Fill in the blank with the correct phrasal verb. 5 exercises from real standup, sprint planning, and team meeting contexts.
Key verbs in this exercise
go over / go through: review a document or topic carefully
push back: postpone to a later time (push forward = move earlier)
run over: exceed the planned meeting time
iron out: resolve difficulties, problems, or disagreements
follow up on: check the status of a previous commitment
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
"Let's ___ the design document before the meeting."
Correct: go over (and also go through) — review carefully
Both go over and go through mean to review or examine something carefully. In the context of reading a document before a meeting, both are natural and correct.
In practice:
"Let's go over the design document before the meeting." ✓
"Let's go through the design document before the meeting." ✓
The subtle difference:
go over: review at a high level — "Let's go over the key points."
go through: review item by item, more thoroughly — "Let's go through each section."
Why C is wrong: "go around" means to circulate, travel around, or avoid something — "We can go around the problem." Not used for reviewing documents.
Why D is wrong: "go over and through" is not an English phrasal verb — it combines two verbs unnecessarily and sounds unnatural.
Document review phrases in meetings:
"I've gone over the spec — I have a few questions."
"Can everyone go through the agenda before we start?"
"Let me walk you through the changes."
2 / 5
"Could we ___ the deadline discussion to next week?"
Correct: push back — postpone to a later date
push back (a meeting, discussion, or deadline) means to move it to a later time. It is the standard phrase in agile and project management contexts.
In meeting scheduling:
"Can we push back the deadline discussion to Thursday?" ✓
"The sprint review has been pushed back by a week." ✓
Important note on "push forward": This means to advance something — move it to an earlier date, or accelerate progress. Context determines meaning:
"Let's push the release forward to Friday." = make it happen sooner
"Let's push back the release to Friday." = delay it until Friday
Why B and D are wrong:
push off: informal for postponing (exists but less professional) or to push away from a surface
push away: to move something/someone away from you — not used for scheduling
Meeting scheduling phrases:
"Can we push this back to [day/time]?"
"Let's move this to next week."
"I need to reschedule — does [time] work?"
3 / 5
"The meeting ___ longer than planned because of technical issues."
Correct: ran over — exceeded the allotted time
run over means to go past the scheduled end time. It is the standard phrase when a meeting or presentation takes longer than planned.
In meeting contexts:
"Sorry, we ran over — let's wrap up quickly." ✓
"The demo ran over by 15 minutes." ✓
"We're running over — can we park the last item?" ✓
Why the others are wrong:
ran out: to exhaust a supply — "We ran out of time" is correct, but "the meeting ran out" is not idiomatic
ran up: to accumulate (costs, a bill) — "We ran up a huge AWS bill" or to move quickly upward
ran through: to quickly review or rehearse — "Let me run through the agenda" — this is about reviewing content, not about duration
Over-time meeting phrases:
"We're running over — let's table the last item."
"We've run out of time — I'll send a summary."
"Let's wrap up in the next 2 minutes."
"Can we keep going or do people have hard stops?"
4 / 5
"We need to ___ the main blockers before planning the sprint."
Correct: iron out — resolve problems or difficulties
iron out means to resolve or work through difficulties, differences, or problems — the metaphor is pressing out creases in fabric. It is widely used in agile and project planning contexts.
In sprint and planning meetings:
"Let's iron out the blockers before we start planning." ✓
"We need to iron out the dependency issue with the backend team." ✓
"There are a few details to iron out before the design is final." ✓
Note on "smooth out": This is close in meaning and is also correct in some contexts:
"Smooth out the rough edges" ✓ — remove minor imperfections
"Smooth out the process" ✓ — make it flow better
But "smooth out the blockers" is less idiomatic than "iron out the blockers"
Why B and D are wrong: "iron in" and "iron away" are not standard English phrases in this context.
Problem-resolution phrases:
"Let's iron out the details."
"We need to sort out the dependency issue."
"Can we work through the blockers before Thursday?"
5 / 5
"The PM will ___ the action items from last week."
Correct: follow up on — check the status of something previously discussed
follow up on means to check on the progress or status of something that was agreed or raised earlier. It is one of the most common phrases in professional meeting vocabulary.
In sprint reviews and standups:
"I'll follow up on the design approval after this call." ✓
"Can someone follow up on the infrastructure request?" ✓
"The PM will follow up on each action item by Friday." ✓
Note on "follow through with": This is close but different:
follow up on: check status, send a reminder, pursue a pending item
follow through with: complete what was promised — "He said he'd review it but didn't follow through."
Both are correct English but have slightly different nuances. "Follow up on action items" is the idiomatic choice in the meeting context.
Why C and D are wrong: "follow out" and "follow over" are not standard English phrasal verbs.
Action item phrases:
"I'll follow up on that and get back to you."
"Could you chase that ticket?" (British English alternative)
"I'll send a follow-up email with the action items."