Protein phosphorylation is a post-translational modification of proteins in which a serine, a threonine or a tyrosine residue is phosphorylated by a protein kinase by the addition of a covalently bound phosphate group. Regulation of proteins by phosphorylation is one of the most common modes of regulation of protein function, and is often termed "phosphoregulation". In almost all cases of phosphoregulation, the protein switches between a phosphorylated and an unphosphorylated form, and one of these two is an active form, while the other one is an inactive form.

Reference
Wiki: Phosphorylation