Phrasal verbs 001-050

Question 1

apoyar, respaldar; corroborar

Answer 1

to back up # Go ahead and tell the boss just what happened. I’ll back you up on it. # The girl denied being there, and the man backed her up.

Question 2

encontrarse con alguien o algo (por casualidad) (to c…)

Answer 2

to come across sb/sth # He came across some of his old love letters in his wife’s desk. # I came across a group of children playing.

Question 3

to wait or spend time somewhere, usually for no particular reason; merodear, juntarse

Answer 3

to hang [(a)round | about] (somwhere) # I spent most of my youth hanging around the bars of Dublin. # On Saturdays we hang about in the park. # ..those people hanging round the streets at 6 am with nowhere to go. # They usually hung around together most of the time. # …the usual young crowd who hung around the cafe day in and day out.

Question 4

estar preparado y con ganas de hacer algo (informal)

Answer 4

to be up for sth # We’re going clubbing tonight if you’re up for it. # I’m a little busy right now, but your brother is probably up for a game of basketball. # The team is up for the game tonight. # We are all up for the contest.

Question 5

ordernar, organizar; solucionar

Answer 5

to sort out # Sort out all your books. # They’ve sorted out their problems. # Julia intended to go home early in order to sort out the dinner arrangements. # My son needs to sort out the clothes in the wardrobe.

Question 6

entender o comprender algo (to g…)

Answer 6

to get a handle ON sth # We need to get a handle on what caused the fire. # I can’t get a handle on this at all. Can you explain it again? # I can’t really get a handle on the situation here. What’s happening?

Question 7

restringir, reducir

Answer 7

to narrow (down) # When choosing a college, it is important to narrow down your options to only three or four colleges.

Question 8

ventilarse algo (comida/bebida o trabajo), to finish sth quickily and easily (especially a lot of food or work)

Answer 8

to polish off # He polished off the whole cake without offering a slice to anyone else. # No matter what he is offered to eat he polishes it off in an instant. # He polished off the whole pie. # I polished off three essays in one week.

Question 9

desviarse hacia la cuneta

Answer 9

to pull over # When he saw the flashing lights in the rear-view mirror, he pulled over.

Question 10

despedirse

Answer 10

to see off # I went to see Jane off at the station. # He came to the airport with me to see me off. # I’ll drive you to the station and see you off.

Question 11

presumir, fanfarronear

Answer 11

to show off # I bought a Ferrari only to show off.

Question 12

posponer

Answer 12

to put off # We had to put the meeting off.

Question 13

poner la zancadilla

Answer 13

to trip sb up # Have you tripped your brother up?

Question 14

quitarse el collar, la pulsera o la corbata

Answer 14

to take off the necklace /ˈneklɪs/, the bracelet or the tie

Question 15

quitarse los pendientes

Answer 15

to take out the earrings # I can’t take out my earrings! They’re stuck!

Question 16

sacrificar un animal

Answer 16

to put down an animal # We had to have the dog put down.

Question 17

descubrir, enterarse de, averiguar

Answer 17

to find out # She found out that her husband was having an affair. # I just found out that my sister is pregnant. # He’ll end up finding out [sooner or later | eventually]. # Let’s make sure he doesn’t find out.

Question 18

rajarse, abandonar cobardemente

Answer 18

to chicken out # You’re not chickening out, are you?

Question 19

ponerse desodorante

Answer 19

to put on deodorant /diːˈəʊdərənt/

Question 20

soltar algo o a alguien

Answer 20

to let go of sth/sb # Don’t let go (of me)! # Let go of my hand. # Don’t let go of my hand.

Question 21

tolerar, aguantar

Answer 21

to put up with # I won’t put up with your whining /ˈwaɪnɪŋ/ any more. # You’ll have to put up with it.

Question 22

rendirse ante alguien o algo, reconocer la derrota; sucumbir, caer en la tentación

Answer 22

to give in # Eventually I gave in and accepted the job on their terms. # After the last scandal, the mayor gave in to the pressure and resigned. # She is trying to avoid sweets, but if you tempt her with chocolate, she always gives in.

Question 23

rendirse (dejar de hacer algo), darse por vencido

Answer 23

to give up # I gave up trying to get them to believe me. # It’ll be hard, but I’m going to try giving up chocolate. # OK, I give up. What’s the answer?

Question 24

tender la ropa

Answer 24

to [hang up | air ] the clothes / to put the clothes /kləʊðz/ on the (washing) line / to let the clothes dry

Question 25

destender la ropa

Answer 25

to take the clothes /kləʊðz/ off the line

Question 26

disfrazarse

Answer 26

to dress up # One of the students dressed up as a rabbit. # Do you want to dress up? # What do you like dressing up as /æz/? # What would you like to dress up as /æz/?

Question 27

hacer frente, salir adelante, superar, arreglárselas

Answer 27

to cope with (formal), to get by (informal) # It must be really hard to cope with three young children and a job. # The problems were an annoyance, but we managed to cope. # I’m a survivor. I’ll get by. # Melville managed to get by on a small amount of money. # The older couple had learned to get by on their small retirement income.

Question 28

acabar, terminar con algo desagradable rápidamente (to g…) # Acabemos con esto de una vez por todas.

Answer 28

to get over with # Let’s get it over with. # The sooner we start, the sooner we’ll get it over with. # I wanted to get the interview over with as quickly as possible. # It took her nearly four months to get over that bout of pneumonia.

Question 29

superar (to g…)

Answer 29

to get over # You’ll get over it. # It took me a very long time to get over the shock of her death. # Hot to Get Over a Problem.

Question 30

refrescarse; calmarse (enfriarse)

Answer 30

to cool off # He went and sat in the shade to cool off. # We went for a swim to cool ourselves off. # Let him cool off, you can talk about it later. # I’m really busy, but when things cool off I’ll come and see you. # Maybe he’s trying to cool off out there in the rain. # She made a fanning motion, pretending to cool herself off. # Cool off the carrots quickly.

Question 31

secarse con una toalla

Answer 31

to dry off with a towel

Question 32

(informal) (por parte de una persona) distinguir, diferenciar

Answer 32

to tell apart # The twins are so alike that it’s not easy to tell them apart.

Question 33

abrigar

Answer 33

to wrap up /ræp ʌp/ (warm) # Wrap up warm! It’s could outside! # You’re too wrapped up. # You’re not wrapped up enough. # Markus has wrapped up warmly in a woolly hat.

Question 34

quedarse a dormir (informal)

Answer 34

to sleep over # If you’re too tired to drive home, you’re welcome to sleep over.

Question 35

pasar por (para hacer una visita) (informal)

Answer 35

to stop by # Could you stop by the drugstore on your way home? # We have to stop by the library.

Question 36

decepcionar

Answer 36

to let sb down # I won’t let you down, I promise.

Question 37

apartar la mirada

Answer 37

to look away # It was a horror movie and I had to look away much of the time!

Question 38

escapar con dificultad, huir, alejarse

Answer 38

to get away # The thieves got away with all the money. # Get away from her! # The meeting continued up to 8 o’clock but I was able to get away at 7.30.

Question 39

librarse de algo, salir impune de algo

Answer 39

to get away with # We mustn’t let them get away with it. # The murderer almost got away with the crime. # Well, this time you won’t get away with it. # If he thinks he can get away with cheating me, he’s very much mistaken.

Question 40

mantenerse alejado de

Answer 40

to keep away from # Keep away from the edge of the cliff.

Question 41

regalar, donar

Answer 41

to give away # We’ve got 200 CDs to give away.

Question 42

tirar, deshacerse de; tirar por la borda, desperdiciar

Answer 42

to throw away # I kept the letter, but I threw away the envelope. # I had to throw away a lot of old books that nobody wanted. # It would be a shame to throw away your talent by doing nothing with it.

Question 43

devolver el saludo/mirada/golpe; contestar una carta

Answer 43

to wave/smile/hit/write back # I waved to her and she waved back. # Smile and the world will smile [back at | with] you. # He never wrote back.

Question 44

devolver una llamada

Answer 44

to [call | phone | ring] back # I’ll call you back in ten minutes.

Question 45

volver, regresar

Answer 45

to get back # Get back into bed. # She usually gets back from work late. # We didn’t get back from the cinema until midnight. # We got back from holiday to discover that we had been burgled. # Malcolm gets back from work in half an hour. # When I finally got back, I found my car had been clamped.

Question 46

mirar hacia atrás en el tiempo, recordar, rememorar

Answer 46

to look back (on sth) # One day we’ll look back on this and laugh. # If you look back on your relationships you can learn a lot. # When I look back I can see where we went wrong. # It wasn’t such a bad experience when I look back on it.

Question 47

devolver el dinero (a alguien)

Answer 47

to pay (sb) back sth # I can’t afford to pay back the fifty pounds he lent me. # I will pay you back the £5 tomorrow.

Question 48

estar de vuelta

Answer 48

to be back # I’ll be back in 10 minutes. # I’m back from camp, did you miss me?

Question 49

quitar algo a alguien; llevarse algo; confiscar, requisar; quitar

Answer 49

to take sth away (from sb) # The waiter took away the plates before we had finished. # If you take away people’s guns, they won’t be able to kill you. # ‘Give me the knife,’ he said softly, ‘or I’ll take it away from you.’ # In prison they’d taken away his watch and everything he possessed. # Samuel took my toy away from me! # Don’t take it away.

Question 50

tirar la toalla ante una situación incómoda en lugar de afrontarla

Answer 50

to walk away (from sth) # We’ve been married for ten years, you can’t just walk away! # The most appropriate strategy may simply be to walk away from the problem. # You should insist on this or walk away.