Change & Development

Phrasal verbs for transformation and growth

Introduction

Life is constant change, and phrasal verbs capture every transformation. Things "turn out" differently than expected, situations "work out" or fall apart, and we ourselves "grow up" and "move on."

This chapter explores phrasal verbs of change: personal growth, unexpected outcomes, improvements, and the ways things evolve over time.

Themes

All Phrasal Verbs in This Chapter (78)

• turn into To become something different
• come about To happen or occur
• bring about To cause something to happen
• switch over To change from one thing to another
• phase in To introduce gradually
• shake up To make major changes; to shock or upset
• scale down To reduce in size or scope
• move on To progress to the next thing; to stop dwelling on the past
• give way To collapse; to yield to traffic or pressure
• wear out To become unusable through use; to exhaust
• break through To achieve success after difficulty
• die down To gradually become less intense
• pick up To improve or increase
• grow out of To become too big for; to mature beyond
• take up To start a new activity or hobby
• cut down To reduce the amount of something
• settle in To become comfortable in a new place
• tone down To make less intense
• fade away To gradually disappear
• peter out To gradually end or fail
• turn around To improve a bad situation dramatically
• shape up To improve behaviour or performance
• pan out To develop or turn out in a particular way
• spring up To appear suddenly or quickly
• die out To become extinct or disappear completely
• level off To stop increasing or decreasing and become stable
• even out To become more balanced or equal
• round off To complete or finish something nicely
• wind down To gradually come to an end or relax
• wind up To end up in a particular situation or place
• grow into To develop into something over time
• come along To progress or improve
• look up To improve or become better
• liven up To become more exciting or make something more interesting
• pile up To accumulate in large amounts
• mount up To increase or accumulate
• run down To decline or deteriorate
• wear down To gradually weaken or erode
• speed up To increase speed or make something happen faster
• heat up To become more intense or exciting
• kick off To start or begin something
• set off To trigger or cause something to happen
• spark off To cause something to begin, especially suddenly
• bring on To cause something unpleasant to happen
• come around To change your opinion or decision
• win over To persuade someone to support or like you
• carry over To continue from one period to another
• roll over To extend or renew automatically
• make over To completely change the appearance of something
• do over To do something again from the beginning
• start over To begin again from the beginning
• mull over To think carefully about something for a long time
• stave off To delay or prevent something unpleasant
• head off To prevent something by taking action early
• throw off To disrupt or confuse something
• drum up To generate or create through effort
• open up To create new possibilities or become available
• close down To stop operating permanently
• shut down To stop operating or to silence someone
• set in To begin and seem likely to continue
• kick in To start to have an effect
• tail off To become gradually smaller or quieter
• drop off To decrease or decline
• fall off To decrease in quantity or quality
• bottom out To reach the lowest point before recovering
• bounce back To recover quickly from a setback
• spring back To return quickly to original position or state
• snap back To return suddenly to previous state
• morph into To gradually change into something different
• melt away To disappear gradually
• push on To continue with effort despite challenges
• soldier on To continue bravely despite difficulties
• plod on To continue slowly and steadily
• forge ahead To make strong progress despite obstacles
• evolve into To develop gradually into
• taper off To reduce gradually
• settle into To become comfortable with a new situation
• ease into To start something gradually