50 Phrasal Verbs Commonly Used in the FCE Exam
What is a phrasal verb?
Phrasal verbs are combinations of a verb and one or more particles (prepositions or adverbs) that create a new meaning, such as «give up» (to quit) or «look after» (to care for). While they can be tricky, they are essential for sounding natural and fluent in English—especially in the Cambridge English exams (FCE, CAE, or CPE).
Tips for Mastery
- Learn in Context: Practice phrasal verbs in sentences to understand their meaning.
- Use Them Regularly: Incorporate them into your writing and speaking to build confidence.
List of Phrasal Verbs
| Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example |
| Back up | Hacer una copia de seguridad | Before updating your phone, make sure to back up all your important photos and contacts. |
| Break down | a. She brought up the issue during the meeting. b. Her grandmother brought her up. | My car broke down on the way to work. |
| Bring about | Provocar o causar que algo suceda. | The new law brought about significant changes in the education system. |
| Bring Up | a. Mencionar b. Criar a alguien | a. She brought up the issue during the meeting. b. She was brought up by her grandmother. |
| Bump into | Encontrarse con alguien por casualidad | I bumped into my old friend at the mall. |
| Call off | Cancelar | The manager called off the meeting at the last minute. |
| Carry on | Continuar | He carried on talking despite the noise. |
| Carry out | Realizar, llevar a cabo (una tarea, plan, etc.) | The team carried out the experiment successfully. |
| Come across (something) | Toparse con algo/ encontrarse con algo | He came across some of his old love letters on his wife’s desk. |
| Come down with | Enfermarse de algo | She came down with the flu. |
| Come up with | Idear, ocurrírsele algo | He finally came up with a solution to the problem. |
| Cut down on | Reducir el consumo | I need to cut down on my caffeine intake |
| Drop out | Abandonar/retirarse (estudios, competencia) | He dropped out of college. |
| Fall through | Fracasar, venirse abajo | Our plans fell through. |
| Fill in | Rellenar, completer (Poner información en los espacios provistos) | Can you fill in this form? |
| Fill out | Rellenar/completar | Please fill out the application form. |
| Get by | a. Subsistir b. Arreglarselas | a. How can he get by on so little money? b. We don’t know much Spanish, but we get by. |
| Get on | Llevarse bien | They get on really well. |
| Get over | a. Superar una situación difícil b. Recuperarse de una enfermedad | a. She never did get over the death of her husband. b. It took her a while to get over the flu. |
| Get through | a. Superar algo b. Completar algo difícil. | a. I don’t know how I got through the first couple of months after Andy’s death. b. I finally got through all my work for the day. |
| Give up | Rendirse, abandonar algo | He didn’t give up on his dream of becoming a writer. |
| Go off | a. Sonar (alarma) b. Explotar c. Dejar de gustar | a. The alarm went off at 6 a.m. b. The bomb went off at midday. c. I used to love chocolate, but I went off as I got older |
| Lay off | Despedir (por reducción de personal) | Many employees were laid off due to the crisis. |
| Let down | Decepcionar, defraudar a alguien | When I was sent to prison, I really felt I had let my parents down. |
| Look down on | Menospreciar | He looks down on people with less money. |
| Look into | Investigar | The police looked into the case. |
| Look out | Tener cuidado, estar atento | Look out! There’s a car coming. |
| Look up to | Admirar, respetar | I’ve always looked up to my father. |
| Make up | Inventar | He made up a story for the project. |
| Point out | Señalar, indicar | She pointed out a mistake in the report. |
| Put off | Posponer | The meeting was put off until next week. |
| Put up | Alojar/hospedar a alguien | They put us up for the night at their house. |
| Put up with | Tolerar, aguantar | I can’t put up with this noise. |
| Run into | Encontrarse con alguien por casualidad | I ran into an old friend at the mall. |
| Run out of | Quedarse sin | We’ve run out of milk |
| Set off | Empezar un viaje | We set off early to catch the train. |
| Set up | a. Establecer o crear algo. b. Montar o instalar algo | a. She plans to set up her own business. b. We need to set up the equipment before the event starts. |
| Show up | Aparecer | He showed up late to the party. |
| Sort out | Resolver/solucionar | We need to sort out this problem. |
| Take After | Parecerse a (en carácter o apariencia) | She takes after her father. |
| Take over | tomar el control/mando, hacerse cargo | She will take over the company next year. |
| Take up | a. Empezar una actividad o hobby b. Ocupar espacio o tiempo. | a. She decided to take up painting as a hobby. b. These books take up too much space on my shelf. |
| Talk into | Persuadir/convencer | He talked me into buying the phone. |
| Talk out of | Convencer a alguien de no hacer algo | His parents tried to talk him out of joining the military. |
| Tell off | Regañar, reprender | My mom told me off for being rude. |
| Turn down | Rechazar | They turned down my invitation to the party. |
| Turn out | Resultar | The event turned out to be a success. |
| Turn up | a. Aparecer b. Subir | a. She didn’t turn up to the meeting. b. Turn up the volume. |
| Work out | a. Resolver algo b. Calcular algo | a. They finally worked out a solution to the issue. b. I need to work out how much money we need for the trip. |
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