50 FCE Phrasal Verbs You Need to Know (With Examples)
Fifty phrasal verbs that keep appearing in Use of English, organised by root verb — get, go, put, take, look and friends — each with a B2-level example, plus a ten-item quiz.
9 min read · last reviewed
PART 4 · KEY WORD
She finally decided.
MIND
She finally made up her mind.
PART 3 · WORD FORMATION
un-in-
DECIDE
-sion-sive-sively
in + decide + sive → indecisive
✓read the gap
✓then the root
Why phrasal verbs decide Use of English marks: Parts 1 and 2 test them constantly — a multiple-choice item where all four options are “take” verbs, or an open-cloze gap that only up can fill. Learning them by root verb (all the “get”s together, all the “look”s together) is the pattern that sticks, because the particle is what changes the meaning.
The exam’s favourite trick is testing the particle, not the verb: look up a word but look after a child; turn up at a party but turn down an invitation; take up tennis but take after your father. When you record a phrasal verb, record its nearest false friend beside it — the pair is what the multiple-choice options will be built from.
This page is a map, not the territory: a phrasal verb becomes yours the third time you meet it in the wild. The efficient loop is the exam’s own texts — Use of English exercises (Parts 1 and 2 are where they live; first two exercises per part are free, every answer explained), then reusing what you met in a writing task the same week.
The ten-item quiz
Fill the particle (answers below):
1. I don’t know how she puts ___ with that noise.
2. The meeting was put ___ until next Monday.
3. He came ___ with an excellent idea.
4. My car broke ___ on the way to work.
5. She’s really looking forward ___ the holidays.
6. They set ___ early to avoid the traffic.
7. The story turned ___ to be false.
8. I must get ___ to answering those emails.
9. He took ___ jogging after the doctor’s warning.
10. A fight nearly broke ___ outside the stadium.
Answers: 1. up · 2. off · 3. up · 4. down · 5. to · 6. off/out · 7. out · 8. round · 9. up · 10. out.
The first Reading, Listening and Speaking exercises in every part are free, and a full Reading & Use of English mock is free at both levels. Start without an account; a free one shows your results. Everything else — every exercise, every mock, Felix’s marking — comes with Exam Prep, €12 for 3 months. Nothing renews.
Reading about the exam is step zero. Sitting it is step one.
Every part of every paper is here, written to the real format and marked the way an examiner marks it. Start with the free exercises; the whole bank is €12 for 3 months when you want it.
