According to the Oxford Dictionary, a phrasal verb is made up (sorry for that) of a
verb followed by an adverb, preposition, or both to give a new meaning. Americans love
phrasal verbs, even if they don’t know what they are. Phrasal verbs are used in every
aspect of our day to day lives, without many of us even realizing it. For me, at least,
phrasal verbs sound natural, and they’re easier to use instead of thinking of a more
complex word. While it’s important to have an extended vocabulary, it’s sometimes
easier and faster to say make up rather than combine or merge. In this blog, I’ll teach you
10 phrasal verbs, their definitions, and their uses. It is very important to note though:
phrasal verbs can have multiple meanings, and this is why phrasal verbs are difficult for
non-native English speakers. However, that’s a different blog for a different day, so here
are some ways to use phrasal verbs.

1. Come up with:
a. Definition: to produce something while under pressure
b. Example: Work has been slow. It’s hard to come up with all that money in a
short time.
c. Example: This proposal is due in a few hours. We need to come up with
something now.

2. Cut back on:
a. Definition: to do something less frequently
b. Example: You should cut back on drinking beer. You’re starting to get a
beer gut.
c. Example: His grades aren’t that good. He needs to cut back on playing his
video games.

3. Do without:
a. Definition: to manage without something
b. Example: Before the internet and smartphones, people had to do without
easy access to information.
c. Example: The recipe calls for condensed milk, and I don’t have any. I guess
I’ll have to do without it.

4. Find out:
a. Definition: to discover a fact or important piece of information
b. Example: While on vacation, he found out that Warsaw gets dark at
3:45pm in the winter.
c. Example: I was today years old when I found out that some lipsticks
contain fish scales. Gross!

5. Follow through:
a. Definition: to finish something you’ve started
b. Example: She decided to follow through with her decision to study music.
c. Example: You need to follow through with your promises.

6. Frown upon:
a. Definition: to disapprove of
b. Example: Crude sexist and racist jokes are frowned upon in the workplace.
c. Example: The child threw a tantrum in the middle of the store. Everyone
frowned upon his behaviour.

7. Look into:
a. Definition: to investigate or research something
b. Example: That sounds like fake news. I’ll have to look into that a bit more.
c. Example: This complaint is very serious. You should look into it carefully.

8. Resort to:
a. Definition: to take an unpleasant course of action because everything else
has failed
b. Example: They resorted to violence when their demands weren’t met.
c. Example: She didn’t have enough money, so she resorted to stealing.

9. Rule out:
a. Definition: to exclude someone or something as a possibility
b. Example: Someone stole her iPad. James wasn’t here, so he’s
automatically ruled out.
c. Example: The doctors ran many tests on her. Thankfully, the tests ruled
out cancer and other serious diseases.

10.Take into (consideration)
a. Definition: to think about something before a decision or opinion is made
b. Example: I hope you take into consideration all the horrible things he has
said in the past before you vote for him.
c. Example: I never thought about that. I’ll take that into consideration.
Thanks for your input.