Phrasal Verbs para el B2 (FCE): Lista de los Más Importantes con Ejemplos

El B2 First no tiene una lista oficial de phrasal verbs que "entran" en el examen. Pero si has hecho muchos exámenes de práctica o conoces bien el formato de Use of English, verás que ciertos phrasal verbs aparecen una y otra vez. No es casualidad: Cambridge selecciona formas de alta frecuencia que un hablante de nivel B2 debería manejar con comodidad.

Lo que más cuesta en el examen no es saber el significado de un phrasal verb, sino usarlo correctamente: saber si es separable o no, qué preposición lleva detrás, o cómo transformar una frase con un verb frase equivalente.

Para repasar los fundamentos de cómo funcionan los phrasal verbs, la guía de phrasal verbs es un buen complemento a esta lista.

---

Los phrasal verbs más frecuentes en el FCE por grupo temático

Comunicación y relaciones

Bring up — sacar un tema / criar a un hijo

• She brought up the question of funding at the meeting.
• He was brought up by his grandparents.

Fall out (with someone) — pelearse, romper una amistad

• They fell out over something stupid and haven't spoken since.

Get on / get along (with someone) — llevarse bien

• Do you get on well with your colleagues?

Look down on — menospreciar, mirar por encima del hombro

• He looks down on anyone who didn't go to university.

Look up to — admirar a alguien

• I've always looked up to my older sister.

Put up with — aguantar, tolerar

• I can't put up with this noise anymore.

Stand up for — defender a alguien o algo

• You need to stand up for yourself more.

---

Trabajo y responsabilidad

Carry out — llevar a cabo, realizar (una tarea, un experimento)

• The research was carried out over three years.
• The police carried out a search of the premises.

Come up with — idear, proponer algo nuevo

• She came up with a brilliant solution.
• Can you come up with a better plan?

Deal with — ocuparse de, gestionar

• I'll deal with the emails later.
• How do you deal with stress?

Give up — rendirse / dejar un hábito

• Don't give up — you're almost there.
• He gave up smoking two years ago.

Set up — establecer, fundar, montar

• They set up the company in 2018.
• Can you set up a meeting for Thursday?

Take on — asumir / contratar

• She took on too much work at once.
• The firm is taking on new staff.

Turn down — rechazar (una oferta, una solicitud)

• He turned down the job offer.
• The bank turned down their loan application.

---

Progreso y cambio

Break through — lograr avanzar superando un obstáculo

• Scientists have broken through in cancer research.

Catch up (with) — ponerse al día, alcanzar

• I need to catch up on the work I missed.
• She ran faster to catch up with the group.

Fall behind — quedarse atrás

• He fell behind in his studies after getting sick.

Move on — pasar página, avanzar

• It's time to move on from the past.
• Let's move on to the next point.

Pick up — recoger / mejorar / aprender de forma natural / retomar

• Business is picking up after a slow start.
• She picked up Spanish just from living there.
• Can you pick me up at the airport?

Step up — aumentar, intensificar; también asumir un reto

• They stepped up production to meet demand.
• Nobody else would do it, so she stepped up.

---

Planes y decisiones

Call off — cancelar

• The concert was called off due to bad weather.

Come across — encontrar por casualidad / dar una determinada impresión

• I came across this photo while tidying up.
• She comes across as very confident in interviews.

Go ahead — proceder, seguir adelante

• The project went ahead despite the delays.

Look into — investigar, examinar

• The police are looking into the matter.
• I'll look into that and get back to you.

Put off — posponer / desanimar

• Don't put off what you can do today.
• The bad reviews put me off going.

Rule out — descartar

• The doctors ruled out any serious illness.
• We can't rule out the possibility of delays.

---

Phrasal verbs de comprensión y análisis

Figure out — entender, descifrar, resolver

• I can't figure out how to use this app.
• Have you figured out what went wrong?

Point out — señalar, hacer notar

• She pointed out an error in the report.
• He pointed out that the deadline had passed.

Work out — resolver un problema / hacer ejercicio / resultar

• I couldn't work out the answer.
• It all worked out in the end.
• She works out three times a week.

---

Phrasal verbs que confunden en el FCE

Put off vs Call off

• Put off: posponer para más tarde.
• Call off: cancelar definitivamente.
• ✓ We put off the meeting until Monday. (cambio de fecha)
• ✓ They called off the event. (cancelación total)

Bring up vs Raise

Bring up (en el contexto de criar hijos) y raise son intercambiables en inglés americano. En inglés británico, bring up es más natural en conversación. Para las Key Word Transformations, Cambridge puede pedir transformar uno en el otro.

Come up vs Come up with

• Come up: surgir, aparecer (un tema, un problema).
• Come up with: generar una idea o solución.
• ✓ An unexpected problem came up.
• ✓ She came up with a great idea.

Take off vs Set off

En el sentido de "salir de viaje" o "partir":

• ❌ They took off for the station at 8.
• ✓ They set off for the station at 8. Take off es para aviones, o para que algo tenga mucho éxito.

---

Key Word Transformations con phrasal verbs: patrones frecuentes

El Part 4 del Use of English pide transformar una frase con una palabra clave. Los phrasal verbs aparecen con frecuencia en dos sentidos:

1. Transformar una frase con verbo simple en una con phrasal verb:

   • She endured the noise for three hours. → PUT UP WITH → She put up with the noise for three hours.

2. Transformar un phrasal verb en verbo formal o viceversa:

   • They cancelled the match. → CALLED → The match was called off.
   • I discovered the solution by accident. → CAME → I came across the solution by accident.