Phrasal Verbs Notes for SSC Exams

Phrasal verbs are an important part of the vocabulary section of SSC exams. Questions come in sentence improvement, fill in the blanks and meaning-based formats, and a single wrong particle can change the whole meaning. These Phrasal Verbs notes for SSC explain the concept, the types, and a long list of the most frequently asked phrasal verbs with meanings and examples, grouped by the base verb so that they are easy to revise.

What Is a Phrasal Verb?

• A phrasal verb = verb + particle (adverb or preposition), and sometimes verb + adverb + preposition.
• The meaning is usually different from the meaning of the words taken separately: "give up" (stop), "run out of" (finish), "look up to" (respect).
• Example: "The meeting was called off" (cancelled). "We ran out of sugar" (had no more).

Types of Phrasal Verbs

Type	Rule	Example
Transitive, separable	Object can come between the verb and the particle; a pronoun object must come between	turn off the light / turn the light off / turn it off
Transitive, inseparable	Object always comes after the particle	look after the child; look after him
Intransitive	No object	The plane took off. He grew up in Delhi.
Three-word phrasal verb	Verb + adverb + preposition; inseparable	put up with, look forward to, run out of, get along with

Important Phrasal Verbs: Group-wise List

Break

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
break down	stop working; lose control	The car broke down on the highway.
break out	start suddenly (war, fire, disease)	A fire broke out in the building.
break up	end a relationship; disperse	The meeting broke up at noon.
break in	enter by force; interrupt	Thieves broke in at night.
break into	enter illegally	They broke into the shop.
break through	make a major discovery or progress	Scientists have broken through in cancer research.

Bring

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
bring up	raise (a child); mention a topic	She brought up three children alone.
bring about	cause to happen	The new policy brought about many changes.
bring out	publish; reveal	The company brought out a new model.
bring in	introduce (a law, rule)	The government brought in a new law.
bring down	reduce; cause to fall	Measures to bring down prices.
bring back	return; remind	The song brought back memories.

Call

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
call off	cancel	The match was called off.
call on	visit (a person); request formally	He called on his uncle.
call for	demand; require; collect	The situation calls for immediate action.
call up	telephone; summon for military service	He called up his friend.
call out	shout; summon to action	The doctor was called out at night.
call in	ask to come for help or service	They called in an expert.

Carry

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
carry on	continue	Carry on with your work.
carry out	perform; execute	The soldiers carried out the orders.
carry off	win; succeed in	She carried off the first prize.
carry over	postpone; transfer	The matter was carried over to next week.

Come

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
come across	find or meet by chance	I came across an old photo.
come up with	think of; produce an idea	He came up with a brilliant plan.
come off	succeed; happen; fall off	The plan did not come off.
come down with	get an illness	She came down with fever.
come round	recover consciousness; change opinion	He came round after the operation.
come into	inherit	She came into a large fortune.
come by	obtain	How did you come by this book?

Cut

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
cut down	reduce; fell (a tree)	Cut down on sugar.
cut off	disconnect; separate	The village was cut off by floods.
cut out	remove; stop doing	Cut out smoking.
cut in	interrupt	Do not cut in when I speak.
cut up	cut into pieces	Cut up the vegetables.

Fall

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
fall back on	depend on in difficulty	He had to fall back on his savings.
fall through	fail to happen	The deal fell through.
fall out	quarrel	The two friends fell out over money.
fall for	be tricked; fall in love with	He fell for her trick.
fall behind	fail to keep pace	Do not fall behind in your studies.

Get

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
get along (with)	have a good relationship	He gets along well with everyone.
get over	recover from	She got over her illness.
get away	escape	The thief got away.
get by	manage to survive	We can get by on a small income.
get through	finish; pass (an exam)	He got through the exam.
get up	rise from bed	I get up at six.
get on	board; make progress	How are you getting on?
get rid of	free oneself from	Get rid of bad habits.

Give

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
give up	stop; surrender	He gave up smoking.
give in	surrender; yield	The enemy gave in.
give away	distribute free; reveal	He gave away his old clothes.
give out	distribute; become exhausted	The teacher gave out the papers.
give off	emit	The flowers give off a sweet smell.
give back	return	Give back my book.

Go

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
go on	continue; happen	Go on with your story.
go off	explode; rot; leave	The bomb went off. The milk has gone off.
go through	experience; examine carefully	She went through a painful time.
go over	examine; review	Go over your notes.
go ahead	proceed	Go ahead with the plan.
go in for	take part in; choose as a career	He goes in for sports.
go back on	break (a promise)	He went back on his word.

Hold

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
hold on	wait; continue holding	Hold on, please.
hold up	delay; rob	Traffic was held up. The bank was held up.
hold back	restrain; hesitate	He held back his tears.
hold out	last; offer	Supplies will not hold out long.
hold forth	speak at length	He held forth on politics.

Keep

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
keep up (with)	maintain the pace	Keep up the good work.
keep on	continue	He kept on talking.
keep off	stay away from	Keep off the grass.
keep out	not enter	Keep out of danger.
keep back	withhold	Do not keep back the truth.

Look

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
look after	take care of	She looks after her mother.
look into	investigate	The police are looking into the case.
look for	search	I am looking for my pen.
look up	search in a book; improve	Look up the word in the dictionary.
look up to	respect	Students look up to their teacher.
look down upon	despise	Do not look down upon the poor.
look forward to	await eagerly	I look forward to meeting you.
look out	be careful	Look out! A car is coming.
look over	examine quickly	Look over this report.

Make

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
make up	invent; compensate; form	He made up a story.
make out	understand; see with difficulty	I cannot make out his handwriting.
make for	move towards	The ship made for the harbour.
make off	run away	The thief made off with the money.
make over	transfer ownership	He made over his property to his son.

Pick, Put

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
pick up	lift; learn casually; collect	She picked up English quickly.
pick out	choose	Pick out a good book.
put off	postpone; discourage	The meeting was put off.
put on	wear; stage	She put on a red dress.
put out	extinguish	Firemen put out the fire.
put up with	tolerate	I cannot put up with this noise.
put down	suppress; write	The rebellion was put down.
put forward	propose	He put forward a new idea.

Run

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
run out of	have no more	We ran out of petrol.
run into	meet by chance	I ran into an old friend.
run after	chase	The police ran after the thief.
run away	escape	The boy ran away from home.
run down	criticise; knock down	Do not run down your colleagues.
run over	knock down with a vehicle	A truck ran over the dog.
run through	read quickly; spend wastefully	He ran through his fortune.

Set, Take, Turn

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example
set off / set out	begin a journey	They set out for Delhi.
set up	establish	He set up a school.
set in	begin (weather, disease)	Winter has set in.
set aside	keep for later; cancel	Set aside some money.
take after	resemble	She takes after her mother.
take off	remove; (aircraft) leave the ground	The plane took off.
take over	assume control	He took over the company.
take up	begin a hobby; occupy	She took up painting.
take in	deceive; understand; include	He was taken in by the fraud.
take to	develop a liking for	The child took to the new teacher.
turn down	reject; reduce volume	He turned down the offer.
turn up	appear; arrive	He did not turn up for the meeting.
turn out	prove to be; produce	The plan turned out well.
turn in	go to bed; submit	Turn in your papers.
turn into	change into	The caterpillar turned into a butterfly.

Tips to Learn Phrasal Verbs

1. Learn them in groups of base verbs (get, take, put, look, come) rather than as a random list.
2. Make a sentence of your own for each phrasal verb.
3. Notice the particle: up often means completion or increase, down means decrease or failure, off means separation or ending, out means disappearance or discovery.
4. Revise ten phrasal verbs daily and test yourself with fill-in-the-blank practice.
5. Check phrasal verbs asked in previous year papers: call off, put up with, look into, carry out, give up, come across.

Practice Questions With Answers

1. The match was ___ because of heavy rain. (called off / called on) Answer: called off
2. I cannot ___ his rude behaviour. (put up with / put off) Answer: put up with
3. The police are ___ the case. (looking into / looking for) Answer: looking into
4. "Give up" means: Answer: to stop or surrender
5. She ___ her mother in looks. (takes after / takes off) Answer: takes after
6. We have ___ sugar. (run out of / run into) Answer: run out of
7. "Break out" in "A fire broke out" means: Answer: started suddenly
8. He ___ a brilliant idea. (came up with / came across) Answer: came up with
9. The deal ___ at the last moment. (fell through / fell out) Answer: fell through
10. "Look up to" means: Answer: to respect
11. "The doctor ___ the new patients." (looks after / looks for) Answer: looks after
12. The plane ___ at 6 am. (took off / took over) Answer: took off

Also read the Synonyms and Antonyms notes, and practise with our previous year papers.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a phrasal verb?

A phrasal verb is a verb combined with a preposition or an adverb (or both) whose meaning is different from the meanings of the separate words. For example, "give up" means to stop trying, "call off" means to cancel, and "look after" means to take care of.

What are the types of phrasal verbs?

Phrasal verbs can be transitive (take an object) or intransitive (no object), and separable (the object can come between the verb and the particle: "turn the light off") or inseparable (the object must follow the particle: "look after the baby"). There are also three-word phrasal verbs such as "put up with" and "look forward to".

What is the difference between a phrasal verb and an idiom?

A phrasal verb is a verb plus a particle (up, off, out, in...), while an idiom is a fixed group of words with a figurative meaning that may not contain a verb-particle pair ("a piece of cake", "break the ice"). Some idioms also use phrasal verbs.

What is the difference between a separable and an inseparable phrasal verb?

With a separable phrasal verb, a noun object can be placed before or after the particle ("pick up the phone" or "pick the phone up"), but a pronoun object must go in between ("pick it up"). With an inseparable phrasal verb, the object always follows the particle ("look after her", never "look her after").

How can I learn phrasal verbs quickly for SSC?

Learn them in groups by the base verb (get, take, put, come, go, look, turn, break, call...) and by the particle, write one example sentence for each, revise them in small sets of 10, and practise with fill-in-the-blank and sentence improvement questions.

What does "give up" mean?

"Give up" means to stop doing something or to surrender. "He gave up smoking." It can also mean to abandon hope or to hand over. "The thief gave himself up to the police."

What is the difference between "call off" and "call on"?

"Call off" means to cancel ("The match was called off due to rain"), while "call on" means to visit a person ("He called on his teacher") or to formally ask someone to do something ("The chairman called on the secretary to speak").

What is the meaning of "look into", "look after" and "look for"?

"Look into" means to investigate ("The police are looking into the case"), "look after" means to take care of ("She looks after her parents"), and "look for" means to search ("I am looking for my keys").

What does "put up with" mean?

"Put up with" means to tolerate or endure something unpleasant. "I cannot put up with this noise any longer." It is an inseparable three-word phrasal verb.

What is the meaning of "come across"?

"Come across" means to meet or find something or someone by chance. "I came across an old friend in the market." It is also used to mean "to seem": "He comes across as a very honest man."

What does "turn down" mean?

"Turn down" means to reject an offer or request ("She turned down the job offer") or to reduce the volume or heat ("Please turn down the music"). It is a separable phrasal verb.

What is the difference between "break out", "break down" and "break up"?

"Break out" means to start suddenly (a war, fire or disease broke out), "break down" means to stop working or lose control (the car broke down) and "break up" means to end a relationship or to disperse (the meeting broke up).

What does "carry on" mean?

"Carry on" means to continue. "Carry on with your work." It is also used informally for behaving in an excited manner. "Carry out" is different and means to perform or execute (carry out an order).

How are phrasal verbs asked in SSC exams?

They appear as fill in the blanks (choose the correct particle), sentence improvement (replace the underlined phrase with the right phrasal verb), error spotting (wrong particle) and as meaning-based questions ("The meeting was called off" - cancelled). The tables in these notes cover the most repeated ones.

What is the meaning of "set off", "set up" and "set in"?

"Set off" means to begin a journey or to cause something to start (set off for Delhi, set off a bomb), "set up" means to establish (set up a business), and "set in" means to begin and seem likely to continue (winter has set in).

Which particles are commonly used with phrasal verbs?

Up, down, in, out, on, off, over, away, back, through, around and along are the most common particles, along with prepositions like with, for, to and from. The same verb with a different particle gives a completely different meaning (take off, take over, take after, take in).