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

The verb chạy appears in over 90 different phrasal verb combinations in English. That sounds overwhelming — but the same 20 expressions come up again and again in workplace conversations, business emails, and everyday talk. This guide focuses on exactly those 20, with clear meanings, real examples, and the Chinese equivalents that Taiwanese learners find most helpful.

Before you read further: many RUN phrasal verbs have more than one meaning depending on context. Pay close attention to which meaning fits which situation — that’s where most learners make mistakes.

Run Out / Run Out Of — 用完、耗盡 [Depletion]

These two are the most common RUN phrasal verbs you’ll hear. Run out means a supply reaches zero. Run out of is the same idea but followed directly by the thing that’s gone.

• We’ve run out of coffee in the break room. — 茶水間的咖啡已經用完了。
• My phone battery is about to run out. — 我手機快沒電了。
• We’re running out of time — the presentation starts in five minutes. — 時間快來不及了。
• The project stalled because the team ran out of budget. — 專案停擺是因為預算用完了。

Grammar note: “Run out of” is inseparable — you cannot put the object in the middle. You say “run out of ideas,” not “run ideas out of.”

When the clock is ticking at work, you’re “running out of time” — one of the most common uses of this phrasal verb.

Run Into — 偶遇和遭遇 [Encounters]

“Run into” carries two very different meanings, and native speakers switch between them constantly. Context is your guide.

Meaning 1 — To meet someone by accident (偶遇):

• I ran into my old university professor at the MRT station. — 我在捷運站偶遇了大學教授。
• You’ll never guess who I ran into at the conference.

Meaning 2 — To encounter a problem or difficulty (遭遇問題):

• The construction team ran into unexpected delays. — 施工隊遇到了意外的延誤。
• Chúng tôi ran into some technical issues with the server. — 伺服器出現了技術問題。
• The negotiations ran into trouble when both sides disagreed on price.

Running into a colleague at the office can be a pleasant surprise — or the start of an unexpected problem.

Run Away / Run Off — 逃跑和快速離開 [Leaving]

Run away means to escape from something or someone, either literally or figuratively. It’s used for both physical situations and emotional ones.

• The dog ran away when it heard the thunder. — 狗狗聽到雷聲就跑了。
• You can’t just run away from your responsibilities. — 你不能逃避責任。
• Cô ấy ran away from home at seventeen. — 她十七歲時離家出走。

Run off is slightly more casual and often means leaving quickly without much explanation:

• Sorry, I have to run off — my next meeting starts in two minutes. — 不好意思，我得先走了。
• He grabbed his bag and ran off before anyone could ask questions.

“Run off with” adds an object and means to steal or take something away:

• Someone ran off with my umbrella. — 有人把我的傘帶走了。

Athletes literally run — but “run away” and “run off” describe escaping situations, not just physical movement.

Run Through / Run Over / Run Back — 快速瀏覽和複習 [Review]

These three are indispensable in professional settings. They all involve going through information quickly.

Run through — to go over something from start to finish, usually for review or practice:

• Let’s run through the agenda before the meeting starts. — 會前先過一下議程。
• Can you run through the main points of your report? — 你能快速說一下報告重點嗎？
• We need to run through the presentation one more time.

Run over — to review quickly, OR for something to go beyond its time limit:

• Can we run over the contract terms once more? — 能再快速過一下合約條款嗎？
• The meeting is running over — we started thirty minutes ago and we’re only halfway. — 會議超時了。

Run back — to go back and review from the beginning:

• Let me run back over what we discussed in phase one. — 讓我再回顧一下第一階段討論的內容。

In English-speaking workplaces, you’ll “run through” a presentation, “run over” key points, and “run back” to check what was agreed.

Run By / Run Past — 讓人確認 [Getting Approval]

These two are nearly identical and both appear constantly in office English. When you “run something by” someone, you’re asking them to take a quick look at your idea, decision, or plan before you proceed.

• I’ll need to run this by the legal team before we sign anything. — 簽約前我需要先讓法務確認一下。
• Can I run something by you? I have an idea for the new campaign. — 我可以和你說個想法嗎？
• Cô ấy ran the proposal past her manager and got the green light. — 她把提案給主管看過，得到了批准。
• Before we go public, let’s run the numbers past the finance director.

The key difference: “run by” is slightly more casual; “run past” sounds a bit more formal. Both are correct in professional settings.

Whether it’s running past a finish line or “running a proposal past” your manager — the idea of moving something forward applies to both.

Run Up / Run Up Against — 累積和遇到阻礙 [Accumulation & Obstacles]

Run up means to accumulate something — usually debt, costs, or a bill — faster than expected:

• Anh ta ran up a huge credit card bill during the business trip. — 他出差期間刷了一大筆信用卡費。
• The startup ran up $200,000 in debt in its first year.
• Đừng run up expenses without manager approval. — 別在沒有主管批准的情況下產生費用。

Run up against means to encounter an obstacle or opposition:

• The project ran up against regulatory barriers. — 專案遇到了法規障礙。
• We keep running up against the same problem — the API keeps timing out.
• The new policy ran up against strong resistance from the sales team.

Run Down / Run On — 耗盡和繼續說 [Decline & Duration]

Run down has three common meanings, and all three come up regularly:

Meaning 1 — A battery or resource loses power (電量耗盡):

• My laptop battery is running down — I need a charger. — 我筆電快沒電了。
• The old factory equipment had completely run down.

Meaning 2 — A quick summary (簡短說明):

• Give me a quick run-down of what happened in the meeting. — 跟我快速說一下會議的情況。
• Here’s the run-down on our top three competitors.

Meaning 3 — To speak negatively about someone (批評某人):

• She keeps running down her colleagues behind their backs. — 她老是在背後說同事的壞話。

Run on means to continue longer than expected, especially when someone talks without stopping:

• His speech ran on for nearly two hours. — 他的演講持續了將近兩個小時。
• The meeting ran on and nobody had time to eat lunch.

Learning phrasal verbs in groups by verb — the way this guide is structured — is the fastest method, because you build patterns instead of memorizing random words.

Run Across / Run With — 偶然發現和採納 [Discovery & Action]

Run across means to discover something by chance — similar to “run into” for people, but used for things and information:

• I ran across an interesting study while researching competitor pricing. — 我在研究競爭對手定價時偶然看到一個有趣的研究。
• Cô ấy ran across her old college notes while cleaning the office.
• Have you ever run across that blog before? The writer is brilliant.

Run with means to take an idea and develop it fully, or to proceed with a plan:

• That’s a great concept — let’s run with it. — 這個概念很好，我們就按這個方向做吧。
• The CEO loved the marketing pitch and told the team to run with it.
• I wasn’t sure at first, but I decided to run with the original idea.

Run Behind / Run Out On / Run Along — 落後和拋棄 [Position & Abandonment]

Run behind means to be late or delayed:

• We’re running behind on the deliverables — expect a delay until Friday. — 我們的交付進度落後了，預計要延到週五。
• The 3 PM flight is running behind by about forty minutes.

Run out on means to abandon someone when they need help:

• Anh ta ran out on his business partner right before the product launch. — 他在產品發布前拋下了商業夥伴。
• I can’t believe she ran out on the team like that.

Run along is an informal phrase used to tell someone (usually a child) to go away or stop interrupting:

• Run along now — the adults need to talk. — 去玩吧，大人在說話。
• The teacher told the students to run along to their next class.

Whether you’re sprinting forward or falling behind — RUN phrasal verbs describe momentum, progress, and what happens when it stalls.

Common Mistakes with RUN Phrasal Verbs — 常見錯誤修正

Three errors come up repeatedly among intermediate learners:

Mistake 1 — Confusing “run into” meanings:

Learners often use “run into” only for meeting people. Remember it also means encountering a problem: “We ran into a bug in the system” — not “We met a bug.”

Mistake 2 — “Run out” vs. “run out of”:

If you’re talking about a specific thing being depleted, you need “of”: “We ran out of paper” (not “we ran out paper”). If there’s no specific object, drop the “of”: “Time has run out."”

Mistake 3 — “Run through” vs. “run over”:

Both mean to review quickly, but “run over” also means to exceed a time limit. “The presentation ran over” means it went longer than planned. “The presentation ran through” does not exist in standard usage.

For a deeper look at how particles like OUT, INTO, and THROUGH change verb meanings, see English Phrasal Verb Particles Explained.

The Full List: 20 Phrasal Verbs with RUN — RUN片語動詞完整列表

The best way to lock these in is to use them in sentences that matter to your own life. Pick five from this list and write one real sentence for each — about work, a recent project, or your daily routine. For the full system behind learning phrasal verbs, see How to Actually Learn Phrasal Verbs.

If you want to compare how RUN compares to the other high-frequency verbs, check out Phrasal Verbs with COME next — it has a similar range of meanings and the same tricky dual-meaning problem that catches learners off guard.

Sources — 參考資料

1. Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries: run — Complete entry for run with all phrasal verb forms and usage examples.
2. Macmillan Dictionary: run phrasal verbs — Usage notes and frequency ratings for all major run phrasal verb forms.
3. British Council: Phrasal Verbs — Grammar explanation of separable and inseparable phrasal verbs with exercises.