English at Work: 10 Phrasal Verbs for the Office

Yeah, hey.

Something has come up and I can't make the meeting.

Yeah, can we call it off until next Tuesday?

Okay.

No, no. Ask her to just, you know,

just fill out the registration form and we'll just see her next Tuesday.

Okay. Yeah.

Okay, see you Tuesday.

Yeah. Bye.

Hey, everyone. I'm Alex.

Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this important English lesson on using English at work.

And today we are going to look at "10 Phrasal Verbs for the Office".

So, if you have an office job, any type of office job, these phrasal verbs are very,

very common in any English-speaking workplace.

So let's start with the first five, we'll talk about them, we'll look at some examples,

and I'll explain them for you guys.

So, number one: "to fill out".

Now, "to fill out" basically means to complete.

And this is usually in the context of a form.

So: "Did she fill out the registration form?",

"Oh, if you're interested in working here, please fill out this application."

Okay?

So you fill out or complete a form.

Next: "to run out (of) something".

Now, I put the "of" in parenthesis because you can just say: "Oh, it ran out",

or "something ran out of something else".

So, for example, if something runs out it means you have used all of it and there is

no more left.

Now, in the office usually this refers to some kind of supply, some kind of inventory

item that you have no more of because you ran out of it.

For example: "The printer ran out of ink."

Or you can say: "Oh no. We ran out of paper",

or "We ran out of pens. We need to order more pens."

Okay?

So if you run out of something it means you have used all of it and there's no more left,

you need to order more.

Next: "note down".

This is very common in meetings, and "to note down" simply means to write.

For example: "Did you note down the main points from the meeting?"

I used to have a boss, and any time I had a meeting with him, if I came into that meeting

with no paper, with no pen, he would...

He would not start the meeting.

He said: "Okay, we're going to have a long meeting for 30 minutes, 60 minutes, you need

to note down the important points from the conversation.

Alex, go get a pen and a paper."

Good times.

Okay, next: "to back up".

Now, this context is usually used for files on your computer.

So: "to back up your files", "back up your information", "back up your data"

means to make an extra copy.

So, for example: "Make sure to back up your files."

A lot of people use, you know, online storage spaces to back up important information.

You might have something in your email address, you might have something like the...

At this point, the cloud or, you know, like your Google Drive or something like that,

or maybe you have an external hard drive where you back up your files or a USB stick to back

up your files.

So it just means make an extra copy in case the original copy gets deleted or erased by

accident, or because of a virus or something like that.

All right, next: "come up".

So, if something comes up at the office it means that something has happened or it has arisen.

So, for example: "An urgent situation has just come up."

So if something comes up it's something that just happens, surprises you.

So, for example, if one of your employees...

If you are a boss, for example, and one of your employees quits...

And you're in a meeting and the employee comes in and quits, and you say:

"I can't finish this meeting. Something urgent has come up.

Somebody is quitting." Okay?

So something comes up, happens, arises without kind of you expecting it to.

Okay, next: "keep up with".

So, "to keep up with something" means to follow or to keep pace with something in the context

of business, office work.

Let me give you one example.

"Have you been keeping up with the latest news?

Have you been following the latest news?"

You can also talk about a business keeping up with trends, with things that are happening

in their line of business now.

Okay?

Next: "set up".

So, "to set something up" means to organize it or to, you know, get it started.

So, for example: "Could you help me set up the new printer?

Could you help me plug it in and make sure everything is okay, make sure the software

is on the computer?

And could you help me set it up?"

It's not only for objects.

You can set up a meeting or organize a meeting.

You can set up a holiday party, for example.

Next: "go through".

So, if you go through something, this simply means you experienced it and usually it's

something difficult that you had to survive.

So: "He's going through a difficult time."

Think of you're going through, like you're experiencing something that is difficult and

challenging.

Okay?

Next: "find out".

So, "to find out" means to discover, or to obtain or get information.

So, for example: "How did you find out about our company?"

This is a very common question that you will see on company websites.

It's also something that you might be asked at an interview.

"How did you find out about our company?

How did you discover the information about our company?"

All right?

And finally: "to call off".

"Call off" means to cancel.

Usually this is in the context of a meeting.

So, for example: "Can we call off the conference call?"

I just realized I didn't put a question mark and I didn't close my quotation marks, here.

Just give me a sec, guys.

Preparation is everything. Right?

That's what happens when I have people calling me all day.

Okay, so "call off".

So you can call off a meeting, you can call off a conference call, for example.

For example: "Can we call off (cancel) the conference call?

I'm not ready, or something important has come up."

All right, so today we looked at 10 very important, very common phrasal verbs that you can use

at your office, at your job, at work.

If you want to test your understanding of these phrasal verbs, as always, you can

check out the quiz on www.engvid.com.

And if you enjoyed the video, if you like what I do here, don't forget to subscribe to the channel,

like my Facebook fan page, check me out on Twitter, and

that's basically it.

I mean, that's what we do.

engVid, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter.

That's it so far.

I'm thinking about Instagram, but I don't think my photos are that interesting, so forget it.

All right, so til next time guys, thanks for clicking and...

[Telephone rings]

Oh, one second.

Hello?

Oh, yeah, okay.

No, we can set something up for next week.

Okay.

Yeah, no. I don't care what you're going through.

We'll just set it up. Okay?

Just... Just do it.