If you have ever had to get through a busy week, go through a difficult time, or watch someone pull through after an illness, you already use some of the most powerful phrasal verbs in English.
These verbs appear in daily conversations, at work, and in stories about life. This guide covers the most important phrasal verbs with THROUGH, with clear definitions, real example sentences, and a quick reference table so you find what you need fast.
What Does “Through” Mean in Phrasal Verbs?
The word through is a small word with a big job. In phrasal verbs, it rarely means just moving from one side to another. It adds deeper ideas to the verb.
Take the word get. On its own, it means to receive or obtain. But get through means to survive a hard experience, to finish a task, or to make someone understand you. The particle through adds the idea of completing or passing something from start to finish.
Through often suggests:
- Completion: get through, see through, follow through
- Survival or endurance: live through, pull through, sit through
- Careful examination: go through, look through, read through, sort through
- Success after difficulty: come through, break through, sail through
- Communication: put through, get through to, come through
Once you see these patterns, new phrasal verbs with THROUGH become much easier to understand.
Quick Reference Table
| Phrasal Verb | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Break through | To force a way past a barrier; to achieve success after effort |
| Breeze through | To complete something very easily |
| Carry through | To complete a plan or promise |
| Come through | To succeed when needed; to arrive as expected |
| Fall through | For a plan or deal to fail |
| Filter through | For information to spread slowly |
| Flip through | To turn pages quickly without reading carefully |
| Follow through | To complete what you started or promised |
| Get through | To finish something; to survive; to make contact |
| Get through to | To make someone understand you |
| Go through | To experience something difficult; to examine carefully |
| Go through with | To do something you planned, even if it is hard |
| Leaf through | To turn pages casually |
| Live through | To survive a difficult period or event |
| Look through | To examine documents or items; to ignore someone |
| Muddle through | To manage to do something without skill or a clear plan |
| Pass through | To travel through a place without stopping long |
| Pull through | To recover from a serious illness or difficulty |
| Push through | To force a plan or decision to be accepted; to keep going |
| Put through | To connect someone on the phone; to make someone experience something hard |
| Read through | To read something from beginning to end |
| Run through | To practice or review quickly; to use up |
| Sail through | To pass or complete something very easily |
| See through | To recognize when someone is lying; to finish what you started |
| Sift through | To examine a large amount of material carefully |
| Sit through | To stay until the end of something boring or long |
| Sleep through | To keep sleeping and not be woken by something |
| Sort through | To organize items and decide what to keep |
| Think through | To consider all parts of a plan carefully |
| Work through | To deal with a problem step by step |
Essential Phrasal Verbs with Through
Break Through
Meaning: To force a way past a barrier. To achieve success after a period of effort.
Examples:
- The sun finally broke through the clouds.
- Protesters broke through the fence outside the building.
- After years of hard work, the band broke through with their third album.
Breeze Through
Meaning: To complete something very easily and without effort.
Examples:
- She breezed through the exam in half the time.
- He breezed through the interview and got the job.
- Most students breezed through the first section of the test.
Carry Through
Meaning: To complete a plan or promise successfully.
Examples:
- The manager carried through the changes despite the resistance.
- It is easy to make promises. It is harder to carry them through.
- Her determination carried her through the toughest months.
Come Through
Meaning: To succeed or deliver when it matters. To arrive as expected.
Examples:
- We needed his help and he really came through for us.
- The payment finally came through on Friday.
- She always comes through when the pressure is on.
Fall Through
Meaning: For a plan, deal, or arrangement to fail before it is completed.
Examples:
- The house sale fell through at the last minute.
- Our holiday plans fell through when the flights were canceled.
- The deal fell through because they could not agree on the price.
Filter Through
Meaning: For information or light to spread or pass slowly.
Examples:
- News of the decision slowly filtered through the office.
- Sunlight filtered through the curtains in the morning.
- Details of the accident filtered through during the day.
Flip Through
Meaning: To turn pages quickly without reading carefully.
Examples:
- She flipped through the magazine while waiting.
- He flipped through the report and signed it.
- I flipped through the menu and ordered the first thing I saw.
Follow Through
Meaning: To complete what you started or promised to do.
Examples:
- He makes big plans but never follows through.
- The company followed through on its promise to cut prices.
- If you start a project, follow through to the end.
Get Through
Meaning: To finish something. To survive a difficult experience. To make contact by phone.
Examples:
- I have a lot of work to get through before Friday.
- She got through a very hard year with the support of her friends.
- I tried calling all morning but could not get through.
Getting through a long list of new vocabulary takes a plan. This guide on ways to learn new English words gives you simple methods that actually work.
Get Through To
Meaning: To make someone understand what you are saying.
Examples:
- I tried to explain, but I could not get through to him.
- Sometimes a story gets through to students better than a rule.
- She finally got through to her son about the dangers of speeding.
Go Through
Meaning: To experience something difficult. To examine something carefully.
Examples:
- She went through a lot after losing her job.
- Let us go through the contract together before you sign.
- He went through his bag looking for the keys.
Go Through With
Meaning: To do something you planned or promised, even when it is difficult.
Examples:
- She was nervous but went through with the presentation.
- In the end, he did not go through with the move overseas.
- Are you sure you want to go through with this?
Leaf Through
Meaning: To turn the pages of a book or magazine casually.
Examples:
- He leafed through the photo album and smiled.
- She leafed through the cookbook looking for ideas.
- I leafed through a few brochures at the travel agency.
Live Through
Meaning: To survive a difficult period or event.
Examples:
- My grandparents lived through the war.
- The town lived through two major floods in one decade.
- I hope we never live through anything like that again.
Look Through
Meaning: To examine papers, items, or information. To ignore someone as if they are not there.
Examples:
- She looked through the files for the missing report.
- I looked through my notes before the meeting.
- He looked straight through me as if we had never met.
Muddle Through
Meaning: To manage to complete something without skill, experience, or a clear plan.
Examples:
- Nobody trained us, so we just muddled through.
- She muddled through the first week at her new job.
- We do not have all the answers, but we will muddle through somehow.
Pass Through
Meaning: To travel through a place without staying long.
Examples:
- We passed through three small towns on the way north.
- He was just passing through and stopped to say hello.
- Thousands of travelers pass through this airport every day.
Pull Through
Meaning: To recover from a serious illness or a very difficult situation.
Examples:
- The doctors say she will pull through.
- The business nearly closed, but it pulled through in the end.
- With family support, he pulled through the hardest year of his life.
Push Through
Meaning: To force a plan or decision to be accepted. To keep going despite difficulty.
Examples:
- The government pushed through the new law quickly.
- She pushed through the pain and finished the race.
- We pushed through the crowd to reach the exit.
Put Through
Meaning: To connect someone on the phone. To make someone experience something difficult.
Examples:
- Hold on, I will put you through to the manager.
- The training put us through some very tough challenges.
- She put herself through college by working two jobs.
Read Through
Meaning: To read something from beginning to end, often to check it.
Examples:
- Please read through the instructions before you start.
- He read through the email twice before sending it.
- I read through the contract and found two problems.
Run Through
Meaning: To practice or review something quickly. To use something up fast.
Examples:
- Let us run through the presentation one more time.
- She ran through the steps before the performance.
- He ran through his savings in six months.
Sail Through
Meaning: To pass or complete something very easily.
Examples:
- She sailed through her driving test on the first try.
- The proposal sailed through the committee without changes.
- He sailed through the interview and started the next week.
See Through
Meaning: To recognize when someone is lying or pretending. To continue something until it is finished.
Examples:
- She saw through his excuses right away.
- I could see through the salesman’s friendly act.
- We started this project together and we will see it through.
Sift Through
Meaning: To examine a large amount of material carefully to find something.
Examples:
- Police sifted through the evidence for weeks.
- She sifted through hundreds of emails to find the right one.
- We sifted through the old boxes in the garage.
Sit Through
Meaning: To stay until the end of something long or boring.
Examples:
- We sat through a three hour meeting with no break.
- I could barely sit through the whole movie.
- She sat through the lecture even though she had heard it before.
Sleep Through
Meaning: To continue sleeping and not be woken by something.
Examples:
- He slept through the storm last night.
- I set two alarms and still slept through both.
- The baby finally slept through the night.
Sort Through
Meaning: To organize a group of things and decide what to keep or use.
Examples:
- She spent the weekend sorting through old clothes.
- We need to sort through these applications by Friday.
- He sorted through the photos and kept the best ones.
Think Through
Meaning: To consider all parts of a plan or decision carefully.
Examples:
- Think it through before you quit your job.
- The plan was not thought through properly.
- She thought through every possible outcome before deciding.
Work Through
Meaning: To deal with a problem step by step until it is solved.
Examples:
- They worked through their disagreement and stayed friends.
- The class worked through the exercises one by one.
- It takes time to work through grief.
Phrasal Verbs with Through in Real Conversations
Seeing these verbs in short dialogues shows you how natural they sound every day.
At work:
“Can we run through the numbers before the call? I read through the report and something does not add up. If the client sees through it, the deal will fall through.”
At home:
“I need to sort through these old boxes this weekend. Then I will go through the paperwork. Do not worry, we will get through it together.”
Talking about hard times:
“She went through a lot last year. But she pulled through. Looking at her now, you would never know what she lived through.”
Tips for Remembering Phrasal Verbs with Through
- Think of a journey from start to finish. Most THROUGH verbs carry the idea of going from one side of something to the other. Get through, see through, and work through all follow this pattern.
- Write your own sentences. Do not just read the definition. Use the verb in a sentence from your own life.
- Notice them in stories. Books, news articles, and movies about hard times are full of THROUGH verbs. Note them down when you see them.
- Use one new verb each day. Pick one phrasal verb each morning and try to use it before the day ends.
- Test yourself. Regular review helps you remember what you have learned.
Many THROUGH verbs describe surviving and succeeding, which makes them common in work settings. This guide on business phrasal verbs covers the ones you need for meetings and emails.
Grammar matters too. Some THROUGH verbs are separable, like think it through, and some are not, like go through. This guide on separable and inseparable phrasal verbs explains the rules in plain English.
Keep Learning
Phrasal verbs with THROUGH help you talk about effort, survival, and success. From getting through a tough week to following through on your goals, these verbs appear in almost every part of life.
Start with the verbs in the summary table above. Pick five that feel useful to you and write your own sentences. Come back to this page as your vocabulary grows.
Ready for more? Read the guide on phrasal verbs with GO or explore phrasal verbs with LOOK next.
