12 Phrasal Verbs You Can Use At Work: An English Lesson

In this English lesson, I'll teach you 12 phrasal verbs

that you can use at work.

The first phrasal verb that I want to teach you

that you can use at work is to run something by someone.

Now, this does not involve running in any way.

Instead, what this means is maybe you have an idea

or you want to change how something is done at work.

But before you can use that idea, you need to get permission

from your manager or your boss.

You need to run it by them.

So in English, when you run something by someone,

you go to someone like your boss or manager

and you explain your idea or you explain what you want to change.

And then they say, Go ahead.

Sounds like a great idea.

Or maybe they say, No bad idea.

So to run something by someone is to explain a new idea

or a change you want to make to seek their permission.

The second phrasal verb that you can use at work is to look after something.

At work there are little jobs and tasks that need to be done,

and the person who looks after something is the person who does that actual work.

Sometimes at school we go on field trips.

In order to go on a field trip someone needs to order a bus.

Someone needs to call the bus company and say we need a bus

next week Tuesday for 45 students.

So in a meeting, someone might say, I'll look after that.

I will be the person who calls the bus company.

I will do that small job or small task.

So in English, when you look after something, it means you're

the person who's going to do that job.

So the third phrasal verb you can use at work is to fill in for someone.

When you fill in for someone, you do their job for them

because they can't make it to work that day, or maybe because they're sick.

So maybe your boss comes to you and says, I know you have Saturday off,

but can you fill in for John on Saturday because he can't make it in for his shift?

At my job, sometimes the boss comes and says, Can you fill in for Fred today?

He is at home sick.

So I might have to teach Fred's class as well as my own.

It's a lot of extra work.

So in English, when you fill in for someone at work,

it means you're doing their job for them because they can't make it to work

for some reason.

The fourth

phrasal verb that you can use at work is to reach out to someone.

And this simply means to contact someone.

Maybe you need to phone them or text them or send them an email.

Maybe you work at a company that has offices in different parts of the world.

And during a meeting, someone says someone should tell

the people in the office in France about this new idea.

And you could say, Oh, I'll reach out to them.

That means you will contact them.

You will give them a phone call.

You will send them a text message or you will send them an email

and give them an update about some new idea that you were talking about.

So in English, the phrasal verb to reach out to someone simply means

to contact them.

The fifth phrasal verb you can use at work is to deal with something.

When you deal with something,

it means you are going to fix something or solve a problem.

Maybe two employees are fighting.

They're arguing with each other.

You could go and deal with it.

You could say, Hey, please calm down.

Let's talk nicely to each other and get back to work.

Maybe a machine has broken on the factory floor and someone has to go fix it.

You could say, Oh, I'll go deal with it.

That means you're going to go.

You're going to figure out what the problem is

and you're going to solve it.

So in English, when you use the phrasal verb to deal with something,

it means you're going to be the person that solves the problem or fixes it.

The sixth phrasal verb you can use at work is to take on.

When you take on something, it means you agree to do it.

Sometimes people will call Jen and ask if she will provide flowers

for their wedding.

Jen needs to decide if she has the time and if she has enough flowers

to take on that job.

Maybe at your work someone has called and asked your company to build ten houses.

You need to decide if you have the time and the resources

and enough people to take on that project.

So in English, when you take on something, it means that you agree to do it.

So let's do phrasal verbs number seven and eight together.

They are to fall behind and to catch up.

When you fall behind, it means you're not getting enough work done.

Maybe you need to have a job done by Friday and it's Thursday night

and you realize you need

two more days to finish it because you have started to fall behind.

Then you need to catch up.

To catch up means to work longer hours or to work faster to get a job done.

This happens to be at school sometimes.

Sometimes I fall behind in my grading.

I have a stack of tests that I need to grade,

and then I need to stay up late to catch up

because I know that I need to get them done by the next day.

So when you fall behind, it means a job isn't going as fast

as you wanted it to and you probably won't get it done on time.

And to catch up means to work harder so that you do get something done on time.

The ninth phrasal verb that you can use at work is to wrap something up.

When you wrap something up, it doesn't mean you're putting wrapping paper on it

like a Christmas present.

It means you're finishing something.

When I'm grading tests, when I get to the last test, I can wrap up my grading.

I'm done all of my grading.

When you're working on a project at work, when you get to the last two

or three things, it's fun to wrap it up by finishing those last things.

You'll hear me use this during my live English lessons as well.

At the end I'll say, okay, I'm going to wrap this up.

I'm going to answer one or two more questions

and then we are going to hit the stop button.

So when you wrap something up, it means that you're going to finish it.

The 10th phrasal verb that you can use at work is to slack off.

I do not like it when people slack off.

If you slack off at work, it means you're not working hard

or you're not working at all.

When I was younger, I used to work with someone who would slack off all the time.

I would be working really hard and they would just be sitting

and drinking a coffee when they were supposed to be working.

I do not like it when coworkers slack off.

So in English, if you are at work and you see someone who's not working hard

or not working at all when they're supposed to be working,

you would then say that they are slacking off.

The 11th phrasal verb you can use at work is to follow through.

When you follow through with something, it means you do it from start to end.

You are very diligent, you are hardworking,

and you do a good job from the beginning to the end.

It's very important

when people order flowers from us that we follow through with the order.

That we take the order.

We communicate well and we deliver all the flowers they wanted at the end.

Jen has a very good reputation for being

someone who follows through with all her orders.

She doesn't ever cancel orders or forget things in her orders.

She's very, very diligent.

She's very good at following through.

The 12th phrasal verb you can use at work is to point out,

and this means to mention something or say something in a meeting or conversation.

Maybe at your work you make boxes, and in a meeting

someone says, we're going to produce twice as many boxes next month and sell more.

You might point out that the box making machines are really old

and they might break more if the company decides to do that.

Maybe someone says, we're going to start selling our boxes in another country.

And you might point out that that country has very strict import laws

and it might be difficult to get the boxes to that country.

So at work, if you point something out, it simply means that you say something

or you mention something in a conversation or in a meeting.

Well, thank you so much for watching this English lesson about phrasal verbs

you can use at work.

I hope you learned a few new phrases that you can use in your next

English conversation.

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