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

The verb pick does more heavy lifting in everyday English than most Taiwanese learners realize. On its own, it means to choose or to lift something. But once you attach particles — up, out, 在, off, over — it generates 20 different meanings that show up constantly in workplaces, classrooms, and daily conversation. Knowing pick up speed, pick up on a hint, ， 和 pick up where you left off is the difference between following a native speaker’s story and getting lost at the third sentence.

Why PICK Phrasal Verbs Are Worth Your Time [為什麼 PICK 片語動詞值得學？]

Among the 100 most common English verbs, pick generates one of the highest numbers of phrasal verb combinations — 20 or more, depending on how you count idioms. What makes this verb especially rewarding for Taiwan learners is that the combinations fall into clear theme clusters: physical actions, selection, social dynamics, and progress. Those four clusters map to different real-world situations, which means you can learn them in groups rather than as a random list. The business English uses (pick up the slack, pick up where we left off) appear in TOEIC business contexts; the social ones (pick on, pick a fight) appear in listening tests and TV dialogue. Both are worth your time.

Physical Actions [撿起與移動動作]

The first group keeps the physical meaning of pick — reaching for something, removing something one by one, or sifting through a pile. These are the most literal meanings and the easiest entry point into the verb.

1. Pick Up [撿起 / 拿起 / 接送]

意義： To lift something from a surface, or to collect a person from a location.

Can you pick up that pen you dropped? — 你能撿起你掉的那支筆嗎？

I’ll pick the kids up from school at 5 PM. — 我五點去學校接孩子。

This is the most common pick phrasal verb, and it also has extended meanings covered below in the Progress section — the same two words carry completely different ideas depending on context.

2. Pick Off [逐一移除 / 一個一個擊落]

意義： To remove things one at a time from a surface or group, or to eliminate targets individually.

She spent ten minutes picking off the lint from her jacket before the interview. — 她在面試前花了十分鐘把夾克上的棉絨一一摘除。

The goalkeeper picked off every shot from outside the box. — 守門員攔截了每一個從禁區外射來的球。

The military sense — “to pick off targets” — carries the idea of precision and deliberateness, not random removal.

3. Pick Over [仔細翻揀 / 挑揀]

意義： To examine a group of items carefully and select the best ones, often leaving behind what you don’t want.

By the time I got to the market, the vegetables had already been picked over by other shoppers. — 等我到市場時，蔬菜已被其他顧客挑揀過了。

The journalists picked over every detail of the speech looking for contradictions. — 記者們仔細審視演講的每個細節，尋找矛盾之處。

4. Pick Through [翻找 / 仔細搜尋]

意義： To sort through a collection of things, usually looking for something specific.

I had to pick through a box of old cables to find the one I needed. — 我必須翻找一箱舊電線才找到我需要的那條。

Investigators are still picking through the evidence gathered last week. — 調查人員仍在仔細審查上週蒐集的證據。

Unlike pick over, which implies selecting the good and leaving the bad, pick through focuses on the searching process itself.

Selection and Recognition [選擇與識別]

The second cluster covers using judgment — choosing the right option, spotting details others miss, and examining something critically. All four are common in academic and professional English.

5. Pick Out [挑選出 / 辨認出]

意義： To choose one thing from a group, or to identify or recognize something specific.

Can you pick out which answer is correct? — 你能選出哪個答案是正確的嗎？

I can always pick her out in a crowd — she’s a foot taller than everyone else. — 在人群中我總能認出她——她比其他人高一個頭。

The recognition meaning — “pick someone out of a lineup” — is used in both police dramas and everyday conversation to describe spotting a specific person or detail.

6. Pick Apart [逐一分析 / 批評到體無完膚]

意義： To examine something very carefully and find faults, or to dismantle an argument step by step.

The professor picked apart my thesis in front of the entire seminar. — 教授在全體研討會成員面前把我的論文逐一批評。

Let me pick apart the logic of that claim before we go any further. — 在我們繼續之前，讓我逐步分析那個說法的邏輯。

This verb is stronger than “criticize.” It implies a thorough, methodical dismantling — which is why it appears so often in academic and legal contexts.

7. Pick Up On [察覺到 / 注意到細節]

意義： To notice or detect something subtle — a feeling, a clue, or an unspoken message.

She picked up on his nervousness immediately, even though he was trying to hide it. — 她立刻察覺到他的緊張，儘管他試圖掩飾。

Good listeners pick up on things that most people miss — tone shifts, pauses, word choices. — 善於傾聽的人能察覺到大多數人錯過的細節——語調變化、停頓、用詞選擇。

This is different from simply “noticing” something obvious. Pick up on always implies that the thing detected was subtle and required attention.

8. Pick and Choose [挑三揀四 / 精挑細選]

意義： To be selective, taking only what you want and rejecting the rest. Often implies being overly fussy.

You can’t pick and choose which company policies to follow. — 你不能挑著遵守公司政策。

With twenty candidates for three spots, we had the luxury of picking and choosing. — 二十位候選人競爭三個名額，我們有條件精挑細選。

Context determines whether this is positive (being discerning) or negative (being difficult). Tone and situation settle it.

Social and Interpersonal [社交與人際關係]

The third group covers how pick appears in human interaction — and most of these carry a negative or adversarial charge. Knowing them matters for understanding arguments, TV dialogue, and workplace conflict.

9. Pick On [欺負 / 針對某人]

意義： To single someone out for criticism, teasing, or unfair treatment, usually repeatedly.

Stop picking on your little sister — she’s only seven. — 別再欺負你妹妹了，她才七歲。

The new manager seemed to pick on certain team members for minor mistakes while ignoring others. — 新經理似乎針對某些成員的小錯誤，卻對其他人的問題視而不見。

This is the archetypal “bully” verb in English. Pick on someone your own size is the standard comeback, meaning “choose a fairer opponent.”

10. Pick a Fight [找碴 / 故意挑起爭端]

意義： To deliberately start an argument or conflict with someone.

He came into the meeting looking to pick a fight with whoever disagreed with him. — 他帶著想跟任何反對他的人起爭執的態度走進會議室。

She wasn’t trying to pick a fight — she just wanted clear answers. — 她並不是要找碴，她只是想要明確的答覆。

You can “pick a fight with someone” (with a specific person) or just “pick a fight” (as a general disposition). Both forms are common.

11. Pick At [挑食 / 無精打采地挑弄]

意義： To eat very little, pushing food around without really eating it; or to repeatedly touch or scratch something nervously.

He just sat there picking at his food, clearly upset about something. — 他就坐在那裡挑著食物，顯然對某事感到不安。

Stop picking at that scab — it’ll never heal if you keep touching it. — 別再摳那個結痂了，你一直碰它就不會好。

The food sense is extremely common in parenting and restaurant contexts. The “scratching” sense works for skin, labels, or anything being picked at nervously.

12. Pick Up After [替某人收拾整理]

意義： To clean up or tidy things that someone else has left messy or out of place.

I’m done picking up after you every day — you’re old enough to clean your own room. — 我不再每天替你收拾了，你已經夠大了，可以自己整理房間。

Part of a hotel housekeeper’s job is picking up after guests who don’t bother tidying before checkout. — 飯店管家工作的一部分，就是替那些退房前不整理的客人收拾。

Progress and Recovery [進步與恢復]

The fourth group contains the highest-frequency business and professional uses of pick. These are the combinations that native speakers use in meetings, negotiations, and everyday updates — and they’re the ones most Taiwan learners haven’t formally studied.

13. Pick Up Speed [加速 / 越來越快]

意義： To gradually go faster, or for a process to accelerate.

The train picked up speed as it left the station. — 火車離站後開始加速。

The economy is picking up speed after two slow quarters. — 經濟在兩個疲軟季度後開始加速回升。

This works for physical movement and abstract processes equally well. You’ll hear it in business news constantly during recovery or growth stories.

14. Pick Up Steam [勢頭漸增 / 越來越有動力]

意義： When a project, movement, or trend grows stronger and gains momentum.

The campaign picked up steam after a viral social media post brought in 50,000 new followers in a week. — 一篇在社群媒體上爆紅的貼文帶來五萬新追蹤者，讓這場活動聲勢大漲。

The negotiations started slowly but are now picking up steam. — 談判一開始進展緩慢，但現在開始有了勢頭。

Originally from steam engines, this phrase is now fully figurative. It implies growing momentum rather than just speed.

15. Pick Up the Pace [加快速度 / 加快步伐]

意義： To move or work faster, usually as a direct instruction or self-correction.

The coach told the runners to pick up the pace in the final lap. — 教練告訴跑者在最後一圈要加快速度。

If we don’t pick up the pace on this project, we’ll miss the deadline. — 如果我們不加快這個專案的進度，就會錯過截止日期。

This is more direct than “pick up speed” — it’s specifically about working or moving faster by a deliberate decision.

16. Pick Up the Slack [補位 / 接替他人的工作]

意義： To do work or contribute effort that someone else isn’t doing, usually because that person is absent or underperforming.

When Jen went on maternity leave, the rest of us had to pick up the slack. — Jen 去請產假時，我們其餘的人必須補位。

The new hire has been picking up the slack since the director resigned. — 自從主任辭職後，新進員工一直在補位。

This is a fixture of workplace English. It implies doing more than your own share to cover a gap — not permanently taking over, but filling in.

17. Pick Up the Pieces [重整旗鼓 / 處理殘局]

意義： To recover from a setback, failure, or difficult situation and try to rebuild.

After the project failed, it took the team three months to pick up the pieces and start again. — 專案失敗後，團隊花了三個月重整旗鼓、重新出發。

She walked away from the relationship and had to pick up the pieces of her life on her own. — 她離開了那段關係，必須靠自己重建自己的生活。

The image here is of something broken scattered on the floor — you’re literally picking up the fragments to try to rebuild. That’s why it’s almost always used for serious setbacks, not minor inconveniences.

18. Pick Up Where You Left Off [從中斷處繼續]

意義： To resume an activity or conversation at the exact point where it was stopped earlier.

We ran out of time in the last meeting, so today we’ll pick up where we left off. — 上次會議時間不夠，所以今天我們從上次說到的地方繼續。

After six months abroad, she came back and picked up where she left off at her company. — 在國外待了六個月後，她回來從原本在公司的工作繼續。

This is one of the most useful phrases in professional English and appears constantly in meeting openers and project handoffs.

19. Pick Up the Tab [買單 / 付帳]

意義： To pay for something on behalf of others, especially at a restaurant or bar.

The client picked up the tab for the entire dinner — we didn’t pay anything. — 客戶買單請全桌吃飯，我們一分錢都沒出。

Who’s picking up the tab for this team lunch? — 這次團隊午餐誰買單？

“Tab” originally referred to a bill kept running at a bar. The phrase now applies to any situation where one person pays for a group.

20. Pick Up (Learn/Acquire) [學會 / 習得]

意義： To learn something informally or gradually, without formal instruction.

She picked up Mandarin just by living in Taipei for two years — she never took a class. — 她只是在台北住了兩年就學會了普通話，從未上過課。

I picked up a few tricks working with the design team last year. — 去年和設計團隊合作時，我學到了一些技巧。

This sense of 撿起 is common across all skill levels. Note that you “pick up” a language, a skill, an accent, or a habit — but not a subject like mathematics or history, which implies formal study.

YouTube Lesson — PICK Phrasal Verbs in Action [影片學習]

Quick Reference Table [快速對照表]

How to Practice These [如何練習這些片語動詞]

The fastest way to lock in phrasal verbs is not re-reading lists — it’s writing one sentence per verb about a real situation from your own life. Take five of the twenty above and write a sentence that describes something you’ve actually experienced. Have you ever had to pick up the slack when a colleague left suddenly? Picked up a foreign language by living somewhere? Picked up on a boss’s mood without being told? Those personal connections make vocabulary stay.

For audio examples, the Espresso English PICK phrasal verbs lesson has spoken samples for the most common combinations. The British Council phrasal verbs guide explains the grammar rules behind separable and inseparable patterns — essential reading if you’re unsure whether you can split the verb from its particle.

If you’re working through the full PICK series on this site, the companion post on Phrasal Verbs with FALL covers another 20 combinations in the same format. The grammar post on separable vs. inseparable phrasal verbs is the single most useful follow-up — understanding that rule removes a lot of the guesswork about when you can move things around. And if you want to see all major verb families together, the 45 Essential Phrasal Verbs for Taiwan Professionals guide is the best starting point for the full picture.

來源

1. Cambridge Dictionary — Phrasal Verbs — Grammar reference and usage notes on phrasal verb structure, separability, and particles in British and American English.
2. British Council — Phrasal Verbs — B1/B2 grammar guide on phrasal verb word order, separability, and common usage patterns.
3. Merriam-Webster — Pick — Full entry for the verb “pick” including phrasal verb combinations and usage examples.