Phrasal-Prepositional Verbs

Phrasal-prepositional verbs are a small group of multi-word verbs made from a verb plus another word or words. Many people refer to all multi-word verbs as phrasal verbs. On these pages we make a distinction between three types of multi-word verbs: prepositional verbs, phrasal verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs. On this page we look at phrasal-prepositional verbs.

Phrasal-prepositional verbs are made of:

verb + adverb + preposition

Look at these examples of phrasal-prepositional verbs:

phrasal-prepositional verbsmeaningexamples
 direct object
get on withhave a friendly relationship withHe doesn't get on withhis wife.
put up withtolerateI won't put up withyour attitude.
look forward toanticipate with pleasureI look forward toseeing you.
run out ofuse up, exhaustWe have run out ofeggs.

Because phrasal-prepositional verbs end with a preposition, there is always a direct object. And, like prepositional verbs, phrasal-prepositional verbs cannot be separated. Look at these examples:

phrasal-prepositional verbs are
inseparable		CorrectWeran out offuel.
CorrectWeran out ofit.

Useful Tip

It is a good idea to write "something/somebody" in your vocabulary book when you learn a new phrasal-prepositional verb, like this:
  • get on with somebody
  • put up with sth/sb
  • run out of something