Phrasal Verbs in Business
Commonly used phrasal verbs in business language
breakdown
Example: The report breaks down the results region by region.
Meaning: to divide something into parts
bring up
Example: Our boss brings up this mistake on every meeting.
Meaning: to mention, to say
call off
Example: The department meeting is called off this week, we will have to reschedule.
Meaning: to cancel
catch up with
Example: I have just came back from holiday and I have to catch up with my e-mails.
Meaning: to do something, that should have been done.
cut down
Example: This new system should cut down the time spent in meetings.
Meaning: to reduce
deal with
Example: We will have to deal with newcomers training next month.
Meaning: to handle or to work on
drop off
Example: Business dropped off a little during the summer.
Meaning: to decrease in level, value, price etc.
get back
Example: Please, get back to me as soon as possible.
Meaning: to reply
look into
Example: We have received a complaint from our VIP client. Could you please look into it?
Meaning: to investigate, to learn more about something
look through
Example: They had to look through all of last month’s receipts to find the one they wanted.
Meaning: to search through many items
look for
Example: they are looking for candidates that speak English and German.
Meaning: to search
look up
Example: Everybody looks up to our teamleader.
Meaning: to respect
point out
Example: Everyone was surprised when she pointed out the accounting department’s mistake.
Meaning: to indicate, to specify
put off
Example: The meeting has been put off for a week.
Meaning: to postpone, to delay
set up
Example: I will set up a conference call for Friday morning.
Meaning: to arrange
take over
Example: Ben will take over the sales department and become its new manager.
Meaning: to get control or resposibility
think through
Example: It is a complicated situation, I need to think it through
Meaning: to consider carefully
work out
Example: Can we work something out here?
Meaning: to agree
