HOME >GRAMMAR AND LANGUAGE >SPANISH PHRASAL VERBS

	Follow F-L-S on Facebook
	Follow F-L-S on Twitter
	Follow F-L-S's Blog

Spanish phrasal verbs

ENGLISH/INGLÉS

SPANISH / ESPAÑOL

USE

Agree with	Estar de acuerdo	All women are bad drivers - I don`t agree with you
Be about to	Estar a punto de	I was about to leave the house, when my friends arrived.
Be back	Regresar	I am working late at the office tonight so I will not be back until 10.
Be out of	Quedarse sin	We are out of eggs so we cannot make a tortilla.
Be over	Terminarse	When the football match was over, we went to the pub.
Be up	Estar levantado	Phil is not up yet: he is still in bed. Phone again in ten minutes
Blow up	Estallar (una bomba)	The bomb blew up killing six people.
Blow up	Inflar	We blew up at least a hundred balloons for the Christmas party.
Break down	Averisarse	My car broke down on the way to Malaga.
Call back	Volver a llamar	I am afraid the manager is not here at the moment. Could you call back later?
Carry on	Seguir. Continuar	I am sorry if I interrupted you. Please carry on.
Carry out	Cumplir (una promesa)	The President carried out his promise to reduce taxation.
Carry out	Llevar a cabo	The execution was carried out at seven o'clock in the morning.
Clear up	Poner en orden	It took four hours to clear up after the party.
Come across	Encontrar, dar con	I came across an old friend on the metro in Madrid.
Come back	Regresar	I am going to England for two weeks. I am coming back on the fifth.
Come in	Entrar	Good morning, Come in and sit down.
Come on	Vamos, Date prisa	Come on, we are going to be late.
Cut down on	Consumir menos	You must cut down on cholesterol or you will have a heart attack.
Cut off	Cortar, desconnectar	When we did not pay the bill, the electricity was cut off.
Cut up	Cortar en pedazos	We cut up the birthday cake and gave everyone a slice.
Do up	Abrochar, Atar	I was five before I knew how to do up my shoelaces.
Do with	Tener algo que ver con, Tener relación con	What is MS DOS? It has got something to do with computers.
Do without	Pararse sin, Prescindir de	The shops are shut, so we will have to do without sugar.
Draw up	Pararse	The car drew up to the zebra crossing.
Get back	Volver, Regresar	Cinderella had to get back by twelve o`clock.
Get in(to)	Entrar	I lost my keys, so I could not get into my house.
Get off	Bajar (de un autobus, tren)	You have to get off the bus at the next stop if you want the station.
Get on	Subir (a un autobus, tren)	Quick! Get on the train, it is about to leave.
Get up	Levantarse	When I got up this morning, it was still dark.
Give back	Devolver	If you do not like the dress, the shop will give you your money back
Give up	Perder la esperanza, Rendirse	If you find phrasal verbs difficult, do not give up!
Give up	Dejar (de fumar, beber)	You will get cancer if you do not give up smoking.
Go ahead	Siga!	Can I use the phone? Yes go ahead.
Go away	Irse, Marcharse	Are you going away for Christmas, or are you staying at home?
Go back	Volver, regresar	Although she is forty, she is going back to University to study French.
Go down	Bajar	The price of fruit goes down in the summer
Go out	Salir (por la calle)	I always go out and have a few drinks on Saturday night.
Hang on/ hold on	Esperar	Hold on for a minute as Pablo will be back soon
Hang up	Colgar (el telefono)	My ex-girlfriend hung up when I phoned her
Keep up with	Mantenerse (a la altura de)	I can`t keep up with my father when we go cycling as he goes too fast
Knock down	Derribar, Atropear, Demoler	My grandfather's old house was knocked down and a bank was built
Leave behind	Olvidar, Dejar	when I got to the airport, I realised that I had left my passport behind
Let in	Dejar entrar	She opened the door and let in the cat
Look after	Cuidar	My mother looks after the children when we go away
Look for	Buscar	I spent two hours looking for my glasses before I found them
Look forward to	Esperar con ilusión	I am looking forward to the Easter holidays
Look out	Tener cuidado	Look out, there is a car coming
Look up	Buscar algo (en un libro, diccionario, internet)	If you want to know more about this, look it up on Google
Put in	Meter, Introducir	Put ten pence in the machine and you will get a cup of coffee
Put on	Encender	Put on the light, it is getting dark
Put on	Ponerse (la ropa)	Put your coat on or you will get cold
Run out of	Quedar sin algo	We ran out of petrol so we had to get the bus
Set off	Ponerse en camino	We set off to Madrid at five o`clock to avoid the traffic
Take after	Parecerse a	Pablo takes after his father: they are both optimistic
Take off	Despegar	The flight was delayed for two hours and the plane eventually took off at 6 p.m.
Take off	Quitarse la ropa	Take off your coat and make yourself comfortable
Take out	Extraer, sacar	He took these papers away: they are important
Throw away	Tirar (en la basura)	Do not throw these documents away, they are important
Turn down	Bajar (el volumen)	Turn down the radio, it is too loud
Turn up	Poner el volumen más fuerte	Turn up the radio, I cannot hear it
Turn on	Encender (televisión, luces, etc)	Turn on the television please, I want to see the news.