Phrasal verbs for tech, money, clothes, and state changes

The last phrasal verb lesson covers the material side of modern American life: tech (logging in, setting up, backing up), money (saving up, paying off, chipping in), clothes (putting on, trying on, dressing up), and the abstract verbs of change and outcome (end up, turn out, break down, break out).

About 30 phrasal verbs. Mechanics reminder: pronouns split separable verbs (plug it in, never plug in it); three-part PVs (run out of, look forward to) never split. Full mechanics in lesson 1.

Tech

The verbs of using devices, accounts, and the internet — by far the most-used phrasal verbs for under-40 Americans.

• log in / log out (of) (intransitive, or three-part with of) — sign into / out of an account.
  • Log in with your email and password.
  • Don’t forget to log out of your bank app on public Wi-Fi.
• sign up (for) (intransitive, or three-part with for) — register for a service or account.
  • I signed up for a free trial.
  • Sign up for the newsletter to get updates.
• set up (separable) — install, configure, or arrange.
  • Did you set up the new printer?
  • Let me set it up for you.
• hook up (separable) — connect physically (cables, devices); also: arrange a meeting (slang); also: a casual romantic encounter (informal).
  • Hook up the HDMI cable to the back of the TV.
  • I’ll hook you up with my contact at Google. (= introduce, help)
• plug in (separable) — connect to a power source.
  • Plug in the charger.
  • Did you plug it in? It’s not charging.
• charge up (separable) — fully charge a battery.
  • Charge up your phone before the trip.
  • Let me charge it up overnight.
• back up (separable) — make a backup copy of data.
  • Back up your files before the OS update.
  • Did you back it up to iCloud?
• update — usually used as a single verb, but in phrasal-like patterns: update to, update on. Update me on the project.
• sign off (intransitive) — formal/military: end a communication; tech: log out (older usage).
  • I’m signing off for the night — goodnight.
  • The meeting wrapped, and we all signed off Zoom.

Money and spending

How Americans talk about saving, paying, and running out.

• save up (for) (intransitive, or three-part with for) — accumulate money over time for a goal.
  • I’m saving up for a down payment.
  • She saved up for two years to buy that car.
• spend (money) on (inseparable in this construction) — use money for.
  • I spend too much on takeout.
  • Don’t spend it all on one thing.
• run out (of) (intransitive, or three-part with of) — use all of something; deplete.
  • We’re running out of milk.
  • I ran out of money before payday.
• pay off (separable) — pay back fully; also: produce a good result.
  • I finally paid off my student loans. (= cleared the debt)
  • All that practice paid off — she nailed the interview. (= produced results)
• pay back (separable) — return money you owe to someone.
  • I’ll pay you back on Friday.
  • He still hasn’t paid me back.
• cash in (on) (intransitive, or three-part with on) — convert into cash; also: take advantage of an opportunity.
  • He cashed in his stock options.
  • They’re cashing in on the streaming boom.
• pick up the tab (idiom — fixed expression) — pay the bill, especially at a restaurant.
  • Don’t worry, I’ll pick up the tab.
  • The company picked up the tab for dinner.
• chip in (intransitive) — contribute money or effort to a shared cause.
  • Everyone chipped in twenty bucks for the gift.
  • Can you chip in to help with the cleanup?

Clothes

Wearing, removing, trying, and dressing.

• put on (separable) — start wearing.
  • Put on a jacket — it’s cold.
  • Put it on before you leave.
• take off (separable) — remove.
  • Take off your shoes at the door.
  • Take them off — they’re soaked.
• try on (separable) — put on briefly to test fit before buying.
  • Can I try on these jeans?
  • Try them on first.
• dress up (intransitive — for formal/dressed up; or as costume) — wear nicer or more formal clothes than usual; also: wear a costume.
  • We’re dressing up for the wedding.
  • The kids dressed up as superheroes for Halloween.
• dress down (intransitive) — wear more casual clothes than usual.
  • Friday is dress-down day at the office.
  • Feel free to dress down for the meeting.
• hand down (separable) — give old clothes (or possessions) to a younger person.
  • My sister handed down all her old jeans to me.
  • These boots were handed down from my brother.
• wear out (separable, or intransitive) — use until worn or damaged; also: exhaust someone.
  • I wore out these sneakers in six months.
  • The kids wore me out today. (= exhausted me)

State changes

The abstract verbs of becoming, ending up, and turning into.

• turn into (inseparable) — become something different.
  • The rain turned into snow overnight.
  • Their meeting turned into a three-hour debate.
• end up (intransitive — usually followed by an adverb, prepositional phrase, or -ing) — arrive at a final state, often unexpected.
  • I ended up staying for three hours.
  • We were going to a movie but ended up at a bar.
  • He ended up in the hospital after the accident.
• turn out (intransitive — followed by adverb or that-clause) — result, develop in a particular way.
  • It turned out fine in the end.
  • Turns out he was right all along.
• come about (intransitive) — happen, occur (about events with unclear cause).
  • How did this whole situation come about?
  • The merger came about after months of negotiation.
• break down (intransitive) — (machine) stop functioning; (person) collapse emotionally; (negotiations) collapse.
  • My car broke down on I-95.
  • She broke down in tears during the meeting.
  • The peace talks broke down last week.
• break out (intransitive) — start suddenly (rash, sweat, fight, fire, war); also: escape.
  • I broke out in a rash from the new detergent.
  • A fight broke out at the bar.
  • He broke out of jail in 2018.

Mood and feeling changes

How emotional states shift.

• cheer up (separable, or intransitive) — become or make happier.
  • Cheer up — it’s not that bad.
  • I tried to cheer her up with flowers.
• calm down (intransitive, or separable: calm someone down) — become or make less agitated.
  • Calm down — let’s talk about this rationally.
  • It took an hour to calm her down.
• perk up (intransitive, or separable) — become more alert or energetic.
  • She perked up after a coffee.
  • The news perked everyone up.
• settle down (intransitive — for the calm sense; see lesson 1 and 2 for other senses) — become calm and quiet.
  • Class, settle down — I have an announcement.
  • The dog settled down after the walk.
• let down (separable) — disappoint.
  • Don’t let me down.
  • He really let her down.
• look forward to (inseparable, three-part — followed by noun or -ing form) — anticipate something with pleasure.
  • I’m looking forward to the weekend.
  • I’m looking forward to seeing you. (NOT to see)
  • I look forward to it.

The -ing after look forward to is mandatory and a major Russian-speaker error point. The to here is a preposition, not the infinitive marker. So: forward to seeing, forward to going, forward to meeting — never forward to see / go / meet.

Confusion table — pairs that get mixed up

Common Russian-speaker mistakes

1. The look forward to + see error. As above: it’s look forward to seeing, going, meeting. Always -ing. This is one of the most common B1 errors.
2. Calque from поставить / настроить as put / tune. For installing/configuring: set up. I set up the router / set up the printer / set up an account.
3. Translating включить в розетку literally. Use plug in: Plug in the charger / plug it in. Not put in the socket.
4. Saying break instead of break down for a malfunction. My car broke sounds like it physically snapped. My car broke down = stopped functioning, won’t start.
5. Confusing try on with try. Try the soup (taste), try on the jacket (clothes). I tried the jacket sounds like you sampled it.
6. Saying dress instead of get dressed for daily routine. I dress at 7 sounds like a profession (dressing windows?). I get dressed at 7 = put on clothes.
7. Using return for pay back. Return the money exists but is more formal/legal. For everyday: I’ll pay you back on Friday.
8. Forgetting up in save up. I’m saving for a car is grammatical but slightly odd; I’m saving up for a car implies the goal-oriented accumulation.
9. Calque of закончиться as finish. The milk finished — wrong. We’re out of milk / we ran out of milk / the milk is gone.
10. Translating расстраивать as to upset but missing let down. Let down is specifically about disappointing someone who relied on you: Don’t let me down (= don’t disappoint me).

Summary

• About 30 phrasal verbs for tech, money, clothes, and state changes — the material and abstract sides of modern American life.
• Tech defaults: log in, sign up, set up, plug in, back up, charge up. All separable except log in/sign up.
• Money defaults: save up, run out of, pay off, pay back, chip in, pick up the tab.
• Clothes defaults: put on, take off, try on, dress up/down, wear out.
• State changes: end up, turn out, turn into, break down, break out, come about — these run abstract life narratives.
• Look forward to + -ing (gerund), never bare infinitive. The to is a preposition.
• Set up has three senses (arrange / install / frame); break down has three (machine fails / emotional collapse / negotiations collapse). Context disambiguates.

This concludes Module 3 (Phrasal Verbs). Next module: Module 4 — Collocations and idioms — the words that travel together (heavy rain, fast food, take into account) and the most useful American idioms (hit the road, ballpark figure, the whole nine yards, drop the ball).