The word ‘act‘ can mean many different things. As a verb, the meaning is to take action and behave in a certain way.
For example:
- We need to act now if we want to save the planet. (take action)
- The children are acting silly. (behaving)
Act is a regular verb. The past tense and past participle is acted.
phrasal verbs with act
Phrasal verbs with ‘act’ include:
- act as
meaning – do the same function as a person or thing
example – The heart acts as a pump to transport blood around the body. - act for
meaning – represent someone
example – The people chose Mr. Smith to act for them in parliament. - act on/upon
meaning – follow advice/take action
example – He acted upon friend’s advice and left before there was trouble. - act out
meaning – express through actions or words
I’ve acted out 10 films and no one has guessed any. I hate charades! - act up
meaning – misbehave/malfunction
example – The machine acted up yesterday and I couldn’t complete the order.
picture phrasal verbs with act
Let’s learn the meaning of the phrasal verbs that contain the verb ‘act’ in more detail and see some examples in use.
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