English Phrasal Verbs and Idioms
Agree with: estar de acuerdo
– I’m afraid I can’t agree with you on this matter.
2. Answer back: replicar
– Don’t answer me back!
3. Back out: volverse atrás, romper un acuerdo
– It’s too late to back out now; I’m afraid we shall have to go through with it.
4. Back up: apoyar, respaldar
– If I protest against the decision, will you back me up?
5. Be after: querer, pretender
– What are you after? Just tell me plainly.
6. Be along: venir, llegar
– The doctor will be along any minute now.
7. Be back: regresar, volver
– I’ll be back as soon as I can.
8. Be fed up: estar harto
– I’m fed up with this wet weather.
9. Be for: ser partidario de
– Are you for or against the abolition of the death penalty?
10. Be in: estar en casa
– I’d like to see Dr. Bentley. Is he in?
11. Be over: terminarse, acabarse
– Well, it’s all over now. You needn’t worry about it any longer.
12. Be up to: depender de uno, incumbir a uno
– It’s not up to me to decide on these matters.
13. Blow up: estallar (una bomba), hacer saltar, volar
– The bomb blew up, killing five people.
14. Blow up: hinchar
– The child kept blowing up the balloon till it burst.
15. Blow up: echar una bronca a uno
– The teacher blew me up for arriving late this morning.
16. Break down: estropearse, averiarse
– These machines will break down if they are left without maintenance.
17. Break in: entrar rompiendo la puerta…
– The thieves broke in and stole the paintings.
18. Break up: separarse (una pareja)
– Peter and Lily broke up nearly a year ago.
19. Bring back: devolver
– I’ll lend you my car provided you bring it back tomorrow.
20. Bring on: causar, ocasionar
– Such cold and extremely damp weather often brings on influenza.
21. Bring up: educar
– She brought up her children to be truthful.
22. Carry on: seguir, continuar
– Sorry if I interrupted you. Please, carry on.
23. Carry out: cumplir (una promesa), llevar a cabo
– They didn’t carry out their promise to help us.
24. Clear up: aclarar
– I’d like to clear up this matter once and for all.
25. Do with: tener que ver con, tener relación con
– She’s very interested in anything to do with Roman art.
26. Do without: pasarse sin, prescindir de
– Children can’t do without the help of their parents.
27. Find out: averiguar
– In the end, I found out what was wrong with my radio.
28. Fix up: fijar, arreglar, organizar (una fecha…)
– The club has already fixed up several matches for next season.
29. Get along = Get on: llevarse bien con uno
– It’s very easy to get along with the new boss. He’s very nice.
30. Get away: escaparse, evadirse
– The cashier got away with all the money in the safe.
31. Get away with: quedarse sin castigo
– Some people can get away with murder.
32. Get off: apearse, bajar (de un autobus…)
– You get off at the next station.
33. Get on: subir (a un autobus…) / hacer progresos
– How is he getting on at school?
34. Get through: comunicarse por teléfono
– I couldn’t get through (to him). The line was engaged all the time.
35. Get up: levantarse, ponerse en pie
– What time did you get up this morning?
36. Give away: regalar
– My aunt has given her old clothes away (to the poor).
37. Give back: devolver
– Having finished reading the book, I gave it back to the library.
38. Give out: repartir
– The teacher gave out the exam papers to the students.
39. Give up: dejar de (fumar, beber…), ceder, rendirse
– I tried to give up smoking, but without success.
40. Go ahead: continuar, seguir (adelante)
– May I use your telephone? – Please go ahead.
– We have decided not to go ahead with the project, after all.
41. Go away: irse, salir de la ciudad
– Are you going away for Christmas?
42. Go by: pasar, transcurrir
– As the months went by, he got accustomed to the daily routine.
43. Go on: durar, continuar
– It looks as though this war will go on forever.
44. Go through: Sufrir, resistir
– No one knows what I went through while I was waiting for the verdict.
45. Go through: examinar, revisar, inspeccionar
– Let’s go through the details of the plan once more.
46. Grow up: hacerse adulto, educar
– What are you going to do when you grow up?
47. Hang on: esperar
– Just hang on a second while I do up my dress.
48. Hold on: esperar
– If you hold on a moment, madam, I’ll go and see if Mr. Jones is free.
49. Keep off: no dejar acercarse
– “Keep off the grass” (sign displayed in public parks).
50. Keep on: seguir, insistir en
– Why do you have to keep on bothering me?
51. Keep out: No permitir entrar, pasar
– “Private. Keep out” (notice on the door).
52. Let down: fallar a uno
– I’ll do everything I can to help you. I won’t let you down.
53. Let in: dejar entrar, hacer pasar
– She opened the door and let the cat in.
54. Look after: cuidar de
– The nurse looks after the children when we go away.
55. Look for: buscar
– What do you look for in a woman?
56. Look forward to: estar deseando (con gerundio)
– We are looking forward to going back to Spain.
57. Look out: (imperative) ten cuidado, ojo
– Look out! You nearly ran over that child.
58. Make up: maquillarse
– It takes my wife ages to make up her face.
59. Make up: inventarse
– I’m not very good at making up excuses, I’m afraid.
60. Make up (con MIND): decidirse
– My mind is made up. I am not going on that trip.
61. Mix up: confundir
– He mixed up the addresses so that no one got the right letter.
62. Pick up: recoger algo
– She scatters newspapers all over the floor, and I have to pick them up.
63. Pick up: recoger a alguien (con el coche)
– I’ll pick you up at six.
64. Point out: indicar, mostrar
– The guide pointed out the most important buildings in the city.
65. Put away: poner algo en su sitio
– Don’t leave your things about, put them away.
66. Put on: ponerse la ropa. Take off: quitarse la ropa
– Take off that dirty shirt and put on a clean one.
67. Turn on: encender la luz. Turn off: apagar (= put on /put off)
– She put on the radio to listen to the news.
68. Turn up: subir el volumen. Turn down: bajar el volumen
– Don’t forget to turn down the gas when the water boils.
69. Put up: alojar
– Can you put me up for the night?
70. Talk over: discutir, comentar con alguien
– Talk it over with your wife and give me your answer tomorrow.
71. Think over: considerar, reflexionar sobre
– Please, think this matter over and let me know your answer soon.
72. Throw away: tirar, desechar
– We should throw away this table and buy a new one.
73. Try on: probarse una prenda de ropa
– I like this dress, could I try it on?
74. Try out: comprobar
– We won’t know how the plan works till we have tried it out.
75. Turn into: convertir
– I am going to turn my garage into a playroom for the children.
76. Turn out: resultar ser
– He turned out to be a thoroughly dishonest person.
77. Turn over: volcar (vehículos), darse la vuelta (personas)
– The car struck the wall and turned over.
– When his alarm went off, he just turned over and went to sleep again.
78. Turn up: llegar, asistir
– I waited for him for nearly one hour, but he didn’t turn up.
32. IDIOMS
1. To be about to: estar a punto de
– They are about to come.
2. All over the world: por todo el mundo
– You find such people all over the world.
3. Come what may: pase lo que pase
– I’ll go this weekend come what may.
4. To do: ser suficiente, servir (future, conditional)
– That’ll do, thank you.
5. I’ll do my best: haré todo lo posible
6. Let’s face it: reconozcámoslo
– Let’s face it, we’re ruined.
7. It isn’t my fault: no es culpa mía
– It isn’t my fault that the bus didn’t come, so I was late.
8. To feel like (gerund): apetecer
– I feel like swimming.
9. First things first: cada cosa a su tiempo
10. I haven’t the foggiest idea: no tengo ni la más remota idea
– I haven’t the foggiest idea what this means.
11. To get in touch with: ponerse en contacto con
– Can you tell me how to get in touch with him?
12. To get rid of: librarse de
– Let’s get rid of that dog.
13. For goodness’ sake: Por lo que más quieras
– For goodness’ sake, stop talking!
14. On the other hand: por otra parte
– On the other hand, there are things that you should consider.
15. To have a good time: pasárselo bien
– We had a very good time at the disco.
16. To have to do with: tener que ver con
– It has nothing to do with me.
17. By heart: de memoria
– He learnt his lesson by heart.
18. To be in a hurry: tener prisa
– Are you in a hurry?
19. The last but one: el penúltimo
20. To leave alone: dejar en paz
– Leave me alone.
21. To manage to: arreglárselas
– He managed to get there in time.
22. What’s the matter? = What’s up? = What’s wrong?: ¿qué pasa?
23. Mind your own business: métete en tus asuntos
24. To be… missing: faltar
– There are three books missing from this shelf.
25. Nothing doing: no hay nada que hacer
26. On foot: a pie
27. Once and for all: de una vez por todas
– I’ll tell you once and for all, stop bothering me.
28. To put something down to: atribuir a
– I put it down to lack of information.
29. To see somebody off: despedir al que se va de viaje
– He went to the station to see her off.
30. To take it easy: Tomárselo con calma
– Take it easy, my friend, there’s nothing to worry about.
31. To take one’s time: tomarse el tiempo necesario
– Take your time, there’s no hurry.
32. Not to think much of: no tener muy buena opinión de
– They don’t think much of him as a writer.
33. In time: a tiempo
– Are you still in time?
34. On time: puntual
– He likes to be on time.
35. To be in the way: estar estorbando
– You are in the way.
36. In a way: en cierto modo
– That’s also yours in a way.
37. To be well off: estar acomodado, tener mucho dinero. Sinónimo = Wealthy, rich
– They’re quite well off.
38. In a word: En una palabra
– In a word, my answer is no.
39. If the worst comes to the worst: en el peor de los casos
– If the worst comes to the worst, we’ll always have your flat.
40. You are driving me mad: me estás volviendo loco
41. How is it going? = How are things? = How are you doing? (USA): ¿qué tal?
42. Let alone: Y no digamos, y mucho menos
– He can’t ride a bike, let alone a motorbike.
43. Over and over again: Una y otra vez
– I’ve told you over and over again not to be late.
44. To vanish into thin air: desaparecer
– He just vanished into thin air.
45. To change one’s mind: cambiar de opinión
– I may have said that yesterday, but I’ve changed my mind.
46. Day in and day out: todos los dias
– He went to school day in and day out but seemed to learn very little.
47. It doesn’t make any difference: es igual
– It really doesn’t make any difference to me whether you go or not.
48. To come to the point: ir al grano
– I’ll come to the point, when are you going to pay us?
49. I think so, I hope so, I suppose so…: Creo que sí…
50. To have a go at: Intentarlo, probar
– Have a go at it yourself.
51. Last but not least: por último pero no por eso menos importante
52. It’s a must: Es obligado, no te lo pierdas
– If you come to London, visit the National Gallery, it’s a must.
53. Every now and then: de vez en cuando
– He comes to see us every now and then.
54. On second thoughts: pensándolo bien
– On second thoughts, I’d rather stay at home.
55. At random: al azar
– He chose ten men at random.
56. Two days (etc) running: dos dias (etc) seguidos
– This week I have to play basketball two days running.
57. It’s the last straw…(that breaks the camel’s back): lo que faltaba, la gota que colma el vaso
– He didn’t come yesterday either. Really, it’s the last straw.
58. Time is money: el tiempo es oro
59. The trouble is: lo malo es que
– The trouble is that I haven’t got any either.
60. This way, please: por aquí, por favor
61. The other way round: Al revés, todo lo contrario
– So, you’ve got two and they haven’t got any? – No, it’s the other way round.
62. To come in handy: venir muy bien
– That money will come in handy one day.
63. To jump to conclusions: Sacar una conclusión precipitada
– Don’t jump to conclusions, please.
64. To make up one’s mind: decidirse
– Have you made up your mind yet?
65. Any minute now: en cualquier momento
– They will arrive any minute now.
66. You asked for it: tú te lo has buscado
67. As busy as a bee: muy ocupado
68. Stop bossing me about: deja de darme órdenes
69. By all means = of course: por supuesto
– May I borrow your ladder? – By all means.
70. By myself = on my own: solo
– She likes to be by herself.
71. To cap it all: para colmo
– And to cap it all, I got a fine too.
72. Cheer up: anímate
– Cheer up, everything will be all right.
73. Her dreams have come true: sus sueños se han cumplido
74. That was a crying shame: eso fue una vergüenza
75. One must know where to draw the line: uno debe saber dónde poner los límites
76. What on earth are you talking about?: ¿de qué demonios estás hablando?
77. He fell for it: se lo creyó
78. Things were going too far, so I had to put my foot down: tuve que plantarme
79. You’ll get into trouble: te meterás en líos
80. They get on very well: se llevan muy bien
81. Two heads are better than one: dos mejor que uno
82. I’ll do it right away: lo haré ahora mismo
83. It’s no laughing matter: no es cosa de risa
84. Leave me alone: déjame en paz
85. I’m looking forward to seeing her: Estoy deseando verla
86. Make yourself at home: considérate en tu casa
87. To make the most of something: sacarle máximo provecho a algo
– She knows how to make the most of her good looks: Sabe sacarle partido a su belleza.