In this post we’ll look at phrasal verbs using the word “across” as a particle. Read on to learn new vocabulary and practice using it.

To come across – to seem to be a particular type of person (1); to meet someone, or to find something by chance (2); if something such as a feeling or idea comes across when you speak, you make it very clear to people (3):

She comes across as very smart. (1)

A lot depends on how well you come across in the interview. (1)

I came across a word I’d never seen before. (2)

I came across a nice restaurant the other day. (2)

His sense of enthusiasm comes across very clearly. (3)

His bitterness comes across in his poetry. (3)

To cut across sth. – to go from one side of an area to the other instead of going round it (1); if a problem or subject cuts across different groups of people, all of those groups are affected by it or interested in it (2)

We cut across the field to save time. (1)

Let’s cut across the park. It’ll save us 15 minutes. (1)

Interest in the Internet cuts across all age groups. (2)

These problems cut across class boundaries. (2)

To get sth. across – to successfully communicate information to other people:

It’s sometimes difficult for me to get my message across in English.

What message are you trying to get across to the reader?

To put sth. across – to explain or express something clearly so that people understand it easily:

Television can be a useful way of putting across health messages.

I don’t always put myself across very well. (= I don’t always express my ideas very well.)

To run across sth./sb. – to find something or to meet someone by chance:

I ran across the notebook while I was tidying the drawers.

I ran across my old school friend yesterday.

To stumble across sth./sb. – to discover something by chance, or to meet someone by chance:

I stumbled across Mary in the street.

A journalist finally stumbled across the truth.

PRACTICE

Exercise 1. Match the phrasal verbs to (some of) their definitions. Click the link here to do the exercise.

Exercise 2. Choose the right verb to complete the sentences. Click the link here to do the exercise.

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