Assignment for you

 

Verb

The verb is perhaps the most important part of the sentence. A verb or compound verb asserts something about the subject of the sentence and expresses actions, events, or states of being. The verb or compound verb is the critical element of the predicate of a sentence.

In each of the following sentences, the verb or compound verb is highlighted:

Transitive Verbs followed by Adverbs

 

back up:  support	I will back up your story.
bailout:  rescue	If you run into difficulties, who will bail you out?
break-in:  make something new fit for use	I broke in my new hiking boots.
breathe in:  inhale	We breathed in the fresh air.
breathe out:  exhale	I breathed out a sigh of relief.
bring back:  return	She brought back her library books.
bring around:  persuade	We gradually brought her around to our point of view.
bring up:  raise	Bringing up children is never easy.
butter up:  flatter	We buttered him up, hoping that he would agree to our proposal.
call in:  ask to assist	I think it is time we called in an expert.
call off:  cancel	We called off the meeting.
call up:  telephone	Why don't you call him up?
cheer on:  cheer, encourage	I will be there to cheer you on.
chop down:  fell	They chopped down the dead tree.
clean up:  tidy	The mayor asked everyone to help clean up the city streets.
fend off:  repel	The goalie fended off every attack.
ferret out:  find with difficulty	We managed to ferret out the information.
figure out:  solve, understand	I can't figure out what happened.
fill in:  complete	Please fill in this form.
fill out:  complete	I filled out the form.
fill up:  make full	We filled up the glasses with water.
give back:  return	I gave back the bicycle I had borrowed.
give off:  send out	Skunk cabbage gives off an unpleasant odor.
hand down:  give to someone younger	The tradition was handed down from father to son.
hand in:  give to the person in authority	The students handed their assignments into the teacher.
hand on:  give to another person	I am not sorry to hand the responsibility on to you.
hand over:  transfer	We had to hand the evidence over to the police.
hang up:  break a telephone connection	After receiving a busy signal, I hung up the phone.
hold back:  restrain, delay	He is so enthusiastic; it is hard to hold him back.
iron out:  remove	I am sure we can iron out every difficulty.
knock out:  make unconscious	Boxers are often knocked out.
lap up:  accept eagerly	The public lapped up the story.
lay off:  put out of work	The company laid off seventy workers.
leave behind:  leave, not bring	I accidentally left my umbrella behind.
leave out:  omit	Tell me what happened. Don't leave anything out!
let down:  disappoint	We will let him down if we don't arrive on time.
live down:  live so that past faults are forgotten	This will be hard to live down!
lookup:  find (information)	We looked up the word in a dictionary.
makeup:  invent	She likes to make up stories.
pass up:  not take advantage	I couldn't pass up such an opportunity.
pension off:  dismiss with a pension	He was pensioned off at the age of sixty.
phase in:  introduce gradually	The new program will be phased in over the next six months.
phase out:  cease gradually	The practice will gradually be phased out.
pick up:  collect	You may pick up the papers at the office.
pin down:  get a commitment	When the guest speaker is pinned down, we can set a date for the conference.
play down:  de-emphasize	He played down the importance of the news.
point out:  draw attention to	She pointed out the advantages of the proposal.
polish off finish	We polished off the rest of the apple pie.
pull down:  demolish	Many old buildings are pulled down to make way for new ones.
pull off:  succeed	Do you think she can pull off her plan?
put away:  put in a proper place	It is time to put the toys away.
put back:  return to the original location	Please put the book back on the shelf.
put off:  postpone	We cannot put off the meeting again.
reel off:  recite a long list	She reeled off a long list of names.
rope in:  persuade to help	We roped in everyone we could to help with the work.
rub out:  erase	Be sure to rub out all the pencil marks.
rule out:  remove from consideration	None of the possibilities can be ruled out yet.
scale down:  reduce	Because of a lack of funds, we had to scale down our plans.
sell-off:  dispose of by selling	We sold off all the books and furniture.
set back:  delay	This could set back the project by several years.
shout down:  stop from speaking by shouting	The crowd shouted down the speaker.
shrug off:  dismiss as unimportant	He attempted to shrug off the mistake.
single out:  select from others	You have been singled out for special attention.
size up:  assess	I quickly sized up the situation.
sort out:  organize	It will take some time to sort out this mess.
sound out:  talk with to learn the opinion of	We attempted to sound him out.
stammer out:  stammer	They stammered out their apologies.
sum up:  summarize	He summed up the discussion in a few well-chosen words.
summon up:  gather	I attempted to summon up my courage.
take in:  absorb	We tried to take in the new information.
take out:  invite to a restaurant	May I take you out for supper?
take over:  assume control	They will take over at the beginning of June.
talk over:  discuss	Let us talk it over before we decide.
tear up:  destroy by tearing	She tore up the letter.
think over:  consider	I need some time to think it over.
think up:  invent	What will they think up next?
track down:  search for and find	We finally tracked him down at the bookstore.
trade-in:  give as part payment	Why don't you trade in your old vacuum cleaner for a new one?
try on:  test clothes by putting them on	I tried on the new suit, but it didn't fit me.
try out:  test by using	Would you like to try out my fountain pen?
turn away:  refuse admission	The event was so popular that many people had to be turned away.
turn back:  reverse direction	Every fall the clocks must be turned back by one hour.
turn off:  deactivate by using a switch	I turned off the radio.
turn on:  activate by using a switch	Please turn on the light.
water down:  dilute	The soup has been watered down.
wear out:  gradually destroy by wearing or using	My jacket is wearing out, although it is only a year old.
write down:  make a note	I wrote down the instructions.
write off:  cancel, regard as	They were forced to write off several irretrievable debts.
write up:  compose in writing	I used my notes to write up the report.