What up, out, off and on really add to a verb, and where the object goes: pick it up, not pick up it.
Phrasal verbs look random until you notice that the little word at the end usually means something. Up often means finished or more, out often means gone or discovered, off often means stopped or away. Let's see what your instincts say.
1. Your flatmate says, "We've run out of milk." That means…
2. Which sentence is correct?
3. In everyday British English, which sounds more natural?
Four quick questions. This isn't graded harshly — it just shows us where to focus.
1. "Drink up, we're leaving!" Here, up means…
2. "I finally found out why the train was late." Found out means…
3. Which sentence is correct?
4. "Carry on, I'm listening." On means…
In most phrasal verbs, the particle has a meaning you can learn once and use again and again. Up often means completely or more. Out often means gone, to the end, or discovered. Off often means stopped or away, and on often means continuing. Browse the examples for each particle, then try the quick check.
— Click either cell to see another example.
Phrasal verbs are everywhere in everyday speech, notes and messages: "Can you put the bins out?", "I'll sort it out."
Mostly the same verbs, with a few differences: Americans fill out a form (UK: fill in), and take the trash out (UK: put the bins out).
In reports and official letters, a single verb is often better: run out of → exhaust, find out → discover, put off → postpone.
Kasia had been in Bristol for exactly one day when she found the note on the fridge. Her new flatmate, Sam, had left early for work, and the note was friendly but baffling: "Welcome! Bins go out on Tuesdays. The heating comes on at six. We've run out of milk, sorry! Shout if you can't figure anything out." Kasia's English was good. She had passed her C1 exam in Kraków. But she read the note three times and still wasn't sure what Sam wanted.
The words themselves were easy. Bins, heating and milk were no problem. The trouble was the little words after the verbs. She knew run and she knew out, but what did we've run out of milk have to do with running? Later that evening Sam explained, a little sheepishly, that it simply meant the milk was gone. "Sorry, I'll pick some up tomorrow," he said, and Kasia added one more puzzle to her list.
That night she sat down with her notes and noticed a pattern. Run out, sold out, the light went out: in all of them, out meant that something was gone. Eat up, drink up, use up: up meant all of it, to the end. The particle wasn't random at all. It carried a meaning she could learn once and then recognise everywhere. Even Polish did something similar, she realised, only at the other end of the word: wy-łączyć was English switch off.
The grammar took a little longer. On her second evening, Sam was playing music in the kitchen while she was on the phone. "Could you turn off it?" she asked. He did, then showed her the rule. You can turn off the music or turn the music off, but with a pronoun the little word must go at the end: turn it off. By the end of the week, Kasia was putting the bins out without checking the note, and she had started a list on her phone called "particles". It was getting longer every day. As she told her sister on the phone, "I thought I'd settle in by learning new words. It turns out the words I already knew were the tricky part." Sam, overhearing, gave her a thumbs-up.
Tap a highlighted word for pronunciation, meaning and an example. With key phrases on, tap a highlighted phrase to see why it works (and what a less skilful speaker might have said).
1. Why did Kasia find Sam's note hard to understand?
2. What pattern did Kasia notice?
3. What was wrong with "Turn off it!"?
All seven words from the text — mixed formats.
1. Something "baffling" is…
2. If you do something "sheepishly", you feel…
3. A "random" choice is…
4. A "tricky" question is…
5. If someone gives you a "thumbs-up", they…
1. It's a real : nobody knows where the keys went.
2. I didn't him at first. He's grown a beard.
3. The rules of cricket are to most visitors.
4. Pronouns are the part: turn it off, not turn off it.
Focus — complete the phrasal verb with the right particle (one word)
1. We've run of milk again.
2. Can you turn the music ? I'm trying to sleep.
3. Drink , we're leaving in five minutes.
4. I need to find when the last bus leaves.
5. Sorry, go . What happened next?
6. We set early to miss the traffic.
Choose the meaning the particle gives each phrasal verb.
Tap the chips in the right order. Three rounds.
Record a 60-second voice message to a new flatmate or colleague explaining how three things work in your home or office (the heating, the bins, the coffee machine…). Use at least five phrasal verbs, including two with a pronoun in the middle (turn it on, put them out).
A new flatmate or colleague is starting tomorrow, and you won't be there to show them around. Write a friendly note explaining how things work: the heating or air conditioning, the bins or recycling, the kitchen, and anything that's run out. Use at least six phrasal verbs, and at least two with a pronoun in the middle (turn it on, put them out).
Kasia has just read the note on the fridge. Sam calls her from work.
1. What will Sam do on the way home?
2. What should Kasia do if she's cold?
3. What has Kasia started doing?
1. Which sentence is correct?
2. "We've run out of bread" means…
3. "Carry on" means…
4. In "Eat up, it's getting cold", up means…
5. Which is correct?
How your speaking and writing went, by your own checklist.
12 quick questions on How Particles Work. It opens in a new tab, so this lesson stays exactly where you left it.
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