English Phrasal Verbs
A phrasal verb is a verb followed by a preposition or an adverb;
the combination creates a meaning different from the original verb.
Alphabetical lists of commonly-used phrasal verbs in English.
Alphabetical List - G
- get about/around
- Move from place to place.
"It's not easy to get around the city without a map." - Spread, circulate.
"News of their separation soon got about."
- Move from place to place.
- get along (with)
- Be on good terms; work well with.
"I must say I get along (well) with my mother-in-law.
- Be on good terms; work well with.
- get at
- Imply; insinuate.
"I don't understand. What exactly are you trying to get at?
- Imply; insinuate.
- get away
- Escape.
"According to the news report, the robbers got away in a black car."
- Escape.
- get by (on)
- Manage to cope or have enough to survive.
" It's difficult to get by on a low salary."
- Manage to cope or have enough to survive.
- get down to
- Start to actually
do something.
"That's enough chatting. It's time to get down to some serious work!"
- Start to actually
do something.
- get into
- Enter a place.
"How did the burglar get in?"
- Enter a place.
- get off
- Leave (bus, train, plane).
"Your best option would be to get off the bus at Trafalgar Square."
- Leave work (at the end of the day).
"I'll pick you up after work. What time do you get off ?"
- Remove something
(clothes, stains).
"I don't know how I'm going to get this stain off my dress!"
- Leave (bus, train, plane).
- get off with
- Receive almost no punishment.
"He was lucky. He got off with a small fine."
- Receive almost no punishment.
- get on
- Board (bus, train,
plane).
"You can pay when you get on the bus."
- Board (bus, train,
plane).
- get on with
- Continue to do
something ; make progress.
"Be quiet and get on with your homework."
- Continue to do
something ; make progress.
- get on (well) with
- Have a good relationship with.
"Do you get on well with your colleagues?"
- Have a good relationship with.
- get out
- Spend some free time out
of the house.
"Her husband is very ill so she doesn't get out much."
- Leave or go away.
"We don't want you here. Get out!"
- Spend some free time out
of the house.
- get out of
- Leave a place.
"The window was closed. How did he get out of the house?"
- Avoid doing something.
"Some husbands manage to get out of doing any housework."
- Receive; learn; gain from something.
"What are you hoping to get out of the seminar?"
- Leave a place.
- get over
- Recover from
(illness, disappointment).
"Charlie had the 'flu but he got over it."
- Recover from
(illness, disappointment).
- get rid of
- Eliminate.
"It's difficult to get rid of old habits."
- Eliminate.
- get round/around (to)
- Finally do something.
"He finally got round to tidying the garage."
- Finally do something.
- get together
- Meet each other.
"Let's get together for lunch one day next week."
- Meet each other.
- get up
- Rise; leave bed.
"Tony usually gets up at 7 o'clock."
- Rise; leave bed.
- give away
- Give something free of charrge.
"The artist gave away most of his paintings."
- Reveal something.
"The names of the witnesses will not be given away."
- Give something free of charrge.
- give back
- Return something to its owner.
"He promised to give back the book he borrowed."
- Return something to its owner.
- give in
- accept defeat; surrender
"The authorities refused to give in to the demands of the population."
- accept defeat; surrender
- give over!
- Stop doing something irritating
"Give over complaining! It doesn't help at all!"
- Stop doing something irritating
- give up
- Stop doing something.
"Sarah gave up smoking five years ago."
- Admit defeat; capitulate.
"Have you found the answer? No, I give up."
- Stop doing something.
- gloss over
- Treat something briefly
(make it seem unimportant).
"The director glossed over the recent drop in sales."
- Treat something briefly
(make it seem unimportant).
- go after
- Pursue (an object
or a goal).
"She went after her dream and is now an actress."
- Pursue (an object
or a goal).
- go along (with)
- Agree with;
accept.
"Alex tends to go along with anything his wife says."
- Agree with;
accept.
- go away
- Leave a place.
We decided to go away for a few days.
- Disappear; fade.
"I've washed it twice but the stain still hasn't gone away."
- Leave a place.
- go back
- Return.
"Children go back to school after the holidays."
- Return.
- go by
- Pass.
"A bus went by without stopping."
"Time goes by so quickly!"
- Pass.
- go down
- Decrease, reduce.
"The price of property has gone down a bit."
- Decrease, reduce.
- go down with
- Become ill with an infectious disease.
"The match will be difficult . Half of the team has gone down with the flu."
- Become ill with an infectious disease.
- go for
- Try to gain or attain.
"He trained hard and went for the gold medal."
- Try to gain or attain.
- go in
- Enter.
"There's a nice restaurant. Let's go in and book a table for tonight."
- Enter.
- go into
- Go inside.
"Go into the bakery and see if they sell croissants."
- Go inside.
- go in for
- Have something as an interest or hobby.
"She doesn't really go in for sports."
- Have something as an interest or hobby.
- go off
- Explode.
"A bomb went off in a crowded restaurant"
- Ring or make a loud noise.
"The alarm clock was set to go off at 6 a.m."
- Stop working
"The heating has gone off. It's freezing!"
- No longer be good to eat or drink.
"The milk has gone off. Don't drink it."
- No longer like or enjoy.
"My grandmother has gone off crosswords."
- Explode.
- go on
- Continue.
"Sorry for interrupting. Please go on."
- Continue.
- go out
- Leave one's home to attend a social event.
"Many young people go out a lot."
- Leave one's home to attend a social event.
- go out
- Stop burning; be extinguished
"The lights went out before we got to the door."
- Stop burning; be extinguished
- go out
- Be sent
"The letter went out yesterday."
- Be sent
- go (out) with
- Have someone as a boyfriend/girlfriend.
"Is Julie going (out) with Tom?"
- Have someone as a boyfriend/girlfriend.
- go over
- Review.
"Please go over your answers before handing in your test."
- Review.
- go through
- Experience or
undergo something.
"Pete went through a lot of pain after the accident."
- Examine or study carefully.
"I need time to go through the contract before I sign it."
- Experience or
undergo something.
- go through with
- Proceed with
something difficult.
"Bill and Amy finally went through with the divorce."
- Proceed with
something difficult.
- go up
- Increase, rise.
"According to the news report the price of petrol is likely to go up."
- Increase, rise.
- go together/with
- Match; look good
or combine well with
"The curtains don't go with the carpet."
"The curtains and carpet don't go together."
- Match; look good
or combine well with
- go without
- Abstain from something; not have something.
"I had to go without lunch to finish the report."
"Camels can go without water for many days."
- Abstain from something; not have something.
- grow apart
- Stop having a close relationship; become more distant
"We used to be close friends but we've grown apart since I left London."
- Stop having a close relationship; become more distant
- grow back
- Grow again (e.g. hair, nails)
"We need to cut our nails regularly because they grow back very quickly."
- Grow again (e.g. hair, nails)
- grow from
- Result or develop from something
"A new treaty grew from the discussions."
- Result or develop from something
- grow into
- Develop or change over time
"The undisciplined boy grew into a responsible young man."
- Develop or change over time
- grow into
- Become big enough to fit larger clothes
"The coat is a bit big, but she'll grow into it."
- Become big enough to fit larger clothes
- grow out of
- Become too big for your old clothes
"She has already grown out of the shoes I bought her earlier this year!
- Become too big for your old clothes
- grow together
- Gradually become close, united or attached.
"We grew together during our years in boarding school."
- Gradually become close, united or attached.
- grow up
- Spend one's childhood/become an adult.
"He grew up in a small village."
"Don't be so childish. You need to grow up!"
- Spend one's childhood/become an adult.
More Phrasal Verbs:
Please note that British English spelling is used on this website.