Phrasal Verbs – Actions with an object

Hi, everyone!

Here is another post about phrasal verbs.

Phrasal verbs are idiomatic phrases consisting of a verb and another element, typically an adverb or a preposition, or a combination of both. They are widely used by native speakers of English so it’s a good idea to try to learn some of them.

We’ll see some of the basic phrasal verbs to describe actions with an object in this post. I’m sure you’ve already heard some or maybe all of them and will be able to understand the meaning by the context, so here we go!

LET IN – to let someone come into a place. (deixar entrar)

We rang the doorbell and someone came and let us in.

LIGHT UP – to shine light on or in it. (acender)

She lit up the candles for a romantic dinner.

LOOK FOR – to try to find something or someone. (procurar)

Someone came to the office looking for you.

PICK UP – to lift up from a surface. (pegar, recolher)

The baby was crying so I picked him up.

PUT BACK – to return something back to the place it was. (colocar de volta)

Put the glasses back in the box so I can return them.

PUT DOWN – to put something on the floor or in a lower position. (colocar no chão ou em uma posição inferior)

He put the basket down to see what was inside.

PUT IN – put something inside a place. (colocar dentro)

You need to put a new battery in the watch.

PUT TOGETHER – to join some parts of an object. (juntar, unir)

I have all the parts here, I just need to put them together .

PUT UP – to put in a higher position. (colocar em uma posição superior)

Anna put her feet up on the desk.

TAKE AWAY – to remove something from a place and put somewhere else. (levar embora)

The waiter came and took away the plates.

TAKE BACK – to take something to the place where it was before. (levar de volta)

He took the product back to the store because he wasn’t satisfied with it.

TAKE INTO – to take someone or something into a place and go with them there. (levar em algum lugar)

I’ll take you into town if you like.

THROW AT – to try to hit someone or something with an object. (jogar algo em alguém)

The audience threw tomatoes at the actor.

THROW AWAY / OUT – to get rid of something because you don’t want it anymore. (jogar fora)

I threw my shoes away / out because they were too old.

THROW IN – to put or drop something into a container, for example. (jogar dentro)

Add a teaspoon of salt and throw in the rice.

TURN ON – to make a machine or device start working using its controls. (ligar)

Turn the TV on please, the movie is going to start.

TURN OFF – to make a machine or device stop working using its controls. (desligar)

George came in and turned off the radio.

I hope you liked it, guys!

See you next time!