20 Phrasal Verbs with GIVE | GIVE英文片語動詞完整指南

The verb “give” sits at the center of English generosity, communication, and surrender. Native speakers attach more than a dozen prepositions to it, and each one produces a distinct phrasal verb with its own meaning. Phrasal verbs with GIVE (GIVE片語動詞) cover everyday actions — handing over objects, running out of energy, admitting defeat — as well as subtler ideas like revealing a secret or emitting a scent. The verbs appear in textbooks, but the real-world range is wider than most learners expect.

This guide covers 20 essential GIVE phrasal verbs with clear examples drawn from the kind of English used in Taiwanese workplaces, classrooms, and daily conversation.

Why GIVE Has So Many Phrasal Verbs [GIVE為什麼有這麼多片語動詞]

The base meaning of “give” is transfer — you move something from yourself to someone else. When you add a preposition, that direction shifts. “Up” signals surrender or cessation. “Away” points outward, often permanently. “In” suggests inward movement, like yielding to pressure. “Out” can mean distributing to many people or running completely dry. Understanding these preposition logics won’t give you every meaning, but it cuts the memorization load in half.

Watch this video for an overview of the most common phrasal verbs with GIVE before reading the full breakdown:

1. Give Up [放棄・停止嘗試]

Give up (放棄) is the most widely used phrasal verb with GIVE, and it carries three related meanings that are easy to confuse.

Meaning 1 — To stop trying (放棄/停止嘗試): “She studied for months but finally gave up on passing the IELTS.” This is the most common use. The object is often a goal, habit, or activity. “He gave up coffee last year.” “Don’t give up — you’re so close.” When the object is a pronoun, it must split the verb: give it up, never give up it. With noun objects, both positions work: “give up smoking” or “give smoking up.”

Meaning 2 — To surrender yourself or someone else (自首・交出): “After three days on the run, he gave himself up to the police.” This sense appears in news and crime contexts. “She gave up her accomplice to avoid a longer sentence.” The reflexive use — give oneself up — is the most natural construction.

Meaning 3 — To stop waiting or expecting (放棄期待): “We waited an hour, then gave up on him.” “I’d given up on finding my keys when they appeared in the freezer.” This sense uses give up on (someone/something) to signal that you’ve lost hope specifically in that person or outcome.

2. Give Away [免費送出・洩露秘密]

Give away carries two meanings that are entirely different in context. Getting them wrong in conversation leads to real misunderstanding.

Meaning 1 — To donate or hand out for free (免費送出/捐贈): “The store is giving away free samples this weekend.” “She gave away most of her books before moving abroad.” In marketing contexts, a giveaway (one word, noun form) is a free promotional item: “Enter our Instagram giveaway for a chance to win.” Note the spelling — two words as a verb, one word as a noun.

Meaning 2 — To reveal a secret, often accidentally (洩露秘密): “His expression gave him away — he’d clearly known all along.” “Don’t give away the ending of the movie.” “She tried to act surprised, but her smile gave it away.” A giveaway used as a noun also means an obvious sign: “The parking ticket was a dead giveaway that he hadn’t moved his car in weeks.”

3. Give In [讓步・屈服於壓力]

Give in (讓步/屈服) means to stop resisting pressure from an outside force. It is close to give up, but the distinction matters: give up is about stopping an effort, while give in is specifically about yielding to another person or situation.

“He argued against the new schedule for two weeks but eventually gave in.” “Parents sometimes give in to their children’s demands just to stop the noise.” In professional settings: “The client pushed hard on price, and the sales team finally gave in and knocked off ten percent.”

Give in to (something): When you name what you’re yielding to, use ĐẾN. “She finally gave in to the temptation of buying a new phone.” “Don’t give in to peer pressure.” Note that give in is intransitive — you cannot place an object directly after it. You give in (intransitive) or give in to something (prepositional phrase).

4. Give Out [分發・耗盡・停止運作]

Give out has three distinct meanings. Context makes them easy to separate once you know what to look for.

Meaning 1 — To distribute (分發): “The volunteers gave out food packages to 200 families.” “Could you give out these forms to everyone in the room?” This is the most direct sense — giving something outward to multiple recipients. It is separable: “give the forms out” or “give out the forms” are both natural.

Meaning 2 — To run out or be exhausted (耗盡/用完): “The supplies gave out after three days.” “Her patience finally gave out.” “The printer ink gave out right before the presentation.” In this sense, give out is intransitive — there is no object, and the meaning is that the resource is completely gone.

Meaning 3 — To stop working (停止運作): “His legs gave out in the final kilometer of the marathon.” “The engine gave out on the highway.” This is a close cousin of Meaning 2 — something stops functioning because it has been exhausted or has failed.

5. Give Back [歸還・回饋社會]

Give back (歸還/回饋) covers two related ideas — one concrete, one abstract.

Meaning 1 — To return something to its owner (歸還): “Can you give back my umbrella? It’s raining again.” “She borrowed the report and never gave it back.” With a pronoun object, always split: give it back, not give back it. With a noun object, both positions work: “give back my book” or “give my book back.”

Meaning 2 — To contribute to society or a community (回饋社會): “He earned a lot during his career and wanted to give back before retiring.” “The foundation was created to give back to the local community.” In this sense, give back is intransitive. The concept of 回饋 maps closely to this usage — if someone says they want to 回饋社會, “give back to the community” is the natural English equivalent.

6. Give Off [散發・發出]

Give off (散發) means to emit or radiate something — a smell, heat, light, or even an abstract impression. The subject produces something that spreads outward.

Physical emissions: “The candles give off a warm vanilla scent.” “The reaction gives off heat and a sharp odor.” “This lamp gives off enough light to read by.” In all these cases, the subject produces something that spreads outward into the environment.

Abstract impressions: “She gives off confident energy in every meeting.” “That email gives off an unprofessional impression — I’d rewrite it.” “He gives off the vibe that he doesn’t want to be there.” This informal use is common in everyday English and worth knowing for both reading and conversation.

Give off is inseparable — you cannot move the object: “give off heat,” never “give heat off.”

7. Give Over [停止・移交 — 多見於英式英語]

Give over has two uses, one casual British and one more formal.

Meaning 1 — Stop it (停止/夠了) [British informal]: “Oh, give over! You’re embarrassing yourself.” This is the British equivalent of “stop it” or “knock it off.” It rarely appears in American English, so learners who encounter it in British TV shows or podcasts should recognize it without needing to produce it in their own speech.

Meaning 2 — To hand over control or responsibility (移交): “She gave over the project to her assistant while on leave.” “The founders gave over day-to-day operations to a new management team.” This formal sense appears in business and governance contexts. It is separable: “gave the project over to her assistant” works equally well.

Additional Phrases Worth Knowing [其他重要用法]

Give rise to — to cause or produce something, often a problem or situation (導致/引起): “The new policy gave rise to serious concerns among staff.” “Rapid growth gave rise to supply chain issues.” This is formal, common in written English and presentations.

Give way (to) — to yield or to be replaced by (讓路/讓位): “The old system eventually gave way to a digital platform.” “Drivers must give way to pedestrians at crosswalks.” In British English, give way on road signs means yield (讓行). American signs use yield.

Give a hand — to applaud (鼓掌) or to help (幫忙): “Let’s give a hand to tonight’s speaker.” “Could you give me a hand moving this desk?” Two entirely different meanings depending on whether you’re in a conference room or an office.

Quick Reference Table [速查表]

Common Mistakes Taiwan Learners Make [常見錯誤分析]

The most frequent error with phrasal verbs with GIVE is pronoun placement. With a pronoun object, the verb must be split: “give it up,” “give them back,” “give it out” — never “give up it,” “give back them,” or “give out them.” With noun objects, both positions are usually fine: “give up the plan” or “give the plan up.” The exception is give off Và give in, which are inseparable — the object always stays after the full phrase.

Confusing give up Và give in is the second most common issue. Both might translate loosely as 放棄 or 投降 in Chinese, but they behave differently in English: give up refers to stopping an activity or goal, while give in refers specifically to yielding to someone else’s pressure. “I gave up” could mean you stopped trying. “I gave in” means someone pushed and you agreed. The distinction matters in professional communication.

Third: confusing the verb and noun form of give away. “They’re giving away free tickets” (verb, two words). “It’s a giveaway event” (adjective, one word). “The smudged ink was a giveaway” (noun, one word). All three appear regularly in marketing and social media English — high-value vocabulary for anyone working in Taiwan’s business environment.

For more on how phrasal verbs across different base verbs compare, see the guide to phrasal verbs with COME Và phrasal verbs with GO. For the full set of essential phrasal verbs for professionals in Taiwan, the complete phrasal verbs guide covers the 45 most important ones with workplace examples.

Phrasal verbs become easier once you see the preposition logic beneath them. GIVE paired with eight prepositions produces eight different directions. Study the pattern alongside the examples, and the list stops feeling random.

Nguồn

1. Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries: give (phrasal verbs) — Authoritative definitions and example sentences for all major GIVE phrasal verbs.
2. Merriam-Webster: give up — American English definitions with usage notes and citations.
3. BBC Learning English — Real-world usage context and audio examples for English learners worldwide.