Multi-word verbs

grow + up
The children are growing up.

Often this gives the verb a new meaning:

take + after
She takes after her mother.
     (= She looks like her mother or she behaves like her mother.)

count + on
I know I can count on you.
     (= I know I can trust you or I know I can believe you.)

Some two-part verbs have only one pattern: 

But other two-part verbs have two different patterns. The usual pattern is:

but sometimes these verbs have the pattern:

When the object is a personal pronoun, phrasal verbs always have the first pattern:

She gave it back. (NOT She gave back it.)

He knocked it over. (NOT He knocked over it.)

We will be leaving them behind. (NOT We will be leaving behind them.)

 

Common verbs with their most frequent particles are:

bring	about, along, back, forward, in, off, out, round, up
buy	out, up
call	off, up
carry	off, out
cut	back, down, off, out, up
give	away, back, off
hand	back, down, in, on, out, over, round
knock	down, out, over
leave	behind, out
let	down, in, off, out
pass	down, over, round
point	out
push	about, around, over
put	across, away, down, forward, off, on, out, through, together, up
read	out
set	apart, aside, back, down
shut	away, in, off, out
take	apart, away, back, down, in, on, up, over
think	over, through, up

Three-part verbs

Some verbs are made up of three parts: a verb and two particles. They have the pattern:

Noun (subject)	Verb	Particle	Particle	Noun (object)
His girlfriend	walked	out	on	him.
She	caught	up	with	the other runners.
Children	should look	up	to	their parents.

Common three-part verbs are:

catch up with	get on with	look up to	stick up for
face up to	look forward to	put up with	walk out on
get away with	look down on	run away with	watch out for

A few verbs have the pattern:

Noun (subject)	Verb	Noun (object of verb)	Particle	Particle	Noun (object of particle)
We	talked	them	out	of	leaving.
She	put	his mistakes	down	to	inexperience.

Verbs like this are: 

do out of	put down to	take out on
let it on	put up to	talk out of

 

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