English – Phrasal Verbs: Essential List for BAC – Literary Stream

English – Phrasal Verbs: Essential List for BAC – Literary Stream

Phrasal verbs are combinations of a verb and a particle (preposition or adverb) that create a new meaning. They are very common in English and frequently appear in BAC exams. This lesson presents the most essential phrasal verbs.

Phrasal Verbs for Daily Life

• Get up: rise from bed (se lever): “I get up at 7 am.”
• Wake up: stop sleeping (se réveiller): “She wakes up early.”
• Turn on / Turn off: start/stop a device (allumer/éteindre): “Turn on the light.”
• Put on / Take off: dress/undress (mettre/enlever): “Put on your coat.”
• Look for: search (chercher): “I am looking for my keys.”
• Wait for: await (attendre): “Please wait for me.”

Phrasal Verbs for Communication

• Call back: return a call (rappeler): “I will call you back later.”
• Speak up: speak louder (parler plus fort): “Please speak up, I can’t hear you.”
• Find out: discover (découvrir): “I need to find out the truth.”
• Point out: indicate (indiquer, signaler): “She pointed out the mistake.”
• Talk about: discuss (parler de): “We talked about the project.”

Phrasal Verbs for Travel and Movement

• Go away: leave (partir): “They went away for the weekend.”
• Come back: return (revenir): “She came back from Paris.”
• Get in / Get out of: enter/exit (entrer/sortir de): “Get in the car.”
• Set off / Set out: start a journey (partir en voyage): “We set off early in the morning.”
• Pick up: collect (aller chercher): “I will pick you up at the airport.”

Exercises

Exercise 1: Complete: “Please _____ off your shoes before entering. / I need to _____ out what happened. / She _____ up her children from school.”

Exercise 2: Replace the underlined word with a phrasal verb: “She discovered the truth. / He returned the book. / I searched for my phone.”

Exercise 3: Write 5 sentences using different phrasal verbs from the lesson.

See also Conditional Sentences and Passive Voice.