¿Necesitas ampliar tu vocabulario o aumentar tu nivel de inglés?
Pues los phrasal verbs son muy utilizados, sobre todo en el inglés hablado, y aprenderte los más importantes te ayudará a mejorar tu nivel de inglés y a entender y expresarte mejor con el idioma.
Así que en este artículo te hemos dejado una lista con los 101 phrasal verbs más utilizados por los nativos.
¿Qué son los Phrasal Verbs?
Los phrasal verbs son aquellos verbos que incorporan una preposición (on, in, under) o un adverbio (up, down, away) al final. Esta combinación, hace que el significado del verbo original cambie, en algunos casos completamente.
Por ejemplo: el verbo ‘give‘ significa ‘dar‘ pero si le añades ‘up‘ (give up) el significado sería ‘rendirse‘.
En la mayoría de los casos, un phrasal verb puede sustituirse por su equivalente a una forma verbal simple, ej. find out por discover, call off por cancel, etc.). Y ten también en cuenta, que hay casos en los que un mismo phrasal verb puede tener más de un significado diferente, ej. go on puede significar ‘continuar‘ o ‘encender‘.
Son muy usados en el habla cotidiana y en menor medida en la escritura formal. Por eso, son muy necesarios en el día a día (si vives en un país de habla inglesa) o si estás preparando algún examen oficial.
Así que es importante conocer los más posibles, o al menos que te suenen.
A continuación, te dejo una lista con los phrasal verbs más comunes, su traducción al español y un ejemplo que te facilitará su comprensión y aprendizaje
| Phrasal verb | Spanish | Example |
| add up | totalizar | We added up the bananas from the bag, now we have 10 |
| ask for | pedir, preguntar for | There is someone outside asking for you |
| back up | reforzar, apoyar | The lecture has backed up his explanation with comprehensive data |
| blow up | Explotar | The car was blown up by a bomb |
| beat up | dar una paliza | An attacker beat him up to rob his wallet |
| break in | Interrumpir, entrar por la fuerza | The burglars forced the door of my house in an attempt to break in. |
| break up | dividir, romper, terminar una relación | They broke up after a 7 year relationship |
| break out | escapar, salir | The prisioner broke out of jail last night |
| bring up | criar, sacar | Her parents died and she was brought up by her ancles. |
| bump into | encontrarse con alguien | Yesterday I bumped into my university friends in the city centre |
| call back | volver a llamar | They called me back for another interview |
| call off | cancelar, suspender | It’s snowing, the are going to call off the game |
| calm down | relajarse | Take a few deep breaths, you need to calm down |
| carry on | continuar | He carried on doing his homework |
| catch up | alcanzar, recuperar | I was off school for a week and now I’m finding hard to catch up |
| come across | cruzarse (con algo/alguien) | Last night I came across an old friend |
| check in | registrarse, facturar | Before taking the plane we need to check in the luggage |
| check out | verificar, pagar y marcharse | The receptionist told us to check out before breakfast |
| close down | cerrar, clausurar | The government has promised to close down the nuclear plant next year |
| come across | cruzar, topar | I came across with this old book this morning |
| come back | regresar | He had to come back to lock the door |
| come in | entrar, llegar | The favourite horse came in second |
| come on | vamos (imperativo), aparecer | Come on! We are going to lose the train |
| come up with | proponer, encontrar (una solución) | The engeenier has come up with a great solution |
| end up | acabar | The book ended up in the bin |
| fall apart | desmoronarse, deshacerse | Our relationship is falling apart |
| fall down | caerse | The cat fell down from the tree |
| figure out | descifrar, resolver | I don’t know how this TV works but I’ll figure it out |
| fill out | rellenar, llenar | We need to fill up this form to apply for tax relief |
| find out | averiguar | they are about to find out the solution |
| get along | llevarse bien, arreglárselas | My friends and I get along pretty well |
| get away | escaparse | We are going outside we need to get away from this place |
| get back | volver | I’m tired, I’m going to get back to the hotel |
| get off | bajar de, librarse | He will get off with a small fine |
| get out | salir, escaparse | The dog got out this morning and we don’t know how |
| get over | superar | The trip will help him to get over his family problems |
| get up | levantarse | I get up everyday at 7 am |
| give away | regalar | I gave away my old clothes |
| give in | ceder | The company gave in to the employee’s demands |
| give up | rendirse | Don´t give up, there will be more opportunities to pass the test |
| go off | encenderse, deteriorarse | The alarm goes off if smoke is detected in the building |
| go across | atravesar | How long will take us to go across the city? |
| go on | continuar, encenderse | The lights go on when it’s dark |
| go over | repasar | I want to go over the maths exercises before the test |
| go up | subir | He went up to his bedroom to watch TV |
| hang on | aferrarse, esperar | Hang on a minute! The game is about to finish |
| hang up | colgar, colgar el teléfono | Don’t hang up the picture in this wall |
| help out | ayudar, ayudar a alguien | Please, help me out with the homework, there are a few things I don’t understand |
| hold on | aguantar, esperar | Hold on, I’ll be with you in a minute |
| hurry up | darse prisa | We need to hurry up if we want to be there on time |
| keep away | evitar, mantenerse alejado | Keep away from the building, it’s in ruins |
| keep from | ocultar, mantener fuera del alcance | Our father tried to keep a lot of secrets from us |
| keep up | mantenerse | I can’t keep up with his pace |
| knock down | derribar | The skyscraper will be knocked down at the end of the year |
| look after | cuidar, cuidar de | After school I need to look after my brother |
| look at | mirar | I found the notebook, let’s have a look at it. |
| look for | buscar | He was looking for a new job |
| look forward to | pensar, anhelar | We are looking forward to the party tonight |
| look up | mirar arriba, buscar (información) | I looked up the address on the web page |
| make out | distinguir, entender | The business made out better than we thought and we got a bonus |
| make up | hacer, maquillar | The police made up a plan to get into the building |
| mix up | mezclar, confundir | The documents got mixed up and we can’t find the ones we need |
| move on | pasar a (otro asunto) | We’ve talked enough about this, it’s time to move on. |
| narrow down | reducir (posibilidades) | We could narrow down the number of candidates to five |
| pass away | morir | My grandpa had a terminal illness and passed away last week |
| pass out | desmayarse | My friend passed out last night, he drank too much alcohol during the party |
| pay for | pagar | I paid a lot of money for that car |
| pay off | liquidar, dar resultado | The hard work of the last year is paying off now |
| pick up | ir a buscar a alguien, mejorar | Wait for me at your house, I’ll pick you up at 11 |
| piss off | enfadarse, cabrearse | It pisses me off when he starts to behave as a kid |
| point out | destacar, indicar | The doctor pointed out the benefits of healthy habits |
| pull out | sacar, salir | The government had pulled its special forces out of the country |
| pull over | parar (un vehículo) | I was tired and I pulled over on to the hard shoulder |
| put down | anotar, bajar (algo) | He put down the glass after drinking |
| put on | ponerse | Carla had put down a nice dress |
| put off | posponer | The committee can’t put off the decision much longer |
| put up with | soportar | I can’t put up with anything he says |
| run out | acabarse, salir corriendo | The battery of my phone has run out |
| screw up | arrugar, meter la pata | This is your last chance, just don’t screw it up |
| sell out | vender todo, agotarse | The new collection came yesterday and we have sold it out today |
| send off | enviar, despedir | The referee sent the player off |
| set down | anotar, asentar | The organization set down the regulation to improve safety |
| set up | crear, installar | The technician is not coming and we don’t know how to set up the installation |
| shut in | encerrar | The town is shut in by the mountains |
| shut up | callar, cerrar (un local) | Shut up and listen what I have to say |
| sign in | registrarse | You need to sign in with us before you can use our services |
| sit down | sentarse | He sat down on the sofa |
| speak up | hablar en alto, expresar una opinión | the workers are aware of the situation and they need to speak up |
| stand by | estar preparado o esperando (a realizar algo) | We may finish tomorrow so stand by for details |
| stand out | destacar | Just one of the participants stands out as being more talented than the rest |
| take off | despegar, quitarse una prenda | The plane took off this morning |
| throw away | tirar (algo que no sirve) | I threw away the empty can that was on the table |
| throw back | devolver | He threw back the ball and scored a point |
| turn off | apagar | Turn off the TV please, nobady is watching it. |
| turn on | encender | He turned on the TV to watch the game |
| turn down | rechazar, bajar | The radio was disturbing us so we turned down the volume |
| turn up | aparecer, subir | A few players didn’t turn up to the game |
| turn into | convertirse en | It’s so cold that the water has turned into ice |
| walk off | bajar, marcharse | She didn’t like the new terms and walked off very upset |
| work out | elaborar, resolver | This formula is worked out using this parameter |
| write down | anotar | The waiter didn’t write down our order correctly and we were brougth the wrong drinks |
Apréndetelos, ya que los oirás con mucha frecuencia y en cuanto puedas, utilízalos en tus conversaciones, así demostrarás que tu nivel de inglés ha mejorado.
Y si estás preparando algún examen de inglés (tipo B1 en adelante) o simplemente porque quieres dominar los phrasal verbs de una vez por todas, te recomiendo alguno de estos 3 libros
Todos ellos con explicaciones, ejemplos y ejercicios que te ayudarán con el aprendizaje y la comprensión.
Y si necesitas seguir aumentando tu conocimiento sobre verbos, te interesará nuestra lista de los verbos irregulares en inglés.
Y tú, ¿Echas algún phrasal verb en falta o quieres contarnos algún truco para aprenderlos? Entonces, déjanos un comentario.
Y para estar al tanto de artículos como este, suscríbete a nuestro boletín!
