Phrasal Verbs for Health Exercises

English uses many phrasal verbs when talking about health, illness, and wellbeing. If you feel ill, you might throw up (vomit) or pass out (lose consciousness). When you recover, you get over your illness. To stay fit, you work out at the gym, and a doctor might tell you to cut down on sugar or fatty food. These phrasal verbs are important for describing symptoms, treatments, and healthy habits in everyday English, and they appear frequently in medical consultations and health-related conversations.

Some health phrasal verbs have useful related forms. Break out can describe a skin condition appearing suddenly: "She broke out in a rash after eating shellfish." Come round (British English) means to regain consciousness after fainting: "He passed out but came round after a few minutes." Fight off means your body successfully beats an infection: "Her immune system fought off the virus quickly." Notice that many health phrasal verbs are inseparable: you "get over a cold" (not "get a cold over"). However, some are separable, like "build up" (gradually increase): "She built her strength up after the operation." Cambridge B1 and B2 exams often test health vocabulary including these phrasal verbs, especially in listening exercises set in doctors' surgeries.