Phrasal-Prepositional Verbs
Understanding and using phrasal-prepositional verbs
Phrasal-Prepositional verbs are just one category of multi-word verbs. Others are phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs, and multi-word verb constructions.
Phrasal-Prepositional verbs consist of a verb plus a particle plus a preposition (e.g. come up with, get back to).
Clause patterns of phrasal-prepositional verbs
Like prepositional verbs, phrasal-prepositional verbs take a prepositional object consisting of a preposition and a noun phrase. There are two patterns (type 2 is rare):
NP + verb + particle + preposition + NP
- "Foreign debt payments became irregular and the government increasingly fell back on local borrowing" (Singogo and Grynberg 2023).
- "In rare cases, passengers or flight attendants might end up with some injuries" (Lane 2022).
NP + verb + NP + particle + preposition + NP
- "[Science fiction] asks for us to hold one story up against another ...." (Pak 2021).
- "...58% put this down to the need for a better work-life balance" (Musker 2019).
Distribution of Phrasal-Prepositional Verbs
Phrasal-prepositional verbs are rarely found in academic writing and type 2 patterns are extremely rare as very few phrasal-prepositional verbs take two objects.
be behind with
Definition:
be later than planned, behind schedule
Type:
Type 1; Intransitive
Example:
"Germany, with modest hydro, is heading for at least 80% renewable electricity by 2050, but is behind with its renewable heat and transport programs." (Diesendorf 2016) |
set out in
Definition:
state, declare, publish
Type:
Type 1; Intransitive, passive
Example:
"The social responsibility of intellectuals was set out in eight articles of the declaration." (Adesina 2020) "A large number of European countries are members of the European Union. They are therefore expected to organise themselves in accordance with the fundamental principles set out in the Union treaties." (Bréchon 2023) This is post modifying past participle. This form (or "as set out in") is the most common use of "set out in". |
look forward to
Definition:
anticipate with pleasure
Type:
Type 1; Transitive, active
Example:
"Most of us look forward to a rare long weekend." (Hopkins 2023) One of the commonest phrasal-prepositional verbs, but rarely used in academic writing. |
come up with
Definition:
invent, create, produce
Type:
Type 1; Transitive
Example:
"If you are not prepared to be wrong you will never come up with anything original." (Zouwer 2023) |
get back to
Definition:
resume, return to (a previous state of affairs)
Type:
Type 1; Transitive
Example:
"When her driver careened into a ditch and overturned the vehicle, they righted the car, fixed the damaged equipment as best they could and got back to work." (Jorgensen 2017) |
keep up with
Definition:
progress at the same rate as, maintain the same level as
Type:
Type 1; Transitive
Example:
"They need access to ICT improvements for classroom implementation and to keep up with continuous technological advances." (Hyndman 2018)
|
keep abreast of
Definition: stay level with Type: Type 1, transitive, Example: The regulation of technology requires the law to keep abreast of rapidly changing and highly complex trends." (Pattinson and Basu 2020) |
make up for
Definition: compensate for Type: Type 1; transitive Example: "...the oil industry is seeing plastics as a key output that can make up for losses in other markets." (Bauer and Nielsen 2021) |
put down to
Definition: attribute to Type: Type 2; Transitive, passive Example: "If a young person has negative, insulting attitudes or opinions, this is often put down to having unresolved emotional issues." (Orlando 2020) |
be made up of
Definition:
constitute
Type:
Type 1; Transitive, passive
Example:
"The atmosphere is now made up of 21% oxygen, but it accounted for just 0.001% of today’s levels during the first 2 billion years of Earth’s history." (Duarte et al. 2021) |
run up against
Definition:
encounter (an obstacle, difficulty)
Type:
Type 1; Transitive
Example:
"The studies also ran up against many methodological challenges, the biggest of which centered on the old statistical adage – correlation does not equal causation." (Gavin 2017)
|
date back to
Definition:
have existed since, originated in
Type:
Type 1: Intransitive
Example:
"A deeper issue underlies each one’s part in the malaise enveloping the planet’s ecosystems – and its origins date back to long before the industrial revolution." (Alberro 2019) |
fall back on
Definition:
resort to
Type:
Type 1; Intransitive, passive
Example:
"We leave them to fall back on what they intuitively know about language, and as a consequence they simply write like they speak." (Adoniou 2014) |
boil down to
Definition:
can be summarised as
Type:
Type 1; Transitive
Example:
"Talking to museum staff and examining articles, discussions, blogs and debates reveal five reasons for the ban – all of which primarily boil down to money." (Zagorsky 2016) |
hold up against
Definition:
compare with
Type:
Type 2; Transitive
Example:
"[Science fiction] asks for us to hold one story up against another ...." (Pak 2021) |
fit in with
Definition:
work in harmony with, accept, match, suit
Type:
Type 1; Intransitive
Example:
"New parties need to understand the culture of the collaboration and fit in with its values, norms and behaviours." (Charles and Keast 2016) |
See also phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs and and multi-word verbs.
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