I posted a video on Instagram with many common phrasal verbs. I got so many questions that I decided to write all the words down with their meaning + examples.

The best way to learn phrasal verbs is through practice. Don’t try to learn all of these in a day.

What is a phrasal verb?

It is a phrase (such as take off or look down on) that combines a verb with a preposition or adverb or both and that functions as a verb whose meaning is different from the combined meanings of the individual words.

Sometimes phrasal verbs have MORE than one meaning. I’m going to give the meaning based on how I used it in the video.

1. Take out — remove something from somewhere.

I’m going to take out my earring.

I’m going to take out the trash.

2. Take off — remove clothing from one’s body.

Take off your shirt!

Take off your shoes before coming in the house.

3. Wrap around — Put something around someone.

He wrapped the blanket around himself.

I wrapped by bathrobe around me.

4. Wash off — to clean something by using water.

I always wash my makeup off before going to sleep.

He washed the dirt off his body.

5. Roll up — curl up tightly.

Roll up your sleeves and let’s get to work.

He rolled up his pant legs.

5. Squirt out — to eject something liquid with force.

I squirted out my face wash.

He squirted out some toothpaste.

6. Turn on — start the flow of something by a switch.

Turn on the water please.

Turn on the lights.

7. Scrub down — to wash something or someone thoroughly.

He scrubbed down the car after work.

I scrubbed down my face.

8. Splash on — to slosh or spatter something onto someone.

I splashed water on my face.

She splashed some water on him in the pool.

9. Pat down — remove moisture with a cloth by gently tapping.

I patted down my face.

She patted the baby’s face.

10. Dry off — to become dry.

After swimming, you should dry off.

He dried off his dog after giving him a bath.

11. Put on — place something on someone’s body/face.

I put on my clothes.

Alice put lotion on her face.

12. Rub into — using force to penetrate something into the skin.

I like to rub the lotion into my face.

He is rubbing the shampoo into her hair.

13. Spit out — expel something from the mouth.

He spit out the bitter juice.

I spit out my gum.

14. Wash off — to clean something by using water.

He washed off his dirty feet. I washed the dirt off my face.

15. Brush through — to tidy one’s hair by running a brush through it.

He brushed though his daughter’s hair.

I brushed my hair before bed.

16. Get in — to enter a place.

I got in bed by 9pm.

I am going to get in my bed now.

17. Snuggle up — to move close to someone or something.

I like to snuggle up with my kids.

He snuggled up with his blanket.

18. Read through — read written material from beginning to end.

I read through my magazine before bed.

He read through the article.

19. Stayed up — to continue to be awake past your normal time before bed.

He stayed up until midnight.

My kids think they can stay up all night.

20: Nod off — begin to sleep

He nodded off during the movie.

I want to nod off to sleep early tonight.

21. Get up: wake up

I get up at 6am.

My kids get up after me.

Well that’s all. I hope you learn how to use these words in your daily life. Don’t worry if they still feel hard. Learning a language takes TIME and energy! But I have faith in you!

You can also check out my video below to see these words in action 🙂