Phrasal Verbs ESL Games, Activities & Worksheets
Find Someone Who...
ESL Phrasal Verbs Activity - Vocabulary and Speaking: Asking and Answering Questions, Freer Practice
In this useful phrasal verbs speaking activity, students ask and answer questions that contain phrasal verbs. Students begin by reviewing the phrasal verbs on the worksheet and preparing the questions...
Phrasal Verb Frenzy
ESL Phrasal Verbs Game - Vocabulary: Forming Sentences, Freer Practice - Group Work
In this lively phrasal verbs game, students practice forming and using phrasal verbs in sentences. Players take turns laying down a phrasal verb card (e.g. try on) and using it in a sentence, e.g. 'I want to try on...
Phrasal Verb Pursuit
ESL Phrasal Verbs Board Game - Grammar and Vocabulary: Matching, Forming and Writing Sentences
This fun phrasal verbs board game helps students practice forming and using phrasal verbs in sentences. Players take it in turns to roll the dice and move their counter along the board in any direction. When...
Write down the answers
ESL Phrasal Verbs Worksheet - Grammar and Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Gap-fill, Writing Sentences
In this free phrasal verbs worksheet, students practice using a variety of phrasal verbs in sentences. Students start by matching sentence halves together to complete phrasal verbs. Next, students...
Acting out
ESL Phrasal Verbs Game - Vocabulary: Miming, Guessing Vocabulary - Group Work
Here is an amusing phrasal verbs miming game to help students practice some commonly used phrasal verbs. A member of Team A picks up a card, stands up and reads out the introduction on the card which explains what information...
Change it
ESL Phrasal Verbs Game - Vocabulary: Guessing Vocabulary from Clues - Pair Work
In this engaging phrasal verbs guessing game, students guess phrasal verbs from sentences that describe their meaning. In pairs, students take it in turns to pick up a card and read the first sentence on the card to their partner, signalling the words in...
Copy me
ESL Phrasal Verbs and Idioms Game - Vocabulary: Writing Short Answers, Guessing - Group Work
Here is an entertaining phrasal verbs game to help students practice the meaning of various phrasal verbs. Two players go to the front of the class and sit facing their teams. Everyone in the class then answers...
Let's Make Phrasal Verbs
ESL Phrasal Verbs Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Gap-fill, Writing Sentences - Grammar Games: Memory, Guessing - Pair Work
This productive phrasal verbs worksheet helps students to learn and practice phrasal verbs with take, go, come and get. First, students complete sentences...
Phrasal Verb Jeopardy
ESL Phrasal Verbs Quiz Game - Vocabulary: Quiz, Guessing- Group Work
In this enjoyable phrasal verbs quiz game, students guess phrasal verbs from their definitions. Read out a definition from one of the squares on the game sheet. The first student to raise their hand and give the correct phrasal verb wins...
Phrasal Verbs Race
ESL Phrasal Verbs Game - Vocabulary and Writing: Forming Words and Sentences - Group Work
In this fast-paced phrasal verbs game, students race to make phrasal verbs with a specific verb and write each phrasal verb in a sentence. Write a verb on the board, e.g. take. The teams then have five...
Phrasal Verbs with Up
ESL Phrasal Verbs with Up Activity - Grammar Exercises: Gap-fill, Crossword
This free phrasal verbs crossword activity helps students to practice phrasal verbs with 'up'. First, students write verbs in the sentences on the worksheet to make phrasal verbs with 'up'. Students then complete a crossword with the verbs...
Story Time
ESL Phrasal Verbs Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Forming Sentence Chains, Memorisation
In this inventive phrasal verb game, students make clauses containing phrasal verbs that combine together in a story chain format. Students sit together in a circle. Begin a story by saying a sentence that...
Use Them Up
ESL Phrasal Verbs with Up Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Forming Sentences, Freer Practice - Group Work
In this imaginative phrasal verbs with 'up' game, students talk about various topics and try to use phrasal verbs with 'up' in their conversations. The top picture card is turned over for everyone in the...
What's the Phrasal Verb?
ESL Phrasal Verbs Activity - Grammar and Vocabulary: Writing Sentences, Gap-fill - Pair Work
In this insightful phrasal verbs activity, students share their knowledge of phrasal verbs they already know as well as learn new phrasal verbs from other students. Students start by writing 12...
Come up with it
ESL Phrasal Verbs with Come Game - Vocabulary: Matching - Pair Work
In this handy phrasal verbs with 'come' game, students complete sentences with phrasal verbs that include the word 'come'. In pairs, students take it in turns to turn over two cards, a large card containing a sentence and a small card that shows...
Come up with Some Questions
ESL Three-Part Phrasal Verbs Activity - Vocabulary and Speaking: Forming Collocations, Matching, Writing, Asking and Answering Questions - Group Work
In this three-part phrasal verbs speaking activity, students think of three-part phrasal verbs and write questions with them. Students then ask and answer the...
Don't say it!
ESL Phrasal Verbs Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Forming Sentences, Describing, Guessing, Freer Practice - Group Work
In this challenging phrasal verbs taboo game, students describe phrasal verbs without using certain words for other students to guess. In groups, students take it in turns to pick up a card and describe the...
Get Acquainted
ESL Phrasal Verbs with Get Activity - Vocabulary and Speaking: Asking and Answering Questions, Controlled and Freer Practice
In this free phrasal verbs speaking activity, students ask and answer questions containing phrasal verbs with 'get'. Give each student a question slip. The student's...
Phrasal Verbs with Get
ESL Phrasal Verbs with Get Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Gap-fill, Matching - Speaking Activity: Asking and Answering Questions - Pair Work
In this comprehensive phrasal verbs worksheet, students learn and practice phrasal verbs with 'get'. Students start by completing sentences with...
Take It As It Comes
ESL Phrasal Verbs with Take Board Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Forming Sentences, Freer Practice - Group Work
In this rewarding phrasal verbs with 'take' board game, students listen to sentences and rephrase them with phrasal verbs. Players take it in turns to roll the dice and move their counter along the board...
The Get Report
ESL Phrasal Verbs with Get Activity - Vocabulary and Speaking: Asking and Answering Questions, Discussion, Controlled and Freer Practice - Group Work
In this interesting phrasal verbs with 'get' speaking activity, students ask and answer questions containing phrasal verbs with 'get'. Students take it in turns...
Three-Part Phrasal Verbs
ESL Three-Word Phrasal Verbs Worksheet - Reading and Vocabulary Exercises: Ordering, Matching, Gap-fill, Forming Collocations
In this useful three-part phrasal verbs worksheet, students learn the meanings of 12 three-part phrasal verbs and practice using them. Students start by...
Understanding Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs combine a base verb with one or more particles to create a new meaning, so 'give up' means to stop trying and 'look after' means to take care of someone. When students avoid phrasal verbs because they seem unpredictable, their spoken and written English sounds unnecessarily formal, and native speakers notice the gap.
This page covers phrasal verbs across A2, B1, and B2 levels with twenty-two resources spanning board games, card games, miming games, speaking activities, and worksheets, including three free downloads.
The four main phrasal verb structures each carry a different rule for where the object or particle can appear in a sentence.
| Structure Type | Rule | Example | Correct | Incorrect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Separable (noun object) | Object can go between the verb and particle or after the particle | turn off | 'Turn off the lights.' or 'Turn the lights off.' | N/A — both positions correct |
| Separable (pronoun object) | Pronoun must go between the verb and particle | turn off | 'Turn them off.' | 'Turn off them.' |
| Inseparable (transitive) | Object must follow the particle and never split the verb and particle | look forward to | 'She looks forward to the trip.' | 'She looks the trip forward to.' |
| Intransitive | No object — the verb and particle cannot be separated | break down | 'The car broke down.' | 'The car broke it down.' |
When to Use Phrasal Verbs
Connecting with a particle to shift meaning: A speaker uses a phrasal verb rather than its base verb when the particle changes the meaning in a way that matters for the message, so saying 'I ran into my old teacher' communicates an accidental meeting that 'I met my old teacher' does not.
Understanding informal written English: Emails, social media posts, and news headlines rely heavily on phrasal verbs, so a reader who does not know that 'call off' means to cancel or 'bring up' means to raise a topic will struggle with everyday written English, for example a headline like 'Council calls off road repairs' may read as completely opaque.
Expressing nuance in meaning: Some phrasal verbs carry subtle emotional shades that their single-word equivalents do not, so a speaker who wants to sound empathetic rather than clinical will naturally reach for 'give up' rather than 'abandon,' for example saying 'I just couldn't give up on him' lands very differently from 'I could not abandon him.'
3-Step Framework for Teaching Phrasal Verbs
1. Build the Foundation With Controlled Written Practice: Start with a structured worksheet that moves students from recognition through to production. After matching and gap-fill tasks, students tackle a step that asks them to place objects between the verb and preposition of different phrasal verbs using their own ideas. That object placement task is where separability becomes real: students have to decide what goes where, not just fill in a blank.
2. Develop Fluency Through a Spoken Chain Game: Move into a spoken chain game that keeps every student in the room focused throughout. Begin a story with a sentence containing a phrasal verb, for example 'I walked down the street,' and each student in turn must remember everything said before and add a new sentence with a phrasal verb, such as 'I walked down the street and went into the corner shop.' Students are out if they lose the chain or cannot continue, which keeps the pace sharp.
3. Test Real Understanding With a Taboo-Style Game: Finish with a game that proves whether students truly know a phrasal verb. Each student picks up a card and describes the phrasal verb in bold without using the three words shown in italics or any variation of them. Describing meaning accurately without the forbidden words is a clear signal of genuine understanding, not just surface recall.
Common Mistakes with Phrasal Verbs
Choosing the wrong particle: Students often attach the wrong particle to a verb when they half-remember a phrasal verb, producing a different phrasal verb entirely or one that does not exist. Wrong: 'I need to look up this problem more carefully.' Correct: 'I need to look into this problem more carefully.'
Using a phrasal verb in a formal context: Students often use conversational phrasal verbs in academic or professional writing where a single-word verb is more appropriate, because they have learned the phrasal verb form first and do not yet recognize the register difference. Wrong: 'The researchers found out that sleep deprivation affects memory.' Correct: 'The researchers discovered that sleep deprivation affects memory.'
Common Questions About Teaching Phrasal Verbs
What is a good board game for practicing phrasal verbs?
The board game Phrasal Verb Pursuit pushes students past recognition into real production. On every turn, players roll a dice, match the verb on their square with a preposition to form a phrasal verb, and say a sentence aloud for the group to judge. The first player to complete their card with correct phrasal verbs and sentences wins.
What is a fun speaking activity for practicing phrasal verbs?
What makes the activity Find Someone Who... fun is that students use phrasal verbs in real exchanges, not drills. Each question contains a phrasal verb, for example 'Are you eating out tonight?' When a student gets a yes, they note the name and ask a follow-up question for more detail, then report back to the class.
What is a useful worksheet for teaching three-part phrasal verbs?
The worksheet Three-Part Phrasal Verbs takes students from first exposure to independent recall in a single sequence. They read a conversation, order it, guess meanings from context, match each phrasal verb to a definition, and then try to reconstruct all 12 from memory without looking back at the worksheet.
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