20 Commonly Tested Phrasal Verbs!

For today’s post, I want to focus on phrasal verbs. I have touched on this topic before in the previous blog post here. In that post, I shared with you tips on how to answer the question in the Vocabulary MCQ section in Paper 2 that tests your knowledge of phrasal verbs. In this post, I will highlight the 20 most commonly tested phrasal verbs. I hope this will further help you in your revision.

           Before going through these 20 phrasal verbs, let’s do a quick recap on what a phrasal verb actually is. Like I have mentioned in the earlier post, a phrasal verb is an idiomatic phrase that contains a verb (e.g. break) and another element, usually an adverb (e.g. down) or a preposition (e.g. out). Sometimes a phrasal verb can contain both an adverb and a preposition (e.g. get away with).

           The meaning of the phrasal verb differs from that of the original verb. For example, the verb ‘get’ means ‘to obtain, buy or earn something’ while the phrasal verb ‘get away with’ means ‘to succeed in avoiding punishment for a wrong-doing’.

           The best way to be good at phrasal verbs is to expose yourself to as many of these as you can, either through reading or explicit learning. I would also suggest that it is usually easier to learn phrasal verbs if you look at one verb at a time and list down all the adverbs and/or prepositions that go with it. You can do it in the form of a word web. For instance, the web for the verb ‘take’ might look like this:

 It is also advisable to include the meaning of each phrasal verb and a sentence that illustrates how it is used correctly in context. Do note that many phrasal verbs have more than one meaning.

           Are you ready to revise the 20 most commonly tested phrasal verbs? Click on the button below and take the quiz!

How did you do? If you aced the quiz, well done! You are on your way to mastering phrasal verbs. If many of the phrasal verbs on the list still puzzle you, try checking out the websites I have suggested in my earlier post to learn more.

           Thank you for reading this post. Leave a comment below to let me know how you have benefitted and whether there are other areas you would like me to cover. All the best for the examinations!