Useful Phrasal Verbs for IELTS Speaking (with Meaning & Examples)

Prity Mallick

8 min read

Updated On Apr 23, 2025

Get your hands on the list of most common and useful phrasal verbs for IELTS Speaking with meaning and examples here. Use them to add a natural conversational tone to your answer, boost your IELTS vocabulary and achieve your desired IELTS band score of 9.

What Are Phrasal Verbs?
List of Useful Phrasal Verbs for IELTS Speaking (with Meaning and Examples)
How to Use Phrasal Verbs Naturally in IELTS Speaking

Limited-Time Offer : Access a FREE 10-Day IELTS Study Plan!

If you are preparing for the IELTS Speaking test and want to sound more natural, fluent, and confident, learning phrasal verbs for IELTS Speaking is a smart move. It is mostly because native speakers use phrasal verbs all the time in the conversation! However, only memorizing these phrases might not help you unless you know how to use them in the correct context.

In this blog, we will cover what phrasal verbs are, the list of 35 most common and useful phrasal verbs for IELTS Speaking with meaning and example and how to learn or use them for a Band 8 and more.

What Are Phrasal Verbs?

Phrasal verbs are combinations of a verb with a preposition or adverb (or both) that create a meaning different from the original verb.

For example:

‘Give up’ does not just mean ‘give’. It means ‘to stop trying’.
Similarly, ‘look into’ means ‘to investigate’.

They are essential in spoken English and are very common in informal and conversational contexts, which is exactly what the IELTS Speaking test is all about. Now, let us go through the list of useful phrasal verbs for IELTS Speaking.

Want a high IELTS Speaking score?

Begin with our Comprehensive IELTS Speaking Band 8 Preparation Course!

Using phrasal verbs for IELTS Speaking has many benefits. Firstly, it helps you sound more natural and native-like. Secondly, it boosts your lexical resource (25% of your IELTS speaking score) and IELTS vocabulary. Thirdly, it shows your ability to use idiomatic and flexible language. Lastly, it makes your speech more expressive and engaging.

List of Useful Phrasal Verbs for IELTS Speaking (with Meaning and Examples)

The table below provides a collection of commonly used phrasal verbs that are not only useful in daily communication but also ideal for IELTS Speaking Part 1, 2, and 3.

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Usage in Speaking
Make it	arrive or get a result	Examiner: Do you have any expectations regarding your scholarship? Candidate: I’m not sure I’ll actually get it, but I hope to at least make it to the final round.
Bone up on	study intensively	Examiner: How did you prepare for the IELTS test? Candidate: I had to bone up on my English skills, especially writing.
Do away with	eliminate	Examiner: Do you think school uniforms are necessary? Candidate: Personally, I think we should do away with them. Students should wear what they like.
End up	eventually become	Examiner: What job would you like to have in the future? Candidate: Honestly, I’m not sure what I’ll end up doing yet.
Figure out	discover or solve	Examiner: How do you deal with tech problems? Candidate: I usually try to figure out the issue by watching tutorials.
Make do with	accept something less ideal	Examiner: What do you do when things don’t go as planned? Candidate: We had no coffee, so we had to make do with tea.
Goof off	waste time	Examiner: Were you a focused student in school? Candidate: Not always. I used to goof off with friends during class.
Make of	understand or form an opinion	Examiner: What do you think of IELTS questions? Candidate: I’m not sure what to make of some of them; they’re tricky.
Worn out	exhausted	Examiner: How do you feel after a long day? Candidate: I’m usually worn out from studying and working.
Clam up	go silent due to nerves	Examiner: How do you behave when nervous? Candidate: I tend to clam up, especially in front of crowds.
Work out	calculate or understand	Examiner: How do you budget your expenses? Candidate: I try to work out my monthly costs and save where I can.
Catch up	reach the same level	Examiner: How do you manage your studies? Candidate: I missed some classes and had to catch up quickly.
Carry on	continue	Examiner: Do you give up easily? Candidate: No, I carry on until I reach my goal.
Come across	meet or find by chance	Examiner: Have you ever had an unexpected meeting? Candidate: Yes, I came across an old friend while shopping.
Read up on	learn by reading	Examiner: How do you prepare for a trip? Candidate: I always read up on the culture and local customs.
Sort out	organize or solve	Examiner: Are you good at solving problems? Candidate: Yes, I like to sort out issues calmly and logically.
Zone out	lose focus or concentration	Examiner: What happens when you’re tired? Candidate: I just zone out and can’t focus at all.
Put up with	tolerate	Examiner: Have you ever had a difficult job? Candidate: Yes, I had to put up with rude customers.
Come up with	create or invent	Examiner: How do you handle problems? Candidate: I try to come up with creative solutions.
Look back on	reflect on the past	Examiner: Do you miss your childhood? Candidate: Yes, I often look back on those carefree days.
Call off	cancel	Examiner: Have your plans ever changed suddenly? Candidate: Yes, we had to call off the trip due to bad weather.
Drop out	quit something (school, course)	Examiner: Do you know anyone who left university? Candidate: A friend of mine dropped out to start a business.
Set up	start (a business, meeting)	Examiner: Would you like to run your own business? Candidate: Absolutely, I plan to set up my own company.
Run out of	have none left	Examiner: How do you manage your time? Candidate: I try to plan ahead, but I often run out of time.
Look into	investigate	Examiner: How do you make important decisions? Candidate: I usually look into all the options first.
Hold on	wait	Examiner: Are you patient? Candidate: Yes, I don’t mind holding on if I know it’s worth it.
Pick up	learn gradually	Examiner: How did you learn English? Candidate: I picked it up by watching TV and reading books.
Turn down	reject	Examiner: Would you accept any job? Candidate: No, I’d turn down something that doesn’t fit my values.
Back up	support	Examiner: Do your friends support your goals? Candidate: Yes, they always back me up when I need them.
Catch on	become popular	Examiner: Are you into trends? Candidate: Not really, but I notice when things start to catch on.
Get by	survive or manage	Examiner: How do students live on a small budget? Candidate: Most of us just get by with part-time jobs.
Give up	quit trying	Examiner: What do you do when something’s hard? Candidate: I might feel like giving up, but I usually keep going.
Turn out	end up or result in	Examiner: Have you ever been surprised by an outcome? Candidate: Yes, the interview turned out better than I expected.
Get over	recover from	Examiner: How do you deal with failure? Candidate: I give myself time and eventually get over it.
Come down with	become ill	Examiner: What do you do when you’re sick? Candidate: If I come down with something, I just rest at home.

Are you having difficulty speaking for IELTS Speaking?

Book a FREE Demo!

How to Use Phrasal Verbs Naturally in IELTS Speaking

Your lexical resource score can improve significantly with natural, accurate use of phrasal verbs for IELTS Speaking. So, here are some useful IELTS speaking tips to impress the examiner and help you use them effectively:

1 Understand the Meaning in Context

Don't just memorize definitions, learn them through usage. Phrasal verbs often have idiomatic meanings, which means they cannot always be understood just by translating each word. To use them confidently, study them in real-life situations, sentences, or conversations. For example, instead of memorizing ‘Give up means to quit’, try this - ‘Even though the exam was hard, I didn’t give up.’ To do that, read or listen to dialogues, short stories, or even movie subtitles where native speakers use phrasal verbs casually.

2 Use Them in Answers to Personal Questions

The best place to use phrasal verbs is in Speaking Part 1 and Part 2. These parts ask about your life, routines, experiences, and opinions, which are perfect situations to include phrasal verbs naturally. So, prepare answers to recent IELTS topics in IELTS Speaking tests (e.g., hobbies, daily routine, travel, school) and deliberately include one or two phrasal verbs per answer. Let’s check out some examples below.

Part 1 Example:
Q: What do you do to relax?
A: Well, I usually just zone out and listen to music after a long day.
Speaking Part 2 Example:
Describe a time when you were late for something important.
A: I completely lost track of time because I was goofing off with friends, and by the time I realized it, I had to run just to make it.

3 Practice with IELTS Actual Questions

Use phrasal verbs in mock speaking tasks and simulate real test situations. Just like vocabulary or IELTS grammar, phrasal verbs require active recall and speaking practice. Reading is not always enough. You need to say them out loud to build fluency. So, try this routine: pick 5–7 phrasal verbs, write a few IELTS-style questions (Part 1, 2, or 3), answer them using those phrasal verbs and record yourself and listen back. This kind of focused speaking practice helps you use phrasal verbs naturally, get used to how they sound in your speech and catch any awkward or incorrect uses.

4 Don’t Force It

It is better to use a few phrasal verbs well than to overuse or misuse them. You do not have to pack your answer with five phrasal verbs to impress the examiner. Doing so may make your speech sound unnatural or confusing. So, use only the phrasal verbs you fully understand and feel comfortable saying.

Wrong approach:
‘I came across a book and picked it up, and then I zoned out while reading it, and I gave up halfway, but I carried on because I had to figure out how to read up on…’
Better approach:
‘I came across an interesting book, and I really enjoyed reading it over the weekend.’

To sum up, using phrasal verbs correctly can elevate your IELTS Speaking score and help you communicate with more ease and fluency. Keep practicing the IELTS Speaking practice tests and you will get there. Just don’t give up!

Useful Links:

Frequently Asked Questions

Can using phrasal verbs really increase my IELTS Speaking score?

Yes, when used correctly, phrasal verbs can definitely help you score higher, especially under the lexical resource criterion. This criterion rewards your ability to use a wide range of vocabulary, including idiomatic expressions like phrasal verbs. They show the examiner that you can communicate in a flexible and natural way, much like a native speaker. However, it is important to use them appropriately.

How many phrasal verbs should I try to use in the IELTS Speaking test?

There’s no fixed number, but quality matters more than quantity. You don’t need to force phrasal verbs into every sentence. Using 2–4 natural, well-placed phrasal verbs across your entire speaking test is more than enough to show flexibility and range.

Are there certain phrasal verbs that are better suited for IELTS Speaking?

Yes, some phrasal verbs are especially useful for IELTS Speaking because they commonly come up in everyday topics. Examples include: ‘get by’ (to manage), ‘come up with’ (to think of), ‘catch up’ (to reach the same level), and ‘put up with’ (to tolerate). These can be used naturally when talking about school, work, travel, goals, and personal experiences.

Do phrasal verbs count as idiomatic language for IELTS scoring?

Yes, phrasal verbs are considered a form of idiomatic language, which is specifically mentioned in the Band 7+ descriptors for lexical resources. While full idioms may be harder to use naturally, phrasal verbs are simpler and more appropriate for everyday topics, making them easier to include without sounding rehearsed.