This article is part of our Business English Guide — explore vocabulary, phrases and exercises for the workplace.
Sit in on any meeting, open any work email, or listen to any presentation, and within seconds you will hear them: set up, follow up, roll out, sort out, take on. Phrasal verbs are the engine of everyday business English. They are short, natural and everywhere — which is exactly why learners who avoid them sound stiff, and why those who master them sound fluent.
A phrasal verb is a verb combined with one or two particles (such as up, out, on or off) that together carry a meaning you often cannot guess from the individual words. This guide organises the most useful workplace phrasal verbs into clear themes, explains the grammar of separable and inseparable verbs, and shows you the formal one-word synonyms you can switch to when you need to sound more professional.
Key Takeaways
- Business phrasal verbs cluster around a few themes: planning, executing, meetings, staffing, problems and finance.
- Separable verbs let the object move (set up the meeting / set it up); inseparable verbs do not (deal with the issue).
- Phrasal verbs can sound informal — in formal writing, swap to a Latinate synonym: carry out → conduct, set up → establish.
- Learn each phrasal verb with a short example and its synonym, not as an isolated word.
- The fastest way to fix them in memory is active practice — gap-fills, flashcards and quizzes.
What Are Phrasal Verbs — and Why They Matter at Work
A phrasal verb pairs an ordinary verb with a particle to create a new meaning. Look means to direct your eyes; look into means to investigate. Take means to grasp; take on means to hire or to accept responsibility. Because the meaning is idiomatic, you cannot translate phrasal verbs word by word — you have to learn them as whole units.
At work they matter for two reasons. First, they are unavoidable: native speakers reach for them constantly, so understanding them is essential just to follow a conversation. Second, using them yourself makes your English sound natural and confident rather than textbook-formal. The trick is knowing when a phrasal verb fits and when a more formal synonym is the better choice — a balance we return to at the end of this guide.
Starting & Planning
Every project begins with planning, and English has a rich set of phrasal verbs for getting things off the ground.
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| set up | establish, arrange, create | We set up a new department last year. |
| draw up | prepare a written plan or document | Legal will draw up the contract. |
| map out | plan something in detail | Let’s map out the next quarter. |
| kick off | begin, start something | We kick off the campaign on Monday. |
Executing & Delivering
Once a plan exists, you have to act on it. These verbs describe doing, launching and adjusting the scale of work.
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| carry out | perform, conduct (a task or plan) | The team will carry out a survey. |
| follow up | take further action after something | I’ll follow up with the supplier. |
| roll out | launch, introduce gradually | We’re rolling out the update worldwide. |
| scale up / scale down | increase / decrease capacity | We need to scale up production. |
| ramp up | increase activity quickly | They ramped up hiring before the launch. |
Scale up is about structural capacity (a bigger system or organisation); ramp up is about increasing effort or output, usually fast. You scale up a business but ramp up production for a busy season.
Meetings & Communication
Meetings have their own vocabulary. These phrasal verbs let you raise points, clarify, summarise and stay in touch.
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| bring up | raise / mention a topic | She brought up the budget issue. |
| point out | draw attention to a fact | He pointed out an error in the report. |
| go over | review, examine in detail | Let’s go over the figures together. |
| sum up | summarise briefly | To sum up, we agreed on three actions. |
| run by | check an idea with someone | Can I run this by you? |
| touch base | make brief contact / update | Let’s touch base on Friday. |
| fill in | give someone missing information | I’ll fill you in later. |
| catch up | exchange recent news / reach the same point | We need to catch up after the trip. |
People & Staffing
Few areas are as sensitive as hiring and firing, and English uses phrasal verbs to soften some of these messages.
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| take on | hire; accept responsibility | We’re taking on two new analysts. |
| lay off | make redundant (for business reasons) | The firm laid off 200 workers. |
| let go | dismiss an employee (softer) | They had to let him go. |
| step down | resign from a senior position | The CEO stepped down in May. |
| step up | take on more responsibility | She stepped up to lead the team. |
| fill in for | temporarily replace someone | I’m filling in for the manager today. |
Lay off implies redundancy due to costs or restructuring; let go is a gentle, general way to say someone was dismissed. Both sound kinder than the blunt verb fire — useful when tone matters.
Solving Problems
When things go wrong — and they will — you need the vocabulary to investigate, fix and, occasionally, admit failure.
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| sort out | resolve, organise | We’ll sort out the invoice error. |
| deal with | handle, manage | She deals with customer complaints. |
| look into | investigate | I’ll look into the delay. |
| iron out | resolve small difficulties | We need to iron out a few details. |
| fall through | fail to happen (a plan or deal) | The deal fell through at the last minute. |
| back up | support; make a copy of data | Always back up your files. |
Finance & Growth
Money and growth have their own cluster of phrasal verbs, common in reports, board meetings and financial news.
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| take off | suddenly become successful | Sales really took off this year. |
| branch out | expand into new areas | They branched out into software. |
| pull out | withdraw from a deal or market | The investor pulled out. |
| write off | cancel a debt; treat as a loss | The bank wrote off the loan. |
| cut back | reduce (spending, costs) | We had to cut back on travel. |
| break even | reach the point of no profit or loss | The shop should break even by June. |
Separable vs Inseparable Phrasal Verbs
One grammar point causes more mistakes than any other: where the object goes. Phrasal verbs split into two patterns.
Separable (object can move)
- Noun object: either side works — set up the meeting / set the meeting up
- Pronoun object: must go in the middle — set it up (not set up it)
- Examples: set up, draw up, roll out, take on, sort out, fill in
Inseparable (stay together)
- The object always follows the whole verb
- deal with the issue (never deal the issue with)
- With a pronoun: look into it, deal with them
- Examples: deal with, look into, branch out, break even, fall through
Can you set the report up for printing? (separable — correct)
Can you set it up? (pronoun in the middle — correct)
Can you set up it? (pronoun after particle — wrong)
I’ll deal with the complaint. (inseparable — correct)
I’ll deal the complaint with. (split inseparable verb — wrong)
Formality: When to Use a Formal Synonym
Phrasal verbs can sound conversational, which is perfect for emails, meetings and calls. In very formal writing — official reports, contracts, policy documents — a single-word Latinate synonym often reads as more professional. Recognising both registers lets you adjust your tone to the audience.
| Phrasal verb (informal) | Formal synonym |
|---|---|
| carry out | conduct, perform |
| set up | establish, create |
| find out | determine, ascertain |
| look into | investigate, examine |
| cut back | reduce, decrease |
| roll out | launch, introduce |
| sort out | resolve, settle |
| put off | postpone, defer |
Match the verb to the document. “We will carry out an audit” is fine in an email; “The company shall conduct an audit” suits a contract. Neither is wrong — they simply belong to different registers.
To build a fuller toolkit, pair these verbs with the fixed expressions in our guide to essential business English phrases, review the wider set in the English phrasal verbs guide, and strengthen natural word pairings with the English collocations guide.
Practise Business Phrasal Verbs
Review every verb in this guide with flashcards and spaced repetition — free, no sign-up.
Start Flash CardsExercises to Practise on LexFizz
- Flash Cards — review phrasal verbs and their meanings with spaced repetition
- Complete the Sentence — fill in the correct phrasal verb in workplace contexts
- Cloze Dropdown — choose the right particle (up, out, on, off) from a menu
- Quiz — multiple-choice questions matching phrasal verbs to meanings
- True or False — spot correct and incorrect separable/inseparable usage
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Frequently Asked Questions
Business English phrasal verbs are multi-word verbs (a verb plus a particle such as up, out, on or off) that are extremely common in the workplace. Examples include set up (establish), carry out (conduct), follow up (check progress) and roll out (launch). They appear constantly in meetings, emails and presentations, so understanding them is essential for communicating naturally at work.
Separable phrasal verbs allow the object to come between the verb and the particle: you can say set up the meeting or set the meeting up, and with a pronoun you must separate them (set it up). Inseparable phrasal verbs keep the verb and particle together: you say deal with the problem, never deal the problem with. When in doubt, learn each phrasal verb with an example so you remember its pattern.
Many phrasal verbs are perfectly acceptable in business, but some sound informal in formal documents. For very formal writing — reports, contracts, official letters — a single-word Latinate synonym often sounds more professional: carry out becomes conduct, set up becomes establish, find out becomes determine, and cut back becomes reduce. In emails, meetings and everyday conversation, the phrasal verb is usually the more natural choice.
To follow up means to take further action after a previous contact or task — for example, to send a reminder email, check on progress, or continue a conversation. You might say I’ll follow up with the client next week or Let me follow up on that point. As a noun it is written follow-up: I’ll send a follow-up email.
Both relate to ending employment but differ slightly. To lay off staff usually means to make people redundant for business reasons such as cost-cutting or restructuring, not because of poor performance. To let someone go is a softer, more general expression for dismissing an employee, which can include performance reasons. Both are gentler than the blunt verb fire.
To touch base means to make brief contact with someone to share updates or stay in touch — for example, Let’s touch base on Friday to review progress. It is an informal, friendly expression common in spoken business English and emails, borrowed from baseball. In very formal contexts you might instead say I will contact you or let us reconvene.
To scale up means to increase the size or capacity of a business or operation, often structurally — for example, scaling up a startup or a software system. To ramp up means to increase activity, output or effort, usually quickly — such as ramping up production before a busy season. The opposite of scale up is scale down (reduce capacity).
To break even means to reach the point where total revenue equals total costs, so you make neither a profit nor a loss. For example, The new product should break even within six months. The related noun phrase is the break-even point. It is an inseparable phrasal verb: you cannot place an object between break and even.
To roll out means to launch or introduce a new product, service, system or policy, often gradually across an organisation or market — for example, We’re rolling out the new software next month. It is separable: you can say roll out the update or roll it out. A more formal synonym is launch or introduce.
Learn them in themed groups (planning, meetings, staffing, finance) rather than as a long random list, and always store each one with a short example sentence and its formal synonym. Notice them when you read business emails and news, then practise actively with gap-fill and flashcard exercises such as LexFizz’s Complete the Sentence, Flash Cards and Quiz games, which use spaced repetition to fix them in your memory.
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