Phrasal Verbs: A
A Phrasal Verb is an English verb which is composed of two or three words. One verb is combined with a preposition (like on, in, under) or an adverb (like up, down, away). Sometimes a phrasal verb can have a meaning that is very different to the meaning of at least one of those two or three words separately. Phrasal verbs are used more frequently in everyday speech than in formal, official writing or speaking.
Account for:
To explain how/why. To give reasons. ex. "How do you account for the increase in production costs?"
Act on:
To pursue. To take action because of information received. ex. "The military planned to act on the information they received."
Act out:
To react negatively to something. ex. "Teenagers often act out to express their feelings."
Act up:
To behave or function improperly. ex. "Facebook is acting up again."
Add up:
1) To calculate a sum. ex. "I added up all your bills. You owe me $120."
2) To make sense. ex. "There's something about his story that doesn't add up. I don't think he's telling the truth."
Add up to:
To equal an amount. ex. "Our monthly expenses added up to $500."
Allow for:
To include. ex. "You have to allow for unexpected expenses in your budget."
Ask around:
To ask several people or more. ex. "Do you have change for a 20? No, but ask around, I'm sure someone does."
Ask out:
To ask to go on a date. ex. "I'm going to ask her out tomorrow."
Ask over:
To invite to one's home. ex. "I would ask him over for dinner, but I'm afraid he would eat too much."
Attend to:
To see about something (formal). ex. "I have to some business to attend to. I'll meet up with you later, John."