Collins Cobuild English Grammar (75 page)

watch out

wear off

weigh in

intransitive phrasal verbs with prepositions:
look after
,
call on

3.87
    Other phrasal verbs used in intransitive clauses are verb plus preposition combinations. These are sometimes called
prepositional verbs
.

Ski trips now
account for
nearly half of all school visits.
I’
m
just
asking for
information.
…the arguments that
stem from
gossip.

Note that the nouns at the end of the above examples (
nearly half of all school visits
,
information
, and
gossip
) are objects of the prepositions and not direct objects of the verbs.

3.88
    Here is a list of phrasal verbs that consist of a verb with no object and a preposition:

abide by

account for

allow for

answer for

ask after

ask for

bank on

bargain for

break into

break with

brood on

bump into

burst into

call for

call on

care for

come across

come between

come by

come for

come from

come into

come under

come upon

count on

cut across

dawn on

deal with

dispose of

draw on

drink to

dwell on

eat into

embark on

enter into

expand on

fall for

fall into

fall on

feel for

flick through

frown upon

get at

get into

get over

go about

go against

go for

grow on

hang onto

head for

hit on

hold with

jump at

keep to

laugh at

launch into

lay into

leap at

level with

lie behind

live for

live off

live with

look after

look into

look to

make for

meet with

part with

pick at

pick on

pitch into

plan for

plan on

play at

play on

poke at

pore over

provide for

puzzle over

rattle through

reason with

reckon on

reckon with

reckon without

rise above

romp through

run across

run into

run to

sail through

see to

seize on

set about

settle for

settle on

skate over

smile on

stand for

stem from

stick at

stick by

stumble across

stumble on

take after

take against

tamper with

tangle with

trifle with

tumble to

wade through

wait on

walk into

watch for

worry at

preposition or adverb:
We looked around the old town
,
Would you like to look around?

3.89
    In the case of some intransitive phrasal verbs, the second word (
across
,
around
,
down
, etc) is a preposition if the second thing involved needs to be mentioned, or can be an adverb if the second thing involved is clear from the context.

I could
hang around your office
.
We’ll have to
hang around
for a while.
They all
crowded around the table
.
Everyone
crowded around
to see him jump into the water.

3.90
    Here is a list of intransitive phrasal verbs whose second word is a preposition if the other thing involved needs to be mentioned, or an adverb if it does not:

ask around

bend over

break through

bustle about

come across

come after

come along

come by

come down

come in

come off

come on

come over

come through

come up

cross over

crowd around

do without

fall behind

fall down

fall off

gather around

get in

get off

get on

get round

go about

go along

go down

go in

go round

go through

go up

go without

hang around

join in

knock about

lag behind

lean over

lie about

look round

look through

lounge about

move about

pass by

pass over

push by

push past

push through

rally round

run around

run down

run up

scrape through

see round

shine through

show through

sit around

spill over

stand around

stop by

trip over

transitive phrasal verbs:
look something up
,
let someone down

3.91
    Some phrasal verbs are nearly always used with an object.

We
put
our drinks
down
on the bar.
I
finished
my meal
off
as quickly as I could.
She
read
the poem
out
quietly.