Phrasal verbs can be tricky, especially for non-native speakers. Nevertheless, those who aspire to find a job in an English-speaking country or already apply their professional skills in an English-speaking environment need to know them. At least, essential ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, if you want to make your English speech more nativelike and feel more confident at work, this blog post is exactly what you need. Let’s start!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to accept and comply with a rule<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: All newly hired employees have to get familiarized with internal company rules they have to abide by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to make a copy of the information on a PC (documents, files and programs) to avoid losing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: My laptop has crashed. Luckily, I’ve backed up all my files, so I can recover them later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: When someone or something is booked up, they have no spare time or<\/p>\n\n\n\n
space, so they’re unable to offer any appointments or accept any reservations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: My boss is fully booked up for this week. Do you want to make an appointment early next week?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: move a meeting or event to an earlier date or time than it was planned<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: Please bring the next month’s meeting forward to the end of the current month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to mention a subject or start to talk about it<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: I’m going to bring up my proposal for the project in today’s meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to become extremely exhausted or ill due to overwork or stress <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: Even after quitting her stressful job, Martha felt burnt out for a month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to cancel an event or agreement <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: He’s called off the meeting at the last minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to perform a task<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: We have to carry out our mental health research next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: cease business permanently<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: He admitted that it’s time to close down his company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to suggest or think of an idea or plan<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: After an hour-long video conference call we’ve finally come up with a solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to employ other companies to perform a job instead of your company<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: We’ve decided to contract out IT services to a highly-reliable IT company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to send someone a copy of an email you are sending to someone else<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: I’ll copy you in on the correspondence related to this project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: prepare a plan or any other document<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: I’ve finally drawn up a detailed business plan.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to not happen, fail<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: The deal fell through because our main competitor made a better offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to do someone’s work because they are away; to substitute for someone<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: I’ll have to fill in for Andrew until he gets back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to complete a form or document<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: To sign up, you have to fill out an online application first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to contact someone later or reply to a message<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: I’ll get back to you as soon as I figure out who was in charge of carrying out the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: examine or check something<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: Today we’re going to go over their proposal with great attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to write something briefly and quickly on a piece of paper so that you remember it<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: I was jotting down every word he said during his presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to stop employing a worker temporarily or permanently because of a shortage of work<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: Many employees were laid off during the pandemic crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to see another person or group to discuss something<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: Mary and I met up for lunch to discuss our business plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to provisionally put someone or something on a schedule, calendar or list<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: Sarah, could you please pencil me in for Monday morning at 10:30?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to make someone aware of something or call attention to it<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: He pointed out that our AI strategy needs to be slightly pivoted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to delay or postpone something until a later time or date<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: The date for the conference has been pushed back until next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to postpone something<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: I’ll have to put our meeting off since I might get Covid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to contact someone by phone or email<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: Don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to bring information to someone in authority<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: Report back to me as soon as you finish your research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to sign one’s name to get, do, or join something<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: Today our company has signed up with six marketing influencers to promote our product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to do something with less effort or energy than usual, to become less active<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: If you feel you’re slacking off at work, you might experience burnout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: To be very busy or overwhelmed with something<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: After these two projects started at the same time, I’m constantly snowed under reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to stay late at work after everyone else has left<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: Alice, you can go, I’m going to stay behind to finish my research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to resign from an important position <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: He stepped down as a CTO a month ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: agree to do some work or be responsible for it; employ <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: Luke, I don’t have the time to take on one more project now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: take control of something<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: This corporation has taken over 3 promising startups within one year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to join someone to do something together<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: Guys, let’s team up and finish this project today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: to reject something offered or proposed<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: I’ve turned down this job offer because the salary was too low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning: solve a problem<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example: We need to work out a plan to finally get rid of the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s it! What phrasal verbs do you use at work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pro tip<\/strong>: to make your online writing better, we recommend using our AI-powered grammar checker<\/a> and paraphrasing app<\/a>. Those tools will fix your grammar, punctuation, and style mistakes as well as help to make your writing more compelling.<\/p>\n\n\n Make phrasal verbs part of active use, not just recognition. After learning a new verb, write one short sentence you could actually say or write at work (an email, meeting comment, or chat message) and use it three times over the next week.<\/p>\n Group verbs by function (scheduling, communication, problem solving) and practise small roleplays: e.g., schedule a meeting using pencil in, push back and bring forward; or explain a decision using point out, take on and step down. This helps you remember meaning and typical collocations.<\/p>\n Be mindful of register: many phrasal verbs are fine in speech and informal emails, but for very formal reports you may prefer single-word alternatives (for example, postpone instead of put off). When in doubt, match tone to your audience.<\/p>\n Yes, in many professional contexts phrasal verbs are natural and clear. For very formal documents, consider using single-word alternatives if you need a more formal tone, but conversational emails and meetings usually accept phrasal verbs.<\/p>\n Some verbs allow the object between the verb and particle (separable) while others don’t. If the object is a pronoun, separable verbs usually require placing the pronoun between (e.g., copy me in, not copy in me). When unsure, check a reliable dictionary or practice examples in context.<\/p>\n Use them in real or simulated work situations: short written replies, spoken updates, or task lists. Repetition in meaningful contexts sticks much better than isolated memorization.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Phrasal verbs can be tricky, especially for non-native speakers. Nevertheless, those who aspire to find a job in an English-speaking country or already apply their professional skills in an English-speaking environment need to know them. At least, essential ones. So, if you want to make your English speech more nativelike and feel more confident at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2910,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[546,552],"class_list":["post-2908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vocabulary","tag-english-as-a-second-language","tag-learning-english"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nQuick practice tips for using phrasal verbs at work<\/h2>\n
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FAQ<\/h2>\n
Can I use phrasal verbs in formal emails?<\/h3>\n
How do I know if a phrasal verb is separable (copy in somebody vs copy somebody in)?<\/h3>\n
What’s the fastest way to remember them?<\/h3>\n