FCE
Phrasal verbs that often come up in FCE exam. 

1. to run out of – to exhaust a supply

          e.g. I can´t bake a cake as we have run out of milk. 

2. to set off – to begin a journey

          e.g. They set off together at 7.00 am. 

3. to go off – 1) to explode, 2) to become rancid

          e.g. The bomb suddenly went off. 

                 If you leave milk on the table, it will go off. 

4. to take up – to start a new hobby, activity

          e.g. I am thinking of taking up tennis. 

5. to give up – to stop doing sth permanently

          e.g. You should give up smoking. 

6. to set up – to start or establish something e.g. business, institution

          e.g. Last year my brother set up a company. 

 

7. to come up with – to think of something such as an idea or plan

          e.g. He racked his brain to come up with a solution. 

8. to call off – to cancel

          e.g. The football match was called off due to adverse weather conditions. 

9. to put off – to postpone

          e.g. Unfortunately, the wedding has to be put off.

 
10. to put up with – to accept or continue to accept an unpleasant situation or experience

          e.g. I can´t put up with rude people. 

11. to come across – to meet or find by chance

          e.g. Yesterday I came across an old friend of mine. 

12. to get on/ to get along with – to have a good relationship with somebody

          e.g. Do you get on with your boss? 

13. to look sth up – to try to find a piece of information by looking in a book or on a computer

          e.g. If you don´t know this word, look it up in the dictionary. 

14. to turn up/to show up – to arrive, to appear

          e.g. He always shows up late. 

15. to rip off – to exploit, to cheat

          e.g. I think we were ripped off! 

16. to look up to sb – to admire

          e.g. Jim has always looked up to his father. 

17. to take off – to leave the ground and begin to fly

          e.g. Our plane takes off at 1.00 pm. 

18. to get away with – to escape without punishment

          e.g. I can´t believe Jane always gets away with lying. 

19. to turn down – to reject

          e.g. If you don´t like this proposal, you can turn it down. 

20. to carry out – to carry through to completion

          e.g. Sam didn´t carry out the experiment. 

21. to grow up – to increase by natural development

          e.g. Children grow up very quickly. 

22. to bring up – 1) to take care of and educate (a child), 2) to mention

          e.g. I was brought up on a farm. 

                Don´t bring it up! I want to forget it. 
23. to get rid of – to remove something that you do not want any longer

          e.g. Every spring I get rid of my old clothes. 

24. to take after – to resemble (a parent)

          e.g. He really takes after his father. 

25. to catch up – 1) to succeed in reaching a person who is ahead of you, 2) to do something you did not
have time to do earlier

          e.g. It´s impossible to catch up with you. You are such a fast runner. 

                 I need to catch up with Jane. I haven´t seen her for over two months.