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Business English Phrasal Verbs: Ran Out, Ran Of, or Ran Out Of? Which One Is Correct?
- Erin West
- Apr 6
- 3 min read
Updated: May 23
Welcome to the Business English Phrasal Verbs Quiz!
Today’s focus: a common Business English phrasal verb used when you no longer have something, like time, energy, patience, money, or even office supplies.
Today’s Challenge:
You’re getting ready for an important meeting. You try to print out the final report — but something stops you. You explain to your manager:
We _____ paper, so I couldn’t print the report.
A) ran
B) ran out
C) ran of
D) ran out of
Choose the correct option and listen to the sentence.
Did you get it right?
RUN OUT OF something
phrasal verb
to use all of something and have no more left
We ran out of paper halfway through printing the client proposals.
I’ve run out of ideas — let’s take a break and come back to it.
They ran out of budget before the project was even halfway done.
We need to stop by the store — we’ve run out of coffee.
That's right! The correct answer is D) ran out of.
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Business English Phrasal Verbs with "Run"
Choose the correct particle to complete each phrasal verb in the sentence.
ANSWER KEY WITH DEFINITIONS AND EXAMPLES
We had a lot of important points to discuss, so the meeting ran _____, and I ended up being late for my doctor's appointment.
A) up
B) over
RUN OVER
phrasal verb
to go longer than expected, especially in terms of time
The meeting ran over and I missed my lunch break.
The presentation ran over, so we had to shorten the Q&A session.
We’ve run _____ a few problems, but we’re working to fix them.
A) to
B) into
RUN INTO
phrasal verb
to meet someone by accident; to face a problem
I ran into my teacher at the store yesterday.
We ran into a problem with the new system.
He ran into trouble when the project was delayed.
We’ve run _____ quite a few expenses this month, so we need to review the budget.
A) off
B) up
RUN UP
phrasal verb
to make something increase (costs, amounts, etc.)
We ran up a big bill at the restaurant last night.
The project ran up a lot of extra costs because of delays.
She ran up her phone bill by using it too much.
I ran _____ an interesting article about the industry while researching for our next strategy.
A) across
B) over
RUN ACROSS
phrasal verb
to find something by chance
I ran across an interesting book at the library.
She ran across an old email from her friend while cleaning her inbox.
He ran across a problem with the project that he didn’t expect.
I need to run this proposal _____ the boss before we move forward.
A) for
B) by
RUN BY
phrasal verb
to tell someone about an idea or plan to get their opinion or approval
I need to run this idea by my manager before we proceed.
Can I run the new budget plan by you to get your feedback?
She ran her proposal by the team to see if they agreed with it.
Business English Phrasal Verbs Quiz
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