Page 290 - English Grammar in Use

Unit
139 Phrasal verbs 3 out

A out = not burning, not shining
go out Suddenly all the lights in the building went out.
put out a fire / a cigarette / a light I put the fire out with a fire extinguisher.
turn out a light I turned the lights out before leaving.
blow out a candle We don’t need the candle. You can blow it out.

B work out
work out = do physical exercises
Rachel works out at the gym three times a week.
work out = develop, progress
Good luck for the future. I hope everything works out well for you.
a: Why did James leave the company?
B: Things didn’t work out. (= things didn’t work out well)
work out (for calculations):
The total bill for three people is £97.35. That works out at £32.45 each.
work (something) out = calculate
345 × 76? I need a calculator. I can’t work it out in my head.
work out or figure out = understand, think about a problem and find an answer
Investigators are trying to work out what caused the accident. or
Investigators are trying to figure out what caused the accident.

C Other verbs + out
carry out an order / an experiment / a survey / an investigation / a plan etc.
Soldiers are expected to carry out orders.
An investigation into the accident will be carried out.

find out that/what/when (etc.) … , find out about … = get information about
The police never found out who committed the crime.
I just found out that it’s Helen’s birthday today.
I checked a few websites to find out about hotels in the town.
give/hand things out = give to each person
At the end of the lecture, the speaker gave out information sheets to the audience.
point something out (to somebody) = draw attention to it
As we drove through the city, the tour guide pointed out all the sights.
I didn’t realise I’d made a mistake until somebody pointed it out to me.
run out (of something)
We ran out of petrol on the motorway. (= we used all our petrol)
sort something out = find a solution to, put in order
There are a few problems we need to sort out.
All these papers are mixed up. I’ll have to sort them out.
turn out to be … / turn out good/nice etc. / turn out that …
Nobody believed Paul at first, but he turned out to be right. (= it became clear in the
end that he was right)
The weather wasn’t so good in the morning, but it turned out nice later.
I thought they knew each other, but it turned out that they’d never met.
try out a machine, a system, a new idea etc. = test it to see if it is OK
The company is trying out some new software at the moment.

278 Phrasal verbs 1 (Introduction) ➜ Unit 137 More verbs + out ➜ Unit 138