Phrasal verbs you need for work 💪

Hi there,

Welcome back to The English Breakfast — the newsletter for Italian professionals who want to sound more confident and natural in English at work.

It’s been great to see my business English students again this week — and to start working with some new ones too. When I start a new course, I always ask the question: why do you want to improve your English? The answers are always different, but the challenges are often the same.

And one challenge comes up every single time: phrasal verbs.
These verb + particle combinations can be confusing, unnatural, and hard to remember — especially if you don’t use them every day.

So here are 8 essential phrasal verbs you can use at work on Monday.

Watch this week’s video lesson and see how many you already know — and which ones you can start using next week.

Let’s practise

Can you complete the example sentences using the correct phrasal verbs from the video?

You can find the answers at the end 👀 

Here’s the list of phrasal verbs you’ll need. You might need to change the form or tense, so be careful.

bring forward · call off · put off · weigh up · call back · take on · run by · catch up on

1. I’m trying to __________ emails after being away for two days.

2. Let me __________ the idea __________ my manager before we decide.

3. I missed the client’s call, but I’ll __________ after this meeting.

4. They decided to __________ the meeting because everyone wanted to leave early.

5. She’s __________ whether to accept the new job or stay in her current role.

6. We had to __________ the team lunch when half the office was working from home.

7. The company is ready to __________ a new project next month.

8. I keep __________ writing that report and hoping it will disappear.

Give me more!

If you’re in the mood for more phrasal verbs, I’ve found a great YouTube series that teaches 1000 of them, using examples from TV shows and films.

Here’s the first video to get you started.

Let me know if you find it useful 😀 

Read all about it

Have you been paying attention to the news this week?

Test yourself with the BBC’s Quiz of the Week, which focuses on the lighter side of the news.

It’s a great way to practise reading real, up-to-date English while having a bit of fun.

For the record, I only managed a rather dismal 3 out of 7… so you’ll probably beat me 😅 

📝 As you do the quiz, make a note of any new words or phrases you come across (oh, that’s another phrasal verb!) — especially everything you think is particularly useful for you.

Here are the answers from the phrasal verb activity:

1. catch up on

2. run / by

3. call back

4. bring forward

5. weighing up

6. call off

7. take on

8. putting off

Did you get them all right? Reply to this email and let me know how you did!

All right, that’s it for this week’s edition.

Have a great week and I’ll see you next time.

All the best,

Dan

#englishlesson #learnenglish #learnenglishforfree #speakenglish #howtospeakenglishfluently #englishconversation #englishgrammar #fluentenglish #businessenglish #ingleseperitaliani #imparainglese #inglese #ingleseperlavoro #pronunciainglese #grammaticainglese #englishteacher #englishcoach #insegnatediinglese

All rights belong to the owners. No copyright infringement intended.