Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Did the company branch out? Go under? Measure up? Could you answer these questions? Join me and learn 8 common phrasal verbs used in business and workplace situations. Understand what it means to step down, call off, take on, fall through, and more. Speak better, more professional English and increase your confidence today. engvid.com/speak-like-a-manager-8-phrasal-verbs
Take my course, Correct Your English Errors In 10 Minutes a Day: 10.bexenglish.com
Watch all my Speak Like a Manager videos: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxSz4mPLHWDamTa4xW7tkb-roADpiT5Jf
In this lesson:
0:00 8 Phrasal Verbs in Questions
0:41 step down
1:25 branch out
2:14 gone under
3:09 fall through
4:17 measure up
5:13 call off
6:20 take on
7:10 join in
7:52 Test
Transcript:
Has someone ever asked you a question in English which you didn't understand? I'm sure that might have happened, and it can happen for many different reasons. One possible reason is that the person used a phrasal verb in the question which you might not be familiar with. So, what's a phrasal verb? A phrasal verb is a verb followed by a preposition which changes the meaning of the entire expression. All right? So, in this lesson, we're going to look at eight different phrasal verbs that are often used in business meetings, and conversations, and discussions. All right? Here we go.
So, the first one. Did Mr. Williams step down? So, the phrasal verb is step down. What does it mean? To step down means to leave, resign, or retire from a job or a position. That's it. Often, this term, step down, this phrasal verb, is used to refer to people in higher positions who might leave, or resign, or retire from their jobs or positions. For example, the CEO of a company, or the vice president, or something like that.
Number two. Should we branch out? So, our phrasal verb here is branch out. What do we mean by that? To branch out means to expand or to grow. A company could expand in terms of its locations. It could open up new locations. It could grow in terms of the number of products, or the kinds of products that it offers, or the kinds of services that it offers, or the type of markets, the population, that it's trying to reach through its products or services. So, to branch out, think of a tree. A tree starts off, and then it branches out, right? Goes in different directions. That's what it means, to branch out.
Number three. Has their business gone under? Our phrasal verb is gone under. What does that mean? To go under means a lot of very negative things if you have a business. It means to go bankrupt. What is that? It means to not have enough money to pay your bills, alright? So, you don't want to be in that situation if you have a business. It means also to fail financially, not have enough money, not be making enough profit or money to keep running your business. To be unsuccessful, same idea. To close down, to stop doing business. But because, mainly, you don't make enough money. So, that is the meaning of "to go under".
Number four. Did the deal fall through? Our phrasal verb is fall through. What does that mean? So, this is fall through, okay? In case it's not clear, it's f-a-l-l, okay? Fall through. So, what does it mean for something to fall through? It means something didn't happen. Something was planned, and then it did not happen, such as the deal, or it failed to happen. Let's suppose somebody was planning to buy a particular house. Now, that's usually a long process, and it was the plan to buy the house, but let's suppose something went wrong along the way, and so the deal or the plan fell through, okay? You have to change the tense depending on what you're saying. So, it could be a plan that fell through, it could be an agreement that falls through, it could be a partnership that falls through, was supposed to happen, and it did not happen.
Number five. Does he measure up? Our phrasal verb here is measure up. What are we talking about here? So, perhaps there's a new employee, and somebody says, "Does he measure up?" To measure up means to meet the expectations that someone has for a particular job or position, for example, to meet the standards that are expected, to be good enough in that role, in that job, in that position, and to be able to do whatever is required or whatever is necessary. So, somebody that measures up is able to meet the expectations, meet the standards, be good enough, and be able to do whatever is required in that role.
Number six. Did they call off the meeting? So, our phrasal verb here is call off. What does it mean to call off something? To call off basically means to cancel, to say it's not happening. So here, the meeting was called off, but all kinds of things could be called off. For example, you could call off a training session or any kind of session, a webinar. You could call off something larger, like a conference, an exhibition. […]
Did the company branch out? Go under? Measure up? Could you answer these questions? Join me and learn 8 common phrasal verbs used in business and workplace situations. Understand what it means to step down, call off, take on, fall through, and more. Speak better, more professional English and increase your confidence today. engvid.com/speak-like-a-manager-8-phrasal-verbs
Take my course, Correct Your English Errors In 10 Minutes a Day: 10.bexenglish.com
Watch all my Speak Like a Manager videos: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxSz4mPLHWDamTa4xW7tkb-roADpiT5Jf
In this lesson:
0:00 8 Phrasal Verbs in Questions
0:41 step down
1:25 branch out
2:14 gone under
3:09 fall through
4:17 measure up
5:13 call off
6:20 take on
7:10 join in
7:52 Test
Transcript:
Has someone ever asked you a question in English which you didn't understand? I'm sure that might have happened, and it can happen for many different reasons. One possible reason is that the person used a phrasal verb in the question which you might not be familiar with. So, what's a phrasal verb? A phrasal verb is a verb followed by a preposition which changes the meaning of the entire expression. All right? So, in this lesson, we're going to look at eight different phrasal verbs that are often used in business meetings, and conversations, and discussions. All right? Here we go.
So, the first one. Did Mr. Williams step down? So, the phrasal verb is step down. What does it mean? To step down means to leave, resign, or retire from a job or a position. That's it. Often, this term, step down, this phrasal verb, is used to refer to people in higher positions who might leave, or resign, or retire from their jobs or positions. For example, the CEO of a company, or the vice president, or something like that.
Number two. Should we branch out? So, our phrasal verb here is branch out. What do we mean by that? To branch out means to expand or to grow. A company could expand in terms of its locations. It could open up new locations. It could grow in terms of the number of products, or the kinds of products that it offers, or the kinds of services that it offers, or the type of markets, the population, that it's trying to reach through its products or services. So, to branch out, think of a tree. A tree starts off, and then it branches out, right? Goes in different directions. That's what it means, to branch out.
Number three. Has their business gone under? Our phrasal verb is gone under. What does that mean? To go under means a lot of very negative things if you have a business. It means to go bankrupt. What is that? It means to not have enough money to pay your bills, alright? So, you don't want to be in that situation if you have a business. It means also to fail financially, not have enough money, not be making enough profit or money to keep running your business. To be unsuccessful, same idea. To close down, to stop doing business. But because, mainly, you don't make enough money. So, that is the meaning of "to go under".
Number four. Did the deal fall through? Our phrasal verb is fall through. What does that mean? So, this is fall through, okay? In case it's not clear, it's f-a-l-l, okay? Fall through. So, what does it mean for something to fall through? It means something didn't happen. Something was planned, and then it did not happen, such as the deal, or it failed to happen. Let's suppose somebody was planning to buy a particular house. Now, that's usually a long process, and it was the plan to buy the house, but let's suppose something went wrong along the way, and so the deal or the plan fell through, okay? You have to change the tense depending on what you're saying. So, it could be a plan that fell through, it could be an agreement that falls through, it could be a partnership that falls through, was supposed to happen, and it did not happen.
Number five. Does he measure up? Our phrasal verb here is measure up. What are we talking about here? So, perhaps there's a new employee, and somebody says, "Does he measure up?" To measure up means to meet the expectations that someone has for a particular job or position, for example, to meet the standards that are expected, to be good enough in that role, in that job, in that position, and to be able to do whatever is required or whatever is necessary. So, somebody that measures up is able to meet the expectations, meet the standards, be good enough, and be able to do whatever is required in that role.
Number six. Did they call off the meeting? So, our phrasal verb here is call off. What does it mean to call off something? To call off basically means to cancel, to say it's not happening. So here, the meeting was called off, but all kinds of things could be called off. For example, you could call off a training session or any kind of session, a webinar. You could call off something larger, like a conference, an exhibition. […]
