Phrasal Verbs (Sentence examples: give away – go without)

Phrasal verbs are verbs joined with little words like “up”, “out”, or “on” that change or extend the verb’s meaning. They are extremely common in everyday English, especially in conversation, emails, TV shows, and social media. Learning them will help you sound more natural and understand native speakers more easily. On this page, you’ll find useful phrasal verbs organized in a clear list, each with simple, practical example sentences. Read through them, notice how they are used in context, and try making your own sentences so these expressions become part of your active vocabulary.

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example Sentence
give away	To formally present the bride to the groom at a wedding.	Her father walked her down the aisle and proudly gave her away.
give away	To offer something for free.	The radio station is giving away concert tickets all week.
give away	To accidentally reveal a secret.	His nervous smile gave away the surprise party they had planned.
give away	To hand over things you no longer want or need.	We decided to give away our old toys to a children’s charity.
give back	To return something to its owner.	Please give back my dictionary when you’ve finished with it.
give in	To stop resisting; to finally yield.	They refused to give in, even when the situation looked hopeless.
give in to	To allow yourself to be controlled by someone or something.	I try not to give in to the temptation of eating junk food at night.
give of	To give your time, energy, or help generously.	She has always given of herself to support community projects.
give off	To produce or send out heat, light, smell, etc.	The flowers in the garden give off a lovely fragrance in the evening.
give out	To hand or pass things to many people.	Volunteers stood at the entrance giving out leaflets.
give out	To stop working properly or completely.	Halfway up the stairs, my knees just gave out.
give over to	To devote yourself completely to a feeling or activity.	After retiring, he gave himself over to painting and gardening.
give up	To stop doing something you do regularly.	She finally gave up smoking after her health scare.
give up	To surrender yourself to an authority.	The suspect decided to give himself up to the police.
give up	To abandon an effort or project.	He gave up trying to fix the old car and sold it for scrap.
give up on	To stop believing that something or someone will improve.	His teachers never gave up on him, even when he struggled.
give up to	To be completely overcome by an emotion.	The crowd gave themselves up to joy when their team scored.
go about	To start dealing with a task or problem.	We need a clear plan for how we’ll go about reducing costs.
go about	To begin doing a piece of work.	The engineers went about testing the new equipment right away.
go about	To continue one’s usual activities.	Despite the protests, most people went about their daily routines.
go after	To chase someone.	The security guard went after the man who ran out of the shop.
go after	To try hard to obtain something.	She decided to go after her dream of becoming a doctor.
go against	To oppose or act contrary to someone’s wishes.	He went against his parents’ advice and moved abroad alone.
go against	To not be in someone’s favour.	The court’s decision went against them, so they filed an appeal.
go ahead	To proceed or continue, especially after being planned.	The festival will go ahead even if it rains.
go ahead	To give or receive permission to do something.	“Can I open the window?” — “Sure, go ahead.”
go along	To progress or continue gradually.	We’ll adjust the schedule as we go along.
go along with	To agree with an idea or plan.	I can’t go along with your proposal; it’s too risky.
go around	To circulate or be passed from person to person.	There’s a story going around that the company is closing.
go around	To be enough for everyone to have a share.	There aren’t enough copies to go around, so please share.
go around	To behave or act in a certain (often wrong) way.	You can’t go around accusing people without proof.
go around	To move from place to place.	She goes around visiting elderly neighbours every weekend.
go at	To attack or fight with great energy.	The two dogs went at each other until their owners separated them.
go at	To tackle a task with enthusiasm.	They went at the cleaning so hard that the house sparkled by noon.
go away	To leave home to spend time elsewhere.	We’re going away to the mountains for a few days.
go away	To leave or move away from someone or something.	She told him to go away and stop bothering her.
go back	To return to a place to get something.	I had to go back for my phone because I’d left it on the table.
go back	To return to your home, hotel, etc.	It’s getting late; we should go back now.
go back	To fail to keep a promise or agreement.	He went back on his promise to help us move.
go back to	To return to doing something you did before.	She doesn’t want to go back to work until the baby is older.
go by	To follow rules, decisions, or instructions.	We have to go by the company guidelines on safety.
go by	To use something as a guide.	If you go by that outdated timetable, you’ll miss the bus.
go by	(Of time) to pass.	As the years go by, the town looks very different.
go down	To sink below the horizon.	We sat on the beach and watched the sun go down.
go down	To be received in a particular way by people.	His joke didn’t go down well with the audience.
go for	To be attracted to a certain type of person or thing.	She tends to go for bold colours in her clothes.
go for	To attack someone physically or verbally.	When he insulted her family, she really went for him.
go for	To make a strong effort to win or achieve something.	He decided to go for the national title this season.
go for	To choose or prefer one option over others.	If there’s ice cream, I always go for chocolate.
go in	To enter a building or place.	It’s getting dark; let’s go in and eat.
go in	To join with someone in a business or venture.	He refused to go in with them on the risky investment.
go in for	To attack decisively, especially to finish someone or something off.	Seeing his opponent weaken, the boxer went in for the knockout.
go into	To choose something as a career or profession.	She wants to go into law after university.
go into	(Of effort, time, etc.) to be used in making or doing something.	A great deal of planning went into the ceremony.
go into	To discuss or explain something in detail.	I don’t want to go into the details in front of the children.
go off	To explode.	The device went off just seconds after the area was cleared.
go off	To make a sudden loud sound.	The fire alarm went off during the meeting.
go off	To stop working or supplying power.	The lights went off during the storm last night.
go off with	To leave a partner for someone else.	He was shocked when his wife went off with his best friend.
go off with	To take something away without asking.	Who’s gone off with my umbrella this time?
go on	(Of time) to pass.	As the weeks went on, she grew more confident.
go on	To move to or do something next.	After this chapter, we’ll go on to the exercises.
go on	To happen or take place.	I woke up confused, not knowing what was going on.
go on	To later become or achieve something.	She went on to become a respected scientist.
go on	To continue an activity.	Please go on with your story; I’m listening.
go out	To leave the house, especially for social reasons.	We don’t go out much during the week.
go out	To stop burning or shining.	The candles went out when the wind blew through the window.
go out	To have a romantic relationship.	She’s been going out with him for nearly a year.
go out	To be knocked out of a competition.	They went out in the semi-finals after a tough match.
go over	To examine or check something carefully.	Let’s go over your essay once more before you submit it.
go through	To experience something difficult or unpleasant.	He went through a lot of stress while looking for a new job.
go through	To inspect or examine thoroughly.	Customs officers went through all our bags at the border.
go through	(Of a law or proposal) to be officially approved.	The bill went through parliament after a long debate.
go through with	To do something that you had planned or agreed, even if it’s hard.	She wasn’t sure, but she went through with the operation anyway.
go together	To look good or match when combined.	Those shoes don’t really go together with that dress.
go together	To often exist or appear at the same time.	Hard work and success often go together.
go under	(Of a business) to fail and close.	Many small shops went under during the recession.
go under	To sink below the surface of water.	The boat took on water and quickly went under.
go up	To be built or erected.	New apartment blocks are going up all over the city.
go up	To suddenly catch fire or explode.	The warehouse went up in flames within minutes.
go up	To increase in price, amount, or level.	The cost of electricity has gone up again this year.
go with	To suit or look good together.	Do you think this scarf goes with my coat?
go with	To have a romantic relationship.	He’s only ever gone with one person in his life—his wife.
go with	To be naturally connected with or included as part of something.	A company car goes with the job of regional manager.
go with	To accept or choose a particular option.	After discussion, we decided to go with the cheaper design.
go without	To manage despite not having something.	We’ll have to go without dessert tonight; there’s none left.