English Phrasal Verbs for Business (With Practice)

Phrasal verbs are everywhere in business English, and they trip up even confident speakers. You can have perfect grammar, a strong vocabulary, and still sound oddly formal or robotic because you avoided them. This post fixes that.

What Is a Phrasal Verb, Exactly?

A phrasal verb is a verb combined with one or two small words — a preposition, an adverb, or both — that together create a new meaning. The tricky part is that the new meaning often has nothing obvious to do with the original verb.

Take follow up. You know what follow means. You know what up means. But follow up means to check on progress after an earlier communication. Not obvious at all.

In business, phrasal verbs come up constantly in emails, meetings, presentations, and negotiations. Knowing the most common ones signals fluency. Avoiding them signals hesitation.

One thing worth knowing: phrasal verbs can be separable or inseparable. A separable one allows (and sometimes requires) an object to go between the verb and the particle. An inseparable one does not.

• Separable: Please fill in the form. / Please fill the form in. Both are fine.
• Inseparable: We need to look into the issue. You cannot say look the issue into. It simply does not work.

You do not need to memorise rules here. The more you read and hear these in context, the more natural the patterns become. That exposure and repetition is exactly what the daily coaching programme is built around. For more details, click here.

Essential Business Phrasal Verbs with Examples

Here are ten phrasal verbs you will genuinely use at work. For each one, there is a plain definition and then a realistic sentence from a business or professional setting.

1. Follow up – to contact someone again after a previous interaction
   “I sent the proposal last week. I’m following up to see if you had any questions.”
2. Set up – to arrange or establish something
   “Can we set up a call for Thursday afternoon?”
3. Take on – to accept new work, responsibility, or staff
   “The company is taking on three new account managers this quarter.”
4. Look into – to investigate or research something
   “We’re looking into why the delivery was delayed.”
5. Draw up – to write or prepare a formal document
   “Legal has been asked to draw up a new contract.”
6. Cut back on – to reduce spending or usage
   “The board has decided to cut back on travel expenses.”
7. Run by – to tell someone about an idea to get their reaction or approval
   “Before we proceed, I’d like to run this by the director.”
8. Back up – to support a claim or person, or to copy data
   “Do you have data to back up that forecast?”
9. Phase out – to gradually stop using or offering something
   “They’re phasing out the old software by end of year.”
10. Touch base – to briefly make contact to share or check information
    “Let’s touch base on Monday before the client meeting.”

Phrasal Verbs in Real Scenarios

Seeing a list is useful. Seeing phrasal verbs doing real work in a sentence is better.

Scenario 1: A business email

“Hi Sarah, I’m following up on our conversation from last week. I’ve drawn up a preliminary budget and would like to run it by you before we move forward. Could we set up a quick call this week?”

Three phrasal verbs, one short email. Natural. Professional. Exactly how fluent speakers write.

Scenario 2: A team meeting

“We need to look into the drop in Q3 sales before we take on any new projects. The CFO wants us to cut back on external consultants for now.”

Notice that none of these feel informal or inappropriate. These are standard expressions in professional contexts, not slang.

Scenario 3: An IELTS Writing Task 2 idea

If you’re preparing for IELTS, phrasal verbs belong in your speaking responses, and occasionally in writing when they fit naturally. In an essay about corporate responsibility, you might write: “Companies that fail to phase out harmful practices risk serious reputational damage.” Controlled and precise.

Practice Exercise

Fill in the blank with the correct phrasal verb from the box below. Each verb is used once.

[ follow up / draw up / look into / take on / cut back on ]

1. “We can’t ________ any new clients until we’ve resolved the staffing issue.”
2. “The finance team will need to ________ unnecessary subscriptions to meet the budget target.”
3. “I’ll ________ the complaint and get back to you by Friday.”
4. “HR has been asked to ________ a new remote work policy.”
5. “I just wanted to ________ on the email I sent you last Tuesday.”

The full answer key, plus an extended exercise set with ten more questions, is available to daily coaching subscribers. If you want to practise these properly rather than just read about them, that’s where the real work happens. For full details, visit the subscription page.

Vocabulary to Know

• phrasal verb /ˈfreɪ.zəl vɜːb/ – Level: B1 – a verb combined with a preposition or adverb that together carry a distinct meaning – Example: “Follow up” is one of the most common phrasal verbs in business English.
• separable /ˈsep.ər.ə.bəl/ – Level: B2 – (of a phrasal verb) allowing an object to be placed between the verb and its particle – Example: “Fill in the form” and “fill the form in” are both correct because the verb is separable.
• inseparable /ɪnˈsep.ər.ə.bəl/ – Level: B2 – (of a phrasal verb) not allowing the object to be inserted between the verb and its particle – Example: “Look into” is inseparable, so you cannot place the object between the two words.
• preliminary /prɪˈlɪm.ɪ.ner.i/ – Level: B2 – coming before the main part of something; initial or preparatory – Example: We sent the client a preliminary report before the full audit was complete.
• reputational damage /ˌrep.jʊˈteɪ.ʃən.əl ˈdæm.ɪdʒ/ – Level: C1 – harm caused to the public perception of a person or organisation – Example: The data breach caused significant reputational damage to the firm.
• proceed /prəˈsiːd/ – Level: B1 – to continue or move forward with an action or plan – Example: We’ll proceed with the contract once legal has reviewed it.
• collocation /ˌkɒl.əˈkeɪ.ʃən/ – Level: C1 – a natural and common combination of words that native speakers use habitually – Example: “Make a decision” is a strong collocation; “do a decision” is not.
• fluency /ˈfluː.ən.si/ – Level: B1 – the ability to speak or write a language smoothly, accurately, and without hesitation – Example: Her fluency improved noticeably after six months of regular practice.
• account manager /əˈkaʊnt ˌmæn.ɪ.dʒər/ – Level: B2 – a professional responsible for managing a company’s relationships with specific clients – Example: The account manager scheduled a review meeting with their top five clients.
• phase out /feɪz aʊt/ – Level: B2 – to gradually withdraw or discontinue something over a period of time – Example: The airline announced it would phase out its oldest aircraft by 2026.

FAQ

Are phrasal verbs appropriate in formal business writing?

Most of the time, yes. Phrasal verbs like follow up, draw up, and phase out are entirely standard in professional emails and reports. A few phrasal verbs are more conversational, so it’s worth learning which register each one belongs to. When in doubt, check how the verb is used in real business documents rather than relying on instinct alone.

Do I need to know phrasal verbs for the IELTS exam?

Yes, particularly for Speaking. The IELTS Speaking rubric rewards lexical resource, which includes using a range of vocabulary naturally. Appropriate phrasal verbs show the examiner you have genuine command of the language. In Writing, use them only when they fit. Forcing them in looks as awkward as avoiding them entirely.

What’s the best way to actually remember phrasal verbs?

Context and repetition. A list alone rarely sticks. The most effective approach is encountering the same phrasal verb multiple times across different situations: reading it, hearing it, then producing it yourself in a sentence or conversation. That active production step is the one most learners skip, and it’s the one that matters most.

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