Verb Phrase Examples and How To Identify A Verb Phrase

A verb phrase contains more than a single word that comprises the primary verb and auxiliary verb. Take a look at what verb phrases are, and then view some verb phrase examples.

Verbs that are used to describe an action in a sentence and a sentence are incomplete if there is an absence of the verb because the verb provides more information about the action that happens in the sentence.

In other words, we can also say that it also represents the tense of the sentence.

What Is a Verb Phrase?

A verb phrase consists of a verb plus another word that further illustrates the verb tense, action, and tone. The other word or words tied to a verb in a verb phrase are its dependents, which can be adverbs, prepositional phrases, helping verbs, or other modifiers. Together, this group of words defines the intention and timing of the action of the verb.

In English grammar, common verb phrases consist of a main verb and a helping verb, as in the sentence “She is going to class.” Here, “going” is the main verb while “is” operates as a helping verb to define the tense of the sentence.

They include the helping verb and main verb in a sentence. For example:

• The author wrote a new book. (Verb is “wrote”)
  • The author is writing a new book. (Verb phrase is “is writing”)
• I made an “A” in this class. (Verb is “made”)
  • I must make an “A” in this class. (Verb phrase is “must make”)
• The dog eats the cake. (Verb is “eats”)
  • The dog might eat the cake. (Verb phrase is “might eat”)
• He walked to work today. (Verb is “walked”)
  • He was walking to work today. (Verb phrase is “was walking”)
• We married after college. (Verb is “married”)
  • We got married after college. (Verb phrase is “got married”)

Verb phrases form tenses besides present and past tense, including progressive tenses and perfect tenses. They also demonstrate the sentence’s mood, intention, and other information.

Verb Phrase Examples

Verb phrases are common in the English language, and their word order is key to ensuring a sentence is grammatically correct:

• I have been practicing guitar for months.
• They will be attending the conference next week.
• She is going to paint a beautiful landscape.
• The team was working tirelessly to achieve their goal.
• We have visited several countries during our trip.
• He will finish writing the report by tomorrow.
• The students are studying for their final exams.
• The dog was chasing its tail in the backyard.
• They have been swimming in the pool all day.
• She will be cooking dinner for her family tonight.
• We were hiking in the mountains during the summer.
• The mechanic is fixing the car engine.
• The children were playing hide-and-seek in the park.
• He has written a book about his travels.
• They will be singing a duet at the concert.
• She is learning to play the piano.
• The birds were chirping in the trees.
• They will be organizing a charity event next month.
• I have been studying French for three years.
• He is going to run a marathon next weekend.
• We were dancing all night at the party.
• The chef is cooking a delicious meal in the kitchen.
• They have been practicing for the play for weeks.
• She will be delivering a speech at the conference.
• The workers were building a new bridge across the river.
• He has written a poem for his girlfriend.
• The children will be singing carols during the Christmas concert.
• We were playing board games with our friends.
• The artist is creating a masterpiece in his studio.
• They have been rehearsing for the play non-stop.

Verb phrases help to make your text more informative and meaningful. They are essential to clear writing and letting your reader know exactly what you’re trying to say.

An Extensive List of Phrasal Verbs

Here are the 100 most common phrasal verbs list with meaning:

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example of Verb Phrase
Act out	Perform or express through actions	The children acted out a scene from their favorite movie.
Act up	Behave inappropriately or malfunction	The computer is acting up again.
Act upon	Take action based on	The manager acted upon the customer’s complaint immediately.
Add up	Make sense, be logical	Her story doesn’t add up.
Ask around	Inquire or seek information from others	I asked around, but nobody had seen my lost keys.
Ask out	Invite someone on a date	He finally gathered the courage to ask her out.
Back down	Yield or withdraw a previous position	After the argument, he backed down and apologized.
Back off	Retreat or move away	The dog backed off when I shouted at it.
Back up	Support or provide evidence for	The witness’s testimony backed up the defendant’s claim.
Blow away	Impress greatly or defeat decisively	The performance blew away the audience.
Blow over	Subside or pass without much impact	The argument between the colleagues blew over quickly.
Blow up	Explode or destroy	The building blew up in a massive fire.
Break down	Stop functioning, have a breakdown	The car broke down on the highway.
Break through	Overcome an obstacle or make a discovery	The team worked hard to break through the competition.
Break up	End a relationship or separate	They decided to break up after years of dating.
Bring about	Cause or make something happen	The new government brought about significant changes.
Bring down	Lower or reduce	The company decided to bring down the prices of their products.
Bring up	Raise a topic or mention something	She brought up the issue during the meeting.
Call for	Require or demand	The situation calls for immediate action.
Call off	Cancel or postpone	They called off the soccer match due to bad weather.
Call on	Visit or consult	I will call on you tomorrow to discuss the project.
Carry away	Transport or remove forcefully	The strong winds carried away the roof of the house.
Carry on	Continue, proceed	Please carry on with your presentation.
Carry out	Perform or accomplish a task	The scientists will carry out experiments to test their theory.
Catch on	Understand or grasp something	It took a while for her to catch on to the new software.
Catch sight of	See briefly or glimpse	I caught sight of her in the crowd during the concert.
Catch up	Reach the same level or meet up with	I need to catch up with my colleagues on the latest developments.
Check in	Register at a hotel or airport	Wear formal clothes or a costume
Check in on	Monitor or visit to see how someone is doing	She checked in on her elderly neighbor every day.
Check out	Examine or investigate	The police checked out the crime scene thoroughly.
Check over	Examine or review in detail	The supervisor checked over the employees’ work before approving it.
Clean out	Empty or remove everything from	I need to clean out the garage and organize the space.
Clean up	Tidy or clean an area or mess	Let’s clean up the kitchen after dinner.
Clean up after	Tidy or remove the mess left behind	The janitor had to clean up after the party.
Come across	Encounter or find unexpectedly	I came across an old photo album while cleaning the attic.
Come across as	Give the impression of being	He comes across as confident and knowledgeable.
Come forward	Volunteer information or step forward	The witness came forward with valuable evidence.
Count on	Rely on or trust	You can count on me to help you with your project.
Count upon	Depend on or rely upon	You can count upon me to support you during tough times.
Cut back	Reduce or decrease	They decided to cut back on expenses to save money.
Cut down	Reduce or decrease	I’m trying to cut down on caffeine.
Cut off	Disconnect or interrupt	The phone call got cut off due to poor signal.
Do away with	Eliminate or get rid of	They decided to do away with the old policy.
Do over	Repeat or redo	I made a mistake, so I have to do the assignment over.
Do without	Manage or cope without	We’ll have to do without a car for a while.
Draw back	Retreat or move away	The cat drew back when the dog approached.
Draw up	Prepare or create a document or plan	The lawyer will draw up a contract for the clients.
Dress up	Eventually, reach or find oneself	Let’s dress up for the party tonight.
Drop by	Visit briefly or casually	I’ll drop by your house later to return the book.
Drop off	Take someone or something to a destination	Can you drop me off at the airport tomorrow?
End up	Eventually reach or find oneself	I took a wrong turn and ended up in a different city.
End up with	Obtain or have as a result	After the divorce, she ended up with custody of the children.
Fall apart	Disintegrate or break into pieces	The old book fell apart when I opened it.
Fall down	Trip or collapse	He fell down the stairs and hurt his leg.
Figure on	Consider or expect	We didn’t figure on such a long wait at the restaurant.
Figure out	Solve or understand	I need some time to figure out this math problem.
Fill in	Provide missing information or complete	Can you fill in this form with your personal details?
Fill out	Complete a form or document	Please fill out this application for employment.
Get along	Have a good relationship or cooperate	They don’t always get along with each other.
Get over	Recover from or move past	It took her a long time to get over her breakup.
Give in	Surrender or yield	He finally gave in and agreed to their demands.
Give up	Surrender or quit	Don’t give up on your dreams.
Go over	Review or examine in detail	Let’s go over the report before submitting it.
Go through	Experience or endure	She went through a difficult period after losing her job.
Grow out of	Outgrow or no longer be interested in	He has grown out of his childhood toys.
Grow up	Mature or develop	He needs to grow up and take responsibility for his actions.
Hand out	Distribute or give out	The teacher handed out the worksheets to the students.
Hand over	Give or transfer something	The suspect was forced to hand over the stolen money.
Hang out	Spend time or relax together	We like to hang out at the park on weekends.
Hang up	End a phone call or place something on hold	I’ll hang up now. Let’s talk later.
Hold back	Restrain or keep from advancing	He had to hold back his tears during the emotional speech.
Hold on	Wait or pause	Please hold on for a moment while I check the information.
Keep on	Continue or persist	Keep on practicing, and you’ll get better at playing the piano.
Keep up	Maintain or continue at the same pace	He works hard to keep up with the latest trends in technology.
Look after	Take care of or watch over	Can you look after my cat while I’m on vacation?
Look forward to	Anticipate or be excited about	I’m looking forward to the summer vacation.
Look up	Search for information or refer to	I’ll look up the meaning of that word in the dictionary.
Make out	Understand or see clearly	It was hard to make out the words on the faded sign.
Make up	Invent or reconcile	She made up an excuse for being late.
Pass away	Die or depart	Our beloved grandmother passed away last night.
Pass out	Faint or distribute	The heat made me pass out during the marathon.
Pay back	Return money or repay	I’ll pay you back next week for the concert ticket.
Pay off	Repay a debt or result in success	Hard work and determination will pay off in the end.
Pick out	Choose or select	Can you help me pick out a birthday gift for my sister?
Pick up	Lift or collect	Can you pick up some groceries on your way home?
Point out	Identify or draw attention to	She pointed out the spelling mistakes in my essay.
Point to	Indicate or suggest	The evidence pointed to him as the main suspect.
Put away	Store or tidy up	After dinner, we put away the dishes and cleaned the kitchen.
Put off	Postpone or delay	They decided to put off the meeting until next week.
Run into	Encounter or meet unexpectedly	I ran into an old friend at the grocery store.
Run out	Exhaust or consume completely	We ran out of milk, so I need to buy some more.
Set up	Arrange or establish	They set up a meeting to discuss the project.
Settle down	Establish a permanent residence or calm down	They decided to settle down and start a family.
Show off	Display or exhibit proudly	He likes to show off his new sports car to his friends.
Show up	Arrive or appear	He didn’t show up for the appointment.
Take after	Resemble or inherit traits	She takes after her mother with her artistic talent.
Take back	Retract or return	I want to take back what I said earlier.
Take off	Remove or leave quickly	Please take off your shoes before entering the house.
Take up	Begin or start a hobby or activity	I decided to take up painting during my free time.
Try on	Put on clothes to see if they fit	I’ll try on this dress to see if it suits me.
Try out	Test or experiment with	I’m going to try out this new recipe for dinner.
Turn down	Reject or refuse	They turned down his job offer because of the low salary.
Turn in	Submit or hand in	Please turn in your assignments by the end of the day.
Turn off	Switch off or repel	Can you turn off the lights before leaving the room?
Turn on	Switch on or activate	She turned on the TV to watch her favorite show.
Turn out	Result or happen	The party turned out to be a great success.
Turn up	Arrive or increase in volume	He turned up late to the party.
Use as	Utilize or employ as	You can use this tool as a screwdriver.
Use up	Consume completely or exhaust	We used up all the ink cartridges for the printer.
Wake up	Stop sleeping or cause someone to awaken	I wake up early every morning.
Wake up to	Become aware of or recognize	She woke up to the fact that she had been wasting her time.
Wear off	Fade away or disappear	The effects of the medication will wear off in a few hours.
Wear out	Exhaust or make something unusable	The constant use has worn out my old shoes.
Work on	Focus on or improve	He needs to work on his communication skills.
Work out	Exercise or solve	I try to work out at the gym three times a week.
Write down	Record or make a note of	Don’t forget to write down the important details.
Write off	Disregard or consider a loss	We had to write off the damaged equipment as a loss.

Verb Phrase vs. Verbal Phrase: What’s the Difference?

Verb phrases can only be used as verbs in a sentence. This might be confusing when you see verbal phrases, which are phrases that use verbs and the words that follow them as nouns, adverbs, and adjectives. These verbals do not show the action of the verb; that’s the verb phrase’s job.

Verbal phrases include infinitive phrases, participial phrases, and gerund phrases. Definitions and examples of these verbal phrases include:

• Infinitive phrases – These phrases start with an infinitive plus a simple form of a verb. They can act like a noun, adjectives, or adverbs. Example: She wanted to show off her new dress. (The phrase is the direct object of the verb “wanted,” so it is acting like a noun.)
• Participial phrases – This phrase will act as an adjective and begins with a participle. A participle is an adjective that has been made from a verb, like “talked” or “swimming.” Example: We have to replace the window broken by the hail. (The phrase modifies the noun “window”, so it is functioning like an adjective. “Have to replace” is the verb phrase.)
• Gerund phrases – These phrases act like a noun and start with a verb ending with an “ing”. They can be subjects or objects. Example: Lying to the IRS is never a good idea. (The phrase acts as the subject in this sentence. “Is” is the only verb in this sentence.

Don’t be fooled by these tricky verbals. Just because they use verbs doesn’t mean they are verb phrases. Understanding the difference between verb phrases and verbal phrases is especially helpful when diagramming sentences or proofreading writing.