One of the most characteristic properties of phenols is their 'unexpected', relatively high acidity. Structurally speaking, they are pretty much alike alcohols but phenols are various orders of magnitude more acidic than alcohols. How come?
The different acidity of alcohols, phenols and carboxylic acids makes them react differently with NaCO3H and NaOH, what allows us to easily separate them at the lab. Can you anticipate how one could do that?
