Phrasal Verbs for Emotions Exercises

English has a wide range of phrasal verbs for expressing emotions and psychological states. When someone is sad, you might try to cheer them up (make them happier). If a person is angry or stressed, they need to calm down (become less agitated). Sometimes people break down (start crying uncontrollably) under extreme pressure, or they bottle up their feelings instead of expressing them. These phrasal verbs are more natural in spoken English than formal equivalents like "console" or "suppress," which makes them essential for authentic communication.

Some emotion phrasal verbs describe how feelings are directed at others. Let down means to disappoint someone: "I trusted her, but she let me down." Wind up (British informal) means to deliberately annoy or provoke someone: "Stop winding me up — it's not funny." Open up means to start sharing personal feelings: "It took him a long time to open up about his problems." Notice that several of these are separable: "Cheer her up," "Let them down," "Wind him up." Others, like break down (cry) and open up (share feelings), are inseparable. These emotion phrasal verbs appear frequently in Cambridge B2 First and C1 Advanced exams.