Qu'est-ce qu'un phrasal verb ?
Un phrasal verb est un verbe combiné avec une préposition ou un adverbe qui change complètement son sens.
Par exemple, give = donner, mais give up = abandonner.
C'est l'un des plus grands défis pour les francophones, car il n'existe pas d'équivalent exact en français.
Les phrasal verbs représentent environ 30% du vocabulaire quotidien des anglophones natifs.
Sans eux, tu comprendras la grammaire mais tu auras du mal à suivre une conversation réelle,
un film ou un email informel.
1. GET — Le plus polyvalent
Le verbe get est partout en anglais. Combiné avec des particules, il prend des dizaines de sens différents.
| Phrasal Verb | Traduction | Exemple | Registre |
|---|
| get up | se lever | I get up at 7 every morning. | Courant |
| get over | surmonter | She finally got over her breakup. | Informel |
| get along (with) | bien s'entendre | Do you get along with your colleagues? | Courant |
| get away | s'échapper / partir | We need to get away for the weekend. | Courant |
| get by | s'en sortir / survivre | She gets by on a small salary. | Informel |
| get into | entrer dans / se passionner pour | He got into photography last year. | Courant |
| get out of | éviter / se soustraire à | He always gets out of doing the dishes. | Informel |
| get through | traverser / joindre qqn | I can't get through to customer service. | Courant |
| get rid of | se débarrasser de | I need to get rid of these old clothes. | Courant |
2. TAKE — L'action
| Phrasal Verb | Traduction | Exemple | Registre |
|---|
| take off | décoller / enlever | The plane takes off at 3 PM. | Courant |
| take on | accepter / embaucher | She took on a new challenge at work. | Courant |
| take up | commencer (un hobby) | He took up painting during lockdown. | Courant |
| take over | prendre le contrôle | The new CEO took over last month. | Formel |
| take out | sortir / emmener | Let me take you out for dinner. | Courant |
| take after | ressembler à (famille) | She takes after her mother. | Courant |
| take back | retirer / reprendre | I take back what I said. | Informel |
3. LOOK — L'observation
| Phrasal Verb | Traduction | Exemple | Registre |
|---|
| look up | chercher (information) | Let me look up the address. | Courant |
| look after | s'occuper de | Can you look after my cat this weekend? | Courant |
| look forward to | avoir hâte de | I'm looking forward to the holiday. | Courant |
| look into | enquêter / examiner | We're looking into the issue. | Formel |
| look out | faire attention | Look out! There's a car coming! | Courant |
| look down on | mépriser | She looks down on people without degrees. | Informel |
| look up to | admirer | I really look up to my grandmother. | Courant |
4. GIVE — Le don
| Phrasal Verb | Traduction | Exemple | Registre |
|---|
| give up | abandonner | Don't give up on your dreams! | Courant |
| give in | céder | He finally gave in and bought the shoes. | Courant |
| give away | donner / révéler | She gave away all her old books. | Courant |
| give back | rendre | Please give back the money you owe me. | Courant |
| give out | distribuer / tomber en panne | They gave out free samples at the store. | Courant |
| give off | émettre (odeur, chaleur) | This candle gives off a nice smell. | Courant |
5. PUT — Le placement
| Phrasal Verb | Traduction | Exemple | Registre |
|---|
| put up with | supporter / tolérer | I can't put up with this noise anymore. | Informel |
| put off | reporter / décourager | Don't put off your homework again. | Courant |
| put on | mettre (vêtement) / allumer | Put on your jacket, it's cold. | Courant |
| put out | éteindre / déranger | The firefighters put out the fire. | Courant |
| put away | ranger | Please put away your toys. | Courant |
| put down | poser / critiquer | Stop putting yourself down, you're great! | Informel |
6. TURN — Le changement
| Phrasal Verb | Traduction | Exemple | Registre |
|---|
| turn on / off | allumer / éteindre | Turn off the lights before leaving. | Courant |
| turn up | augmenter / arriver | He turned up late to the meeting. | Informel |
| turn down | baisser / refuser | She turned down the job offer. | Courant |
| turn out | s'avérer | It turned out he was right all along. | Courant |
| turn into | se transformer en | The caterpillar turned into a butterfly. | Courant |
| turn around | se retourner / redresser | The company turned around its finances. | Formel |
7. COME — Le mouvement
| Phrasal Verb | Traduction | Exemple | Registre |
|---|
| come up | survenir / apparaître | Something came up, I can't make it tonight. | Informel |
| come across | tomber sur / sembler | I came across an interesting article. | Courant |
| come up with | trouver (une idée) | She came up with a brilliant solution. | Courant |
| come along | accompagner / progresser | Want to come along to the concert? | Informel |
| come down with | tomber malade | I think I'm coming down with a cold. | Informel |
| come back | revenir | When are you coming back from Paris? | Courant |
8. BREAK — La rupture
| Phrasal Verb | Traduction | Exemple | Registre |
|---|
| break up | rompre / se séparer | They broke up after two years. | Courant |
| break down | tomber en panne / s'effondrer | My car broke down on the highway. | Courant |
| break into | cambrioler / percer dans | Someone broke into the store last night. | Courant |
| break out | éclater / s'évader | A fire broke out in the building. | Courant |
| break through | percer / faire une percée | The team broke through with a new discovery. | Formel |
9. GO — Le départ
| Phrasal Verb | Traduction | Exemple | Registre |
|---|
| go on | continuer / se passer | What's going on here? | Courant |
| go through | traverser / examiner | She's going through a tough time. | Courant |
| go over | revoir / vérifier | Let's go over the plan one more time. | Courant |
| go off | sonner / exploser / se gâter | My alarm went off at 6 AM. | Courant |
| go out | sortir | We're going out for dinner tonight. | Courant |
| go ahead | allez-y / continuer | Go ahead, I'm listening. | Courant |
10. MAKE — La création
| Phrasal Verb | Traduction | Exemple | Registre |
|---|
| make up | inventer / se réconcilier / se maquiller | They argued but made up the next day. | Courant |
| make out | comprendre / distinguer | I can't make out what the sign says. | Informel |
| make up for | compenser | He made up for being late by buying flowers. | Courant |
| make it | réussir / arriver à temps | I don't think I'll make it to the party. | Informel |
| make do (with) | se contenter de | We'll have to make do with what we have. | Courant |
Astuces pour mémoriser les phrasal verbs
Conseil #1 : Apprends par contexte, pas par liste
Au lieu de mémoriser "get up = se lever", retiens une phrase complète : "I get up at 7 every morning and make coffee."
Le contexte aide ton cerveau à créer des associations durables.
Conseil #2 : Regroupe par particule
Les particules ont souvent un sens général : up = compléter/augmenter, down = diminuer/arrêter,
out = sortir/distribuer, off = séparer/éteindre, on = continuer.
Erreur courante
Ne traduis jamais un phrasal verb mot à mot ! "Look up" ne signifie pas "regarder en haut" mais "chercher une information".
Traite chaque phrasal verb comme un mot unique avec son propre sens.
Quiz interactif — Teste tes connaissances
Trouve la bonne traduction du phrasal verb