Did you know these phrasal verbs already? What others do you know?

Tell me in the comments!

Thanks a lot for showing up every Tuesday. You make it a pleasure for me to come back to work after the weekend 😉

Have a fantastic week in English,

Christina