Collins Cobuild English Grammar (79 page)

come down to

come down with

come in for

come on to

come out in

come out of

come out with

come up against

come up to

come up with

crack down on

creep up on

crowd in on

cry out against

cry out for

cut back on

date back to

do away with

double back on

face up to

fall back on

fall in with

get away with

get down to

get in on

get off with

get on to

get on with

get round to

get up to

give up on

go along with

go back on

go down with

go in for

go off with

go over to

go through with

grow out of

keep in with

keep on at

keep up with

kick out against

lead up to

live up to

look down on

look forward to

look out for

look up to

make away with

make off with

make up to

match up to

measure up to

miss out on

monkey about with

play along with

play around with

put up with

read up on

run away with

run off with

run up against

shy away from

sit in on

snap out of

stick out for

stick up for

suck up to

take up with

talk down to

tie in with

walk away from

walk away with

walk off with

walk out on

wriggle out of

zero in on

transitive three-word phrasal verbs:
He talked me out of buying the car

3.113
  A few three-word phrasal verbs are transitive. The direct object of the verb comes immediately after the verb. A second noun phrase is put after the preposition, as normal.

I’ll
let
you
in on
a secret.
Kroop tried to
talk
her
out of
it.
They
put
their success
down to
hard work.

Here is a list of transitive three-word phrasal verbs:

do out of

frighten out of

let in for

let in on

play off against

put down as

put down to

put up to

take out on

take up on

talk out of

BE CAREFUL

3.114
   In standard written English it is not possible to have indirect objects with phrasal verbs. The only objects you can have are direct objects of the verb and objects of prepositions. In informal spoken English, however, a few phrasal verbs do have both a direct and an indirect object. In such cases, the indirect object is placed between the verb and the particle, and the direct object follows.

Would you
break me off
a piece of chocolate, please?
We
brought her back
some special cookies from Germany.

phrasal verbs in questions and relative clauses

3.115
  There is one way in which a preposition that is part of a phrasal verb behaves differently from an ordinary preposition.

Normally, when the object of a preposition is put at the beginning of a question or a relative clause, it can be preceded by the preposition, especially in formal speech or writing. For example, you can say
From which student did you get the book
? and
the document on which he put his signature
.

However, if the preposition is part of a phrasal verb, it cannot be put before its object in such structures. You have to say
What are you getting at
? not
At what are you getting
?, and
the difficulties which he ran up against
not
the difficulties against which he ran up
.

Who were they laughing
at
?
This was one complication he had not bargained
for
.

3.116
  Most phrasal verbs that contain a transitive verb can be used in the
passive
. So can a few phrasal verbs that contain an intransitive verb and a preposition. See paragraphs
9.17
and
9.23
.

Compound verbs:
ice-skate
,
baby-sit

3.117
  Some verbs, such as
cross-examine
and
test-drive
, consist of two words. They are sometimes called
compound verbs
.

He would have been
cross-examined
on any evidence he gave.
He asked to
test-drive
a top-of-the-range vehicle.
It is not wise to
hitch-hike
on your own.

BE CAREFUL

3.118
  It is important to realize that you cannot always guess the meaning of a compound verb if you are not already familiar with it. For example, to
soft-soap
does not mean to use soap that is soft; it means to flatter someone in order to persuade them to do something for you.

written forms of compound verbs

3.119
  Compound verbs are usually written with a hyphen.

No one had
cross-referenced
the forms before.
Children
ice-skated
on the sidewalks.

However, some compound verbs may be written with a space between the words and some may be written as single words. For example, both
roller-skate
and
roller skate
are used, as are
baby-sit
and
babysit
.

forms of compound verbs

3.120
  Many compound verbs consist of a noun plus a verb.

It may soon become economically attractive to
mass-produce
hepatitis vaccines.

Others consist of an adjective plus a verb.

Somebody had
short-changed
him.

3.121
   A few compound verbs consist of words that seem strange because they are not normally used as single words on their own, for example
pooh-pooh
and
shilly-shally
. These verbs are usually used in informal conversation rather than formal writing.