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Emotions Phrasal Verbs

If something 'gets you down', it makes you feel unhappy.

• This uncertainty is beginning to get me down.
• The way everybody keeps complaining really gets me down

If somebody or something makes you feel upset or unhappy, they 'get to' you. This is an informal expression.

• The way he whistles all the time when we are working really gets to me.
• The heat is really getting to me. We need air conditioning.

If something makes you very unhappy, it 'tears you apart'.

• It tears me apart to know that I lost that job because of my own stupidity.
• It would tear me apart if something I said made you leave.

If you are 'put out', you are annoyed.

• I was really put out when he turned down the job.
• He seemed a bit put out that we hadn't invited him to speak.

If you 'cheer up', you start to feel happier.

• Cheer up. Things are not so bad.
• I bought a new Ipod to cheer myself up.

If you 'perk up', you suddenly become happier, cheerful or more energetic. It is also possible to 'perk someone up'.

• Your visit really made him perk up.
• He was being miserable but he perked up when Mary arrived.

If you 'brighten up', you suddenly look or feel happier.

• She brightened up when she heard the good news.
• You need to brighten up. Your long face is putting off the customers.

If you 'liven up', you become more energetic or cheerful. You can also 'liven up' a place, event or person.

• You need to liven up a bit. You're so miserable it is making everybody feel unhappy.
• We need to liven up the party. Everyone looks miserable.

If you 'calm down', you stop feeling angry, upset or excited. It's also possible to 'calm someone down'.

• You need to calm down a bit. You're too excited.
• Calm down. Let me explain.

If you have had an experience that has made you feel unhappy, you need to 'get over' it.

• It took me a year to get over being made redundant.
• You need to get over your disappointment and move on with your life.

If you are feeling sad or unhappy, you can force yourself out of this mood – you can 'snap out of it'. This is an informal expression.

• You need to snap out of this mood and do something positive.
• I hope he snaps out of this soon.

If you have been acting emotionally and unreasonably because you are upset or angry, you need to 'pull yourself together' and act reasonably.

• Pull yourself together and stop this stupid mood.
• I need some time alone to pull myself together.

If you are so excited about something that you behave in a silly or hasty way, you are 'carried away' by the idea.

• I got carried away reading my book and didn't get any sleep.
• We mustn't get carried away with our enthusiasm. We must exercise reasonable judgment.

If you 'freak out', you start behaving in a very strange or violent way. This is an informal expression. You can also 'freak someone out'.

• I freaked out when I saw my boyfriend kissing another girl.
• It freaked me out to discover that the woman I was talking to was really a man.

If you 'flip out', you start to behave in a very excited or strange way. This is informal and mainly American.

• He flipped out when they wouldn't let him on the flight because he was too late.
• The children flipped out when they met Mickey Mouse.

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Food Phrasal Verbs

If you 'bolt down' food, you eat it very quickly. This expression is informal.

• He bolted down the food. He really enjoyed it.
• I'm so busy that I'm going to bolt down some food and get straight back to work.

If you 'wolf down' food, you also eat it quickly but specifically because you are hungry. This is also informal.

• Did you see the way she wolfed down that food? She must have been ravenous.
• After the marathon, I wolfed down some fish and chips.

If you consume a lot of drink (usually alcohol) quickly, you 'knock it back'. This is informal and is often used quite negatively.

• He was knocking back the champagne at the reception.
• We must watch Bill carefully in the bar with the clients. He can really knock it back.

If you eat an excessive amount of food, you 'pig out'. This is informal.

• I'm not hungry because I pigged out on chocolate this afternoon.
• We really pigged out in the restaurant.

If you 'plough through' some food, you eat it all but with some difficulty because there is a lot of it. In American English, 'plough' can be written as 'plow'.

• He served a huge plate of spaghetti and it took me ages to plough my way through it.
• They served us snake. I didn't like it but I plowed my way through it to be polite.

If you 'put away' food or drink, it can mean you eat or drink a lot of it. (Obviously, it can also mean that you place the food or drink in a fridge or cupboard – the context of the sentence should make clear the meaning.)

• Watch Peter. He's been putting away a lot of beer and he sometimes turns aggressive when he's drunk.
• He has put away some sandwiches but is still hungry.

If you 'pick at' your food, you only eat a small amount of it, usually because you are not hungry, you are on a diet or because you are ill.

• She only picked at her food, even though it was delicious.
• We were so busy talking that we only picked at our food.

If you 'cut down' or 'cut back' on a particular food or drink, you consume less of it.

• My doctor told me to cut back on the amount of salt in my diet.
• I need to cut down the amount of fried food I eat.

If you 'eat up', you finish all your food.

• I don't like tripe but I ate it all up when it was served to us by our hosts.
• Eat up. It's time to go.

If you 'drink up', you finish all your drink.

• We seem to have drunk up all the orange juice.
• Drink up. It's time to go.

If you 'polish off' some food, you finish it completely and quickly.

• The guests polished off all the food in the first thirty minutes.
• He has just polished off two whole pizzas and still says he is hungry.

If you 'dish up' some food, you put it onto plates or dishes, ready to be served.

• I've heard she is going to dish up something really special.
• Can you collect up the starter plates, while I dish up the main course?

'Serve up' is a another way of saying the same thing as 'dish up'.

• They served up a six course meal for their guests.
• It's no better than the food we serve up in our canteen and twenty times more expensive.

If you 'lay on' some food or drink, you provide it.

• We've laid on a buffet lunch for our visitors.
• They laid on a small drinks party for us.

If you make a meal very quickly and easily, you 'whip it up'. This is informal.

• Have a seat and I'll whip us up something to eat.
• I could whip up a salad, if you are hungry.

If you make food quickly and without much effort, you 'knock it up'.

• I knocked myself up a quick meal from what was left in my fridge.
• Do you want me to knock up some lunch?

If you make food hot so that it can be eaten, you 'heat it up'.

• I've already prepared the food for the party. All we need to do is to heat up the pizzas.
• I could heat up a can of soup if you are hungry.

If you 'warm up ' cold food, you are making it hot again so that it can be eaten.

• I'll warm up that stew from last night.
• The canteen makes a large quantity once a week and then just warms up the amount needed every day.

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Phrasal Verbs with UP 1

I've had a lot of requests for some lessons on 'up' so here is the first of several. We'll cover the easy part today.

One common use for 'up' in phrasal verbs is to indicate

• An upward movement
• An increase
• An improvement

See how that applies to these eight verbs.

If you display something such as a poster, you 'put it up' on a wall or a notice-board.

• Have you seen the warning the boss has put up on the notice-board?
• Can you put up a poster in your window?

If somebody is miserable and you want them to be happier, you can tell them to 'cheer up'.

• You look really unhappy. Cheer up!
• I wrote Pearson a letter to try to cheer him up a bit.

If you are sitting and then you rise from your chair, you 'stand up'.

• When the President arrives, everybody must stand up.
• Stand up straight when I am speaking to you.

If a party or a seminar is dull, you need to 'liven it up'.

• You need to liven up your ideas.
• How can we liven up this presentation?

If you want to make something stronger, you can 'build it up'.

• I have built up a strong team of workers.
• I have been ill and need to build up my strength.

I can't hear very well these days – I'm old. When you speak to me, you need to speaker, to 'speak up'.

• Can you speak up? There is a lot of background noise.
• It is a big room. You will have to speak up so that those in the back can hear.

The place where you lived when you were a child is where you 'grew up'.

• I was born in Scotland but grew up in England.
• Where did you grow up?

If something increases fast, it 'shoots up'.

• The price of petrol has shot up recently.
• My English scores shot up after I started studying with Pearson.

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Phrasal Verbs with UP 2

There is a group of expressions using 'up' where the 'up' is not necessary. For example you can say 'fill' or 'fill up' and it means almost the same thing. So why do we add the 'up'? Well one possible answer is that 'we do it because we do it' – we have just developed the habit of adding 'up'. However, often the 'up' seems to 'intensify' the verb, to make it more 'complete'.

Look at these examples and see what I mean.

If you are late, you need to 'hurry up'.

• Please hurry up. We are terribly late.
• We need to hurry up or we will miss our flight.

You can 'ring up' somebody on the telephone.

• I will ring you up when I get back.
• You can ring me up if you need any help.

If you cut your skin, it needs to 'heal up'.

• This will take a week to heal up.
• I cut myself shaving and it will not heal up.

Before I go on a long journey, I have to 'fill up' my car with petrol ( or if I were in the US 'gas'.)

• I need to fill up my car.
• The concert filled up quickly and not everybody could get in.

When I send a package, I 'wrap it up' well.

• Could you wrap this up for me?
• They didn't wrap it up properly and it got damaged.

If you have something valuable, it is a good idea to 'lock it up'.

• He did not lock up his desk properly and somebody stole his calculator.
• I think they should lock up pedophiles for a very long time.

If you don't have enough money to buy something, you need to 'save up'.

• I am saving up to go on a trip to New York.
• You'll have to save up if you want to buy a car.

When things are in a mess, you need to 'tidy them up'.

• We need to tidy up the office before the visitor comes.
• Tidy up your desk. It's such a mess.

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Phrasal Verbs with UP 3

If you make a mess, you need to 'clear it up'.

• It was your party. You clear up the mess.
• Don't expect me to clear up after you.

If you need some support, you need somebody to 'back you up'.

• If you report it, I'll back you up.
• Nobody would back me up when I complained.

If there is none left, you have 'used it all up'.

• The ketchup bottle is empty. We must have used it all up.
• We must stop for petrol (or gas!) . We've used it all up.

On a special occasion, you put on fine clothes – you dress up.

• Do we need to dress up for the party?
• I like dressing up and going somewhere fancy.

If you fall behind in your studies, you need to 'catch up'.

• He was ill for two months and is struggling to catch up.
• I need to put in some work to catch up on what I missed.

If you go to bed late, you 'stay up'.

• My student daughter stays up until 3 every day.
• I cannot stay up late. I've got to start early tomorrow.

Perhaps my daughter's parents didn't 'bring her up' correctly.

• She was brought up very strictly.
• He's been very well brought up.

When it's time to finish drinking, you tell everybody to 'drink up'.

• Drink up. We have to leave now.
• It's time to go so drink up.

If you like vegetables as I do, you 'eat them all up' and don't leave any on your plate.

• If you eat up all your carrots, you can have some ice cream.
• I ate up all the chocolate that we had.

If you need some information, you should 'look it up' on Google.

• I looked up the name of the capital of Scotland. It is not Glasgow.
• Can you look up his phone number for me, please?

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