18 Useful Phrasal Verbs for Work in English
hi internets welcome back to our weekly
live stream my name is Alisha and today
we’re going to talk about phrasal verbs
for the office many of you have asked me
to teach lessons about phrasal verbs so
today I’m going to do a lesson and we’re
going to learn a lot of different
phrasal verbs that you can use at work
at school in meeting situations in
situations where you use a computer
whatever so not just for work not just
for the office but hopefully that you
can use in a few different ways in your
everyday life
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great there are many people here I’m
going to share the video and then I am
going to start the lesson so today’s
lesson I made again as usual
in three parts we’re going to focus on
vocabulary like specific situation
vocabulary for each for each part of
today’s lesson so the first part are the
first like group of phrasal verbs I want
to look at for today is this these are
phrasal verbs you can use for every day
of office activities so yes I have
everyday office activities but some of
these you can use for other parts of
your life too so I’ll mention those
the lesson let’s get started okay first
the first this is actually two different
phrasal verbs first is two o’clock in
two o’clock in second is to clock out
so two o’clock in and to clock out those
are two separate phrasal verbs two
o’clock in two o’clock in means to
record your start time to record your
start time so this means when you arrive
at the office you record when you begin
work so maybe you use like a I don’t
know some digital system to record when
you start your office hours
that’s called clocking in we use the
phrasal verb to clock in so in a
sentence walk in when you get to the
office so clock in is right here clock
in this is like a rule or a command so
clock in when you get to the office so
the opposite then is this one to clock
out to clock out so maybe you can guess
to clock out means to record your end
time to record your end time or to
record the time you stopped working to
clock out to clock out so in a sentence
clock out when you leave so clock in
when you get to the office clock out
when you leave or clock out when you
finish work it’s a clock in and clock
out a very basic office related and
fight phrasal verb okay let’s move on to
the next one then the next one is to set
up to set up please note that for this
phrasal verb there is a space there’s a
space between set and up set up with no
space is a noun to set up
that’s a phrasal verb
keep the space there when you’re making
this a verb so to set up one’s desk or
work station so maybe you have a desk at
your office or at your school or maybe
you have just kind of a workstation
maybe it’s not exactly a desk you could
use workstation too so to set up means
to prepare something so like to get
something ready for example let’s set up
workstations for the new staff so let’s
set up workstations we follow this set
up with workstation or with desk like I
need to set up my desk for the day
that’s typically how we use it sprays
over okay and it’s only says now I
understand what was written on my work
clock yeah this probably clock in a
clock out phrase it’s written on a lot
of office clocks I think okay let’s move
on then to the next one to skip out on
just skip out on misses one that you can
use in situations outside of the office
to skip out on means to not attend
something on purpose like you decide I
don’t have time for this meeting or I
said I would go to this event but I
decided not to go so we use the
expression to skip out on to skip out on
this sounds rather casual so we do not
use this in formal situations but you
might use this with your colleagues with
your close co-workers to skip out on to
skip
for example I’m gonna skip out on the
afternoon meeting today I’m gonna skip
out on the afternoon meeting today so
skip out on and then what thing what
event did you choose not to attend in
this case the afternoon meeting I’m
gonna skip out on the afternoon meeting
today okay onward then we’ve got three
more in this first group so this one is
to head out to head out you can use this
in a lot of different cases not just at
the office not just at work to head out
means to leave to leave so this has no
like no relationship to your head your
physical head so to head out means to
leave for example it’s late I’m gonna
head out I’m gonna head out so replace
leave or maybe go with head out okay a
question on health says is it correct to
say help me to set my desk up yeah
that’s fine that’s fine so about this
one here to set up yes you can split
that so help me set my desk up is okay
that’s alright okay Katie on Facebook
says I always skip out on University
classes really that’s not a good thing
me are you paying for those Wow okay
onward to next one the next one here ah
this next one is super useful at work
and at school it is to hand in to hand
in to hand in means to submit so this
expression comes from this motion like
when you submit a report or you submit
your homework this is kind of emotion
yeah like or before digital stuff I
guess but we used this motion so it’s
like your hand
moved in towards another person so we
use the phrasal verb to hand in to hand
in to mean to submit something for
example past tense I handed in my report
at the end of the day I handed in my
report so what did you hand in this is
the thing that you handed in I handed in
known phrase I handed in my report at
the end of the day okay last one for
this first group then it is to call in
to call in especially to call in sick to
call in sick this expression this
phrasal verb means to contact your
office or to contact your school to tell
them you are not coming to work today
because you’re sick or to tell them you
are sick usually for example I have to
call in sick today I have to call in
sick today so this is like when we were
at home we pick up the phone and we call
in to the office is kind of the idea our
communication goes into the office
that’s sort of how you can imagine this
but we said call in sick call in sick
we typically don’t use another adjective
here we don’t say I’m going to call in
tired or I’m going to call in happy or
something we use I’m going to call in
sick this means I’m not coming to the
office today because I am sick ok of the
setcolor there on youtube says when we
are about to leave the office in the
evening how should we say what should we
say ok you can say to your close
colleagues you can use this expression I
introduced this I’m
head out I’m gonna head out that one’s
rather casual you can just say like have
a good evening as well like that’s kind
of polite have a bit okay Olivia says my
kids hand in their homework to me is
that correct yeah that could be okay
that could be okay my kids hand hand in
is used like when you submit something
like professionally like formally so if
it’s your kids like your son or your
daughter is giving you their homework
maybe a little different I would use I
hand in my homework to my teacher or I
hand in my report to my boss it sounds
kind of official something like that
okay
all right other thing I don’t see any
other questions so I’m going to take a
quick break and then we’ll move on to
the next part of today’s lesson so if
you missed it earlier I talked as always
about the free things are we going to
see that video again okay all right let
me grab a physical copy so that we can
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so I show you these every week why not
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this one’s like romance one this is the
one I wanted the business one so today
I’m focusing on vocabulary words for the
office so this hard to see
hey Instagram you can see Matthew so
this is the sorry this is my business
one very hard to see here but you can
find all of the phrases for a business
meeting I mostly use some phrasal verbs
you can find this from the link below
the video on YouTube or above the video
on this okay alright let’s move along
yes this is live to all of you who
always ask that question during a live
stream let’s continue on to part two of
today’s lesson we’re going to talk now
about expressions or phrasal verbs
rather for meetings phrasal verbs for
meetings so let’s get to it
also if you’re just joining please make
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let’s move along phrasal verbs for
meetings
so for meetings there’s a lot or
actually there are a few here about
making notes
so the first phrasal verb there are two
kind of variations there are two
different expressions we use first is to
write down and the other is to take down
so to write down or to take down just
means to write notes like it has this
feeling of just quickly like making just
a small note so you’re not like writing
an essay in the meeting like you’re
quickly making small notes so we use to
write down or to take down
to describe that for example he wrote
down the details of the agreement he
wrote down the details of the agreement
so this is past tense wrote down so when
we make a phrasal verb in past tense we
do still need to conjugate the verb
there just as we would regularly so he
wrote down the details of the agreement
with this one he took down the details
of the agreement so again hopefully if
making notes making notes is to take
down yes someone wrote to jot down the
notes yeah nice one let’s add that here
to chopped to jot j OT to jot down notes
means like just to quickly take notes
again dropped so some people might like
to use that I don’t really use job that
much no not my thing but it’s fine uh
Brit maybe I mean it is kind of British
English you okay either way you can use
it if you like it let’s go to the next
one the next one is kind of the opposite
you might think to write up to write up
so to write up is not exactly the
opposite of to write down to write up
means like to prepare something by
writing like for example please write up
a list of tasks so this doesn’t mean
like quickly writing down it also
doesn’t mean like writing an essay it’s
like please take some time to prepare
something like for the meeting or please
take some time to prepare this
information so write up some details or
write up a list of tasks so it’s not
like notes and it’s not
like an essay it’s kind of in between so
please write up any simple agreement or
please write up a list something like
that sounds quite natural okey-dokey
let’s go to the next one - speak up -
speak up - speak up means to use your
voice of course to speak and to share
your ideas or to share your opinion
especially in cases where maybe you
don’t usually share your opinion so like
for example if you’re usually kind of a
quiet person and you decide to share
your opinion in a meeting you might say
like I’m going to speak up like you
think to yourself I’m going to speak up
or if your coworker is a quiet person
you might say wow my coworker spoke up
in the meeting so to speak up means to
share your opinion or to share your idea
especially in cases where you don’t
usually do that for example if you have
an idea please speak up please speak up
and some of you probably know speak up
also means please speak more loudly - so
if I’m like speaking really quietly you
might say please speak up please speak
up which means please speak more loudly
like you’re too quiet so there are two
different meanings for that phrasal verb
depending on the situation you can guess
which one it is
alright some questions Elizabeth on
YouTube says sorry could I say to write
up a draft yeah I think you could say
like write up a draft of an agreement or
like write up a draft of a contract yeah
I think that’s fine so to write
something up sounds a little bit rough
like it’s not the final version so I
think write up a draft is fine someone
on hell says I think you missed listen
up did I miss it
or did I choose not to include it hmm
okay on Facebook Muhammad says write up
means take notes
yeah write up is
like you are creating a document yes
but it’s like the rough document so
write down is like just taking notes
it’s not an essay it’s not a perfect
like message but to write up is like
you’re going to prepare something like
to give to someone else so maybe it’s
like proper message okay I don’t see
anything others all right let’s continue
to this one to fill someone in to fill
someone in to fill someone in means to
give someone an update to give someone
an update usually a small update and we
often use fill in when we’re requesting
the update so for example if I’m your
boss
in this situation I want an update from
you I might say please fill us in about
the project please fill me in about the
project or please fill me in about your
studies means please update me give me a
quick short small update about your
activities or your project
so you’ll notice fill in you can split
this one so in this case fill us in or
fill me in is also okay to use fill me
in fill us okay onward then the next the
next one is to check in to check in
maybe you know this for like a
and an airplane so when you’re flying
like to check in for your flight or to
check into a hotel
to check in here means again to ask for
an update like to ask about progress to
ask about the status of a project is to
check in so for example I’d like to
check in about our new program I’d like
to check in about our new program you
might also here check in on someone
check in on my father
so like I’d like to check in on my
father he’s in the hospital something
like that
that also means to get a status update
when you use this check in on someone it
means get a status update about that
person’s condition to check in on
someone to check in about topic so there
are a couple of different ways to use
this check in on or check-in about all
right onward sin the athan Facebook has
follow up yeah follow up is another nice
one I’ll add it here follow up to follow
up is used usually I usually use follow
up when I send someone an email and I
haven’t heard a reply there’s no reply
but I expect it I’ll say I’m writing to
follow up on my last email it means like
check in after the last thing I sent you
to follow up okay on to the next one
these two these are kind of a pair to
talk up to talk up and to talk down to
talk up and to talk down so to talk up
to talk up means to speak about someone
and make them sound great so like in
this sentence my manager talked up
team at the meeting past tense our
manager talked up who our team so that
means the manager is saying the team is
so great so the manager is talking about
like the success of the team where the
great skills on the team so to talk
someone up or to talk to something a
team to talk something up means to make
it sound really really good on the other
hand to talk down to to talk down to
don’t forget this preposition here to
talk down to means to speak to someone
as if they are below you so let’s see
there’s enough space here I think let’s
imagine this is one person and this is
the other person great drawing Alisha
okay so it’s like they’re looking down
on someone as they’re talking so to talk
down to means to speak to someone like
they are below you they have a lower
level than you so maybe they’re rude or
they’re mean they’re impolite so this is
to talk down to someone for example
don’t talk down to your colleagues don’t
talk down to your colony so here so talk
up make someone sound good to talk down
to means to speak to someone like they
are below you very good okay
Mohammed on facebook says talk up means
praise yeah kind of it kind of means
praise so you are you are praising them
yes in order to improve someone else’s
opinion of that person so in this
sentence my manager talked of our team
it like there’s usually a reason like we
want to improve someone’s
Union of us or about you oh okay a
couple of points I saw okay on YouTube
Ruben said my boss talked up our team’s
skills good okay let’s see there a lot I
already use check-in to mean hi I am
showing up yes so as I said check-in can
be used at a hotel as well to mean like
I have arrived I am here other things to
talk down to means looks down on you
yeah it can be it can mean to look
talked down to can mean to look down on
someone but to talk down to means like
you’re actually using your words you’re
speaking to someone like they are below
you okay let’s move on you guys have
some questions and I will try to get to
them a bit later I have a few more
things to get to so we’ll take a quick
break and then finish with the last
point so if you missed it I talked a bit
about the free PDFs we always have that
you can find from the link below the
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Facebook check those links wherever
you’re watching if you’re watching on
Instagram please check YouTube or
Facebook to get the links for these so
this is the one I’ve been holding is the
business English one of course today’s
lesson is focused on office English
office related vocabulary that you can
use but we have lots of other ones I
showed a couple of these earlier this is
like a shopping related one on the back
of this is a verb for shopping actually
too so this is another popular one we
also have travel so we are talking a
little bit about travel related
expression you can pick all of these up
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Facebook okay let’s go to the last part
today’s lesson and then the last part of
today’s lesson is about computer tasks
computer tasks so things that you do on
a computer or that are related to a
computer so if you’re just joining
please don’t forget to like and share
the videos other people can find it ok
let’s continue so the first the first
phrasal verb for this part is to send
over to send over to send over just
means send yes to send something but we
use this kind of casually so and we
often use it with digital files like
please send over the photos when you
have a chance so please send over here
this just means sent like please send
the photos when you have a chance
send over sounds a little bit more
casual like we’re a little bit closer so
you could use this link like co-worker
or a colleague you’re a little bit close
to like can you send over that file it
sounds a little bit more friendly than
just simply send send sounds a little
bit more stiff okay the next one is to
look into to look into this is a really
good one
for a lot of different situations for
any kind of planning to look into means
to research to research so to look into
something means to find facts to find
information to find data about something
to research something for example I’m
looking into some upgrades for our
equipment I’m looking into some upgrades
for our equipment here I’m using it in
the progressive looking into which means
I’m researching now I’m researching some
upgrades for our equipment so looking
into in progressive or look into
regularly
we can use this like when making
vacation plans like I’m looking into
summer vacation packages or let’s look
into some place to go this weekend
so to look into it means to research to
research ok onward running out of time
oh my gosh three left okay the next one
is a pair to fill in or to fill out to
fill in or to fill out these means right
sorry please need to write like in a
form so when we need to enter our
personal information like our name or
birthday our address we use fill out so
especially when we are writing forms for
example we filled out the shipping form
we filled out the shipping form means we
entered our information into the
shipping form that we use filled out
then please fill in the form please fill
in the form
so what there’s no difference between
fill in and fill out in this case in
this case you can use whichever you
prefer fill in or fill out I would say
perhaps in American English we use fill
out a little more commonly if you fill
in is a little more common in British
English okay on to the last two to plug
in to plug in very important to plug in
to plug in means to connect something to
electricity to plug in your computer
monitor to plug in your iPad to plug in
your TV to connect to electricity so I
forgot to plug in my phone I forgot to
plug in my phone ah a point here the
opposite is not to plug out when you
want to do the opposite we
to unplug to unplug u n PL u G to unplug
something needs to remove a connection
to electricity so to plug in to unplug
something so do not use plug out that’s
not anything please use to unplug to
unplug alright final final final final
vocabulary word is to pull up to pull up
this phrasal verb in a computer related
setting means to open a file on a screen
so for example hey can you pull up that
PDF means like to open the file on the
screen so to pull up something needs to
open it so we can see it on the screen
so you might hear this in a meeting or
if your coworker comes to your desk and
says something like can you pull up the
latest version of the poster can you
pull up the latest version of the poster
it means can you please open it on your
screen so we can both see it so to pull
up is usually used when you need to
reference something you can look at
something with someone else to pull up
oh ok great
that is everything so we’ll wrap up
there I will finish there for today’s
lesson but I hope that you found some
new expressions that you can use of
course at the office and in your
everyday life as well these are just a
few phrasal verbs that you can use at
work but I hope it’s a good start for
you so if you have questions please send
them in the chat I will try to answer
them somehow so please do send them
along
okay we have to finish up for today
though so I’ll end today’s lesson here
we will of course be back next week next
week the date will be July 10 yeah yeah
calendars ok July 10th Wednesday July
10th 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time that
is New York City time the topic will be
your personal style how to talk about
your personal style I’m going to try to
include some slang in this lesson so we
can talk about maybe style related slang
words slang expressions and so on so
please join us next week Wednesday 10
p.m. Eastern Standard Time for a
personal style lesson and check out the
link below the video on youtube or above
the video on Facebook to get the free
things that I showed you earlier some of
you asked about this you can download
those from the link below the video or
above the video ok so we’ll wrap it up
there thank you very much to everyone
for joining us live this week thanks for
all your questions and thank you for
liking and sharing the video we really
appreciate it
enjoy your week enjoy your weekend and
we will see you again next time