Phrasal Verb Collocations Practice Exercise

1.

I’m _______ patience. If they don’t make me a better offer soon, I’m leaving.
We were _______ gas, so we pulled over and filled the tank.
Tim is _______ time. If he doesn’t hurry up, he’s not going to meet the deadline.
(The answer is a three-word phrasal verb.)

2.

I slept through my alarm and had to _______ an excuse about why I was late for work.
How do you _______ lies like that off the top of your head?
I took Friday afternoon off. I’m going to _______ the time by working late on Monday afternoon.

3.

Don’t _______ hope yet. We can still win this game.
I’m trying to ________ smoking, but it’s been really difficult to do cold turkey.

4.

Steve _______ some weight when he injured his knee. He was on crutches and not exercising much.
Let me just _______ my shoes and a jacket, and I’ll run out to the car.

5.

They are late on their mortgage and the bank might repossess their house. If they don’t _______ the money soon, they’re in trouble.
Let’s try to _______ some new ideas for our new ad campaign.
(The answer is a three-word phrasal verb.)

6.

I  ______ the bus  and walked to my house.
Text me when you _______ the plane. When I get your text, I’ll start driving to the airport to pick you up.
Shirley _______ the train and looked for her friends.

7.

I think I’m _______ a cold. My nose is all runny.
Harold _______ the flu last month. He missed four days of work and almost had to go to the hospital.
(The answer is a three-word phrasal verb.)

8.

Can you believe he _______ the agreement at the last minute? That’s not like him at all.
We have a deal. We both signed the papers. You can’t _______ the deal now.
John ________ his driveway and put the car in drive.
(The answer is a three-word phrasal verb.)

9.

As the receptionist, it’s important that you ________ your coworkers and be friendly.
Kevin doesn’t _________ his parents, but his sister is very close with both her mom and her dad.
(The answer is a three-word phrasal verb.)

10.

How did I _______ this mess? I didn’t even want to get involved.
I _______ trouble a few times when I was in high school. I was a bit of a rebel.

11.

One of our top software developers ________ his resignation today. We need to find someone to replace her ASAP.
In college, I ________ a few assignments late. It hurt my GPA.

12.

Our staff would like a cappuccino machine in the break room, but we’re trying to ________ costs right now and it’s not going to happen.
I’m trying to get into shape right now. I’m ________ carbs and alcohol.
(There are two possible answers here. Both possible answers are three-word phrasal verbs.)

13.

This is an issue that has ________ many times at our meetings.
I was trying to avoid talking about it, but the subject ________ at dinner.

14.

________ the phone and let’s go to lunch.
You can _______ your coat on the coat rack over there.

15.

The Caldwells _______ a second mortgage so they could pay for their son’s education.
Have you thought about ________ a loan from the bank?

16.

How could you _______ that offer? The job was perfect for you and the salary was great.
I was worried they would ________ my request, but they empathized with my situation and said yes.