Animated phrasal verbs
Each short animation shows one meaning of a common phrasal verb. Watch it, guess what it means, then tap the card to check. The examples use British English, and the notes show where Americans usually say something else.
up
Up often shows something going higher, getting more, or being finished, like fill up, speed up and tidy up. Some, like wake up and hang up, are best learned as a whole.
wake upA1
Stop sleeping.
“The baby woke up during the storm.”
pick upA2
Go and get someone or something, often in a car.
“I'll pick you up at nine.”
grow upA2
Become an adult, or spend your childhood in a place.
“I grew up in a small town near the coast.”
look upB1
Find information in a book or online.
“I looked up the company before my interview.”
fill upB1
Make something completely full.
“Fill up your water bottle before you leave.”
tidy upA2*
Make a place neat by putting things where they belong.
“Let's tidy up the living room before bed.”
Americans often say clean up.
blow upB1
Explode and break into pieces.
“The car blew up in the alley.”
hang upB1
End a phone call.
“Sorry, I have to hang up. Dinner is ready.”
pop upB1*
Appear suddenly.
“A reminder popped up on my phone.”
end upB1
Be in a place or situation that you did not plan.
“We missed our connection and ended up in Madrid.”
speed upB1*
Go faster, or make something go faster.
“The train speeds up once it leaves the city.”
dig upA2*
Take something out of the ground by digging.
“The dog dug up a bone in the garden.”
down
Down often shows something going lower or to the ground, like sit down and cut down, or getting less, like turning the music down.
sit downA1
Move from standing to sitting.
“Do you mind if I sit down here?”
lie downA2
Put your body flat to rest.
“I'm going to lie down on the sofa for ten minutes.”
turn downB1
Make a sound quieter, or make the heat lower.
“Can you turn the TV down? The baby is asleep.”
turn downB2
Say no to an offer or a request.
“She turned down the job because of the long hours.”
break downB2
Stop working. Used about cars and machines.
“Our car broke down on the way home.”
cut downB2
Cut a tree so that it falls to the ground.
“They cut down the old oak tree.”
let downB2
Disappoint someone by not doing what they hoped.
“I'm sorry I let you down.”
out
Out often shows leaving a place, like move out, or using something until none is left, like run out. With find out and work out, an answer becomes known.
find outA2
Learn a fact that you did not know.
“I found out the shop didn't open until ten.”
run outB1
Have none left.
“Sorry, we've run out of oat milk.”
put outB1
Make a fire stop burning.
“Firefighters put out the house fire quickly.”
throw outB1
Put something you do not want in the bin.
“We threw out a lot of old clothes.”
move outB1
Leave the home where you live.
“Our neighbours moved out last month.”
check outB1
Leave a hotel at the end of your stay.
“We have to check out by 11.”
work outB2
Find the answer to a problem.
“Can you work out how many chairs we need?”
Americans often say figure out.
hand outB1
Give something to each person in a group.
“The teacher handed out the tests.”
storm outB1*
Leave a room or a place angrily.
“He stormed out of the room.”
off
Off often shows leaving a place, like take off and get off, or something stopping, like turn off and call off.
take offA2
Leave the ground and start flying.
“Our flight took off an hour late.”
turn offA2
Stop a machine or a light from working.
“Turn off the oven before you go out.”
get offA2
Leave a bus, a train or a plane.
“Get off at the next stop for the museum.”
put offB1
Move something to a later time.
“Could we put the meeting off until Friday?”
call offB2
Cancel a planned event.
“The match was called off because of rain.”
set offB2
Start a journey.
“We set off for the coast after breakfast.”
drop offB2
Take someone or something to a place and leave them there.
“Could you drop me off at Terminal 2?”
doze offB1*
Fall asleep for a short time, often without planning to.
“My dad dozed off in the chair.”
cut offB2*
Stop someone before they finish speaking.
“She cut me off before I could explain.”
on
On often shows getting onto something, like get on a bus, something starting, like turn on, or something continuing, like carry on.
turn onA2
Make a machine or a light start working.
“Can you turn the lights on? I can't see a thing.”
get onA2
Enter a bus, a train or a plane.
“We got on the bus outside the station.”
carry onB1
Continue doing something.
“Carry on with your work.”
Americans often say keep going.
hold onB1
Wait for a short time.
“Hold on, I can't find my keys.”
Hang on means the same and is very common in British English.
log onB1
Start using a computer system with your name and password.
“I can't log on until the school sends me a new password.”
Most people now say log in. It means the same.
in
In often shows going into a place, like come in and move in. With sink in, an idea goes into your mind.
come inA2
Enter a room or a building.
“Come in and sit down.”
check inA2
Tell someone at the desk that you have arrived at a hotel or an airport.
“Please check in at reception when you arrive.”
fill inA2
Write the missing information on a form.
“Please fill in this form before you see the doctor.”
Americans usually say fill out a form.
move inB1
Start living in a new home.
“A new family moved in next door.”
drop inB1*
Visit someone for a short time without planning it.
“Our neighbour dropped in after work.”
break inB2
Enter a building by force, usually to steal something.
“Someone broke in through the window.”
sink inB2*
Slowly become clear in your mind.
“It took a while for the news to sink in.”
Our app is named after this one.
over
Over often shows something falling or turning, like knock over and turn over. To think something over is to look at it from every side.
knock overB1*
Hit something so that it falls.
“I knocked the lamp over by accident.”
think overB2
Think carefully about something before you decide.
“Think it over and let me know.”
get overB2
Feel well again after an illness or a sad event.
“It took weeks to get over the flu.”
turn overB1
Move something so that the other side is on top.
“Turn the pancake over carefully.”
away
Away often shows something moving further from a place, like run away and blow away.
run awayA2*
Escape by running.
“The dog ran away during the fireworks.”
blow awayB1
Be carried somewhere else by the wind.
“The receipt blew away in the street.”
take awayB1
Buy food in a café or restaurant and eat it somewhere else.
“Would you like to eat in or take away?”
British. Americans say to go.
back
Back often shows a return to the place or the person something came from.
come backA2
Return to a place.
“Come back soon.”
give backA2
Return something to its owner.
“Could you give me my book back?”
pay backB1
Return money that you borrowed.
“I'll pay you back next week.”
through
Through often means from one side to the other, or from the start to the end, like flipping through a book or sleeping through a noise.
flip throughB1*
Turn pages quickly and look at them briefly.
“She flipped through a magazine while she waited.”
British speakers also say flick through.
sleep throughB1*
Stay asleep when there is a noise.
“He slept through the alarm.”
fall throughB2
Fail to happen.
“The house sale fell through before Christmas.”
around
Around often means turning in a circle, like turn around, or going to many places, like shop around.
turn aroundA2*
Turn so that you face the other way.
“She turned around when I called her name.”
shop aroundB1*
Compare prices in different shops or companies before you buy.
“We shopped around for cheaper insurance.”
after
Look after is a fixed phrase. On its own, after usually means following.
look afterA2
Take care of someone or something.
“My son looks after the neighbour's cat.”
Americans often say take care of.
Play: guess from the animation
Watch each animation and pick the phrasal verb it shows. You see the answer after each choice.
Answer
sit down: move from standing to sitting. See the card
Answer
cut down: cut a tree so that it falls to the ground. See the card
Answer
knock over: hit something so that it falls. See the card
Answer
run away: escape by running. See the card
Answer
take off: leave the ground and start flying. See the card
Answer
fill in: write the missing information on a form. See the card
Answer
turn down: make a sound quieter, or make the heat lower. See the card
Answer
move out: leave the home where you live. See the card
Answer
wake up: stop sleeping. See the card
Answer
blow away: be carried somewhere else by the wind. See the card
For teachers: three ways to use this page
- Guess the verb. Turn on Hide the words and show one card on the screen. Students say what happens in the animation, then guess the phrasal verb. Tap the card to check.
- Find the pattern. Show two cards with the same particle, like take off and get off. Ask what the two animations have in common.
- Act it out. A student acts out a card without speaking. The class guesses the phrasal verb, then finds the card to check.
It works on a phone, a tablet or a classroom screen.
Frequently asked
What are animated phrasal verbs?
Short looping animations. Each one shows one meaning of a phrasal verb, like a plane that takes off or a tree that someone cuts down.
Why these 65?
These are the 65 common meanings that already have their own animation in the Sink In app. It is not a top 65 list. We add more as we draw them.
Can I use them in class?
Yes. Open this page on the classroom screen and play them from here. Turn on Hide the words to make a guessing game. No account is needed.
Are all of these phrasal verbs?
Some, like look after and get over, are called prepositional verbs in grammar books. They are here because learners meet them in the same lists.
What happened to the Phrasal Verbs Machine and Phrasalstein?
As of November 2026, we could not find these free Cambridge University Press apps in the App Store or Google Play. Sink In is not connected with Cambridge. This page is a free way to learn phrasal verbs from animations in your browser.
Why are some levels marked with *?
Levels without * come from the Cambridge learner dictionary. Where it gives no level for that meaning, the level is our estimate and has a *.
All the animations are from Sink In
The app has an animation for every meaning it teaches, and you practise a few meanings at a time. Free on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android, with an optional paid upgrade.
More free practice: phrasal verbs level test · phrasal verbs that mean stop, cancel or postpone · phrasal verbs for leaving.