Phrasal verbs are part of everyday English. G1/K100 learners should learn them as complete language units: meaning, particle, grammar, object pattern and register. A one-word synonym can help explain the meaning, but it does not teach how the phrasal verb behaves in a sentence.
Use this page with the Top 100 SEC G1 Vocabulary List: Essential. The master owns the G1 Essential inventory; this page owns high-utility multi-word verbs for writing, comprehension and oral communication.
30 High-Utility G1 Phrasal Verbs
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Model |
|---|---|---|
| carry out | perform or complete | The class carried out a short survey. |
| find out | discover information | We found out why the timetable had changed. |
| point out | draw attention to | She pointed out the incorrect date. |
| work out | solve or understand | The group worked out a practical solution. |
| set up | establish or arrange | Students set up a shared document for the research. |
| look into | investigate | The school agreed to look into the complaint. |
| come up with | produce an idea | The team came up with an alternative route. |
| deal with | handle a problem or topic | The new plan deals with the queue by opening a second desk. |
| bring up | introduce a topic | Hana brought up the safety issue during the meeting. |
| follow up | take later action | The teacher followed up a week later. |
| rule out | eliminate as a possibility | The technician ruled out a power failure. |
| back up | support with evidence | The photographs backed up the residents’ account. |
| break down | divide into smaller parts | The teacher broke the task down into four steps. |
| build up | increase gradually | Tension built up as the deadline approached. |
| cut down on | reduce | The family cut down on food waste. |
| go over | review carefully | Priya went over the final paragraph. |
| hand in | submit | Please hand in the form by Friday. |
| leave out | omit | The summary left out an irrelevant anecdote. |
| pick up | acquire informally | He picked up useful presentation habits by watching experienced speakers. |
| put forward | propose | The committee put forward a revised timetable. |
| sort out | resolve | The two groups met to sort out the misunderstanding. |
| take on | accept a task or role | She took on responsibility for the volunteers. |
| turn down | reject | The council turned down the request because the safety form was incomplete. |
| turn out | prove to be | The simple repair turned out to require a replacement part. |
| figure out | understand or solve | We figured out how to reach the rear entrance. |
| get across | communicate successfully | The speaker used one example to get the main idea across. |
| go through | experience or review step by step | The class went through three drafts. |
| keep up with | stay at the required pace | The checklist helped him keep up with weekly reading. |
| put off | delay | They put off the launch until the safety check was complete. |
| build on | develop from an existing foundation | The second proposal builds on the successful pilot. |
Grammar Matters
Learn the object pattern. Compare “hand in the form” with “hand it in”. A pronoun cannot normally be placed after the particle in that pattern. By contrast, expressions such as look into and keep up with stay together.
Multiple Meanings
Some phrasal verbs are polysemous. Break down can mean divide something into parts or stop functioning. Work out can mean solve, understand, calculate or exercise. Context decides the meaning.
Register Control
Multi-word verbs are not automatically informal. Carry out a survey, point out an error and rule out an explanation can appear in formal English. In other cases, a direct alternative may fit better: investigate for look into, or submit for hand in.
K100 Transfer
Language Use and comprehension require accurate understanding of words in context. Writing and oral communication require productive control. For each phrasal verb, practise recognition, paraphrase and one original sentence with the correct object pattern.
Practice
- Rewrite “hand in the form” using the pronoun it.
- Use rule out in an investigation where one explanation is eliminated by evidence.
- Write two different meanings of break down.
- Replace look into with a more formal alternative without changing the meaning.
- Write one narrative sentence with find out.
- Write one recommendation using put forward.
- Create one incorrect separable-verb sentence, then repair it.
- Use keep up with in a study context.
- Use build on to describe how a second idea develops a first one.
- Explain why a single-word alternative is not automatically better than the phrasal verb.
Ownership Rule
This is the G1/K100 phrasal-verb route. It supports the G1 Essential master and does not compete with G2/G3 or Secondary 1–4 phrasal-verb pages.
eduKate Ecosystem Routes
This page owns G1/K100 phrasal verbs, multi-word grammar and natural usage. Keep that job distinct while using the wider eduKate network for the next layer: the Master SEC English Vocabulary Guide, Vocabulary Learning Hub, English Learning Hub, Study & Learning Methods Hub, Examinations & Assessment Hub and Tuition & Teaching Hub. The SEC Vocabulary Words for Distinctions series is a downstream precision route; it does not replace this G1/K100 owner. Use Secondary 1–4 year-level pages for age-and-stage progression and this page when the learner’s English subject level is G1/K100.
Official reference: 2027 Singapore–Cambridge SEC G1 English Language K100 syllabus. eduKate vocabulary resources are supplementary teaching selections, not official SEAB prescribed vocabulary or idiom lists.
SEC Vocabulary Hub: Browse the complete SEC English Vocabulary Hub for G1, G2, G3, Essential, Advanced and Secondary 1–4 routes.