Phrasal verbs · American English
Break up or break down?
A couple breaks up. A car breaks down. Same verb, different particle, completely different meaning — and there are 337 of these to keep straight.
Try “break up”, “breakup”, “tolerate”, or just “get” — 337 entries.
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One verb, many meanings — the particle is what changes them. Pick one to open its family here.
Browse by particle
Particles aren’t random. UP means completion, OFF means separation, OUT means emergence. Learn the logic once and you can guess verbs you’ve never met.
Something is finished, raised, improved, or brought together.
Something exits a container, becomes visible, or is exhausted.
Contact is broken: something detaches, leaves, or stops.
Something decreases, collapses, settles, or gets recorded.
Something moves into a space, a group, or a person's hands.
Something starts running, keeps running, or sits on a surface.
Something is examined from above, done again, or moved across.
Something returns to where it was, or is held in reserve.
Something moves off, vanishes, or keeps going steadily.
Something passes from one end of an obstacle to the other.
Movement with no fixed destination, or a turn to face the other way.
A target, a purpose, or a substitution.
Movement inward that changes state, position, or direction.
Pursuing someone, caring for them, or looking like them.
The person or thing the action is done alongside.
A whole becomes separate parts.
The thing the action points at, sticks to, or is measured against.
Movement past something, without stopping or with nothing to spare.
Moving forward in company, or in agreement.
The topic under discussion, or a change brought into being.