Business phrasal verbs are essential for speaking and writing English naturally in professional settings. They appear in meetings, emails, presentations, and negotiations—so learning them will help you communicate clearly with colleagues and clients.
In this lesson, you’ll get a complete list of common business phrasal verbs with accurate meanings, real workplace examples, and clear grammar notes. Whether you’re preparing for presentations, leading teams, or crafting professional emails, these phrasal verbs will enhance your business English fluency.
List of Common Business Phrasal Verbs
Below are 38 essential business phrasal verbs organized by frequency and usefulness in workplace communication:
- Branch out
- Break into
- Carry on
- Close down
- Look forward to
- Note down
- Step down
- Take off
- Take up
- Weigh up
- Back up
- Come up with
- Get on
- Keep up with
- Set up
- Go through
- Find out
- Call off
- Call back
- Deal with
- Drop in
- Fill out
- Hold on
- Join in
- Lay off
- Put back
- Run out of
- Sort out
- Take on
- Take over
- Bail out
- Cut back
- Go under
- Fall through
- Pull out
- Bottom out
- Level off
Business Phrasal Verbs with Meanings and Examples
Each phrasal verb below includes pronunciation, definition, realistic workplace examples, and grammar classification:
The company plans to branch out into online services this year. It’s hard to break into investment banking without strong connections. Let’s carry on with the agenda after a short break. The retailer had to close down several stores after the losses. We look forward to hearing from you soon.Branch out
Break into
Carry on
Close down
Look forward to
These first five phrasal verbs are essential for discussing business growth, organizational changes, and professional engagement. Use them when talking about expansion, continuity, and future plans with clients and colleagues.
Please note down the action items and deadlines. The CFO will step down at the end of the quarter. Sales took off after the product went viral. She took up the role of team lead last month. We need to weigh up the costs and benefits before signing.Note down
Step down
Take off
Take up
Weigh up
This group covers career moves, strategic decisions, and success—all topics that come up frequently in business discussions about growth and leadership changes.
Can you back up your proposal with market data? Let’s come up with a better pricing strategy. The project is getting on well, even with a tight schedule. Businesses must keep up with changing customer expectations. I’ll set up a meeting with the client tomorrow.Back up
Come up with
Get on
Keep up with
Set up
This is the core group—the five most frequently used phrasal verbs in business communication. These five are essential for meetings, proposals, planning, and collaboration. Master them first for maximum impact in professional interactions.
Let’s go through the contract line by line. We need to find out why customer churn increased. They decided to call off the meeting due to an emergency. I’ll call back once I confirm the details. Our support team will deal with the complaint within 24 hours.Go through
Find out
Call off
Call back
Deal with
This group focuses on communication, problem-solving, and information gathering—skills essential for meetings, client interactions, and day-to-day management of challenges and scheduling.
Feel free to drop in if you have questions about the report. Please fill out the onboarding form today. Please hold on while I transfer your call. Everyone is welcome to join in the brainstorming session. The company had to lay off staff after the downturn.Drop in
Fill out
Hold on
Join in
Lay off
This middle section addresses key HR and administrative functions. These verbs appear regularly in business communications related to staffing, scheduling, forms, and workplace procedures that happen daily in most organizations.
The product launch was put back by two weeks. We ran out of printer paper, so we need to reorder. We need to sort out the billing issue today. I can’t take on another project this month. A larger firm plans to take over the startup.Put back
Run out of
Sort out
Take on
Take over
This group covers staffing decisions, problem-solving, and workload management. From rescheduling to resolving conflicts to hiring, these verbs represent the day-to-day operational challenges managers face.
The government decided to bail out the airline. We must cut back on travel expenses this quarter. Without new funding, the company could go under within months.Bail out
Cut back
Go under
Financial rescue, cost reduction, and business failure are interconnected themes in corporate language. Understanding these phrasal verbs helps you discuss market conditions, investment decisions, and company performance with precision.
The partnership fell through after legal issues appeared. The investor decided to pull out due to uncertainty. Demand has bottomed out after months of decline. After rapid growth, revenue began to level off.Fall through
Pull out
Bottom out
Level off
These final phrasal verbs address financial challenges, market dynamics, and business performance. They’re essential vocabulary for discussing downturns, mergers, acquisitions, cost-cutting, and recovery strategies in corporate board meetings and investor communications.
Dialogue Examples: Business Phrasal Verbs in Context
Here’s a comprehensive workplace dialogue that incorporates many of the business phrasal verbs from this article in realistic professional scenarios:
- A
- Good morning! Did you note down all the action items from yesterday’s meeting?
- B
- Yes, and I’ve already started to sort out the budget issue. We may need to cut back on some expenses though.
- A
- I thought so. We’ll need to weigh up the options carefully before we proceed. Can you come up with some cost-saving alternatives by Friday?
- B
- Absolutely. Also, the client called—I promised to call back with an update this afternoon.
- A
- Great. While you handle that, I’ll go through the contract with our legal team. If anything falls through, we’ll need a backup plan.
- B
- Good idea. By the way, did you hear that our CEO might step down next quarter?
- A
- I hadn’t heard that. Where did you find out about it?
- B
- I ran into Sarah in the hallway. She mentioned the company wants to take on a new director before the restructuring.
- A
- That makes sense. They’ll probably take over some of the manager roles as well. Have you spoken to any candidates yet?
- B
- Not yet, but I’m keeping up with the timeline. I need to drop in on HR after this to fill out the candidate forms.
- A
- Before you do that, let’s hold on for a moment. I want to back up my proposal about restructuring with some market data first. Can you join in on that research?
- B
- Of course. We can branch out into that analysis this afternoon. But I should mention—if we don’t find funding soon, the company might go under.
- A
- I know. That’s why we’re reaching out to investors. Hopefully, they’ll bail out the project. If not, we may need to pull out of the expansion plan entirely.
- B
- Understood. Let’s set up a presentation for tomorrow then and lay out all our options.
- A
- Perfect. I’ll carry on with the financial models, and we’ll level off on a final strategy by end of day. Sound good?
- B
- Sounds good. Let’s get on with it!
Common Mistakes with Business Phrasal Verbs
Here are the most typical errors non-native speakers make:
1. Incorrect verb particle order with phrasal-prepositional verbs
❌ Wrong She came up an interesting solution with.
✅ Correct She came up with an interesting solution.
“Come up with” is a phrasal-prepositional verb and must always stay in this exact order. You cannot rearrange the words or insert the object between the parts. Other business phrasal-prepositional verbs that must stay together include “keep up with,” “deal with,” “look forward to,” “run out of,” and “find out.”
2. Missing proper verb conjugation in past tense
❌ Wrong The deal fall through because of budget issues.
✅ Correct The deal fell through because of budget issues.
Just like single verbs, phrasal verbs must be conjugated correctly in all tenses. In the past tense, “fall through” becomes “fell through,” “go under” becomes “went under,” and “bottom out” becomes “bottomed out.” The conjugation applies to the main verb, not the particle.
3. Confusing separable and inseparable verbs with objects
❌ Wrong I can back up your proposal with the data.
✅ Correct I can back up your proposal with data. / I can back your proposal up with data.
“Back up” is separable, meaning you have two options: “back up your proposal” or “back your proposal up.” Both are grammatically correct. However, inseparable verbs like “come up with” cannot be separated: you must say “come up with a solution,” never “come a solution up with.” Know which verbs in your target language are separable versus inseparable.
Key Grammar Notes
👉 For more phrasal verb practice in different contexts, explore our guides on animal phrasal verbs, cooking phrasal verbs, and driving phrasal verbs. Each offers context-specific vocabulary for different everyday situations and professional fields.