By Dawn McFarland
Do phrasal verbs confuse you? Well, you’re not alone. Most English students have a hard time with them but if you want to be fluent and speak like a native, you’ll have to learn how to use phrasal verbs. You’ll hear phrasal verbs in your favorite song, movies and in books. Another place you’ll definitely hear phrasal verbs is in the workplace.
If you’re told, “the director just ‘stepped down’ from his position,” would you understand that? Hmm, “step down.” Is that to take a step and then move down? Well, no, it actually means to resign from a position. Yes, it’s confusing but I’ve compiled a list of 12 common phrasal verbs you’ll hear at your job.
Let’s have a look.
- Call out – to be absent from work
Example: I’m not feeling well today. I’m going to call out of work today.
2. Follow up – to find out more information and/or give information on something that was requested
Example:
A: John, I would like to know who has RSVP’d to the event. Can you follow up with number of attendees?
B: Yes, I’ll follow up with you by the end of the day.
3. Get back to – to reply or answer someone’s request (get back to is similar to follow up)
Example: I need to get back to my boss about the number of attendees.
4. Go over – to review something
Example: Let’s go over yesterday’s meeting notes.
5. Lay off – termination of employment through no fault of the employee.
Example: The company had to lay off 200 employees because they lost business.
6. Look forward to – to be excited about something that will happen in the future
Example: I look forward to traveling to Mexico this summer for our annual conference.
7. Look into – to investigate, to research; discover details about something
Example: The authorities are looking into the crime that happened last night.
8. Set up – to arrange a meeting
Example: My interview is set up for next Monday at 10 am.
9. Slack off – to make less of an effort or do less work while performing your job
Example: I’ve been slacking off at work lately. I can’t focus.
10. Step down – to resign from an important or official position.
Example: Mr. Harrison has stepped down as General Manager.
11.Take on – to accept a new responsibility or work project
Example: My boss asked me to take on a new project. I hope this leads to a promotion.
12.Take over – to take control of someone else’s work; to replace someone, company or even a country.
Example: John will take over as Vice President when Mr. Harrison retires.
Quiz
Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verb. Conjugate the phrasal verb if
necessary.
1. Mark has been _________ a lot at work lately. His boss saw him playing video games instead of working.
2. My boss asked me to __________ the date and time of the customer’s complaint.
3. A large coup _________ the government.
4. I will ____________ a meeting for my boss to meet with the new interviewee.
5. I ___________ to working with my new colleague. We went to the same college.
6. She ____________ so many additional projects but still hasn’t gotten a promotion yet.
7. The CEO was asked to __________ after he was accused of harassment.
8. Our company loss so many clients that they had to ________ thirty employees.
9. Yesterday, I ______________ all of the new training modules with my colleagues.
10. I had a tough weekend and I need rest. I will __________ of work tomorrow and stay home.
11. The customer made a complaint about her shipping order but the company never __________ with her.
Answers
1. slacking off
2. look into
3. took over
4. set up
5. look forward
6. took on
7. step down
8. lay off
9. went over
10. call out
11. followed up or got back (to)