Phrasal verbs for work: the ones in your Slack.

To bring something up is to be the person who puts it on the table. It is the verb of the agenda item nobody scheduled, and the sentence that begins “I wanted to bring up…” is often a sign that the next minute will be less comfortable than the last.

“Bring up” also means to raise a child, so a sentence like “I’ll bring it up” gets its sense from what “it” is.

Point out is the meeting’s way of saying “there is a problem” while sounding like a helpful observation. At work it is a polite way to flag a problem, and that is the use worth noticing: it makes the speaker a person who spotted something, not a person who is complaining.

It usually comes with a clause attached, “she pointed out that the figures did not add up”, and the thanks that follow it, “thanks for pointing that out”, are often a way of accepting the criticism without arguing.

Go ahead is permission compressed to two words. In a meeting it moves something from discussion to action: someone asks whether to continue, and the answer is simply “go ahead”.

It can also be an instruction to speak: “Go ahead, Maya.” The surrounding sentence tells you whether the permission is to talk, start or continue.

Reach out is the opener of a message to someone you want something from, or want to hear from. The contrast that matters: the person takes “to” (“reach out to HR”), and friends tend to say “get in touch” where an office says “reach out”.

Follow up is both a verb and a noun, and both turn up in the same inbox. You follow up with a person and on a topic, and the noun is “a follow-up”. “Just following up on my email from last week” is the classic case, and a good example of a phrasal verb doing a slightly awkward job politely.

To get back to someone is to reply later, and the later is the point. “I’ll get back to you” promises an answer without giving one, and it can also be a polite way to delay a no.

That makes it a phrase worth reading with some care in both directions. Said by you, it is a promise you now owe. Heard from someone else, it is sometimes an answer in itself.

A few of these show up together in a single email. “Reach out” is office and email language, “follow up” is work and email language, and “get back to” is a workplace staple. A first message might open with “I wanted to reach out”, a second might say “just following up”, and a reply might say “I’ll get back to you”.

That is usage, not a rule. Plenty of people write plain “contact”, “chase” and “reply” in the same emails, and nothing is wrong with them. The phrasal versions are simply the ones that many offices have settled into. For other phrases that fill the same inbox, such as “touch base” and “keep me posted”, see common English phrases.

Come up is the excuse that needs no details. “Something came up” is the standard polite excuse for canceling, and its weight comes from what it leaves out: the listener is invited not to ask what.

It has a second, plainer use in the same office: a question “came up” after a presentation, or a problem “came up” with a booking. In both cases, something new has appeared that now needs dealing with.

A phrasal verb is often a way of saying a hard thing in two or three short words.

Take on is for work that was not there before: a new client, a new role, a duty someone has handed over. It turns up at work for duties and clients, and the advice that comes with it is often a warning: “don’t take on too much in your first month.”

A pronoun goes in the middle: “take it on”, not “take on it”.

Fill in for is cover: doing a colleague’s job while they are away. “Cover for” means the same, and the person doing it is “a fill-in”.

It carries a time limit inside it. Someone filling in is a temporary arrangement by definition, which is why the sentence usually names the reason: “I’m filling in for Sam while he’s on vacation.”

“Fill in for” has three parts: a verb, a particle and a preposition. Cambridge Grammar calls this pattern a phrasal-prepositional verb.

Pull off is the admiring one: managing something hard that looked unlikely. It is casual and admiring, and it also covers clothes, “not everyone can pull off that hat”, which tells you the sense of difficulty is part of the compliment.

It often appears after the fact, and “do you really think we can pull this off?” is the version that sounds most like an office.

Go along with is agreement with a little reluctance in it. It suggests mild reluctance; to show real agreement you would say “agree with” or “support” instead.

That is worth knowing from both sides. If you say “I’m happy to go along with that”, a careful listener may hear that you have a view you are not pressing. If you want to sound convinced, another verb does it better.

Back down is giving up a position once someone challenges it. It is often negative, as in “refuse to back down”, and the “on” names what is given up: “back down on the price”.

The phrase can describe a loss of face as much as a change of mind, which may be why it is so often paired with refusing.

Double down is the opposite move: committing harder instead of changing course. It is common in news and business: “instead of apologizing, he doubled down on the excuse.”

The phrase also has a literal home. In blackjack, to double down is to double your bet after seeing your first two cards, in exchange for only one more card. At work, it often describes someone else’s refusal to reconsider, usually critically.