Phrasal verb with pay in English
The verb to pay
The verb to pay [peɪ] is an irregular verb. Its main forms are presented in the table
| Infinitive | Past Simple | Past Participle |
| to pay | paid | paid |
Also, pay can be used as a noun. It can also be found as an adjective.
Phrasal verb with pay in English
Consider common phrasal verbs with to pay in English
- pay back
- Can I borrow $10? I’ll pay you back tomorrow
- He paid the man back in full
- pay down
- We paid $100 down and the balance over the period of 6 months
- The buyer paid $6,000 down for the new car
- pay for
- How much did you pay for that watch?
- All criminals should pay for their crimes
- pay off
- It’s a good feeling to pay off the house after all these years
- The workers were paid off
- Michael’s patience paid off
- All the witnesses had been paid off
- pay up
- Unless you pay up I shall tell my solicitor to write to you
- pay out
- I had to pay out £500 to get my car repaired
Peculiarities of using pay in English
Pay attention to how the meaning of the basic verb pay literally changes:
- pay back – return borrowed or stolen: I’ll pay you back on Friday.
- pay down —to make a down payment (when buying on installments) or to pay part of the funds to account for something, for example, a debt: The buyer paid $6,000 down for the new car.
- pay off і pay up — to pay off or settle with someone in full: It’s good feeling to pay off house after all these years. Pay up what you owe before you leave town.
- pay out means to pay out an amount (usually a large one) during some period of time: The government is paying out more money than ever before to people out of work.
In a figurative sense, the verbs pay back and pay off mean to take revenge, repay: Some day I’ll pay you back for this. I’ll pay him off для treating me like that. People who sell drugs to our children should pay dearly for it..