B2
Vocabulary
Phrasal Verbs
📍 Peru
⏱ 10 min read

Peru is extraordinary. Sixty percent of the country is Peruvian Amazon rainforest, home to over 12,800 species. Its highlands gave the world more than 4,000 varieties of potato. Lima has been named the World’s Leading Culinary Destination every year since 2012. And its ancient Inca citadel, Machu Picchu, sits at 2,400 metres above sea level among cloud-covered peaks — a place that is genuinely difficult to put into words.

That phrase — put into words — is a perfect entry point for today’s lesson. Phrasal verbs with PUT are everywhere in natural English, and at B2 level you need to use them confidently. This guide covers the 11 most important ones, anchored in vivid examples from Peruvian life.

What is a phrasal verb? A phrasal verb is a verb + one or two particles (prepositions or adverbs) that together create a new meaning. Put alone means to place something somewhere. Add a particle, and the meaning changes completely: put off means to postpone; put up with means to tolerate. The combination is what you must learn — not just the verb.

The 11 Most Useful Phrasal Verbs with PUT

Phrasal verb Core meaning Separable? Quick example
put off postpone / delay; discourage someone Yes (separable) The rain put off the hike.
put up accommodate (give someone a place to stay); erect / display Yes (separable) Can you put me up for the night?
put up with tolerate / endure something unpleasant No (inseparable) She couldn’t put up with the noise.
put forward propose / suggest an idea or plan Yes (separable) He put forward a bold proposal.
put together assemble / create; organise something Yes (separable) They put together a fundraising event.
put across communicate an idea clearly Yes (separable) She put across her argument well.
put aside save money or time; temporarily ignore a problem Yes (separable) He puts money aside each month.
put through connect a phone call; make someone experience hardship Yes (separable) The crisis put the family through a lot.
put out extinguish a fire; inconvenience someone Yes (separable) They put out the campfire quickly.
put in invest time or effort; make an official request Yes (separable) She put in a lot of work on the project.
put down write / record something; criticise unfairly; suppress Yes (separable) Put down your name and email address.

Separable vs inseparable: When a phrasal verb is separable, a noun object can go before or after the particle — put off the meeting ✓ or put the meeting off ✓. But a pronoun object must always go between verb and particle: put it off ✓, put off it ✗. Put up with is inseparable — the object always follows the full phrasal verb: put up with the noise ✓, never put the noise up with ✗.

Peru Through the Lens of PUT Phrasal Verbs

Peru’s landscape, culture and history give us rich, memorable contexts for each verb. Let’s look at some real connections.

Putting things together — Lima’s gastronomy

Lima’s chefs have spent decades putting together a fusion cuisine that blends Indigenous Andean ingredients, Spanish colonial cooking, Japanese nikkei influence and West African flavour. The result? A food scene that has consistently put forward Peru as a world culinary leader. Since 2012, Peru has won the World’s Leading Culinary Destination award every single year — a fact that puts across just how seriously the country takes food.

Putting something aside — the potato’s long journey

Peruvians never put aside their connection to the land. On the shores of Lake Titicaca, communities discovered wild potatoes more than 10,000 years ago. Today, over 4,000 varieties grow across the highlands — in yellow, purple, blue and pink. That knowledge was never put aside; it was preserved across generations, through empires and colonisation, and it feeds millions of people today.

Putting up with challenges — the Uros people

On Lake Titicaca at 3,800 metres above sea level, the Uros people have built their homes entirely from totora reeds — floating islands they maintain by hand. Life here is not easy, and the Uros have had to put up with extreme cold, high altitude and economic hardship for centuries. And yet their culture, their weaving and their community are alive and visited by some 50,000 tourists a year. They didn’t put off the difficult work of preservation; they kept going.

Putting in the effort — Machu Picchu

The Inca engineers who constructed Machu Picchu in the 15th century put in an almost unimaginable amount of labour. Without metal tools, wheels or mortar, they cut granite stones so precisely that not even a knife blade fits between them. The site sits at 2,430 metres, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, and is a testament to what you can achieve when you truly put in the work. Every year, archaeologists put forward new theories about its purpose — palace, retreat, astronomical observatory — but its genius is beyond doubt.

Common Mistakes for Spanish Speakers

❌ “We must put off with the cold weather during the trek.”

✅ “We must put up with the cold weather during the trek.”

Spanish speakers sometimes confuse put off (postpone) with put up with (tolerate). Remember: put up with = aguantar / tolerar.

❌ “They put away the event because of the rain.”

✅ “They put off the event because of the rain.”

Put away means to store something in its proper place (like putting away your phone). To postpone or cancel, use put off.

❌ “She put forward to the problems with great courage.”

✅ “She put up with the problems with great courage.”

Put forward means to propose an idea. For endurance, it’s always put up with.

❌ “The government put across the rebellion quickly.”

✅ “The government put down the rebellion quickly.”

Put across means to communicate effectively. To suppress is put down. Two very different meanings — don’t mix them up.

❌ “Can you put me up with for the night?”

✅ “Can you put me up for the night?”

Put up (accommodate) and put up with (tolerate) are different verbs. Don’t blend them. “Put me up” = alojarme; “put up with me” = aguantarme.

Example Bank: 15 Sentences in a Peruvian Context

  1. put offThe tour guide put off the Machu Picchu hike by a day due to heavy mist on the mountain.
  2. put offDon’t let the altitude put you off visiting Cusco — your body adapts within a few days.
  3. put upOur host family in Arequipa put us up for three nights and cooked us rocoto relleno every evening.
  4. put upThe local authorities have put up new signs around Machu Picchu to protect the stone pathways from tourist damage.
  5. put up withThe Uros people have put up with extreme living conditions for generations, yet their culture remains vibrant.
  6. put forwardA team of archaeologists recently put forward a new theory about why the Inca built Machu Picchu in that specific location.
  7. put togetherLima’s top restaurants have put together tasting menus that blend Andean ingredients with Japanese technique.
  8. put togetherThe local community put together a spectacular Inti Raymi festival that attracted visitors from across the world.
  9. put acrossThe chef put across her passion for Peruvian cuisine so well that everyone at the table ordered a second dish.
  10. put asideMany Andean farming families put aside a portion of each potato harvest for the next season’s planting.
  11. put throughThe Spanish colonisation put Indigenous Peruvian communities through centuries of suffering, yet their languages and traditions survived.
  12. put outThe rangers put out the small fire near the cloud forest before it could spread.
  13. put outI hope it won’t put you out if I arrive a little late — the bus from Puno takes longer than expected.
  14. put inThe weavers on Taquile Island put in up to six months of work on a single poncho, spinning and dyeing the alpaca wool by hand.
  15. put downBefore you start the tour, please put down your name and passport number on the registration sheet.

Quick Quiz: Phrasal Verbs with PUT

Choose the correct phrasal verb to complete each sentence. Answers are hidden below — try first!

1. The travel agency had to ______ the Andes trekking tour ______ because of a landslide on the route.
a) put … together   b) put … off   c) put … forward   d) put … through
2. My colleague ______ a very interesting plan for our research project in the Amazon rainforest.
a) put up with   b) put across   c) put forward   d) put through
3. I really can’t ______ the constant noise from the construction site next to our guesthouse in Cusco.
a) put off   b) put up with   c) put down   d) put out
4. The documentary filmmaker ______ her message about deforestation in Peru ______ very powerfully.
a) put … out   b) put … down   c) put … across   d) put … aside
5. She has been ______ a little money each month to fund her trip to Machu Picchu next year.
a) putting aside   b) putting off   c) putting through   d) putting up
Show answer key
  • 1. b) put … off — The tour was postponed (delayed) due to the landslide.
  • 2. c) put forward — He proposed / suggested the plan.
  • 3. b) put up with — To tolerate / endure the noise.
  • 4. c) put … across — She communicated her message effectively.
  • 5. a) putting aside — Saving money gradually over time.

Related Lessons

Sources & further reading