Phrasal verbs with “put” show up everywhere, from small talk to work emails. Learn the high‑frequency ones first, then build nuance. This guide gives you clear meanings, patterns, usage notes, examples, and quick practice so you remember them fast.
Many learners find ‘Put’ phrases tricky because they are so common in daily life. Before we dive into the details, remember that you can use a specific phrasal verbs by root verb strategy. Grouping your study this way helps you see patterns and learn faster.”
Why “Put” Phrasal Verbs Matter
“Put” phrasal verbs pack a lot of meaning into short phrases. Put off can mean delay or discourage. Put through can mean connect a call or make someone endure something. The particle does the heavy lifting, so context matters.
Tip, focus on patterns.
- Off tends to signal delay or avoidance, put off
- Up often means increase, attach, or host, put up, put up with
- Out often means extinguish, distribute, or inconvenience, put out
- Through often means connect or make someone endure, put through
- Forward often means propose or advance, put forward
- Down often means write, place, criticise, or pay a deposit, put down
- In often means submit, install, or contribute, put in
- Across often means communicate clearly, put across
- Over often means communicate or promote, put over
- Back often means return or reschedule later, put back
Core List, Meanings, Patterns, and Examples with Put Phrasal Verbs
- Put off
- Meanings, postpone, discourage, delay, avoid.
- Patterns, put something off until, put someone off from
- Examples, We had to put the meeting off until Friday. The long wait put me off the restaurant.
- Collocates, meeting, trip, decision, put someone off doing something
- Put up
- Meanings, raise, provide money, display, build, host
- Patterns, put up prices, a poster, a building, put someone up for the night
- Examples, They put up the ticket prices. Can you put me up this weekend
- Put up with
- Meaning, tolerate
- Pattern, put up with plus noun or gerund
- Example, I won’t put up with constant interruptions.
- Put out
- Meanings, extinguish, produce or publish, inconvenience or annoy
- Patterns, put out a fire, a statement, be put out
- Examples, Firefighters put out the blaze. The company put out a press release. Sorry to put you out, but could you resend that file
- Put through
- Meanings, connect a call, make someone endure something, complete a transaction
- Patterns, put someone through to X, put someone through training
- Examples, I’ll put you through to Support. The boot camp put us through our paces.
- Put forward
- Meaning, propose or suggest
- Pattern, put forward an idea, argument, name
- Example, She put forward a bold plan for Q4.
- Put down
- Meanings, place, write, criticise or humiliate, pay a deposit, euthanise an animal
- Patterns, put it down, put something down in writing, put someone down, put down a deposit, put the dog down
- Examples, Put your phone down while we talk. He put down 20 percent on the house. Don’t put people down in meetings.
- Put aside
- Meanings, save or reserve, ignore differences
- Patterns, put aside money or time, put differences aside
- Examples, She puts aside ten percent of her income monthly. Let’s put differences aside and focus on delivery.
- Put away
- Meanings, store tidily, eat a lot, save money
- Patterns, put away the dishes or clothes, put away a big lunch
- Example, Please put away your equipment after use.
- Put across
- Meaning, communicate effectively
- Pattern, put your point or message across
- Example, He put his argument across clearly.
- Put back
- Meanings, return to its place, delay or reschedule to a later time
- Patterns, put something back on the shelf, the meeting was put back to 3 pm
- Example, Please put the tools back after use.
- Put in
- Meanings, submit or apply, install, contribute time or effort, interject
- Patterns, put in an application or bid, put in long hours, put in a word
- Examples, I’ll put in a leave request. Could you put in a good word for me
- Put into
- Meanings, invest time, money, or effort, express in words
- Patterns, put time or money into, put feelings into words
- Example, We’ve put a lot of work into the prototype.
- Put on
- Meanings, wear, gain weight, stage a show, pretend, switch on
- Patterns, put on a coat, weight, a performance, an accent, put the kettle on
- Examples, They’re putting on Hamlet next month. Don’t put on that fake voice.
- Put off someone from
- Meaning, discourage someone from doing something
- Example, The cost put me off signing up.
- Put out to
- Meanings, send out for a purpose, outsource, put out to tender
- Example, The project was put out to tender.
- Put through to
- Meaning, connect someone
- Example, I’ll put you through to Accounts.
- Put together
- Meanings, assemble or compile
- Patterns, put together a report, team, piece of furniture
- Example, She put together a strong cross functional team.
- Put off with
- Meaning, placate with something inferior
- Example, They put us off with vague answers.
- Put out feelers
- Meaning, make discreet enquiries
- Example, We’re putting out feelers for a senior PM.
- Put under
- Meanings, anaesthetise, subdue
- Example, The patient was put under for surgery.
- Put upon, adjective or participle
- Meaning, taken advantage of
- Example, She felt put upon by last minute requests.
- Put forth
- Meaning, produce, present, exert
- Example, The trees put forth new leaves. The team put forth a solid effort.
- Put back to vs put forward to, time
- Meanings, reschedule later vs earlier
- Examples, The call was put back to 4 pm. Can we put it forward to 10 am
- Put out of
- Meaning, remove from or disable
- Examples, The injury put him out of action. The outage put the site out of service.
- Put down to
- Meaning, attribute to
- Example, I put the error down to a spelling mistake.
- Put something past someone, usually negative
- Meaning, consider someone capable of something
- Example, I wouldn’t put it past him to forget again.
- Put off lights vs put out fire
- Tip, We turn or switch lights off. We put fires out.
Quick Memory Hooks
- Off, delay or discourage
Put the trip off. Don’t let criticism put you off. - Up, increase, attach, or tolerate
Put up prices. Put up shelves. Put up with noise. - Out, extinguish, distribute, inconvenience
Put out a fire. Put out a notice. Sorry to put you out. - Down, write, place, criticise, deposit
Put it down. Put down notes. Put someone down. Put down 10 percent. - In or Into, submit, install, invest
Put in a request. Put in a sink. Put time into study. - Through, connect or make someone endure
Put me through to IT. Put us through our paces. - Forward or Back, reschedule earlier or later, propose or return
Put the meeting forward or back. Put forward a proposal. - Across or Over, communicate clearly
Put the point across. Put the message over.
Common Confusion
- Put off vs put out
Put off means postpone or discourage.
Put out means extinguish, produce, or inconvenience.
Example, Put off the launch. Put out a press release. - Put up vs put up with
Put up means raise, host, display.
Put up with means tolerate. - Put down vs put down to
Put down means insult, place, write, or deposit.
Put down to means attribute.
Example, She put his rudeness down to stress. - Put through vs put across
Put through means connect or make someone endure.
Put across means communicate clearly. - Put over vs put across
Both can mean communicate or sell an idea. Put across is more common and neutral.
Real World Examples with Put Phrasal Verbs
Business
- We’ve put forward a new proposal and put the demo back to next Tuesday.
- Can you put me through to Legal
- Finance put up the budget by eight percent and put out revised guidance.
Study
- Put your notes down clearly and put time into spaced practice.
- The lecturer put across complex ideas simply.
Travel
- The flight was put back two hours.
- Thanks for putting us up last night
Everyday
- Don’t put yourself down.
- Could you put the kettle on
Tech and ops
- We put out a patch last night. Outages put several services out of action.
- Please put the servers back into rotation once tested.
Common Collocations
- Put off, a meeting, the trip, a decision, put someone off doing X
- Put up, prices, a poster, shelves, put someone up
- Put up with, noise, delays, rudeness
- Put out, a fire, a statement, a product update, be put out, annoyed
- Put down, roots, notes, a deposit, put someone down
- Put in, an application, time, hours, a request, put in a good word
- Put into, time, money, effort, put feelings into words
- Put through, a call, tests, training, put someone through their paces
- Put forward, a proposal, a theory, a candidate
- Put across, a message, a point, an argument
- Put back, a clock, a deadline, a meeting, to later
- Put aside or by, money, differences, time
Quick Reference Examples
- We had to put the launch off until Q2.
- Could you put me through to Billing
- They put up a detailed FAQ on the site.
- She won’t put up with poor communication.
- Please put your phone down and listen.
- The update was put out last night.
- He put down the mistake to a misprint.
- We’ll put in a formal request tomorrow.
- The lab put the prototype through rigorous tests.
- Thanks for putting us up during the conference.
- He put his point across with data.
- Can we put the call forward to 9 am
Now that you understand ‘Put’ expressions, don’t stop here! You can continue building your vocabulary by exploring other phrasal verbs by root verb to see how other ‘Power Verbs’ like Get and Take work.
FAQs
Challenge
Fill in the correct put phrasal verb and form
- We had to ____ the audit ____ next month.
- Could you ____ me ____ to Customer Care, please
- Don’t ____ yourself ____ , your talk was excellent.
- The team ____ a strong case ____ the committee.
- Please ____ your laptops ____ after class.
- The outage ____ two services ____ action.
- They ____ a 25 percent deposit on signing.
- She won’t ____ ____ with unethical behaviour.
- The lab ____ the new engine ____ its paces.
- Can we ____ the review ____ to 10 am
- Choose the best option
a) They put the fire off. b) They put the fire out.
a) I’ll put you over to Sales. b) I’ll put you through to Sales.
a) He put her down to the list. b) He put her down on the list.
a) We put forward the time to 9. b) We put back the time to 9.
a) She put me off joining. b) She put me out joining.
- Fix the error
I’ll put you across to HR.
They put the launch out to next month.
Could you put a word in for me.
Suggested answers
- put, back or put, off
- put, through
- put, down
- put, across, to
- put, down
- put, out of
- put, down
- put, up
- put, through
- put, forward
Best option: b, b, b, a, a
Fix the error:
- I’ll put you through to HR.
- They put the launch back to next month, or put it off until next month.
- Could you put in a good word for me
Download Worksheet
Download Phrasal Verbs with Put Worksheet
