Verbs followed by Objects followed by Adverbs followed by Prepositions

Verbs followed by Objects followed by Adverbs followed by Prepositions

	Phrases
get over with: complete	If I read this book quickly I will get it over with before dinner.
let in on: invite	I decided the story was oddly funny and should let him in on it after lunch.
play off against: compete	I wanted Bill and Ben to happily play off against each other.
put down to: deduce	While inspecting the property the policeman sadly put the death down to an accident.
put up to: influenced	I told the judge I was put up to it before we went inside the bank.
take out on: abuse	I hoped the boy would not take his anger out on the dog.
take up on: agree	He wished his dad would not take him up on the mountain.
talk out of: deter	You talked me out of the job very quickly.

Verbs followed by Adverbs followed by Prepositions

Verbs followed by Adverbs followed by Prepositions

	Phrases
add up to: total	I am going to find out what that will add up to.
back down from: step away	I never back down from anything.
back out of: renege	You can’t back out of a contract.
boil down to: reduce	Her argument boils down to you being right or wrong.
bow out of: leave	She is going to bow out of the competition.
brush up on: study	He brushed up on his Spanish.
carry on with: keep going	You can carry on with your project.
catch up to: close in	The police were able to catch up to the thief.
clean up after: pick up for	Mom was tired because she cleaned up after her son.
come down to: arrive at	His choice came down to bread or water.
come down with: get sick	You will come down with the flu.
come out in: emerge	Your skin came out in pimples.
come up against: block	You may come up against some problems.
come up with: create	I will come up with an answer.
creep up on: sneak upon	Cats like to creep up on mice to catch them.
cry out for: plead	Our health system cried out for help.
cut back on: lessen	The school had to cut back on new books.
do away with: cancel	My parents had to do away with a holiday.
face up to: take responsibility	You should face up to your mistakes.
fall back on: depend on	I needed to fall back on my savings.
fit in with: adapt	It is easy for some people to fit in with others.
fool around with: joke	We liked to fool around with our friends.
get away with: escape	The criminal used a gun to get away with a crime.
get down to: be serious	The meeting had serious discussions to get down to.
get in on: involve	He wanted to get in on the new ideas.
give up on: quit	I am not going to give up on you.
go along with: pacify	I did not want to go along with his plans.
go back on: renege	You should never go back on a promise.
go through with: complete	You should always go through with something you start.
grow out of: increase in size	My daughter did not grow out of her clothes for two years.
hold out for: wait for	The union held out for better wages.
keep up with: stay level	The slow runners could not keep up with the others.
lead up to: climax	The movie has a storyline that leads up to a great ending.
live up to: accommodate	I have a reputation to live up to.
log on to: connect	I use a password to log on to my computer.
look down on: sneer at	Rich people seem to look down on the poor.
look forward to: expect	I know you look forward to the holidays.
look out for: observe	You need to keep a look out for speeding cars.
look up to: respect	I look up to my mother.
make up for: settle	He wanted to make up for his mistake.
pull out of: withdraw	He had to pull out of the race.
push on with: keep going	I will push on with or without you.
put up with: accept	I cannot put up with loud noises.
read up on: learn	I like to read up on strange stories.
rub off on: influence	I hope my bad habits don’t rub off on you.
run up against: confront	You may run up against a difficulty.
send away for: request	I am going to send away for a gift.
stick up for: help	I will stick up for you tomorrow.
stock up on: collect	I know people who stock up on supplies.
talk down to: condescending	You shouldn’t talk down to other people.
walk away with: succeed	He was able to walk away with the prize.
watch out for: take care	You need to watch out for biting insects.
wriggle out of: extract	I hope you can wriggle out of your problem.
zero in on: concentrate	We have to zero in on any difficulties.

Verbs followed by objects followed by words which may function either as Adverbs or Prepositions

Verbs followed by objects followed by words which may function either as Adverbs or Prepositions

	Phrases
cross off: delete	Cross off her name.
	Cross her name off the invitation.
pass around: deal out	He passed the books around.
	He passed the books around the room.
show around: usher	The visitors were shown around.
	The visitors were shown around the gardens.
tide over: bare minimum	Those clothes will tide her over.
	Those clothes will tide her over for a night.
warn off: deter	He was warned off.
	He was warned off her property.

Intransitive Verbs followed by words which may function either as Adverbs or Prepositions

Intransitive Verbs followed by words which may function either as Adverbs or Prepositions

	Phrases
break through: emerge	The color broke through.
	The color broke through her skin.
do without: abstain	I can do without.
	I can do without the chocolate.
glance off: slide	The bullet glances off.
	The bullet glances off the rocks.
go without: abstain	We can go without.
	We can go without the television.
hang around: hover	The helicopter hangs around.
	The helicopter hangs around the airport.
join in: involve	He joined in.
	He joined in the group.
lounge around: laze	The dog lounged around.
	The dog lounged around the yard.
mill around: wander closely	The children mill around.
	The children mill around the cake.
pass by: proceed	The parade passed by.
	The parade passed by the crowd.
rally round: support	The group rallies around.
	The group rallies around the champion.
sail through: cruise	The ship sails through.
	The ship sails through the canal.
scrape through: survive	He scraped through.
	He scraped through with nothing.
turn off: stop	He turns off.
	He turns off the television.

Ergative Phrasal Verbs

Ergative Phrasal Verbs

	Phrases
blare out: announce loudly	The megaphone blares out an announcement
	The announcement blares out.
blow up: explode	He blew up the house.
	The house blew up.
break up: divide into parts	I broke up the party.
	The party broke up.
burn down: be on fire	The boys burnt down the house.
	The house burnt down.
calm down: to make quiet	Our vet calmed down our dog.
	Our dog calmed down.
dry out: free of moisture	I dried out my hair.
	My hair dried out.
get across: convey	We tried to get some of the message across to people.
	Some of the message got across to people.
liven up: put life into	She knows how to liven up the party.
	The party was livened up.
pull through: draw in or out	The vet pulled the dog through the sickness.
	The dog pulled through the sickness.
roll up: wrap up	He rolled up his pictures.
	His pictures rolled up.
shut down: stop work	He shut down the party.
	The party shut down.
wake up: arise	He woke his mom up.
	His mom woke up.
wash out: rinse	I washed out the color.
	The color washed out.
wear away: age	Rust wore away the metal.
	The metal wore away.
wear out: tire	I wear out the children.
	The children wore out.

Transitive Verbs followed by Adverbs

Transitive Verbs followed by Adverbs

	Phrases
back up: reverse	I cannot back up my car.
bail out: empty	Now is the time to bail out the water from the boat.
break in: intrude	The robber tried to break in while the people were sleeping.
breathe in: gasp	Some people breathe in very quickly.
breathe out: expire	If you don’t breathe out you won’t get any oxygen.
bring back: retrieve	The dog was sent to bring back the duck.
bring around: encourage	His family had to bring around his dog to make him feel better.
bring up: tell	The lady said she had to bring up the problems to get them fixed.
butter up: crawl	I don’t like it when people butter up to get an advantage.
call in: visit	My friend likes to call in from time to time for a chat.
call off: delay	The chairman had to call off the vote because no one turned up.
call up: plead	The army had to call up all its reserves for help.
cheer on: urge	The boy had his mum there to cheer him on during the race.
chop down: lop	We decided to chop down all the old pine trees.
clean up: neaten	The house needed a good clean up because visitors were coming.
fend off: push away	The girl was able to fend off the unwanted attention
ferret out: dig up	The private eye was able to ferret out the information he needed.
figure out: work out	I was left to figure out every problem myself.
fill in: plug	We had to fill in the hole so that the water would not escape.
fill out: write in	The boy had to fill out a form before he could enlist.
fill up: cram	The host filled up the room with too many guests.
give back: refund	I decided to give back the money to the buyer.
give off: emit	Old socks can give off a really bad smell.
hand down: pass on	My mother decided to hand down her jewelry before she left.
hand in: return	The man decided to hand in the money he found.
hand on: pass over	My team mate handed the baton on to me during the race.
hand over: relay	I handed over the information to my superior.
hang up: desire	I have a hang up for the cast of my favorite movie.
hold back: suppress	I had to hold back my happiness or I would burst.
iron out: press	He used the table to iron out the creases in his trousers.
knock out: beauty	Everyone said the model was a knock out.
lap up: drink	Dogs lap up more water per day than cats.
lay off: ease up	I want you to lay off the new employee.
leave behind: abandon	The sailors were left behind when the boat sank.
leave out: exclude	Let me know which item you want to leave out of the program.
let down: betray	The king was let down by his sons all the time.
live down: withstand	It can be hard to live down the temptation of chocolate sometimes.
look up: see	It’s amazing what you can find if you look up.
make up: pretend	The clown likes to make up every day at the circus.
pass up: refuse	It’s hard to pass up a warm cup of coffee on a cold day.
pension off: retire	He decided it would be good to be pensioned off before he quit.
phase in: appear	Computer programs can be used to make pictures phase in on the desktop.
phase out: disappear	If you can make that picture phase out I will be very happy.
pick up: grasp	The boy was able to pick up all the information very quickly.
pin down: grab	It is really hard to pin down the busy worker on a Friday.
play down: dampen	I had to play down my enthusiasm.
point out: show	Can you point out the best site for me to begin my search?
polish off: clean	I begin my day by having to polish off the brass jugs.
pull down: drag	Don’t let the other team pull you down to their level.
pull off: accomplish	I was able to pull off all my jobs for today.
put away: stash	My daughter put her clothes away under the bed.
put back: postpone	The game was put back because the field was flooded.
put off: delay	If we put off the sale any longer we will lose too much money.
reel off: communicate	When you reel off too much information my brain hurts.
rope in: charm	She roped in all the volunteers with a wink and a smile.
rub out: cancel	He had to rub out the show dates because they clashed with another show.
rule out: exclude	I cannot rule him out because he has not done anything wrong.
scale down: decrease	The council had to scale down their staff numbers as there were too many.
sell off: liquidate	I had a yard sale to sell off all my possessions.
set back: hinder	Your decision could set back our plans for years to come.
shout down: heckle	The crowd tried to shout down the comedian because he was not funny.
shrug off: brush aside	I wish I could shrug off the problems I am having at the moment.
single out: choose	I don’t want to single out anyone for the worst job.
size up: check	I needed to size up my competition before I challenged them.
sort out: rearrange	I hate having to sort out my sock drawer.
sound out: quiz	If you don’t sound out your opposition they might be smarter than you.
stammer out: stutter	She had trouble stammering out in front of a huge crowd.
sum up: finalize	I had to sum up my accounts before I submitted my tax return.
summon up: recall	Everybody had to be summoned up to put the fires out.
take in: accept	We like to take in all stray animals.
take out: eradicate	Feral cats need to be taken out of the national park.
take over: usurp	The army was used to take over the role of the president.
talk over: converse	I think we need to talk over the submission before our boss sees it.
tear up: rip	I had to tear up the paper because I did not have any scissors.
think over: muse	I will need a lot more time to think over my proposal.
think up: generate	We need to think up some new ideas for the party.
track down: find	The policeman was able to track down the escapee.
trade in: swap	I wanted to trade in my old bike for a newer one.
try on: evaluate	It took me a long time to try on the best pair of jeans.
try out: attempt	Why don’t you try out for the next competition?
turn away: banish	The man was turned away from the party because he was drunk.
turn back: return	You need to turn back to the previous chapter.
turn off: disgust	Smelly armpits are a real turn off.
turn on: excite	Please don’t turn them on.
water down: cool	My dogs need to be watered down because they get very hot in summer.
wear out: exhaust	If you wear him out too quickly he won’t be able to finish the race.
write down: cheapen	A bad review will write down the value of a great product.
write off: disregard	If you write off the rules you will get in lots of trouble.
write up: report	I like to write up on the happenings in our community.