50 common PTE exam phrasal verbs along with sample sentences

These phrasal verbs are commonly used in the PTE exam and understanding their meanings and usage will help improve your English proficiency.

1. Account for

• His illness accounts for his absence.

2. Act on

• The police acted on the information provided by the informant.

3. Add up

• The facts in the case just don’t add up.

4. Back out

• He backed out of the agreement at the last minute.

5. Break down

• The car broke down on the highway.

6. Break into

• The burglars broke into the house while we were sleeping.

7. Bring about

• The new government plans to bring about significant changes.

8. Bring up

• She brought up an interesting topic during the discussion.

9. Call off

• They called off the meeting due to unforeseen circumstances.

10. Carry on

• Despite the difficulties, they decided to carry on with the project.

11. Carry out

• The scientists carried out an important experiment.

12. Catch up

• She has to catch up on her homework over the weekend.

13. Check in

• We need to check in at the airport two hours before the flight.

14. Check out

• Let’s check out the new restaurant downtown.

15. Come across

• I came across an old friend in the supermarket yesterday.

16. Come down with

• He came down with the flu last week.

17. Come up with

• She came up with a brilliant idea for the presentation.

18. Count on

• You can count on me to help you with your project.

19. Cut down on

• He’s trying to cut down on sugar to lose weight.

20. Deal with

• She has to deal with a lot of stress at work.

21. Do without

• We can’t do without clean water.

22. Drop out

• He decided to drop out of college and start working.

23. End up

• We ended up staying at a small hotel by the beach.

24. Figure out

• I finally figured out how to use the new software.

25. Fill in

• Can you fill in this form, please?

26. Find out

• I need to find out more about this issue.

27. Get along with

• She gets along with her coworkers very well.

28. Get away

• We’re planning to get away for the weekend.

29. Get by

• She manages to get by on a small salary.

30. Get over

• It took her a long time to get over the loss of her pet.

31. Give up

• He decided to give up smoking for health reasons.

32. Go on

• The show must go on, despite the difficulties.

33. Go over

• Let’s go over the report one more time.

34. Hold on

• Hold on a second, I’ll be right back.

35. Keep up with

• It’s hard to keep up with all the new technology.

36. Look after

• She looks after her younger brother.

37. Look forward to

• I’m looking forward to the holidays.

38. Look into

• The company will look into the matter.

39. Make up

• They made up after their argument.

40. Pick up

• Can you pick up some groceries on your way home?

41. Point out

• She pointed out an error in the report.

42. Put off

• They decided to put off the meeting until next week.

43. Put up with

• I can’t put up with his rude behavior any longer.

44. Run into

• I ran into an old friend at the park yesterday.

45. Run out of

• We’ve run out of milk; can you buy some?

46. Set up

• They set up a new company last year.

47. Show up

• She showed up late for the interview.

48. Take after

• He takes after his father in looks and personality.

49. Take care of

• She takes care of her elderly parents.

50. Turn down

• She turned down the job offer because it didn’t meet her expectations.