Phrasal Verbs – Definitive Guide for School Exams
Phrasal verbs are combinations of a verb + preposition/adverb that have a special meaning different from the original verb. They are very common in ICSE exams through fill-in-the-blanks, error correction, and transformation of sentences. This guide includes our custom lists of frequently tested phrasal verbs.
Key Points to Know
1. Learn verb + particle as a single unit (e.g. "give up" = abandon)
2. Particle can change meaning completely (put on = wear / put off = postpone/remove)
3. Separable phrasal verbs can have objects between parts: "turn it down" OR "turn down it"
4. Inseparable phrasal verbs need object after both parts: "look after him" (NOT "look him after")
1. Comprehensive Phrasal Verbs List (ICSE Focus)
| Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Act on/upon | affect | Smoking acted on his health. |
| Ask for | pray for/want | She asked for a favour. |
| Bring out | publish | The company brought out a new product. |
| Bring up | rear/raise | She brought up three children alone. |
| Call at/on | visit | I'll call on you this evening. |
| Call for | demand | This situation calls for immediate action. |
| Call in | send for | They called in the doctor at midnight. |
| Call out | shout | The teacher called out the names. |
| Call up | remember | That song calls up old memories. / I cannot call up his name. |
| Carry on | continue | Carry on with your work. |
| Carry out | execute/obey | They carried out the plan perfectly. |
| Come across | meet/find by chance | I came across this book yesterday. |
| Come of | be born/descend from | She comes of a noble family. |
| Come round | recover | The patient came round after surgery. |
| Cut down | reduce | We must cut down on expenses. |
| Do away with | abolish | They did away with old customs. |
| Fall out | quarrel | The brothers fell out over money. |
| Fall through | fail | Our plans fell through at the last moment. |
| Give away | distribute | He gave away all his old books. |
| Give in | surrender | They gave in after a long fight. |
| Give up | leave/abandon | Don't give up hope. |
| Go through | read/examine | Go through your notes before the exam. |
| Keep up | maintain | Keep up your good work. |
| Lay by | save | She lays by some money each month. |
| Look after | take care of | Who will look after the baby? |
| Look down upon | despise | Don't look down upon the poor. |
| Look into | investigate | The police will look into the matter. |
| Make out | understand | I can't make out what he means. |
| Make up for | compensate | Work hard to make up for lost time. |
| Pass away | die | His father passed away last year. |
| Put down | write | Put down your name here. |
| Put off | postpone | Don't put off your work till tomorrow. |
| Put on | wear | Put on your warm coat. |
| Put out | extinguish | Put out the fire before leaving. |
| Put up with | tolerate | I can't put up with this noise. |
| Run after | chase | The dog ran after the cat. |
| Run away | flee/escape | The thief ran away from the police. |
| Run over | knock down | The car ran over the stray dog. |
| Set in | begin | Winter has set in early this year. |
| Set out | start a journey | They set out at dawn. |
| Set up | establish | The government set up a new school. |
| Sit for | appear in exam | She will sit for her boards next year. |
| Take after | resemble | She takes after her mother. |
| Turn down | reject | He turned down the job offer. |
| Work out | solve | Work out this sum carefully. |
2. Additional List of Common Phrasal Verbs
3. ICSE Exam Tips
Strategy:
1. Read entire sentence first to understand context
2. Eliminate phrasal verbs with different meanings
3. Look for context clues (time, place, result)
4. Common exam pairs: give up/away/in, put on/off/out, look after/into/down, take after/off/on
5. Memorise 50 most common (marked in bold above)
Portions of this article were developed with the assistance of AI tools and have been carefully reviewed, verified and edited by Jayanta Kumar Maity, M.A. in English, Editor & Co-Founder of Englicist.
We are committed to accuracy and clarity. If you notice any errors or have suggestions for improvement, please let us know.