Phrasal verbs with 'give'

Give something away = to give something to someone for free e.g. I gave my old jeans away as they were too small for me.


Give something away = to tell someone a secret by mistake e.g. She gave the surprise party away by parking her car in front of the house.

Give someone away = to take a bride to her husband at church e.g. Her uncle gave her away as her father had died.

Give something back = to return it e.g. She gave me back the DVD that I lent her.

Give someone something back = to return a lost quality/ability e.g. The operation gave him his eyesight back.

Give in = to finally agree to what someone wants e.g. After he had been nagging me all night to go to the office party, I finally gave in.

Give in = to accept defeat e.g. There was no point in competing any longer so he gave in.

Give something in = to hand in written work e.g. The lecturer told us to give our assignment in by Friday.

Give in to something = to accept an emotion/desire e.g. I wanted to eat something sweet all day and I gave in to that bar of chocolate.

Give off something = to produce gas, heat, light, smell e.g. That stove gives off a bad smell.

Give of yourself = to give time/money without expecting anything back e.g. She gives so much of her free time to helping out at the shelter.

Give something out = to provide something to many people e.g. When is the company going to give out those samples?

Give out something = to make a sound e.g. He gave out a loud sigh and went back to work.

Give up something = to stop an unhealthy habit e.g. He gave up smoking and feels much better.

Give up doing something = to stop completing something as it is difficult e.g. She gave up studying to be a doctor and studied art instead.

Give up = to stop looking for an answer to a joke/question e.g. I give up! I don’t know the population of China.

Give yourself up = to allow the police to catch you e.g. The bank robbers gave themselves up after a long chase.

Give someone up = to leave a baby in someone else’s care e.g. They couldn’t look after the baby so they gave it up.

Give up on someone/something = to stop hoping that someone will do what you want them to do e.g. I don’t think he will ever go to university. I’ve given up on him.