Phrasal Verbs

Verb Meaning Example
break away from somebody = leave somebody who is holding you.
She broke away from her father and now lives by herself.
back down give up a claim reclamo The claimant backed down and was content to take his share.
El reclamante se echó atrás y quedó satisfecho con su parte
break down stop functioning (vehicle, machine) Our car broke down at the side of the highway in thesnowstorm.
break down get upset The woman broke down when the police told her that her son had died.
break something down divide into smaller parts Our teacher broke the final project down into three separate parts.
bring someone down make unhappy This sad music is bringing me down.
call someone back return a phone call I called the company back but the offices were closed for the weekend.calm down relax after being angry You are still mad. You need to calm down before you drive the car.
not care for someone/something not like (formal) I don't care for his behaviour.
clamp down vi (enforce stricter measures) tomar medidas drásticas The city is clamping down on gang violence.
Exigen que se tomen medidas más drásticas para contener la ola de violencia.
come down with somethingbecome sick My nephew came down with chicken pox this weekend.
cut back on something consume less My doctor wants me to cut back on sweets and fatty foods.
cut something down make something fall to the ground We had to cut the old tree in our yard down after the storm.
die away become gradually faintier,disappear The prisoners waited till the sound of the warder died away.
Los prisionerosaguardaron hasta que los pasos del guardia se extinguieron (desaparecieron)
close down shut permanentlyTrade here is so bad that many shops close down.
El comercio aquí es tan pobre que muchos negocios cierran definitivamente.
do someone/something over beat up, ransack (Br.E., informal) He's lucky to be alive. His shop was done over by a street gang.
do away with something discard It's time to doaway with all of these old tax records.
drop back move back in a position/group Andrea dropped back to third place when she fell off her bike.
drop in/by/over come without an appointment I might drop in/by/over for tea sometime this week.
explain away v + o + adv, v + adv + o ‹fact/result› encontrar(conj.?) una explicación convincente para;
how are you going to ~ that away? ¿cómo te las vas aarreglar para explicar eso?
fall down fall to the ground The picture that you hung up last night fell down this morning.
fade away become weaker or fainter,disappear The sound gradually faded away when they appeared.
El sonido desapareció gradualmente cuando aparecieron.
get away go on a vacation We worked so hard this year that we had to get away for a week.
get away with something dowithout being noticed or punished Jason always gets away with cheating in his maths tests.
get back return We got back from our vacation last week.
get something back receive something you had before Liz finally got her Science notes back from my room-mate.
get back at someone retaliate, take revenge My sister got back at me for stealing her shoes. She stole my favourite hat.
get back intosomething become interested in something again I finally got back into my novel and finished it.
get over something recover from an illness, loss, difficulty I just got over the flu and now my sister has it.
get over something overcome a problem The company will have to close if it can't get over the new regulations.
give someone away reveal hidden information about someone His wife gave him away tothe police.
give someone away take the bride to the altar My father gave me away at my wedding.
give something away ruin a secret My little sister gave the surprise party away by accident.
give something away give something to someone for free The library was giving away old books on Friday.
give something back return a borrowed item I have to give these skates back to Franz before his hockey...