Phrasal verb COME (1)

Study the phrasal verbs. Lead-in.

A beach holiday be like:

This phrasebook may come in useful if I meet foreigners on the beach.

The tide has come in.

“Where does all this money come in?” thought Mike, perplexed.

The plane is coming down.

The snow is coming down.

The prices on fuel are coming down.

Mike: “I thought that gang would come at me with a huge knife. I feared they might come after me.”

She: “I have no idea how it all came about but I spent all the money today…”

He: “All?!”

She: “Sorry, I just couldn’t resist the temptation to come by such a lovely pair of shoes that go with my dress…”

More phrasal verbs with COME …

come about	happen, especially if unplanned: I have no idea how it all came about but I spent all the money today…
come across	meet or find something by chance, unexpectedly: I came across my old school photos when I was cleaning the attic.
come after	follow somebody in order to catch and do harm to them: “I fear that might come after me in the night. Will you help me then?” Johnny asked.
come at	think differently or outside the box about an issue/ problem to find a better/ more interesting solution: I suggest we come at the business model issue a bit differently to reach a unanimous consensus.
come at	make a sudden move towards somebody* as if you want to attack them:* A street gang came at me with a machete which made my blood freeze, but in fact they just wanted to ask me the way to the nearest sugar cane field.
come back	return: I thought she would beg me to come back, but instead she uncorked a bottle of champagne to celebrate the beginning of a new, better life without me.
come by	get something: Wow! Where did you come by this book? I’ve been after it for months!
come down	fall: The snow came down yesterday evening.
	become lower: The prices on oil are coming down this month.
	land: The aircraft came down soon after it had taken off.
come down to	be the key point of an issue/ situation: In the end, it all comes down to those who benefit most from the situation.
come down to	inherit: This old vase came down to me after my granny’s death.
come in	enter: Come in guys!
	be received and/ or earned: Where does all this money come in?
	the sea level rises: The tide came in and we had to leave the beach.
	be useful for a certain purpose: This phrasebook may come in handy when talking about weather.

Practice

Exercise 1

Match.

1 / 5

Match.

come about

come in

come after

2 / 5

Match.

come back

come by

come down

3 / 5

Match.

come down to

come in

come down

4 / 5

Match.

come at

come down

come in

5 / 5

Match.

come across

come down to

come at

Your score is

Exercise 2

Fill in the gaps.

1 / 8

I’m not sure I want my ex-wife to come .

2 / 8

You have recently come a fortune! Congrats!

3 / 8

Peter came our old photos while cleaning the attic.

4 / 8

Look! A plane is coming over there onto the rice field.

5 / 8

Please come ! Don’t stand on the threshold.

6 / 8

The prices of solar panels will hopefully come if more people start using them.

7 / 8

A suspicious man, who looked like a thug, was coming two schoolgirls when suddenly he was halted by their father.

8 / 8

The CEO eventually came a wise decision which rescued the company from bankruptcy.

Your score is

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Write the meanings of the phrasal verbs.

1 / 10

"How did you come by these reference books? A special permission from the Royal Library is required to get access to them," said Mike in awe.

2 / 10

"Look at the plane in the sky! Is it coming down?" Peter asked thoughtfully.

3 / 10

People wondered if the prices would soon come down.

4 / 10

I don't remember how it all came about.

5 / 10

Cleaning up the basement, Paul came across the old album.

6 / 10

After their breakup, Alice feared that her ex could come after her.

7 / 10

However trivial it sounds it all has come down to money.

8 / 10

"We must come at an original decision to win the tender," concluded the project manager.

9 / 10

When travelling abroad, this phrasebook will definitely come in handy.

10 / 10

The parents were sure that their son would never come back to them.

Your score is

Exercise 5

Replace the verbs in bold with the phrasal verbs. Make other necessary changes.

1 / 10

It all happened so unexpectedly that I had no time to interfere.

2 / 10

Where did you get this old brooch?

3 / 10

The police weren’t sure that the suspect would follow the old lady, so they ignored her complaint.

4 / 10

What his behaviour can be explained by is that he doesn’t love her.

5 / 10

Jane found by chance the old professor’s notes on gravity in the upper drawer of her father’s desk.

6 / 10

The plane high in the sky started landing.

7 / 10

Meg couldn’t understand: “Why did all these bills start arriving?! I paid them long ago!”.

8 / 10

It’s cold in here, the temperature outside has lowered.

9 / 10

These scientific magazines proved to be extremely useful for my research.

10 / 10

I thought those thigs would attack me, but they simply passed by without looking at me.

Your score is

Exercise 6

Exercise 7

happen, especially if unplanned

1/9

fall;

become lower;

land

2/9

enter;

be received and/ or earned;

the sea level rises;

be useful for a certain purpose

3/9

follow somebody in order to catch and

do harm to them

4/9

meet or find something by chance, unexpectedly

5/9

get something

6/9

think differently or outside the box about an issue/ problem to find a better/ more interesting solution;

make a sudden move towards somebody as if you want to attack them

7/9

be the key point of an issue/ situation;

inherit

8/9

return

9/9

Commit these phrasal verbs to memory!

Start

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Exercise 8

Make up a 5-sentence story, using the phrasal verbs from the list in any form you need.

Begin your story with “Work is …”.

1 / 1

You can do this task either here or on a piece of paper. Use the prompts below in any order you prefer.

it all came about – come at a decision - come by that laptop – come down to redundancy – come across a job ad

P.S. This exercise is not corrected here as there are multiple possible answers. We recommend turning to your teacher for correction if needed.

60 words left

Your score is

The average score is 0%

Exercise 9

Make up 4 short dialogues (2-3 lines each) on the given topics. Use as many of the phrasal verbs from this block as possible.

Example: Two people discussing the latest political news.

Tim: Did you hear that Sam Taylor, our PM, wants to break away from his party due to the recent disagreements?

Hank: Yes, he announced that he would break with the current party and form a new one with more conservative views and policies.

P.S. This exercise is not corrected here as there are multiple possible answers. We recommend turning to your teacher for correction if needed.

1 / 4

Dialogue 1. Two colleagues talking about shopping.

60 words left

2 / 4

Dialogue 2. Friends talking about the weather.

60 words left

3 / 4

Dialogue 3. Two mates discussing the latest news.

60 words left

4 / 4

Dialogue 4. A woman complaining about life to her psychologist.

60 words left

Your score is

The average score is 0%