Lexique de ‘Phrasal Verbs’ de M au Z

Les verbes qui servent de plusieurs mots

'M' Phrasal Verbs

To make out:  to manage to hear, see or read something with difficulty

Ex: His handwriting is so bad that I can’t make out what he’s written on the report!


To make up:  to invent a story or an excuse

Ex: He’s always making up excuses to explain why he is late in the mornings; the truth is that he get up late!


To make up for:  to make a bad experience or a loss better (FR: compenser)

Ex:  Our manager took us to a very nice restaurant to make up for asking us to work last weekend

'P' Phrasal Verbs

To pay back:   to give back money you have borrowed from someone (Ex: rembourser)

Ex: I borrowed 100€ from my friend last week and I paid it back as soon as possible


To pay off:   to complete payment on a debt; to be profitable or successful after a period of time

Ex1: We hope to pay off all our bank loans next year

Ex2: All his hard work and dedication to the company paid off when he was promoted to Chief Financial Officer


To pick out: to choose from a group of people or things

Ex: He was picked out to represent his company at the conference


To pick up:  to collect someone by car (1)

Ex: They sent a car to pick me up from the airport and take me to my hotel

To pick up:  to lift (2)

Ex: The job is tiring as it involves picking up heavy objects and placing them on shelves

To pick up:  to increase (3)

Ex: Following a disappointing first quarter, sales began to pick up again in May


To put forward:  to propose

Ex: Sophia was put forward for election to board of directors


 To put off:  to postpone

Ex: Tomorrow’s meeting has been put off till next Monday because most of the attendees are ill


To put up:  to raise

Ex: The government announced they plan to put up the taxes next year and a lot of people are protesting


To put up with:  to tolerate

Ex: HR warned Paul that they will not put up with him being late any longer – if he’ s late once more, he’ll be fired

'R' Phrasal Verbs

To run into:  to see or meet someone unexpectedly (1)

Ex: When I was in Paris, I ran into my old boss at a restaurant! I hadn’t seen him in 10 years

To run into:  to face problems you didn’t expect (2)

Ex: Unfortunately the project ran into financial problems and this caused long delays


To run out of:  to have no more of something

Ex: ‘We’ve  run out of coffee – can you buy some when you go shopping please?’

'S' Phrasal Verbs

To see about:  to arrange for something to be done or provided

Ex: The IT technician said he would see about getting me a better laptop because the one I’m using now is really slow


To see to:  to deal with something

Ex: I asked my assistant to see to my accommodation for the trip to Rome


To set aside:  to reserve (money, time etc)

Ex: The Christmas party is going to be very expensive this year but we’ve set aside enough money to pay for it


To set off:  to begin a journey

Ex: As long as I set off before 8 am, I can be at the office in 20 minutes


To set out:  to begin work with a particular aim in mind

A: I heard that the new boss has set out to cut costs immediately


To set up:  to establish

Ex: My son graduated from Business school in June and he’s setting up a sports equipment company


To stand for: to represent, to mean (1)

Ex: CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility

To stand for: to accept, to tolerate (used in negative sentences) (2)

Ex: I won’t stand for any fighting within the team


To stand out: to be better or more noticeable from other similar things / people

Ex: His CV stood out from all the CVs we received for the job position


To stand up for: to defend or support someone strongly

Ex: When our manager was accused of stealing from the company, we all stood up for him as we knew he was an honest man

'T' Phrasal Verbs

To take in: to understand

Ex2: The audience was really interested in the presentation and took in every word.


To take off: to start to improve (1)

Ex: After a disappointing start to the year, sales took off in the second trimester so we should make a good profit

To take off: to leave the ground (2)

Ex1: ‘Although the flight was supposed to leave at noon, the plane didn’t take off until 1.30!’


To take on: to accept to do (1)

Ex: The boss expects us to take on more work when our colleagues are on holiday

To take on: to employ (2)

Ex: Amazon always takes on more staff during Christmas


To take up: to start a hobby

Ex: He was feeling stressed so I suggested he take up a hobby like playing golf


To tear down: to demolish a building

Ex: The council has decided to tear down the old hospital and build a shopping centre in its place


To tear up:  to destroy something by cutting it in small pieces

Ex: He was so angry with the customer that he tore up the contract!


To think over:  to consider something carefully before making a decision

Ex: I suggested a new process and my manager said he would think it over before deciding whether to use it or not


To think through:  to consider all the possible effects or consequences of something

Ex: The company hasn’t thought through the consequences of outsourcing the customer service department to India


To throw away:  to put something in the rubbish (1)

Ex: My pen was broken so I threw it away

To throw away:  to waste a chance or opportunity (2)

Ex: When he refused the promotion to CEO he threw away the opportunity of a lifetime


To throw up:  to vomit

Ex: I ate some raw chicken by mistake and spent the evening throwing up


To try on:  to wear something in order to check if the size, colour etc. is right

Ex: We advise customers to try on shoes before buying them as we don’t accept returns


To try out:  to test something in order to see how effective or useful it is

Ex: Some people don’t like the new financial software we are trying out at the moment


To turn around:  to become or to make something successful after a period of failure

Ex: The new finance minister promise to turn the economy around in two years


To turn down:  to refuse or reject (1)

Ex: His application for the position of assistant to the Directors was turned down

To turn down:  to lower (2)

Ex: ‘Can you turn down the ringer on your mobile please? It’s very loud!’


To turn into:  to be transformed into

Ex: The meeting about the budget for the project turned into a big fight between the two project managers


To turn off:  to stop heat, power or water being produced by something

Ex: You should always turn off the light when you leave the office


To turn on: to cause heat, power or water to be produced by something

Ex: It’s quite cold in here – let’s turn on the heating


To turn out:  to prove to be

Ex: Although nobody knew at the time, it turned out that when he left the company, he went to work for our main competitor


To turn up:  to arrive unexpectedly

Ex: I was so stressed about my interview that I turned up at the company three hours early!!

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