Combinations worth learning as a whole
A phrasal verb combines a verb with a particle: give up means stop trying. Learning lists often also include combinations with a preposition, such as look for, meaning search for. Sometimes the meaning is transparent; sometimes it must be learnt separately.
This lesson covers get up, wake up, turn on, turn off, pick up, put on, put off, look for, give up, find out, come back, and go out.
A practical approach is to learn each combination like a separate word together with a typical situation: mornings, appliances, clothes, searching, or returning home. You then do not have to guess which particle to add each time.
verb + particle = one meaning
- verb / V —
- A word for an action or state, such as work or be. The pattern determines its form.
Sam woke up at six and got up at once.
Sam woke up at six and got up at once.
Two different phrasal verbs describe two different moments in the morning: stopping sleeping and leaving bed.
Don't give up — you're making progress.
Don't give up — you're making progress.
Give up has no object here and means stop trying. Up has no separate literal meaning in this expression.
2. An ordinary day: wake up, get up, go out, come back
In these morning examples, wake up, get up, go out, and come back do not need objects: wake up means stop sleeping, get up means leave bed, go out means leave an indoor place, and come back means return. Other senses can take an object: wake someone up means cause someone to stop sleeping.
You can wake up but stay in bed for a long time. Wake up and get up let you name these separate events.
Do not put to before home: come back home, like come back here or come back later. Other place expressions need to: come back to the office, come back to Kyiv.
My neighbour gets up at five and goes out with his dog.
My neighbour gets up at five and goes out with his dog.
In the third person singular, add -s to the first word—gets, goes—while the particle stays the same.
I woke up in the night, but I didn't get up.
I woke up in the night, but I didn't get up.
Wake up marks the moment of waking; get up means leaving bed. Here the first happened and the second did not.
The shop is closed, so we'll come back tomorrow.
The shop is closed, so we'll come back tomorrow.
Come back has no object or following preposition here; it simply means return.
3. Appliances, clothes, and objects: turn on/off, put on, pick up
Turn on means switch on, while turn off means switch off. Without the particle, turn the TV can mean physically rotate the television; to express switching it on, you need on.
Put on means dress yourself in something, such as a jacket, scarf, or glasses. In British English it can also mean switch on, as in put the light on or put some music on. Turn on is the safer general choice for appliances. Put off has a completely different meaning: postpone. To remove clothes, use take off, not put off.
Pick up means lift something from a floor or table, and also collect someone or something from a place: pick up a friend from the airport. These combinations take an object, and with a noun the particle can come before or after it. A separate rule on separable phrasal verbs explains particle placement in relation to the object.
Turn on the lamp, please; it's too dark to read.
Turn on the lamp, please; it's too dark to read.
Turn on means switch on. The opposite action is turn off the lamp.
It's windy today, so put on a scarf.
It's windy today, so put on a scarf.
Put on means place an item of clothing on your body.
Dad picks up my little brother from football at six.
Dad picks up my little brother from football at six.
Pick up means collect a person from a place here, not lift them.
We put off the picnic because of the rain.
We put off the picnic because of the rain.
Put off means postpone, not remove.
4. Searching, discovering, and persisting: look for, find out, give up
Look for means search for: a process whose outcome is not yet known. What is being sought follows directly, without another preposition: look for a hotel. Look by itself means direct your eyes towards something; look for means search.
Find out means learn or obtain information: find out the time, find out who called. When you locate an object you were searching for, use find alone: found my keys. Do not use find out to mean locating a physical object.
Give up can mean stop trying or stop a habit: Don’t give up! / give up sugar / give up smoking. To name the action being stopped, use an -ing form in this pattern.
My sister is looking for a new flat near the park.
My sister is looking for a new flat near the park.
Look for + what is being sought; the search is still in progress.
The teacher found out who had broken the window.
The teacher found out who had broken the window.
Find out means obtain information, not locate an object.
Nina found her ring under the bed.
Nina found her ring under the bed.
An object that was searched for and located takes find alone, without out.
Tom gave up sugar in tea last year.
Tom gave up sugar in tea last year.
Give up + a noun can describe stopping a habit.
5. Forms: what changes and what stays the same
Only the first word—the verb itself—changes. The particle stays the same: wake up, wakes up, woke up, waking up. In the present with he, she, or it, add -s to the first word: gets up, goes out, picks up.
Common past forms include wake — woke, get — got, go — went, come — came, find — found, and give — gave. Regular forms include turned, picked, and looked. Put has the same base form, past form, and past participle, but it also has puts and putting.
Form negatives and questions using the ordinary rules: an auxiliary such as does / did / do, followed by the first word in its base form. Do not add -s or -ed to the particle.
They went out after lunch and came back late.
They went out after lunch and came back late.
Went and came are the past forms of irregular go and come; out and back remain unchanged.
Does your brother get up before seven?
Does your brother get up before seven?
After does, the first word takes its base form get, not gets.
I'm not giving up, even if it takes a year.
I'm not giving up, even if it takes a year.
The -ing form changes only give; up stays unchanged.
6. Similar meanings that are easy to confuse
Wake up or get up? Wake up means you are no longer asleep; get up means you are no longer in bed. About a Saturday morning, you can say I woke up at eight, but I got up at ten.
Look for, find out, or find? Look for means search; find means locate a thing or person; find out means learn information. Use look for and find for keys, and find out for information about train times.
Turn on, put on, or put off? Turn on switches on an appliance; put on means dress in clothes, or switch something on in a conversational British pattern; put off means postpone. The opposites are turn on — turn off and put on — take off for clothes.
I woke up at eight, but I got up at ten.
I woke up at eight, but I got up at ten.
The two different verbs make the distinction between the two moments clear.
I looked for the timetable online and found out the last bus leaves at eleven.
I looked for the timetable online and found out the last bus leaves at eleven.
Look for refers to the search itself; find out refers to the information obtained.
It's too warm inside; take off your coat.
It's too warm inside; take off your coat.
Removing clothes is take off, not put off.
7. Using these combinations in your own speech
These combinations help you describe a day, ask someone to do something, or encourage someone. Always check the meaning against the situation.
A typical sequence for describing a day is wake up, get up, go out, come back. Add one or two appliances or objects, and you have a connected account of a few sentences.
Choose the combinations that fit your meaning and check the form of the first word: tense, the -s ending, and any irregular form.
I wake up at seven, check my phone and get up at a quarter past.
I wake up at seven, check my phone and get up at a quarter past.
Two verbs with different meanings form a morning sequence.
When you leave, please turn off the heater and go out through the back door.
When you leave, please turn off the heater and go out through the back door.
An instruction: two phrasal verbs follow when you leave, each expressing its own action.
Common mistakes
Incorrect:Yesterday I get up at seven.
Correct:Yesterday I got up at seven.
Tense changes on the first word: get — got. The particle up stays the same.
Incorrect:My sister is looking a new flat.
Correct:My sister is looking for a new flat.
Look without for means direct your eyes towards something. The meaning search requires look for.
Incorrect:Did you find out your glasses?
Correct:Did you find your glasses?
Find out concerns learning information. Locating an object takes find alone.
Incorrect:It's hot here. Please put off your jacket.
Correct:It's hot here. Please take off your jacket.
Put off means postpone. Removing clothes is take off.
Incorrect:Please turns on the lamp.
Correct:Please turn on the lamp.
An ordinary imperative request uses the base form turn, without -s. On expresses switching the lamp on.
Incorrect:She gave up learns the guitar.
Correct:She gave up learning the guitar.
In this pattern after gave up, use learning to name the action that stopped.
Incorrect:I will come back to home at nine.
Correct:I will come back home at nine.
Home follows come back without to, unlike come back to the office.