150 High Frequency Phrasal Verbs: a – K

150 High Frequency Phrasal Verbs: A – K

Suzanne

Students often find the subject of phrasal verbs daunting, and frankly, I can’t blame you. There are zillions of them, and their meanings are often not obvious! So I decided to compile of a list of 150 phrasal verbs that I consider to be very common. I think it makes a lot of sense for elementary and intermediate English students to just focus on these, as these are the ones you will encounter on a daily or weekly basis. By concentrating on these high frequency verbs first of all, you will feel far less overwhelmed. Once these verbs are firmly installed in the brain, you will have more confidence and expanding your phrasal verb vocabulary will be less of an uphill struggle. Tell yourself that these phrasal verbs are
I’ve split the list into two parts. And it’s really to serve you for reference.


apply for
make a formal request for something (a job, loan, visa, etc) by sending a letter, completing a form, etc
🔹 Sam applied for a teaching position at the university.
🔹 I didn’t have enough money to set up my business so I applied for a loan.


ask out
invite sb on a romantic date
🔹 Why don’t you ask Lily out? It’s obvious you fancy her.


be in
be at home or at work.
🔹 I don’t think they are in. The lights are off.
🔹 The boss wants us to be in at 8 o’clock tomorrow.


be on
be shown (TV, cinema, radio, etc)
🔹 The match is on at 8pm.
🔹 “Do you want to go to the cinema later?” – “Okay, what‘s on?”


be over
be finished (a programme, a match, etc)
🔹 Children, as soon as the film is over I want you to get ready for bed.
🔹 The match isn’t over yet. We could still win.