Phrasal Verb Fun

catch up, catch up with
Carl Lewis was a great sprinter. No other runner could catch up with him.
He was so fast, that nobody else could ever catch him up.
(These are two ways of saying exactly the same thing.)
Remember,
up
often has the sense of finishing something. If a shoplifter -
a thief who steals from shops - runs away, perhaps the store detective
will run after him. Maybe he or she is a good runner and catches up with
the thief. So he has the thief in his hands.
Poor countries in our world are having big problems in catching up.
Notice that catch up and catch up with always imply a race. A trapper - a
hunter who sets traps - or the police catch their prey.
CATCH UP is a
separable two-word verb
but frequently does not have an object..
CATCH UP WITH is a
three-word verb
No problem.
chat

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(chat, chatted, chatted)
To talk informally.
chat up
Mario sees a beautiful stranger, Maria, so he goes over to have a happy
chat and to make her feel
up
and happier. What is he doing? He is
chatting her up. He hopes the evening will start to get even better.
Separable two-word verb
Be careful.
check
(check, checked, checked)
To check something means to verify it, to see that it is acceptable.