Daily life

A phrasal verb is a verb plus a small word — up, out, in — that together mean something the two words don't mean separately. You cannot reach the meaning by translating the pieces, so learn each one as a single unit.

Here are six that come up constantly in everyday conversation.

wake up — to stop sleeping. get up — to leave the bed and start the day.

These two are not the same, and mixing them up is the most common mistake here. You wake up first; you get up afterwards, when you actually move.

"I always get up at 6:30, but today I woke up and fell asleep again, so I got up at 8:30."

sleep in — to sleep longer than usual. It can be on purpose or by accident.

"Where is Tyler? He hasn't arrived at school yet." — "He texted me and said he accidentally slept in because he forgot to set an alarm."

stay up — to stay awake later than usual, deliberately.

"Let's stay up late and watch all three seasons of Stranger Things!" — "If we stay up for that, we'll be up all night!"

head out — to leave, to depart.

"We need to head out soon or we'll be very late."

show up — to arrive, often unexpectedly or later than agreed. It can be said warmly or with real sarcasm.

"Where are they? They said they'd be here two hours ago!" — [door opens] — "Well, look who decided to show up!"

pick up — to collect someone or something, or to lift it.

"The kids finish school at 13:15 — can you go and pick them up?" — "Yeah, no problem, I can pick up the kids."