Common Phrasal Verbs Quiz 2 | Smart English Learning

Levels tested: Intermediate

Topics tested: Vocabulary, Phrasal Verbs

Time to complete: 5 minutes

In this post, you will learn 12 phrasal verbs that are used in English speaking every day.

First, read the verbs and the examples carefully trying to understand what each verb means. If necessary, translate them into your own language using a good dictionary.

Then, do the quiz and check if you remember all the phrasal verbs from the lesson. If you need more time to remember, do the quiz again after a week or so to revise.

12 popular phrasal verbs – meanings and examples

These are just some of the most common meanings for these phrasal verbs. Some of them can also have some other meanings.

be off – leave, go away (also take off, especially in American English)

I must be off if I want to make the next bus. (also possible – I must take off…)

drop off – 1) go to sleep; 2) leave somebody somewhere, especially if they leave the car you are driving

He dropped me outside the hotel. (=I got out of his car…)
I must have dropped off to sleep. (=It looks like that I have gone to sleep.)

hold on – wait for a short time

The manager asked them to hold on while he checked the information. (…asked them to wait…)

look down on – consider somebody unimportant while it’s not true, not to show respect

He looked down on me because I didn’t make as much money as he did.

look through – examine or read carefully

He looks through his mail as soon as he turns on the computer in the morning.

look up – 1) search for a word, date or information in a dictionary, database or a reference book; 2) improve (about the situation)

Things are starting to look up. (=The situation is starting to improve)
If you don’t know a word, look it up in the dictionary.

make out – understand, see or hear, especially with difficulty

She thought she heard a name. She couldn’t make it out, though. (=she couldn’t hear and understand the name…)

make up – 1) invent a story or an excuse, especially not a true one; 2) put on powder or lipstick on your face; 3) become friends again after a quarrel or a disagreement

I’m not making it up. The character exists in real life.
She spends hours making herself up every day. (=She spends hours putting cosmetics on her face.)
You should make up with Jim. You’ve been enemies for too long.

pull through – recover from an illness or a very difficult situation

His injuries are severe but he’s expected to pull through.

run out (of) – have no more of something left

We are running out of time. = Time is running out. (=We have no more time left)

set up – create, arrange, organise or establish (especially about a business or a company)

Plenty of foreign firms have set up factories here.

turn in – go to bed

Would you like some tea before you turn in?

In the quiz below you will practise all the phrasal verbs discussed in this blog. Do the quiz to check if you remember them well and can use them in the right context.

How much did you score? Share with us in the comments!

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