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.