B1 Phrasal verbs 1: Exercises and explanation
Master common B1 phrasal verbs for daily life.
- check_circleI can understand common phrasal verbs in context.
- check_circleI can use phrasal verbs like give up, take off, and look after correctly.
Discover
Meet today's English in a real situation — no rules yet. Read it once and try to guess the pattern in the words in bold. Underlined words open a short definition.
Emma: Hi, Tom! Are you still playing tennis these days?
Tom: No, I decided to give up last month. I didn’t have enough time to practice.
Emma: Oh, that’s a shame! What are you doing instead?
Tom: Well, I have to look after my niece a lot on weekends now. She is very energetic. How about you? Are you travelling soon?
Emma: Yes! I’m going to Italy. My flight is going to take off at 6 AM tomorrow.
Tom: That sounds amazing! Don’t forget to pack well, but also know what you can throw away to make space for souvenirs.
Emma: Definitely. And I need to find out the train schedule from the airport.
Tom: Well, if you need someone to pick up your mail while you’re gone, just let me know.
Emma: Thanks, Tom! You’re a great friend.
Learn
Now the rules behind what you just saw — explained simply, with examples. Underlined words open a short definition — hover on desktop, tap on a phone.
Phrasal verbs are very common in spoken and informal English. They consist of a verb and a particle (a preposition or an adverb) that together have a specific meaning. Let’s look at some of the most common ones at the B1 level.
1. Give up
Give up means to stop doing something or to quit a habit.
I decided to give up eating sugar for a month. It was hard!
Common mistake: Don’t say “I quit to smoke.” Say “I gave up smoking.” After “give up,” we always use the verb in the -ing form (gerund) if there is an action.
2. Take off
Take off has a few different meanings, but the most common ones are for clothes and airplanes.
- Clothes: Please take your shoes off when you enter the house.
- Planes: Our flight is going to take off soon.
With clothes, “take off” is separable. You can say “take off your shoes” OR “take your shoes off”. But if you use a pronoun like “them,” it MUST go in the middle: “take them off.”
3. Look after
Look after means to take care of someone or something.
My sister asked me to look after her dog while she was on vacation.
- give up (doing something): to stop a habit or quit trying.
- take off: to leave the ground (planes) or to remove (clothes).
- look after: to take care of someone/something.
Practice
Try it yourself. You'll see right away whether you got it right, plus a short explanation of why.
Use It
Now make the language yours in a real task. Use the prompt below — the editor keeps a simple word count, and nothing is saved or graded.
Before you finish — be honest. Can you do these now?