Los phrasal verbs son una parte esencial del inglés y pueden ser un desafío para los estudiantes de nivel B2. En este artículo, te explicamos qué son, cómo aprenderlos de manera efectiva y te damos una lista completa con ejemplos y ejercicios para que los domines
¿Qué son los Phrasal Verbs?
Los phrasal verbs son combinaciones de un verbo + preposición o adverbio, lo que cambia su significado original. Son muy usados en inglés conversacional y académico.
Ejemplo:
🔹Look (mirar) → Look after (cuidar de alguien)
🔹Break (romper) → Break down (averiarse)
Cómo Aprender los Phrasal Verbs Fácilmente
🔹Agrúpalos por significado → Ejemplo: turn on/off (encender/apagar).
🔹Usa tarjetas de memoria → Escribe el phrasal verb en una cara y su significado en la otra.
🔹Inclúyelos en conversaciones → Practica frases con ellos en tu día a día.
🔹Mira películas o series en inglés → Anota los phrasal verbs que escuches.
🔹Haz ejercicios prácticos → La repetición es clave para memorizarlos.
| Phrasal Verb | Significado | Ejemplo |
|---|---|---|
| Break down | Averiarse / Colapsar | My car broke down yesterday. |
| Bring up | Mencionar / Criar | She brought up her children alone. |
| Carry out | Realizar | They carried out the plan. |
| Come across | Encontrarse con | I came across an old photo. |
| Get along with | Llevarse bien | Do you get along with your boss? |
| Give up | Rendirse | Never give up on your dreams. |
| Look into | Investigar | The police will look into it. |
| Make up for | Compensar | I’ll make up for the delay. |
| Put off | Posponer | We put off the trip. |
| Run out of | Quedarse sin | We ran out of coffee. |
| Turn down | Rechazar | He turned down the offer. |
| Work out | Hacer ejercicio | I work out every morning. |
| Look after | Cuidar | Can you look after my dog? |
| Call off | Cancelar | They called off the event. |
| Set up | Organizar | She set up a meeting. |
| Turn up | Aparecer | He turned up late. |
| Catch up with | Ponerse al día | Let’s catch up soon! |
| Hang up | Colgar (teléfono) | She hung up angrily. |
| Pick up | Recoger | I’ll pick you up at 8. |
| Drop off | Dejar (en un lugar) | Drop me off at the station. |
| Take off | Despegar / Quitarse | The plane took off on time. |
| Hold on | Esperar | Hold on a second! |
| Look forward to | Esperar con ansias | I look forward to the holidays. |
| Put up with | Tolerar | I can’t put up with this noise. |
| Go through | Experimentar | She went through a lot. |
| Run into | Encontrarse con alguien | I ran into Maria today. |
| Turn out | Resultar ser | It turned out to be false. |
| Bring about | Causar | This brought about change. |
| Cut down on | Reducir | Cut down on sugar. |
| Fill out | Completar (formulario) | Fill out this application. |
| Get over | Superar | He got over his fear. |
| Hand in | Entregar | Hand in your homework. |
| Keep up with | Mantenerse al día | Keep up with the news. |
| Look up | Buscar (información) | Look up the word online. |
| Make out | Distinguir | I can’t make out his writing. |
| Pass away | Fallecer | Her uncle passed away. |
| Point out | Señalar | She pointed out the error. |
| Put aside | Dejar de lado | Put aside your differences. |
| Take after | Parecerse a | He takes after his father. |
| Think over | Reflexionar | Think it over carefully. |
| Try on | Probarse (ropa) | Try on these jeans. |
| Back up | Respaldar | Back up your files. |
| Blow up | Explotar | The bomb blew up. |
| Break into | Forzar entrada | Thieves broke into the house. |
| Cheer up | Animar | Cheer up! It’ll be okay. |
| Do without | Prescindir de | We’ll have to do without. |
| Figure out | Resolver | Figure out the answer. |
| Get away | Escaparse | We got away for the weekend. |
| Go on | Continuar | What’s going on here? |
| Hold back | Contener | She held back her tears. |
| Let down | Decepcionar | Don’t let me down. |
| Mix up | Confundir | I mixed up the dates. |
| Pay back | Devolver dinero | I’ll pay you back tomorrow. |
| Put on | Ponerse (ropa) | Put on your jacket. |
| Show off | Presumir | He’s showing off his car. |
| Take up | Empezar (hobby) | She took up gardening. |
| Turn on | Encender | Turn on the lights. |
| Wear out | Desgastar | My shoes are worn out. |
| Write down | Anotar | Write down the address. |
| Come up with | Ocurrirse una idea | She came up with a solution. |
| Fall apart | Desmoronarse | Their marriage fell apart. |
| Give in | Ceder | He gave in to pressure. |
| Look out | Tener cuidado | Look out! A car is coming! |
| Pass out | Desmayarse | He passed out from heat. |
| Set off | Provocar / Iniciar viaje | They set off early. |
| Break up | Terminar relación | They broke up last month. |
| Bring back | Devolver / Recordar | Bring back the book. |
| Act up | Comportarse mal | The kids are acting up. |
| Add up | Tener sentido / Sumar | These numbers don’t add up. |
| Back down | Retractarse | He backed down in the argument. |
| Bail out | Rescatar (financiero) | The company was bailed out. |
| Break out | Estallar (guerra) | A fire broke out. |
| Brush up | Repasar | Brush up your English. |
| Bump into | Encontrarse con | I bumped into John. |
| Burn out | Agotarse | She burned out at work. |
| Call up | Llamar por teléfono | Call up the office. |
| Calm down | Tranquilizarse | Calm down, it’s okay. |
| Carry on | Continuar | Carry on with your work. |
| Check in | Registrarse (hotel) | Check in at the front desk. |
| Check out | Registrar salida | Check out by 11 AM. |
| Clam up | Cerrarse | He clammed up during the interview. |
| Come down with | Enfermarse | She came down with a cold. |
| Count on | Contar con | You can count on me. |
| Cross out | Tachar | Cross out the mistake. |
| Cut off | Cortar (servicio) | They cut off the water. |
| Deal with | Manejar | Deal with the problem. |
| Do over | Rehacer | Do the assignment over. |
| Draw up | Redactar | Draw up a contract. |
| Dress up | Vestirse elegante | Let’s dress up tonight! |
| Eat out | Comer fuera | We eat out every Friday. |
| End up | Terminar (situación) | We ended up lost. |
| Fall behind | Retrasarse | Don’t fall behind! |
| Fill in | Completar (espacios) | Fill in the blanks. |
| Find out | Descubrir | Find out the truth. |
| Get across | Comunicar | Get your message across. |
| Get back | Regresar | Get back before dark. |
| Give away | Regalar / Revelar | She gave away secrets. |
| Go over | Revisar | Go over the details. |
| Grow up | Crecer | I grew up in Paris. |
| Hand out | Distribuir | Hand out the papers. |
| Hang out | Pasar el rato | Let’s hang out later. |
| Hit on | Coquetear | He hit on her at the bar. |
| Iron out | Resolver (problemas) | Iron out the issues. |
| Join in | Unirse | Join in the game! |
| Keep on | Continuar | Keep on trying! |
| Kick off | Empezar (evento) | The concert kicks off at 8. |
| Knock out | Noquear | He knocked out his opponent. |
| Lay off | Despedir | The company laid off workers. |
| Leave out | Omitir | Don’t leave out any details. |
| Let in | Dejar entrar | Let me in, please! |
| Live up to | Cumplir expectativas | The product lived up to the hype. |
| Make up | Inventar / Maquillarse | She made up a story. |
| Mess up | Arruinar | I messed up the recipe. |
| Nod off | Quedarse dormido | He nodded off during class. |
| Own up | Admitir | Own up to your mistakes. |
Ejercicios para Practicar los Phrasal Verbs B2
Ejercicio 1: Rellena los espacios en blanco
Completa las siguientes frases con el phrasal verb correcto:
- I need to _______ smoking; it’s bad for my health. (give up)
- The teacher asked us to _______ the test before submitting it. (go over)
- He _______ a great idea for the project. (came up with)
- We _______ milk. Could you buy some? (ran out of)
- I _______ my little sister while my parents are away. (look after)
Ejercicio 2: Traduce al inglés usando Phrasal Verbs
🔹 Rechazó la oferta de trabajo.
🔹 Se llevó bien con sus compañeros de trabajo.
🔹 El coche se averió en medio de la carretera.
(Respuestas: He turned down the job offer. / He got along with his coworkers. / The car broke down in the middle of the road.)
Ejercicio 3: Identifica los dos significados de estas frases
“He turned up the heat” vs. “She turned up at midnight”.
(Respuestas: 1. Subir volumen / 2. Aparecer)
Refuerza tu Aprendizaje con Clases de Inglés
Si quieres mejorar aún más tu nivel de inglés y aprender a utilizar los phrasal verbs en contextos reales, considera inscribirte en un curso especializado. En Academia Teba encontrarás cursos de inglés adaptados a todos los niveles, con profesores expertos y una metodología práctica que te ayudará a consolidar tu conocimiento.
Explora su oferta de formación y da el siguiente paso en tu aprendizaje del inglés.
Phrasal Verbs Agrupados por Temas
Organizar los phrasal verbs por contextos ayuda a memorizarlos y usarlos correctamente. Aquí tienes los más útiles para nivel B2:
Viajes
Take off (despegar): Our plane takes off at 6 AM.
Check in (registrarse en el hotel/aeropuerto): We need to check in online before the flight.
Set off (ponerse en camino): They set off on their road trip at dawn.
Trabajo
Carry out (realizar una tarea): We carried out the project successfully.
Hand in (entregar un documento): Please hand in your reports by Friday.
- Turn down (rechazar una oferta): She turned down the promotion for personal reasons.
Emociones y Relaciones
Cheer up (animar a alguien): This movie always cheers me up.
Break down (colapsar emocionalmente): He broke down after hearing the news.
Look forward to (tener ilusión por algo): I’m looking forward to meeting you!
Consejo: Crea flashcards separadas por temas y practica con ejercicios situacionales (ej: redactar un email laboral usando carry out y hand in).
Consejos Finales para Dominar los Phrasal Verbs
🔹 Escucha pódcast y canciones en inglés.
🔹 Escribe un diario en inglés incluyendo al menos 3 phrasal verbs al día.
Con esta guía, estarás mucho más preparado para dominar los phrasal verbs B2 y mejorar tu fluidez en inglés. Sigue practicando y verás los resultados rápidamente.
