What Are Phrasal Verbs? Why Are They Important for PSLE English?

Many PSLE students focus heavily on vocabulary lists and grammar rules, but one important area that is often overlooked is phrasal verbs.

Yet, phrasal verbs appear everywhere in PSLE English:

• Grammar MCQ
• Editing
• Vocabulary Cloze
• Comprehension Cloze
• Oral
• Composition writing

Strong understanding of phrasal verbs can greatly improve a student’s language accuracy and make their English sound far more natural and fluent.

What Is a Phrasal Verb?

A phrasal verb is made up of:

• a verb PLUS a preposition or adverb

When combined together, they create a completely different meaning.

Examples:

• look after → take care of
• give up → stop trying
• run into → meet unexpectedly
• put off → postpone

The meaning of the whole phrase is often different from the original verb.

For example:

• “look” means to see BUT
• “look after” means to take care of

This is why many students find phrasal verbs confusing!

Why Are Phrasal Verbs Important for PSLE?

1. They Are Frequently Tested

Phrasal verbs commonly appear in:

• Grammar MCQ
• Editing
• Vocabulary Cloze
• Comprehension Cloze

Students are often tested on:

• the correct particle/preposition
• the meaning of the phrasal verb
• contextual usage

2. They Improve Composition Writing

Using phrasal verbs makes writing sound:

• more natural
• more fluent
• more mature

Good phrasal verbs make sentences more vivid and expressive.

Here are some effective ways students can strengthen their understanding and usage of phrasal verbs.

1. Read More Widely

One of the best ways to learn phrasal verbs naturally is through reading.

Students should read:

• storybooks
• newspapers
• model compositions
• comprehension passages

This helps students:

• see phrasal verbs used in context
• understand their meanings naturally
• remember them more easily

For example:

• “The firefighters quickly put out the fire.”
• “She looked after her younger brother.”

2. Use Phrasal Verbs in Composition Writing

The fastest way to master phrasal verbs is by actively using them.

Students can challenge themselves to include:

• 2–3 phrasal verbs
• naturally and accurately
• in every composition

3. Keep a Personal Phrasal Verb Notebook

Students can create a notebook with:

• the phrasal verb
• its meaning
• one example sentence

4. Practise PSLE Grammar and Cloze Questions

Since phrasal verbs are commonly tested in:

• grammar MCQ
• editing
• vocabulary cloze
• comprehension cloze

students should regularly practise these question types.

Over time, they will begin to recognise:

• common combinations
• correct particles
• natural usage patterns

5. Group Phrasal Verbs by Main Verb

Instead of memorising random lists, students should group phrasal verbs according to the main verb.

For example, below is a list of common phrasal verbs found in PSLE and grouped according to the main verb.

Common PSLE Phrasal Verbs

These are common phrasal verbs frequently tested in PSLE Grammar, Editing, Comprehension Cloze, and Vocabulary Cloze.

Frequently Tested “Look” Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
look after	take care of	She looks after her younger brother.
look for	search for	I am looking for my wallet.
look into	investigate	The police looked into the matter.
look up	search for information	He looked up the word in the dictionary.
look up to	admire	Many students look up to their coach.
look down on	think badly of	We should not look down on others.
look forward to	anticipate happily	I look forward to the holidays.

Frequently Tested “Take” Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
take after	resemble	She takes after her mother.
take off	remove / plane leaves ground	Please take off your shoes.
take part in	participate	Our class took part in the competition.
take over	assume control	The vice-captain took over the duties.
take care of	care for	He took care of the injured bird.
take up	start a hobby/activity	She took up piano lessons.

Frequently Tested “Give” Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
give up	stop trying	Do not give up easily.
give away	donate / reveal	He gave away his old books.
give back	return	Please give back my pen.
give out	distribute	The teacher gave out the worksheets.

Frequently Tested “Put” Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
put off	postpone	The trip was put off because of rain.
put on	wear	She put on her jacket.
put out	extinguish	The firefighters put out the fire.
put away	keep/store	Please put away your toys.
put up with	tolerate	I cannot put up with the noise.

Frequently Tested “Get” Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
get along with	have good relations with	I get along well with my classmates.
get over	recover from	He got over his illness quickly.
get into	enter / become interested in	She got into trouble at school.
get off	leave a bus/train	We got off at the next stop.
get on	board / have good relations	Get on the bus quickly.

Frequently Tested “Turn” Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
turn on	switch on	Turn on the fan.
turn off	switch off	Please turn off the lights.
turn up	appear / increase volume	He turned up late for class.
turn down	reject / lower volume	She turned down the invitation.

Frequently Tested “Run” Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
run away	escape	The thief ran away.
run out of	have no more left	We ran out of water.
run into	meet unexpectedly	I ran into my neighbour yesterday.