Phrasal Verb Fun

check in, check out
In
usually means what the dictionary says. That means you can 'be in' a
room and not move. You can also 'go in' the bathroom.
You check in to a hotel or to an airport. Later, when you leave the hotel,
you check out. You check out of the hotel. Each time, of course,
documents are checked or examined.
Check your baggage in / check your baggage out
If you travel with baggage, you check in - as above - and you also check
your baggage in.
When it has an object, it is a
separable two-word verb
Careful.
check up on
Mrs Murgatroyd was not happy about the young man that her daughter
had brought home. She had a professional to check up on him, and
found that her suspicions were well-founded.
Up
, as usual, means 'complete'. To check up on somebody is what a
detective does when he wants background information about a person -
where he comes from, how much money he has, how many crimes he has
committed, and so on.
Three-word verb
No problem.

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cheer
(cheer, cheered, cheered)
Both a good feeling, and a shout to express that good feeling. To cheer
means to shout very loud because you are happy. Just think of the noise
when there is a goal in football.
cheer up
If you have been feeling
down
, a happy friend might walk by and say,
'Cheer up! You're not dead yet.' This
up
means a good feeling, of course
This friend is trying to cheer you up..
Separable two-word verb
Be careful.
close
(close, closed, closed)
When you close a door, you can't go through it. And when a shop or a
factory is closed, you can't buy things there or work there.
close down
When a business closes down, it means that it is not going to open again.
'Business is bad,' said Mr Shopp. 'I have been working hard and losing
money for three years. Time to close it down.'
This
down
has the sense of 'back to zero'.
Separable two-word verb
Be careful.
come
(come, came, come)
Come is movement towards the speaker. 'Come here!' means 'Move
towards me.' Sometimes, on the phone (maybe because we are so
polite), we imagine things from the listener's position. We say, 'I'll come to
your house in an hour.'
come about
After her ex-husband won the lottery, great changes came about in

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Delia’s life.
One of the meanings of
'about'
is 'near here' in space, or 'almost now' in
time.
To come about means something (new) comes about (here). It means to
be created. If you like philosophy, you might say that something comes
from the Unknown to here. It comes about. It happens.
So come about means 'to happen'. Compare this to
bring about
which
means 'make something happen'.
'The cat is in the fridge! How did that come about? Did you have anything
to do with it?'
Two-word verb without an object
. No problem.
come across
Although I didn't understand a word she was saying, our new Chinese
teacher came across as a really nice lady.
Come across means that some information, a new idea perhaps, has
come across an imaginary table. 'Something comes across' means that
'something is successfully communicated.'
We often use it for an impression, or an image.
Albert was on trial, and he was in big trouble. His main witness was
coming across as a compulsive liar.
Compare this with
get across
,
get over
,
put across
, and
put over
.
Two-word verb without an object
. No problem.
come across it
I was fed up last night, but then I came across a €100 note that was
blowing about in the street. I felt much better after that.
When you come across something, it is lying in your path. It is perhaps in
your way. You encounter it. You discover it by chance, by accident.
Inseparable two-word verb
No problem.