9. Phrasal Verbs — 70 Exam-Frequent Verbs with Meanings & Sentences — English (Precis & Composition)

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Phrasal verbs appear in the Grammar & Vocabulary section as "use in sentences" or "give the meaning" items. The CSS standard is a sentence that makes the meaning obvious from context — "He broke down." earns little; "The negotiations broke down when neither side would compromise on the border issue." earns full marks. Grouped by base verb, because examiners often set 4–5 variants of the same verb.

BREAK

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Sentence
break down	stop functioning; collapse emotionally; fail (talks)	Talks between the two parties broke down over the question of caretaker ministers.
break in / into	enter by force; interrupt	Thieves broke into the godown while the guard was asleep.
break out	start suddenly (war, fire, disease)	Cholera broke out in the flood-hit villages within a week.
break off	end abruptly (relations, talks, engagement)	The country broke off diplomatic relations after the incident.
break up	disperse; end a relationship	The police broke up the crowd with tear gas.
break through	overcome an obstacle; make a discovery	Researchers finally broke through the limits of the old model.

BRING

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Sentence
bring about	cause to happen	The land reforms brought about a shift in rural power.
bring up	raise a child; raise a topic	She was brought up by her grandparents in Swat. / He brought up the issue of load-shedding in the assembly.
bring out	publish; reveal	The crisis brought out the best in the volunteers.
bring down	reduce; overthrow	The measures brought down inflation to single digits.
bring round	persuade; restore consciousness	It took weeks to bring the elders round to the idea of a girls' school.

CALL

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Sentence
call off	cancel	The match was called off because of rain.
call on	visit briefly; formally ask	The ambassador called on the Prime Minister. / I call on all parties to show restraint.
call for	demand; require	The situation calls for patience, not rhetoric.
call up	telephone; summon for military service	Reservists were called up during the crisis.
call in	summon an expert/authority	The army was called in to assist flood relief.

CARRY / CUT

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Sentence
carry out	perform, execute	The survey was carried out in all four provinces.
carry on	continue	Despite the setback, she carried on with her research.
carry off	win; handle successfully	Our team carried off the trophy.
cut down (on)	reduce	The government must cut down on non-development expenditure.
cut off	disconnect; isolate	Landslides cut off the valley for three days.
cut short	end prematurely	His career was cut short by illness.

GIVE

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Sentence
give up	abandon; stop a habit	He gave up smoking on his doctor's advice.
give in	surrender; yield	The management finally gave in to the workers' demands.
give away	distribute free; betray a secret	His nervous smile gave away the truth.
give off	emit (smell, heat, gas)	Burning crop stubble gives off thick smoke.
give out	distribute; become exhausted	Our supplies gave out on the fourth day.

GO

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Sentence
go through	examine; endure	The country went through a severe balance-of-payments crisis.
go off	explode; ring (alarm); go bad (food)	The alarm went off at dawn.
go over	review carefully	Go over your précis once more before submitting.
go without	manage without	Many families went without electricity for days.
go back on	fail to keep (a promise)	A leader who goes back on his word loses public trust.

LOOK

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Sentence
look after	take care of	She looks after her ailing parents.
look into	investigate	A committee will look into the allegations.
look down on / upon	regard as inferior	We should not look down on manual labour.
look up to	admire, respect	Students look up to teachers who practise what they preach.
look forward to	anticipate with pleasure (+ -ing)	I look forward to hearing from you.
look out	be careful	Look out for pickpockets in the bazaar.
look over	inspect quickly	The engineer looked over the bridge before reopening it.

MAKE / PUT

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Sentence
make up	invent; reconcile; compensate	He made up an excuse. / The brothers made up after years. / She worked late to make up for lost time.
make out	understand with difficulty; discern	I could not make out his handwriting.
make off with	steal and escape	The robbers made off with the cash.
put off	postpone; discourage	The elections were put off for three months.
put up with	tolerate	Citizens will not put up with corruption forever.
put out	extinguish	Firefighters put out the blaze after six hours.
put forward	propose	The opposition put forward a counter-proposal.
put down	suppress; write down	The revolt was put down harshly.

RUN / SET

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Sentence
run out of	exhaust supply	The hospital ran out of oxygen cylinders.
run into	meet by chance; encounter (problems)	I ran into an old classmate at the airport. / The project ran into funding problems.
run down	criticise; deteriorate	The building had been allowed to run down.
run over	knock down with a vehicle	A cyclist was run over by a speeding truck.
set up	establish	The government set up a commission on police reform.
set in	begin and continue (unpleasant)	Winter set in early in Gilgit this year.
set off / out	begin a journey; trigger	We set off for Murree at dawn. / The remark set off a heated debate.
set aside	reserve; annul (a verdict)	The Supreme Court set aside the lower court's judgment.

TAKE / TURN

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Sentence
take after	resemble (a parent)	She takes after her mother in temperament.
take over	assume control	A new board took over the airline.
take up	begin (a hobby/job); occupy (space/time)	He took up calligraphy after retirement.
take in	deceive; absorb; give shelter	Many investors were taken in by the fake scheme.
take off	leave the ground; succeed quickly	E-commerce took off during the pandemic.
turn down	reject	She turned down the offer from a foreign university.
turn up	appear, arrive	Only half the members turned up for the meeting.
turn out	prove to be; attend	The rumour turned out to be false.
turn to	seek help from	In difficult times he turned to his teachers.

OTHERS

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Sentence
account for	explain; constitute	Agriculture accounts for a large share of employment.
back out	withdraw from an agreement	The investor backed out at the last moment.
blow up	explode; exaggerate	The media blew up a minor incident.
come across	find by chance	I came across a rare manuscript in the library.
do away with	abolish	The new policy does away with outdated licences.
fall out	quarrel	The partners fell out over profit sharing.
get over	recover from	It took the town years to get over the earthquake.
hold back	restrain; hinder	Weak institutions hold back economic growth.
keep up with	stay level with	Wages have not kept up with inflation.
pass away	die (polite)	The poet passed away at the age of eighty.
pull through	survive (illness/crisis)	Doctors expect him to pull through.
stand by	support; remain ready	A true friend stands by you in adversity.
stand for	represent; tolerate	NAB stands for National Accountability Bureau. / I won't stand for such rudeness.
wipe out	destroy completely	The flood wiped out the entire standing crop.
write off	cancel (a debt); dismiss as a failure	The bank wrote off loans worth billions.

🧪 Self-test — fill in the particle (key inside)
1. The meeting was called …… due to the strike.
2. Please look …… the matter at once.
3. We have run …… of time.
4. She takes …… her father.
5. The fire was finally put …….
6. The dispute was brought …… by a misunderstanding.
7. I can't put up …… his arrogance any longer.
8. The rumour turned …… to be true.
9. War broke …… in 1939.
10. The court set …… the conviction.
Key: off · into · out · after · out · about · with · out · out · aside