Phrasal Verbs

Consulta la lista de phrasal verbs a continuación. Descubre todos los significados y opciones de los phrasal verbs. Recuerda que los phrasal verbs son muy comunes en inglés, tanto en el hablado como en el escrito.

Los phrasal verbs, o verbos frasales en español, son verbos formados por dos palabras que consisten en las siguientes combinaciones: verbo + adverbio o verbo + preposición. Estos verbos en inglés pueden ser transitivos o intransitivos, y, separables o inseparables.

Para estudiar los phrasal verbs es mejor que los vayas aprendiendo poco a poco y no intentar memorizarlos todos de una. Utiliza la lista de phrasal verbs a continuación como una referencia para poder identificar las expresiones en inglés.

Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verb	Significado	Traducción	Ejemplo
ask [sb] out	invite on a date	invitar a una cita/pedir una cita	Carlos asked Julia out on her birthday.
ask around	ask many people the same question	preguntar por ahí	Ask around to find out which are the best italian restaurants
ask after	enquire about someone\'s health	preguntar por/interesarse	Your son called earlier asking after you, so I told him you were fine
ask for	to provoke	provocar	You're asking for trouble
ask for	request to have or be given	pedir/solicitar	I asked for the menu 20 minutes ago.
ask in	to invite somebody into your house	invitar a entrar	'John's at the door' 'Ask him in'
ask over	to invite	invitar	They've asked us over for lunch on Saturday
break down	get upset	disgustarse, enfadarse	She broke down when the police called.
break down	to stop functioning because of breakage	estropearse, romperse	Could you let me use your printer? Mine has just broken down.
break off	To stop suddenly	romper un compromiso	My company broke off its agreement with the local authorities
break into	enter by force	asaltar	The police broke into the town hall.
break away	become separate	separarse, desvincularse	Three of the members of the band broke away yesterday.
break away from [sth/sb]	to detach	soltarse, desprenderse	Scotland isn't going to break away from Great Britain.
break in	to interrupt	interrumpir	They news break in every half an hour to give the latest information.
break [sth] in	to crush or batter something to pieces	romper, destrozar	Whay are you breaking in the door?
break [so] in	to train someone to do a new job	entrenar, supervisar	I have to break in a new intern
break through	to make a sudden advance	abrirse camino	The policeman broke through the door easily
break out	to escape	escaparse, fugarse	The prisioner broke out of jail.
break up	to desintegrate, to separate	deshacerse, separarse	John broke up with Lisa last week, now he's single
break for	run towards	lanzarse a, moverse hacia algo	Break for the exist when you hear my signal
check in	to register (at a hotel)	registrarse en un hotel	We checked in our hotel and then went sightseeing.
check out	to withdraw (an item) after recording the withdrawal:	retirar	Check out books
check out	to record and total up the prices of and receive payment for (items being purchased) at a retail store:	registrar	The cashier checked out and bagged my order.
check out	to pay in a hotel before leaving	pagar en un hotel antes de irse	You must check out before 12 o'clock at the reception counter.
check over	to look over; to examine	revisar, ojear	The teacher checked the students' papers over.
come about	to happen	suceder, ocurrir	How did the accident come about?
come accross	to encounter	encontrarse con, toparse con	Jane came across a very interesting magazine last weekend.
come after	to follow	perseguir a alguien, o buscar a alguien generalmente para castigarlo	The police are coming after the thief.
come along	to appear, to come with	acompañar, presentarse, aparecer	Come along with me, I have something to show you.
come along	to progess	progresar	How is the patient coming along after the surgery?
come apart	to fall to pieces, to break up	deshacerse, caerse en pedazos	When I picked up the small glass statue, it came apart!
come at	to attack	atacar	While Susan was walking along the street, a dog came at her and bit her.
come away	to leave, to depart	marcharse	I will come away now. See you tomorrow.
come back	to continue, to resume	reanudar, volver a	The teacher wanted to come back to the first unit so we could revise.
come before	to appear	comparecer	The president will come before the court next Friday.
come between	to separate, to pull apart	arruinar una relación, interponerse, separar	I wouldn't let people's gossiping come between us
come down	to fell, to knock over, to demolish	bajar, caer, aterrizar, derrumbarse, ser derribado	Many people came to see how a famous castle came down
come into	to inherit	heredar	After his grandfather died, Emma came into a big fortune.
come into	to take part of	estar de moda	You should buy a green blouse, because green has come into this season.
come by	to gain possession of; acquire	conseguir, adquirir	Mortgages are hard to come by.
come off	to happen; occur	tener lugar, ocurrir	The trip came off on schedule.
come off	break down	dejar de funcionar	It is so late! I didn't realized the clock came off!
come out	to become known	mostrarse, publicarse, estrenarse, resultar	When is the play coming out? I can't wait to see it.
come out	to end up; result	acabar, resultar	Everything came out wrong.
come out	to make a formal social debut	debutar	She came out at age 16 in Paris.
come over	to visit someone, to make a casual visit	visitar a alguien en su casa	I want you to come over. I will show you my new kitchen.
come around	to recover, revive	recuperar la conciencia	He fainted, but soon came around.
come round	to change one's opinion or position:	aceptar finalmente	Lucy didn't want to come to the party, but she came round and she enjoyed it.
come through	to do what is required or anticipated	hacer lo que se requiere	I asked for their help, and they came through.
come to	to recover consciousness	recuperar la conciencia	The fainting victim came to.
come up	to manifest itself; arise	manifestar, surgir	The question never came up.
come up	to draw near; approach; go upstairs	aproximarse, acercarse	Came up and said hello.
come up with	to bring forth, discover, or produce	descubrir, producir	He came up with a cure for the disease.
come up against	to encounter, especially a difficulty or major problem.	encontrar con dificultad, conseguir con dificultad	Karl's plan came up against a lot of opposition at first.
cut across	Traverse via a shortcut	atajar	We will gain some time if we cut across this field
cut apart	Divide	separar, dividir	She is cutting it apart
cut away to [sth/sb]	Change of shot (tv or film)	cambio de plano	They cut away to the anchorman as soon as she finished talking
cut back [informal]	Reduce an amount of money avalaible to spend	recortar, reducir	The goverment is cutting back the annual budget
cut down [sth]	To reduce (lenght)	reducir o recortar el tamaño o extensión	The teacher asked him to cut down his essay
cut in	Interrupt someone while he/she is speaking	cortar, intrometerse en una conversación	She cut in while the teacher was speaking
cut in	Give someone part of something, a share (coloquial)	dar una tajada, compartir (coloquial)	She said she would cut me in if she won the contest
cut off	To separate from others, isolate	aislar	Due to the flood, the village is cut off
cut [sb] off	To disinherit	Desheredar	Meg's dad found out that she was marrying Paul and he cut her off
cut out	To stop	dejar, parar de	The doctor advised Rachel to cut out cigarettes
cut out	To suit or fit for something	Encajar, dar el perfil	Thomas is cut out for the job
cut over	Transfer (computing)	migrar, transferir (en informática)	The library will cut over the catalogue
cut out (informal)	To depart aprubtly	salir disparado, marcharse muy rápido	When the police arrived, most students cut out
do away with	to kill, to remove	suprimir, eliminar, acabar con, matar, suicidarse	You can't do away with your responsibilities.
do down	to undervalue	menospreciar, subestimarse	Ann is always doing herself down, but she is a great dancer.
do for	to kill, to give up	acabar con, matar, estar rendido	Eating so much junk food will do for your health.
do in	to extenuate, to kill	extenuar o matar	A neighbour said that the woman had been done in in the garden.
do out	to decorate, to clean	limpiar a fondo, pintar, empapelar, decorar	Nicole will have her house done out for her birthday.
do out for	to deprive, to cheat	hacer que alguien no consiga o no se quede con algo de manera injusta o deshonesta	Jessica has done Tony out of his job just for fun!
do over	to remake, to attack someone	volver a hacer algo o atacar a alguien, entrar en una casa y robar cosas de ella	You'll have to do over the essay because it's plenty of mistakes.
do up	to wrap, to tie	atar, cerrar, envolver, redecorar	Don't forget to do up the present for Rachel.
do with	to put, to keep something	poner algo en algún lado, ocupar tu tiempo de cierta manera	Do you remember what I did with my jacket?
do without	to do without, to spare	arreglárselas sin algo o alguien	Kate is on holiday, so you will have to do without her.
drop by	Pay a casual visit (informal)	dejarse caer, pasarse	If it is not late, she may drop by on her way back home
drop down	Display a menu (computer)	desplegar un menú (informática)	The options will drop down if you click here
drop in (informal)	To pay a casual visit	dejarse caer, pasarse por soprtesa	I just dropped in to see if you we better
drop off	Decrease (informal and figurative)	decrecer, disminuir, caer	Our online sales have dropped off since we changed our website
drop off	To fall asleep (informal)	quedarse dormido	They had an accident because she dropped off while driving
drop [sb] off	To drive someone somewhere	Llevar a alguien, dejar a alguien en algún sitio	Everyday, I drop my bestfriend off at work
drop [sth] off	To take something somewhere	Dejar algo en un sitio	Don't forget to drop the keys off when you leave
drop out	withdraw from something	abandonar	The driver was forced to drop out the race when his car broke
feel out of	to feel out of place	sentirse fuera de lugar	I feel rather out of place here
feel up	to feel safety and bravery to do something	sentirse capaz de hacer algo, sentirse fuerte como para hacer algo	Ben doesn't feel up to climbing those mountains.
feel like	to desiderate	tener ganas de, apetecer	I'm sorry, Vicky does not feel like going out today.
get away	to escape	escapar	The robbers got away in a stolen car
get across	to communicate	comunicar, hacerse entender	Although I couldn't speak the language, I managed to get my meaning across when necessary.
get on with [sb]	be friends [informal]	llevarse bien con...	If you can't get on with your boss, it might be better to quit.
give up	Stop doing something	rendirse	I have given up trying to help them.
go about	to set about to do; undertake	comprometerse	Go about your chores in a responsible way.
go about	to tack, to go around	correr un rumor, virar	There were lots of gossip going about regarding William and Paula.
go about together	to spend time together	pasar mucho tiempo con alguien	Emma and George used to go about together all the time at work.
go across	to traverse, to come across	cruzar, atravesar	The first team going across the mountain will win the championship.
go along with	to follow, to go with	seguir, acompañar	Go along with your sister, it's too late for her to be on the streets.
go around	to have currency	correr	Rumors going around.
go around	to satisfy a demand or requirement	satisfacer una demanda	Just enough food to go around.
go at	to attack, especially with energy	atacar	John thought Robert had stolen his ring and went at him.
go by	to elapse; pass	transcurrir, pasar	Time goes by and George can't find a job.
go down	to drop below the horizon; set	descender, bajar	The sun went down.
go down	to come to be remembered in posterity	pasar a la historia	Einstein went down in history because of the e=mc² formula.
go down with	to fall ill	enfermar	Tony can't play with you today because he's gone down with a flu.
go for	to have a special liking for	gustar, preferir	I prefer fish, I don't go for meat very much.
go for	to attack	atacar	The dog tried to go for the child.
go for	to choose	optar por, elegir, escoger	If I had to choose between London or Rome, I'd go for London.
go forward	to continue	avanzar, seguir adelante, presentarse	Our team won the match. Now we are going forward to the final.
go forward with	to start an activity	comenzar a hacer algo que tenías planeado hacer	Joseph will go forward with the violin classes next week.
go in	to enter, to come in	entrar	Dr. Warren will see you in a minute, go in and wait for him, please.
go in for	to be interested	presentarse a, interesarse en	Will you go in for the IELTS test next Monday?
go into	to discuss or investigate; to examine	profundizar, discutir, examinar	The book goes into classical mythology.
go into	to crash	chocar	The drunk driver suddenly turned and went into the traffic light.
go off	to explode, to silence	apagarse, estallar	The lights went off when the winner was about to be announced.
go off	to make a noise; sound	sonar, hacer ruido	The siren went off at noon.
go on	to continue	continuar, seguir	The show must go on.
go on	to take place; happen	suceder, ocurrir	I didn't know what was going on.
go out	to go outdoors, to leave one's residence, to travel	viajar, salir de casa	Joe'll go out to Paris to finish his master's degree in medicine.
go out	to have a love relationship with someone	salir con alguien	Tom didn't know that Emma was going out with my brother.
go over	to examine or review	examinar, revisar	I think there must be a mistake, why don't we go over the lesson?
go through	to experience	experimentar, atravesar	Matt is going through a difficult time, his wife has just left him.
go towards	to give money	destinar dinero al pago parcial del costo de algo o alguna actividad	The extra money I earned this month will go towards a new car.
go with	to choose	acompañar, optar por	Would you like some cake to go with your coffee?
go without	to do something without womeone	prescindir de, arreglárselas sin	You will have to go without me, I can't help you this time.
go under	to suffer defeat or destruction; fail; to lose consciousness	hundirse, desmayarse, quebrar	The company went under after a period of bad investments.
keep ahead	to go ahead, to get ahead	mantenerse al frente, a la cabeza	The new shop keeps ahead because of its good prices.
keep at	to persevere in work or an action	insistir, perseverar el algo	I wanted to finish my report so I keep at it and worked till 9 o'clock.
keep away	to move away, to draw away	alejarse, apartarse	Keep away from the window, it's too dangerous.
keep [sth] back	to mask, to hide	ocultar, esconder	William's been acting strange. I think he's keeping something back from me.
keep back	to be delayed	retrasarse	Kate and Tom have kept back, they stopped to buy some food.
keep down	to prevent from growing, accomplishing, or succeeding:	retener, reprimir, oprimir	The demonstrators have been kept down by the police.
keep [sth] down	to hold under control or at a reduced level; to reduce	reducir, bajar	Could you keep the music down, please?
keep in	to make someone to stay in a place	quedarse	The teacher kept me in after class because I talked all the time.
keep in	to have a good relationship with someone	llevarse bien con alguien	Try to keep in with Helen, because you'll spend many hours working with her.
keep off	to stay away from	alejarse de, apartarse de	Keep the children off the oven, I'm baking bread.
keep off	to avoid eating or drinking something	evitar	I must keep off pumpkins, I'm allergic to them.
keep on	to continue	continuar, seguir	You have shown great improvement, keep on practicing.
keep on at	to repeat something	repetir	Bill keeps on at Richard to look for a better job.
keep out	to wait outside, don't let someone entry	no dejar entrar, permanecer fuera	If Jonh comes, please keep him out, because I don't want to see him.
keep to	to save a secret	cumplir con, mantener un secreto	I'll tell you what really happened, I know you'll keep it to yourself.
keep up	to continue	continuar haciendo algo	You're doing a wonderful job. Keep it up!
keep up	to maintain in good condition	mantener en buenas condiciones	He kept up the property.
keep up	to remain adequately informed	mantenerse informado	She loved to keep up on the gossip.
look after	to take care of	cuidar	She looked after his younger brother yesterday.
look for	to search for; to seek; to expect	buscar, esperar	I am looking for my notebook.
look into	to inquire into; to investigate	investigar	The police looked into the disturbance.
look on/upon	to regard in a certain way	considerar	We looked on them as incompetents.
look out	to be watchful or careful; to take care	tener cuidado, prestar atención	If you don't look out, you may fall on the ice.
look over	to examine or inspect, often in hasty fashion	examinar, inspeccionar con atención	I looked over the proposal before the meeting.
look to	to expect or hope to	esperar, desear que	He looked to hear from her within a week.
look up	to visit	visitar a alguien	I looked up an old friend.
look up	to become better; improve	mejorar	Things are at last looking up.
look away	to set aside, to keep apart	apartar la mirada	Julian looked away from his book when he heard Lillian coming.
look back on	to remember	recordar	The old man was looking back on his days as a waiter.
look down on	to misprize, to sniff at	despreciar	The kid looked down on the food his mother had prepared.
look through	to examine or review	mirar, hojear, examinar	I look through as many books as I can when I'm in a book shop.
pick apart	to refute or find flaws in by close examination.	refutar o encontrar defector	The lawyer picked the testimony apart.
pick at	to eat sparingly or without appetite.	comer sin apetito	The child just picked at the food.
pick at	[slang] to nag, to be naughty	molestar, dar la lata	Don't pick at me.
pick off	to shoot after singling out	disparar	The hunter picked the ducks off.
pick on	to tease or bully	intimidar, meterse con alguien	All the tough guys used to pick on Max when he was in school.
pick out	to choose	elegir, escoger	I picked out a nice ring.
pick out	to discern from the surroundings; to distinguish	reconocer, distinguir	Tom and Laura picked out their cousins from the crowd.
pick over	to sort out or examine item by item	comparar, examinar detenidamente	My mother picked over the tomatoes before buying them.
pick up	to take up (something) by hand	coger con la mano, recoger	She pick up a book.
pick up	to tidy up	ordenar	I have to pick up my bedroom.
pick up	to continue after a break	reanudar algo	Let's pick up the discussion after lunch.
pick up	to acquire (knowledge) by learning or experience	adquirir experiencia, aprender	She picked up French quickly.
pull ahead	to move ahead, as in a race.	ir en cabeza, tomar la delantera	Max pull ahead in the race.
pull away	to move away or backward; withdraw.	moverse, apartarse	The limousine pulled away from the curb.
pull down	to demolish; to destroy	demoler, destruir	They pull down an old office building.
pull in	to arrive at a destination	llegar a un destino	We pulled in at midnight.
pull off	to perform in spite of difficulties or obstacles; bring off	llevar a cabo, lograr (con dificultad)	She pulled off a last-minute victory.
pull out	to leave or depart	marcharse, partir	The train pulls out at noon.
pull out	to withdraw, as from a situation or commitmen	retirarse	After the crash, many Wall Street investors pulled out.
pull over	to bring a vehicle to a stop at a curb or at the side of a road	detener el vehículo	We pulled over to watch the sunset.
pull through	to come or bring successfully through trouble or illness	reponerse, salir de un apuro	Tom pulled through his illness after a week in hospital.
Put aside	Lay down	Apartar	He put the newspaper aside
Put aside	Ingnore a disagreement or problem	Dejar de lado	Let's put our differences aside
put away	Tidy up, put in a correct place	ordenar, guardar, guardar en su sitio	The teacher told us to put away our books
Put away	Save money	guardar o ahorrar dinero	Everymonth, he puts away some money for his holydays
Put down	Disparage, say bad things about someone	Hablar mal de alguien, menospreciar, ningunear	She always puts her boss down
Put down	Write, make a note	escribir, tomar notas	He put down all the information
put forth [st]	Propose	proponer, hacer una propuesta	We can put forth some changes
put forward	Suggest	ofrecerse, proponer, postular	Howard put himself forward as a possible candidate
put [sth] forward	Suggest something	proponer o sugerir algo	I would like to put forward a plan
put in	To make a formal offer	Hacer una oferta formal	The prosecutor put in a plea of guilty
put in [informal]	To work	trabajar	I put in more thar 10 hours everyday
put in	to insert, place something inside	Introducir en, meter en	Put in those files
put in for	To apply for something	solicitar algo	He put in for an early retirement
put off	Delay until later	posponer, retrasar	The meeting has been put off until further notice
put off	To repel or repulse	repeler, causar rechazo	His attitude has put us off
put on	To wear	llevar	Put those close on right now
put on [informal]	To mislead	hacer que alguien se equivoque	You are putting me on!
put on	To add	añadir, poner, sumar	You must put on some weight
put out [informal]	To inconvenience	suponer un problema	Did our early arrival put you out?
put [sth] out	To extinguish	extinguir, apagar	The firemen put the fire out
put over	To convey, communicate	exponer	We haven't been able to put over the benefits of our product
put [sth] through	To pass (bill, law)	aprobar	The bill was put through the Parliament
put [sb] through	Connect with someone on the phone	comunicar a alguien con otra persona a través de un teléfono	The operator put me through to the coordinator
put [sth] up	To mount, to display	colgar, desplegar, mostrar	He put up a signal for the upcoming visitors
put [sth] up	To raise	levantar	Put your hands up
run across	to find by chance; come upon.	encontrarse con, tropezarse con	I was doing the Christmas shopping when I ran across an old friend of mine.
run after	to seek the company or attention of for purposes of courting	perseguir, correr tras, ir tras algo o alguien	The police was running after somebody suspected of murder.
run against	to work against; oppose	ir en contra, oponer	I found public sentiment running against him.
run around	to run from one place to other place	ir corriendo de aquí para allá	The waitress was running around all night necause the bar was full.
run away	to flee; escape; to leave one's home, especially to elope	fugarse, escaparse	The news report alerted that a lion has ran away from the zoo.
run by	to repeat something	repetir algo dicho	Could anyone run by what the journalist has just said?
run down	to stop because of lack of force or power	agotarse	You won't be able to use my CD player, the batteries have run down.
run for	to be nominated for a public election	postularse para ser elegido para un puesto público	You won't believe it, but Miss Jonhson is running for Senator.
run in	to insert or include as something extra	insertar o incluir algo	He ran in an illustration next to the first paragraph.
run in	to pay a casual visit	tener un encuentro casual, improvisado	We ran in for an hour.
run into	to meet or find by chance	encontrarse con, tropezarse con	I ran into an old friend yesterday
run into	to collide with	chocarse con	Pete ran into a tree when he was driving.
run into	to encounter (something)	encontrarse con algo	She ran into a big trouble.
run off	to print, duplicate, or copy	imprimir, copiar, duplicar	She ran off 200 copies of the report.
run off	to run away; elope.	escaparse, fugarse	Tom is depressed because his best friend ran off with his girlfriend.
run on	to keep going; continue	prolongarse, durar, seguir hablando	Ben's speech ran on for more than an hour.
run on	to talk volubly, persistently, and usually inconsequentially	hablar continuamente sobre algo	He is always running on about his tax problems.
run out	to become used up; be exhausted	desistir	Our supplies finally ran out.
run out of	to exhaust something or one's energy or enthusiasm	quedarse sin, desgastarse	I can't finish printing the document, I ran out of paper.
run over	to collide with, knock down, and often pass over	atropellar, colisionar, pasar por encima	The car ran over a tree.
run over	to read or review quickly	leer algo rápidamente, echar una ojeada	I run over a speech before giving it.
run through	to use up quickly	gastar algo rápidamente	She ran through all her money.
run through	to pierce	perforar, atravesar	The soldier was run through by a bayonet.
run up	to make or become greater or larger	incrementar, aumentar	They ran up huge bills. They run up the price of the company's stock.
take after	to have a similar personality or to look like an older member of your family	parecerse a	Many people say that Beth takes after her grandmother
take [sth] off	when a plane leaves; to remove a piece of clothing or to have a period of time away from work	despegar, quitarse	The plane is going to take-off at seven o´clock.
take [sth] up	to start a hobby, to accept or to move in	empezar a hacer, instalarse	He took up smoking after breaking up the relationship.
take over	to begin doing a job or a task that someone else had been doing previously	relevar, asumir	Cristina is going to take over her job.
take [sb] out	to go on a date with	salir con alguien	Lisa was happy that Max wanted to take her out
take [sth] out	to excise, to apply for, to remove	sacar	Can you take the rubbish out?
take on	to accept, to fight, to hire	hacerse cargo, enfrentarse, contratar	Taking on the directorship was his first challenge.
take back	to admit wrongdoing	admitir errores o irregularidades	I take back what I said because it was totally inappropriate.
take [sb] in	to allow someone to stay in your house or to be deceived or swindled	permitir a alguien la entrada o ser engañado o estafado	Don't take Elisa in by your nonsense.
take [sth] in	to observe something or to make a piece of clothing narrower or tighter	estrechar, ajustar	She had lost weight so the shirt had to be taken in more at the waist.
take down	to disassemble, to dismantle	desarmar, desmontar, apuntar	It's time to take down the Christmas decoration until next year.
take apart	to disassemble something	desmontar	He was a good mechanic and could take an engine apart in less than two hours.