Hello everyone, I hope you are all good. Welcome to the Phrasal Verb Series – Day 7! In Day 6 we closed the CATCH family, where the hard part was that half the verbs refused to take a particle at all. COME is difficult for the opposite reason — it takes too many. CATCH needed one word after it; COME regularly needs two: come up with, come up against, come down to, come down with. The first two words are identical in each pair, so the eye stops reading, and that is exactly where SSC sets the trap. There is a grammatical reason behind all of it: COME has no object of its own. You can carry a bag and catch a ball, but nothing is ever come — so every COME verb that needs a noun must borrow a preposition to hold it. Read the story once, learn the meanings, then play the games and take the quiz.
🗺️ The Whole COME Family at a Glance
Screenshot this one picture. If you can rebuild it from memory tomorrow, Day 7 is done.
📖 The Story — Arun Comes Through
December began with a cold floor and a borrowed chair. Clearing his shelf, Arun came across his own first-year notebook — the same four chapters begun six times and finished none — and he left it open on the table all month as a warning.
How the change had come about was no mystery, and he said so to the first-year students arguing on the coaching step: one topic, one test, one honest page of errors. Two of them laughed at him.
The third did not. Her name was Reena, and useful advice was hard to come by in that batch, so she took it and started that week.
Arun had come into nothing — no new book, no new teacher, no money for the test series the others had bought. What he had was the sheet, and in January he came up with a thinner version of it that cost nothing: twenty questions, one page of error notes, repeat.
In February it came up against the only wall that ever stopped him — his own stamina. Four three-hour mocks a week on a wooden chair. He cut it to three, gave the fourth day to revision, and the score held.
Ten days before the paper he came down with a fever and lost four days to it. He came round on the fifth morning to find a message from Kavita already answering the question he was about to ask: “Four days is not the problem. Four days plus panic is.” He skipped the panic.
In the end it came down to the one habit he had avoided for three years — testing himself before he felt ready. The strategy came off. When the list was published, his name was on it with hers.
Reena wrote to him that week. “You told me the thing nobody tells us,” she said. “Not the trick. The order.”
🎞️ Six Verbs in Six Pictures
Look at the picture first, then say the sentence out loud before you read the caption.
📝 Today’s Phrasal Verbs — Meaning, Hindi & Examples
Hindi: अचानक मिल जाना / सामना हो जाना
🧠 Memory Trick: ACROSS = रास्ता काटते हुए सामने आ जाना। आप ढूँढ नहीं रहे थे, वह मिल गया। दूसरा अर्थ अलग से याद रखो — come across as = किसी को कैसा लगना, प्रभाव डालना।
- Meaning 1: to find or meet something or someone by chance
- Meaning 2: (come across as) to give a particular impression to others
I came across my old notebook while clearing the shelf. • He comes across as shy, but in a group he is not.
stumble uponchance uponrun intoseem
Hindi: घटित होना / हो जाना
🧠 Memory Trick: ABOUT = घूम-फिरकर हो जाना, बिना किसी साफ़ कर्ता के। कोई इसे करता नहीं, यह हो जाता है — इसलिए यह लगभग हमेशा How did it come about? जैसे सवाल में आता है।
- Meaning: to happen or take place, especially gradually or without one clear cause
How did this change ever come about? • The reform came about after years of quiet pressure.
happenoccurtake placearise
Hindi: हासिल करना / मुश्किल से मिलना
🧠 Memory Trick: BY = रास्ते में संयोग से हाथ आ जाना। इसी वजह से exam में इसका सबसे आम रूप negative होता है — hard to come by = मुश्किल से मिलने वाला।
- Meaning 1: to obtain or get hold of something, especially when it is not easy
- Meaning 2: (informal) to visit someone for a short while
Honest feedback is hard to come by. • How did you come by this book?
obtainacquireget hold ofprocure
Hindi: विरासत में मिलना / लागू होना
🧠 Memory Trick: INTO = अंदर आ जाना, यानी किसी चीज़ का मालिक या हिस्सा बन जाना। दो exam रूप: पैसे-ज़मीन के साथ = विरासत में मिलना; और fixed phrases — come into force / effect / existence / power।
- Meaning 1: to inherit money or property
- Meaning 2: to begin to be in a particular state — force, effect, power, existence
She came into a small piece of land after her uncle died. • The new rule came into force last month.
inheritbe lefttake effectbegin
Hindi: सोच निकालना / तरकीब निकालना
🧠 Memory Trick: UP = दिमाग़ से ऊपर आना, WITH = उसे साथ ले आना। यानी सोचकर कोई चीज़ बाहर लाना। इसके बाद हमेशा idea, plan, answer, excuse या money जैसा noun आता है — आदमी कभी नहीं।
- Meaning: to produce an idea, plan, answer, excuse or sum of money
She came up with a shorter method on her own. • They could not come up with the fee in time.
devisethink upproducesuggest
Hindi: टकरा जाना / सामना करना
🧠 Memory Trick: UP = आगे बढ़ना, AGAINST = सामने दीवार। बढ़ते-बढ़ते किसी रुकावट से टकरा जाना। इसका object हमेशा समस्या, विरोध या कड़ा प्रतिद्वंद्वी होता है — कोई मददगार चीज़ नहीं।
- Meaning: to face a difficulty, obstacle or opposition
Every plan came up against the same problem — time. • We came up against a far stronger team.
faceencounterrun intoconfront
Hindi: बात … पर आ जाना / निर्भर होना
🧠 Memory Trick: DOWN = ऊपर का सारा फालतू हटाकर नीचे असली बात तक पहुँचना। Exam में यह अक्सर it all comes down to के रूप में आता है, और उसके बाद वही एक असली कारण लिखा होता है।
- Meaning: to be, in the end, a matter of one essential thing
It all comes down to daily practice. • The decision came down to cost, nothing else.
boil down toamount todepend onhinge on
Hindi: बीमार पड़ जाना
🧠 Memory Trick: DOWN = ऊपर से नीचे उतरना, WITH = बीमारी को साथ लेकर। बीमारी आप पर उतर आती है। ध्यान दो — इसके बाद हल्की बीमारी आती है (fever, flu, cold); गंभीर रोग के लिए अंग्रेज़ी यह phrase इस्तेमाल नहीं करती।
- Meaning: to begin to suffer from an illness, usually a minor one
He came down with a fever two days before the mock. • Half the hostel came down with flu that week.
fall ill withcatchdevelopgo down with
Hindi: होश में आना / मान जाना
🧠 Memory Trick: ROUND = घूमकर वापस आना। बेहोशी से घूमकर होश में, या अपनी ज़िद से घूमकर दूसरे की बात पर। तीसरा हल्का अर्थ — किसी के घर थोड़ी देर के लिए आना।
- Meaning 1: to regain consciousness after fainting or anaesthesia
- Meaning 2: to change your opinion and finally agree
She fainted in the queue and came round in a minute. • He was against it for a month, then came round.
regain consciousnessreviverelentbe persuaded
Hindi: सफल होना / कामयाब होना
🧠 Memory Trick: OFF = योजना काग़ज़ से अलग होकर ज़मीन पर उतर जाना, यानी चल जाना। Subject हमेशा कोई plan, trick, deal या attempt होता है, आदमी नहीं। याद रखो: the plan came off, न कि he came off।
- Meaning 1: (of a plan or attempt) to succeed or work out
- Meaning 2: to become detached from something
The whole strategy finally came off. • The handle came off in my hand.
succeedwork outpay offdetach
🧭 The Four Groups — Why COME Needs Two Particles
COME is intransitive. You can carry a bag and catch a ball, but nothing is ever come — the verb has no object slot of its own. That single grammatical fact explains the whole family. Because COME cannot hold a noun by itself, any COME phrasal verb that needs one has to borrow a preposition to carry it, and that is why this root produces so many three-word verbs. In those, the second word (up, down) fixes the direction and the third word (with, against, to) names your relationship to the thing. Get that split right and half of today’s ten answer themselves.
1. It arrives at you — across, about, by, into
These four share one feature: you are not the cause. Come across hands you the thing without a search. Come about hands you the event without an author, which is why it lives in questions beginning how and almost never takes a human subject. Come by hands you the thing after some difficulty, so English uses it mostly in the negative — hard to come by. Come into hands you money, land or legal force you did not create. None of them involves deliberate effort, so if the words in front of the blank are managed to, worked hard to or decided to, all four are usually wrong.
2. You push outward and up — up with, up against
Both start identically and end in opposite worlds. UP here is the direction of effort: something rising out of you, or you rising towards something. The third word decides whether that something is yours or in your way. Come up with is followed by a product — an idea, a plan, an answer, an excuse, a sum of money. Come up against is followed by resistance — a wall, a rule, a problem, a stronger opponent. So the test is one question: would the noun after the blank please you or stop you? There is a subject test too — come up with needs a thinker, while come up against happily takes a plan or a scheme as its subject.
3. It descends onto you — down to, down with
DOWN here means reduction or descent, not travel. Come down to strips a situation of everything inessential until one thing is left standing, which is why it lives in it all comes down to and takes an abstract noun: practice, money, timing, luck. Come down with is descent of a different kind — an illness lands on you, and the noun after it is always an ailment, usually a mild one. One question separates the pair for good: is the thing after the blank a reason or a disease?
4. It turns — round, off
The last two are about rotation and detachment. Come round turns something back to where it belongs: a fainted person back to consciousness, a stubborn person back to agreement. Something returns in both senses, which is why finally and in the end are its favourite neighbours. Come off detaches: a plan leaves the paper and lands in the world, so it succeeded; a handle leaves the door, so it broke. Its subject is the thing that detaches — the plan, the deal, the handle — never the person behind it. The plan came off is English; he came off the plan is not.
⚡ Quick Revision Table
| Phrasal Verb | Core Meaning | Hindi | One-line Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Come across | Find or meet by chance | अचानक मिल जाना | I came across my old notebook. |
| Come about | Happen, without one clear cause | घटित होना | How did this change come about? |
| Come by | Obtain, especially with difficulty | हासिल करना | Honest feedback is hard to come by. |
| Come into | Inherit; begin to be in force | विरासत में मिलना | She came into a piece of land. |
| Come up with | Produce an idea, plan or money | सोच निकालना | He came up with a shorter method. |
| Come up against | Face an obstacle or opposition | टकरा जाना | Every plan came up against time. |
| Come down to | Reduce, in the end, to one thing | बात पर आ जाना | It all comes down to daily practice. |
| Come down with | Fall ill with something mild | बीमार पड़ जाना | He came down with a fever. |
| Come round | Regain consciousness; finally agree | होश में आना | She came round in a minute. |
| Come off | Succeed; become detached | सफल होना | The strategy finally came off. |
🃏 Flashcards — Tap to Flip
Tap each card, say the meaning aloud, then check.
अचानक मिल जाना
घटित होना
हासिल करना
विरासत में मिलना
सोच निकालना
टकरा जाना
बात पर आ जाना
बीमार पड़ जाना
होश में आना
सफल होना
🎮 Game Zone — Play Until It Sticks
Two quick games. Play them once now and once tomorrow — that’s the whole trick.
🎯 Practice Quiz — 10 Questions
1. I ________ my old notebook while clearing the shelf last Sunday.
✅ came across — he was not looking for it; it simply turned up. Came up with would need something he produced, not something he found.
2. How did this change in the exam pattern ever ________?
✅ come about — the event has no named author, and how in front of the blank is this verb’s signature.
3. Honest feedback is hard to ________ in a crowded coaching batch.
✅ come by — hard to come by is a fixed frame meaning difficult to obtain. Come across would mean he met it by accident.
4. She ________ a small piece of land after her uncle’s death.
✅ came into — this is the verb English reserves for money or property that passes to you. The same verb gives you come into force.
5. After two nights of work she finally ________ a shorter method.
✅ came up with — the noun after the blank is something she produced, so the third word must be with.
6. Every plan we tried ________ the same problem — not enough time.
✅ came up against — a problem is resistance, not a product, so against is the only possible third word. Notice that a plan can be its subject.
7. In the end it all ________ one habit: testing yourself before you feel ready.
✅ comes down to — the sentence reduces everything to one essential reason. Comes down with would need an illness after it.
8. He ________ a fever two days before the mock and lost the whole week.
✅ came down with — only this one takes an illness as its object, and only a mild one at that.
9. He was against the idea for a month, but he ________ in the end.
✅ came round — he turned back from his own position and agreed. Came off needs a plan as its subject, never a person.
10. The strategy was risky and everyone said it would fail, but it ________.
✅ came off — the subject is a plan and it succeeded. That subject test is the fastest way to spot this verb in an option set.
✍️ Cloze Test — Fill in the Blanks
Type the correct phrasal verb (any tense) and press Check.
- I ________ my old notebook while clearing the shelf.
- Honest feedback is hard to ________ in that batch.
- She ________ a shorter method after two nights of work.
- Every plan ________ the same wall — time.
- He ________ a fever ten days before the paper.
- The strategy was risky, but it ________.
🏠 Homework — Write It Once, Remember It Forever
Take your notebook and write one original sentence for each of these, using your own life:
- come across (something you found by accident)
- come across as (how a person seems to others)
- come about (how a habit of yours started)
- come by (something hard to get where you live)
- come into (force or effect — use a rule, not money)
- come up with (an idea you had this month)
- come up against (the obstacle in your own preparation)
- come down to (the one thing your result depends on)
- come down with (the last time you fell ill)
- come round and come off in one sentence each
Writing beats re-reading. Ten sentences today are worth two hours of passive revision.
📅 Your 3-Touch Revision Plan
Spaced repetition beats cramming. Tick each touch as you complete it:
🔗 Continue the Series
That’s Day 7 done. The COME family looks like the biggest one in the series, and it is the easiest to tidy up, because you now have one habit that handles most of it: read the word after the blank before you read the blank. A product means up with; an obstacle means up against; a reason means down to; an illness means down with; and as turns come across from finding into seeming. Revise this page tomorrow morning for five minutes, then again after three days. When you want it drilled under a clock, the SSC Practice Center and the Smart Study Tools have timed English sets; the SSC English Hub keeps every lesson in one place, and the Vocab Series runs alongside this one. See you in Day 8 with the CUT family. Just focus more!! 💪