Phrasal verbs for work, study, problems and solutions

The American workplace runs on phrasal verbs. Take on a project, get cracking, knock it out, wrap up, push through, figure it out, sort it out, mess up, screw up, brush up on, get the hang of it. Read any Slack channel at any U.S. company and these are the verbs.

This lesson covers about 30 phrasal verbs for work, study, problem-solving, setbacks, and improvement. Mechanics reminder: pronouns split separable verbs (knock it out, never knock out it), and three-part PVs (catch up on, get the hang of, brush up on) never split. Full mechanics in lesson 1.

Starting and finishing tasks

The verbs of taking ownership and finishing strong.

• take on (separable) — accept responsibility for a project, role, or commitment.
  • I’m taking on a new client next month.
  • Don’t take it on if you’re already swamped.
• get going (intransitive) — start; also: leave.
  • We need to get going on this report — the deadline is Monday.
  • I should get going — see you tomorrow. (= leave)
• get cracking (intransitive — slightly informal, energetic) — start working with energy.
  • Let’s get cracking — we have three hours.
  • I gotta get cracking on these emails.
• get on with (inseparable, three-part) — continue with, proceed with.
  • Let me get on with my work.
  • Just get on with it — stop overthinking.
• knock out (separable, informal) — finish something quickly and efficiently.
  • I knocked out the slides in an hour.
  • Let’s knock this out before lunch.
• wrap up (separable, or intransitive) — finish, conclude, bring to a close.
  • Let’s wrap up this meeting — we’ve covered everything.
  • I’m just wrapping up a few things, then I’ll head out.
• finish up (separable, or intransitive) — complete the last bit.
  • I need ten more minutes to finish up.
  • Finish up your homework before dinner.

Wrap up and finish up overlap heavily. Wrap up sounds slightly more decisive (“we’re done”); finish up is more about completing the last details.

Effort and state

The vocabulary of keeping pace, falling behind, burning out.

• keep up (with) (intransitive, or three-part with with) — maintain the same pace as something/someone moving fast.
  • I can’t keep up with all the emails.
  • She’s hard to keep up with — she walks fast.
• fall behind (on / with) (intransitive, or three-part) — fail to keep pace.
  • I’m falling behind on my reading.
  • She fell behind in math after missing two weeks.
• catch up on (inseparable, three-part) — do work that’s piled up; also: do something you missed.
  • I need to catch up on email this weekend.
  • I caught up on sleep over the holidays.
• burn out (intransitive — sometimes separable) — become exhausted from prolonged stress.
  • He burned out after three years at the startup.
  • Don’t burn yourself out — take a break.
• give up (intransitive, or separable: give it up) — stop trying; quit.
  • Don’t give up — you’re almost there.
  • I gave up trying to convince him.
• push through (separable, or intransitive) — continue despite difficulty or fatigue.
  • I was exhausted but I pushed through.
  • Just push through the last hour.

Problem-solving

The verbs Americans reach for when something needs to be solved or invented.

• figure out (separable) — understand by thinking; solve a puzzle.
  • I finally figured out the bug.
  • Let me figure it out and get back to you.
• work out (separable) — solve a problem, especially through discussion or trial; also: have a good outcome.
  • We worked out the schedule together.
  • Don’t worry — it’ll work out. (= turn out fine)
• come up with (inseparable, three-part) — invent, propose, or produce an idea/solution.
  • She came up with a great name for the product.
  • Can you come up with three options by Friday?
• think up (separable) — invent or imagine, especially something creative.
  • Who thought up this menu? It’s brilliant.
  • I’ll have to think up an excuse.
• sort out (separable) — resolve, organize, or deal with.
  • Let me sort out the paperwork first.
  • We need to sort this out before the client call.
• deal with (inseparable) — handle, manage, address.
  • I’ll deal with the client.
  • Can you deal with this email?
• take care of (inseparable) — handle; also: look after.
  • I’ll take care of it. (handle)
  • She’s taking care of her grandma. (look after)

Setbacks and failures

When things don’t go to plan.

• mess up (separable, or intransitive) — make a mistake; do something badly.
  • I really messed up that presentation.
  • Sorry, I messed up.
• screw up (separable, or intransitive) — make a mistake; slightly more informal/stronger than mess up.
  • I screwed up the order — I need to call them back.
  • Don’t screw this up — it’s important.
• slip up (intransitive) — make a small careless mistake.
  • I slipped up and called her by the wrong name.
  • Even pros slip up sometimes.
• fall through (intransitive) — collapse, fail to happen (about plans).
  • Our vacation plans fell through because of the storm.
  • The deal fell through at the last minute.
• back out (of) (intransitive, or three-part with of) — withdraw from a commitment.
  • He backed out of the deal at the last minute.
  • She agreed to come, then backed out.
• pull out (of) (intransitive, or three-part with of) — withdraw, often more formally or about countries/companies/competitors.
  • The company pulled out of the negotiations.
  • Two teams pulled out of the tournament.

Mess up is workplace-safe; screw up is mildly informal but used in offices all the time. Both are far gentler than the F-word equivalent.

Improvement and learning skills

The “getting better at things” vocabulary.

• brush up on (inseparable, three-part) — review and refresh a skill you used to have.
  • I need to brush up on my Spanish before the trip.
  • He’s brushing up on his interview skills.
• pick up (separable — for skills) — acquire a skill casually, by exposure.
  • I picked up a little French in Paris.
  • She picked up SQL in a couple of months.
• look up (separable) — search for information.
  • Look it up online.
  • I had to look up the word.
• catch on (to) (intransitive, or three-part with to) — start to understand; also: become popular.
  • It took me a while to catch on, but now I get it.
  • The trend is catching on with Gen Z.
• get the hang of (it) (inseparable, three-part — usually with it or a noun) — become comfortable with how to do something.
  • Once you get the hang of it, it’s easy.
  • I’m starting to get the hang of this software.

Study and school

The classroom and assignment vocabulary.

• go over (inseparable) — review, examine carefully.
  • Let’s go over the chapter once more.
  • Can you go over my essay before I submit it?
• look over (separable) — examine briefly, often less thoroughly than go over.
  • Could you look this over for typos?
  • I looked it over but didn’t catch anything.
• run through (inseparable) — quickly review or rehearse.
  • Let’s run through the agenda one more time.
  • We ran through the presentation twice.
• hand in / turn in (separable) — submit an assignment.
  • Hand in your homework by Friday.
  • Did you turn it in?

Hand in and turn in are interchangeable for assignments. Turn in also means “go to bed” — context disambiguates.

• drop out (of) (intransitive, or three-part with of) — leave a school/program before completing it.
  • He dropped out of college after two years.
  • Three students dropped out of the program.
• enroll in (inseparable) — sign up for a course or program.
  • I enrolled in a Spanish class.
  • She enrolled in nursing school last fall.

Confusion table — pairs that get mixed up

Common Russian-speaker mistakes

1. Using make instead of do for tasks. I’ll make this task — wrong. Use do or take care of or handle: I’ll do this / I’ll take care of it / I’ll handle it. For phrasal verbs: I’ll deal with it, I’ll sort it out, I’ll knock it out.
2. Translating решить проблему literally as decide the problem. Decide is for choices. To resolve issues: figure out, work out, sort out, deal with, handle, take care of, fix.
3. Saying make a mistake when mess up / screw up would sound more native. I made a mistake in the report is correct but stiff. I messed up the report / I screwed up the formula sounds more like an actual American admitting an error.
4. Forgetting up in finish up, wrap up, knock out (informal) / knock up (avoid — vulgar). Be careful: knock out = finish; knock up in AmE means impregnate (very informal). Don’t say knock up the report.
5. Using I’m late when meaning I’m behind on something. I’m late = I arrived late. For falling behind on work: I’m falling behind on email / I’m behind on the project.
6. Translating сдать домашнее задание as give homework. Give = pass to someone for them to keep. To submit: hand in / turn in your homework.
7. Using resolve when sort out or figure out fits better. Resolve exists but is formal. In conversation: Let’s sort this out / let me figure it out.
8. Saying I have problem with no article. I have a problem (article required). For phrasal verb: I’m having trouble with X / I’m dealing with X.

Summary

• About 30 phrasal verbs for the work-and-study half of life: starting tasks, finishing tasks, solving problems, screwing up, getting better.
• Three-part PVs (catch up on, get the hang of, brush up on, get along with, get on with) never split.
• Mess up and screw up are office-acceptable informal ways to admit a mistake.
• Brush up on = refresh old skill; pick up = acquire new skill casually.
• Wrap up and finish up both mean “complete” — interchangeable in most contexts.
• For “handle/take care of” use deal with, sort out, take care of, handle — not decide or make.

Next lesson: Phrasal verbs for tech, money, clothes, and state changes — log in, set up, save up, pay off, try on, end up, turn out, break down.