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| Phrasal Verb | Definition | Example |
| To hand (something) out | To distribute | I’ll handout a copy of the presentation during the meeting. |
| To hang on | To wait a short time | Hang on a second. I’ll be right there. |
| To keep (something) up | To continue | We need to keep up our efforts to boost the sales figures. |
| To let (someone) down | To disappoint | The suppliers let us down by not delivering the agreed quantities. |
| To look into | To investigate | A team has been set up to look into the declining sales figures. |
| To look out for | To be careful and take notice | Given our recent drop in sales, we need to look out for new opportunities in the market. |
| To pass (something) out | To distribute ( see also to hand something out) | I’ll pass out a copy of the presentation after the meeting. |
| To pass (something) up | To decline (usually something positive) | Don’t pass up on this great opportunity. The sale ends tomorrow. |
| To put (something) off | To postpone | The company has put off introducing the revised pricing structure until the next quarter. |
| To run into (someone/something) | To meet someone/something unexpectedly | I hope we don’t run into any problems with the project schedule. |
| To send (something) back | To return | The new equipment isn’t working correctly. We’ll have to send it back. |
| To set (something) up | To organise, to arrange | Please set up a conference call with the Polish office to discuss the quarterly sales figures. |
| To shop around | To compare prices | The company needs to shop around to make sure that it gets the best possible deal on the new printers. |
| To sort (something) out | To resolve a problem | This report isn’t clear. We need to get together and sort out exactly what we want it to say. |
| To take (something) back | To return an item | If the customer is not happy with the printer performance, we need to take it back and offer them an alternative. |
| To think (something) over | To consider | I’d like you to think over the various options and we’ll make a decision at tomorrow’s meeting. |
| To turn (something) down | To reject, to refuse | We presented the agreed position at the negotiations, but the other side turned them down. |
| To try (something) out | To test | We will be installing the new printers and trying them out over the next couple of days. |
| To use (something) up | To finish the supply | We’ve used up our annual training budget, so we need to be creative about how we fund training over the next two months. |
That’s it for phrasal verbs for now. They are often used in emails between colleagues, or with customers with whom we have a strong relationship, to avoid being overly formal when we write.
Happy writing.
