¿Has escuchado alguna vez la palabra phrasal verb? Apuesto que debes odiarla. ¡Tranquilo! No sos el único, es muy común. Son palabras que deben saberse de memoria, no queda otra y lo peor es que son muy importantes: se usan muchísimo. Es por esto que en International Word hemos preparado este documento con los con una lista de phrasal verbs más comunes, así dedicas tu tiempo a estudiar los escenciales y luego, a medida que puedas, aprendes nuevos.
¿Qué son los phrasal verbs?
Los phrasal verbs son verbos compuestos por dos o tres palabras: un verbo y una preposición o un adverbio (ej make up: inventar, maquillarse) o ambos (make up for: compensar), Estos al unirse adquieren definiciones diferentes. Lo que los hace especial, y hasta a veces tediosos, es que son idiomáticos, en otras palabras, no se pueden traducir palabra por palabra sino en conjunto. Además, hay algunos que tienen más de un significado.
Hay algunos más sencillos, si separamos las palabras y traducimos tranquilamente podemos deducir qué quiere decir. Por ejemplo:
- “Come in” significa “entrar”
- “Come” que es “venir”
- “In” que es “en”.
Pero hay muchos (y su mayoría) que son más complejos, sí o sí tenemos que saber de memoria qué es. Por ejemplo:
- “Make up”, entre otros, significa “inventar una historia o una mentira”.
- “Make” es “hacer”
- “Up” es “arriba”.
Aquí te dejamos una lista de phrasal verbs más comunes, los necesarios para arrancar a estudiar.
Lista de phrasal verbs más comunes
¿Quieres saber específicamente algunos? Te separamos los phrasal verbs más comunes por orden alfabético, así es más fácil estudiar y buscar.
B
BREAK DOWN
1- Dejar de funcionar
That old Jeep had a tendency to break down just when I needed it the most.
2- Romper a llorar
Stella broke down when the police told her about her husband’s accident.
3- Derrumbar
The police broke down the door when they raided the house.
BRING UP
1- Sacar un tema
It is not a good idea to bring up politics with my family.
2- Criar
It isn’t easy to bring up children nowadays.
C
COME BACK
Volver
Father promised that we would never come back to this horrible place.
COME IN
Entrar
They tried to come in through the back door, but it was locked.
CALL OFF
Cancelar
They called off this afternoon’s meeting.
COME OVER
Visitar
The children promised to come over, but they never do.
COME UP WITH
Sugerir o pensar un plan
They came up with a plan to make us more efficient.
F
FILL IN
Completar con información omitida
If you don’t fill in every answer on the form, the inspector will be suspicious.
FILL OUT
Completar un formulario
Fill out this application form and mail it in.
FIND OUT
Descubrir
I just found out that my coworkers are going to have a surprise birthday party for me.
G
GET ALONG (+ WITH)
Llevarse bien con alguien
I get along very well with my mother-in-law.
GET OVER
Recuperar
I got over the flu, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get over my broken heart.
GET RID OF
Deshacerse
You need to get rid of those pants – you never wear them anymore.
GET UP
Levantarse
I had to get up early today for a meeting at 7:00 AM.
GIVE BACK
Devolver algo
My brother borrowed my car. I have a feeling he’s not about to give it back.
GIVE UP
1- Darse por vencido
I gave up trying to get them to believe me.
2- Abandonar
It’ll be hard, but I’m going to try giving up smoking.
GO ON
1- Continuar
He would finish one Dickens novel and then just go on to the next.
2- Partir
I can’t wait to go on this road trip.
GO OVER
Revisar
The students went over the material before the exam. They should have gone over it twice.
GROW UP
Crecer
Charles grew up to be a lot like his father.
H
HAND IN
Entregar
The students handed in their papers and left the room.
K
KEEP UP WITH
Estar al tanto
Are you keeping up with all the news from Copenhagen?
L
LOOK AFTER
Cuidar
My mother promised to look after my dog while I was gone.
LOOK FORWARD TO
Quedar a la espera con ganas
I always look forward to the beginning of a new semester.
LOOK UP
Buscar (en el diccionario)
You’ve misspelled this word again. You’d better look it up.
M
MAKE UP
Inventar una historia o una mentira
She knew she was in trouble, so she made up a story about going to the movies with her friends.
MAKE SURE OF
Estar seguro
Make sure of the student’s identity before you let him into the classroom.
P
PICK UP
Recoger
I’ll pick up the kids from school today.
POINT OUT
Señalar
As we drove through Paris, Francoise pointed out the major historical sites.
PUT AWAY
1- Guardar (ahorrar)
We put away money for our retirement. She put away the cereal boxes.
2- To put something in its place.
Your clothes are all over the floor. Please put them away.
PUT OFF
Posponer
We asked the boss to put off the meeting until tomorrow.
PUT ON
Ponerse ropa
I put on a sweater and a jacket.
R
RUN OUT OF
Quedarse sin
Can you go and buy milk? We’ve completely run out of it.
S
SET UP
Establecer
My wife set up the living room exactly the way she wanted it. She set it up.
T
TAKE CARE OF
Cuidar
I took care of my mother in the final months of her life.
TAKE OFF
Quitar
It was so hot that I had to take off my shirt.
TAKE DOWN
Tomar nota
The policeman took down his name and address and told him not to leave town.
TAKE AFTER
Parecerse
My second son seems to take after his mother.
THROW AWAY (THROW OUT)
Tirar
The bananas were rotten, so I threw them away.
Kate decided it was time to throw throw out out her old running shoes and get new ones.
TRY ON
Probarse ropa
She tried on fifteen dresses before she found one she liked.
TURN DOWN
1- Bajar el volumen
Your radio is driving me crazy! Please turn it down.
2- Rechazar
He applied for a promotion twice this year, but he was turned down both times.
TURN OFF
Apagar un aparato eléctrico
Turn off the TV – it’s time to go to bed.
TURN ON
Prender un aparato eléctrico
Turn on the TV, I want to watch a program.
TURN UP
Subir el volumen
Grandpa couldn’t hear, so he turned up his hearing aid.
W
WAKE UP
Despertar
I wake up every day at six o’clock.
¡Ojo! No es tan difícil como aparenta, es cuestión de sentarse a leer e interpretar. Entender los phrasal verbs más comunes mediante ejemplos es lo mejor, de esta manera asociamos mejor su significado. Ahora sólo depende de vos que lo incorpores a una frase. Una gran manera de comenzar es proponerse usar uno por mes o por semana, de esta manera, nos sonarán más familiar.
Esta es una lista de phrasal verbs más comunes, como una guía para saber por dónde comenzar. Recuerda que a veces tienen más de una definición y es importante prestar atención al contexto.
Esperamos haberte sido de gran ayuda y ¡no dudes en comentarnos aquí abajo qué te pareció! Si ya conocías esta lista de phrasal verbs más comunes o quieres pasar al siguiente nivel, estaremos encantados. Sólo necesitas comunicárnoslo.
Y si necesitas comenzar a tomar clases de inglés, te invitamos a realizar una consulta ¡tenemos clases personalizadas de inglés para vos!