The 25 Most Common Phrasal Verbs in English (With Real Examples)
Phrasal verbs are every Spanish speaker's nightmare when learning English. Nobody teaches them in class, but native speakers use them constantly. This guide covers 25 of the most important ones organized by situation — with real examples, translations, and notes on British English.
What is a phrasal verb?
A phrasal verb is a verb combined with a preposition or adverb that creates a completely new meaning. "Look" means to see, but "look after" means to care for and "look up to" means to admire. The meaning changes entirely.
Work & career
Essential phrasal verbs for meetings, emails, and everyday professional life.
To check on something; to contact someone again to get an update.
To perform or complete a task, research, or plan.
To postpone or delay something. Also: to discourage someone from doing something.
To accept a responsibility, project, or hire a new employee.
To write or prepare a document, plan, or contract.
To submit something (a document, a resignation) to someone in authority.
To organize, create, or establish something (a company, a meeting, a system).
To handle, manage, or resolve a problem or situation.
Daily life
The phrasal verbs you will hear every day on the street, at home, and in casual conversations.
To stop sleeping. Also figuratively: to become aware of something.
To use up all of something; to have no more of something left.
To search for something or someone.
To stop trying; to quit. Also: to abandon a habit.
To clean and tidy a space.
To switch a device on / off.
To collect something or someone. Also: to learn something informally.
To resolve, organize, or fix something. Very British.
Social life & relationships
Essential for making plans, meeting friends, and talking about relationships.
To have a good relationship with someone; to like each other.
To spend time updating each other after not seeing someone for a while.
To have a disagreement with someone and stop being friendly.
To spend time with someone casually, without a specific plan.
To end a romantic relationship.
To reconcile after a fight. Also: to invent something (an excuse, a story).
To feel excited about something that is going to happen.
To arrive or appear (sometimes unexpectedly). Very British.
To tolerate or endure something or someone unpleasant.
How NexSpeak teaches phrasal verbs
Memorizing lists of phrasal verbs does not work. The brain does not remember isolated data — it remembers context, emotion, and narrative.
In NexSpeak, phrasal verbs appear in 10-15 minute immersive stories with native audio. When Carlos "sorts out" a problem at work or Sofia "puts off" a difficult conversation, the meaning sticks because it is anchored to a real situation.
After each story, key structures — including phrasal verbs — become spaced repetition flashcards. You review them just before forgetting them.
Conclusion
The 25 phrasal verbs in this guide are not all that exist — English has thousands. But if you master the ones on this list, you will be able to understand the vast majority of everyday English conversations, especially in British contexts.
The trick is not to memorize them but to hear them in context repeatedly. NexSpeak stories are designed exactly for that.