Phrasal verbs (cụm động từ) là sự kết hợp giữa động từ + giới từ/trạng từ, tạo ra nghĩa mới khác với động từ gốc. Đây là phần quan trọng nhất trong tiếng Anh giao tiếp – người bản xứ dùng phrasal verbs liên tục. Bài này tổng hợp 200 phrasal verbs thông dụng nhất chia theo động từ gốc.

Nhóm GET (30 cụm)

  • get up – thức dậy: I get up at 6 every day.
  • get along (with) – hòa hợp: I get along with my colleagues.
  • get away – tránh khỏi, đi nghỉ: Let’s get away for the weekend.
  • get back – quay lại: When will you get back from Paris?
  • get by – xoay xở: I can get by on $500 a month.
  • get down – làm buồn: This weather gets me down.
  • get in – vào, lên (xe): Get in the car!
  • get off – xuống (xe buýt, tàu): Get off at the next stop.
  • get on – lên (xe buýt, tàu): Get on the bus quickly.
  • get on with – tiếp tục: Get on with your homework.
  • get out – ra ngoài, thoát: Get out of here!
  • get over – vượt qua: It took her months to get over the breakup.
  • get rid of – loại bỏ: We need to get rid of this old furniture.
  • get through – hoàn thành, liên lạc được: I couldn’t get through on the phone.
  • get together – tụ họp: Let’s get together this weekend.
  • get up to – làm gì đó (thường tiêu cực): What have you been getting up to?

Nhóm TAKE (25 cụm)

  • take off – cất cánh, cởi ra: The plane took off at 9 PM. / Take off your shoes.
  • take on – đảm nhận: She took on more responsibilities.
  • take up – bắt đầu (sở thích): I’d like to take up yoga.
  • take after – giống (người thân): She takes after her mother.
  • take over – tiếp quản: He took over the company.
  • take out – lấy ra, đưa đi chơi: I’ll take you out for dinner.
  • take in – hiểu, lừa: It was hard to take in all the information.
  • take down – tháo xuống, ghi chép: Take down this address.
  • take back – rút lại lời nói: I take back what I said.
  • take apart – tháo rời: He took the radio apart.
  • take care of – chăm sóc: Take care of your health.
  • take part in – tham gia: I took part in the competition.
  • take advantage of – lợi dụng: Don’t let people take advantage of you.

Nhóm LOOK (20 cụm)

  • look after – chăm sóc: Who looks after the baby?
  • look for – tìm kiếm: I’m looking for my keys.
  • look up – tra cứu: Look up the word in the dictionary.
  • look forward to – mong đợi: I look forward to seeing you.
  • look down on – khinh thường: Don’t look down on others.
  • look up to – ngưỡng mộ: I look up to my father.
  • look into – điều tra: The police will look into the matter.
  • look out – cẩn thận: Look out! There’s a car coming!
  • look over – xem qua: Can you look over my essay?
  • look through – đọc lướt qua: She looked through the magazine.
  • look back on – nhìn lại quá khứ: Looking back on my childhood, I was happy.

Nhóm PUT (20 cụm)

  • put on – mặc, đeo: Put on your jacket.
  • put off – trì hoãn: Don’t put off until tomorrow.
  • put up with – chịu đựng: I can’t put up with this noise.
  • put down – đặt xuống, hạ thấp: Don’t put yourself down.
  • put out – dập tắt: Firefighters put out the fire.
  • put up – dựng lên, cho ở nhờ: Can you put me up for the night?
  • put away – cất đi: Put away your toys.
  • put together – lắp ráp: He put together the furniture.
  • put through – nối máy: Please put me through to Mr. Smith.
  • put forward – đề xuất: She put forward a new idea.

Nhóm GIVE (15 cụm)

  • give up – từ bỏ: Don’t give up on your dreams.
  • give in – đầu hàng, nhượng bộ: She finally gave in to his demands.
  • give out – phát: Give out the papers to students.
  • give back – trả lại: Give me back my book.
  • give away – cho đi: She gave away all her old clothes.
  • give off – tỏa ra: The flowers give off a sweet smell.

Nhóm GO (20 cụm)

  • go on – tiếp tục, xảy ra: What’s going on?
  • go off – reo lên, nổ tung: The alarm went off at 6.
  • go out – đi chơi, tắt: Let’s go out tonight.
  • go through – trải qua: She’s going through a hard time.
  • go over – xem lại: Let’s go over the report.
  • go up – tăng lên: Prices have gone up.
  • go down – giảm: Temperatures went down last night.
  • go ahead – tiến hành: Go ahead with your plan.
  • go after – theo đuổi: Go after your dreams.
  • go back – quay lại: I want to go back home.
  • go away – đi xa: Go away! Leave me alone.
  • go for – chọn, thích: I’ll go for the chocolate cake.

Nhóm COME (15 cụm)

  • come up – xuất hiện: A problem has come up.
  • come up with – nghĩ ra: She came up with a great idea.
  • come across – tình cờ gặp: I came across an old photo.
  • come back – trở lại: Please come back soon.
  • come over – đến nhà ai: Come over for dinner.
  • come in – vào: Please come in.
  • come out – ra mắt, lộ ra: The book comes out next month.
  • come along – đi cùng: Why don’t you come along?
  • come down with – bị (bệnh): I’m coming down with a cold.
  • come up against – đối mặt với: We came up against many difficulties.

Nhóm BREAK, MAKE, TURN (30 cụm)

  • break down – hỏng (xe), suy sụp: My car broke down on the highway.
  • break up – chia tay: They broke up last month.
  • break in – đột nhập: A thief broke in last night.
  • break out – bùng nổ (chiến tranh, dịch): War broke out in 1939.
  • break off – hủy bỏ: They broke off the engagement.
  • make up – bịa, làm hòa, trang điểm: She made up a story. / Let’s make up.
  • make up for – bù đắp: I want to make up for lost time.
  • make out – nhìn rõ, hiểu: I can’t make out his handwriting.
  • make over – làm lại, sửa: She made over the old dress.
  • turn on/off – bật/tắt: Turn off the lights, please.
  • turn up – xuất hiện, vặn to: He turned up late. / Turn up the music.
  • turn down – từ chối, vặn nhỏ: She turned down the job offer.
  • turn out – hóa ra: It turned out to be a great day.
  • turn into – biến thành: The caterpillar turned into a butterfly.
  • turn over – lật, chuyển giao: Turn over the page.

Nhóm khác (25 cụm)

  • run out of – hết: We ran out of milk.
  • run into – tình cờ gặp: I ran into John yesterday.
  • run over – cán phải: A car ran over the cat.
  • keep up with – theo kịp: Keep up with the news.
  • keep on – tiếp tục: Keep on trying.
  • find out – phát hiện: I found out the truth.
  • set up – thành lập: He set up his own business.
  • set off – khởi hành: We set off at dawn.
  • bring up – nuôi dạy, đề cập: She brought up two children.
  • call off – hủy bỏ: They called off the meeting.
  • carry on – tiếp tục: Carry on with your work.
  • carry out – thực hiện: They carried out the plan.
  • fill in/out – điền: Fill in the form.
  • figure out – hiểu ra: I can’t figure out this puzzle.
  • hand in – nộp: Hand in your homework.
  • hold on – đợi: Hold on a minute.
  • let down – làm thất vọng: Don’t let me down.
  • pass out – ngất xỉu: He passed out from the heat.
  • pick up – đón, nhặt: I’ll pick you up at 7.
  • show up – xuất hiện: He didn’t show up.
  • sort out – giải quyết: Let me sort this out.
  • stand by – ủng hộ: I stand by my decision.
  • stand for – viết tắt cho: USA stands for United States of America.
  • watch out – cẩn thận: Watch out for the dog!
  • work out – tập thể dục, giải quyết: I work out every morning.

Mẹo học phrasal verbs hiệu quả

  1. Học theo nhóm động từ gốc (get, take, look…) thay vì học rời rạc.
  2. Học theo ngữ cảnh: đặt câu, viết đoạn văn dùng phrasal verb mới.
  3. Học mỗi ngày 5 cụm + ôn lại 5 cụm cũ.
  4. Xem phim, đọc sách để bắt gặp phrasal verbs trong tình huống thật.
  5. Phân biệt separable vs inseparable: turn on the TV / turn the TV on (separable) vs look after the kids (inseparable – không tách).

Bài tập có đáp án

Chọn phrasal verb đúng:

  1. I ___ at 6 every morning. (get up / get on)
  2. Please ___ your shoes before entering. (take off / take in)
  3. I’m ___ my keys. Have you seen them? (looking for / looking after)
  4. Don’t ___ until tomorrow what you can do today. (put off / put on)
  5. She ___ smoking last year. (gave up / gave in)
  6. The plane ___ at 9 PM. (took off / took on)
  7. Can you ___ the word in the dictionary? (look up / look over)
  8. I ___ John at the supermarket. (ran into / ran out)
  9. The meeting was ___ due to bad weather. (called off / called on)
  10. I need to ___ this problem. (figure out / figure in)

Đáp án: 1.get up 2.take off 3.looking for 4.put off 5.gave up 6.took off 7.look up 8.ran into 9.called off 10.figure out

Kết luận

200 phrasal verbs trên đây là cốt lõi của tiếng Anh giao tiếp hàng ngày. Hãy luyện tập từng nhóm động từ gốc, đặt câu thực tế và sử dụng trong đối thoại để ghi nhớ lâu dài. Phrasal verbs cũng là chủ đề thường xuyên xuất hiện trong TOEIC Part 5-7 và IELTS Speaking.