PHRASAL-PREPOSITIONAL VERBS

Phrasal-prepositional verbs

Technique is what you fall back on when you run out of inspiration. Rudolf Nureyev
Well, I was shocked, I can tell you, but I just put it down to my not knowing anything about jewellery, as I told you. 
I was shocked. The medics put it down to my not having had any skin-to-skin contact with the babies coupled with the trauma of the situation.

My father was a GP; my mother was a teacher and amateur actress; the acting influence must have been from her - yes, put it down to my mother.

Phrasal-prepositional verbs

Phrasal-prepositional verbs have three parts: a verb, a particle (an adverb) and a preposition. The particle and the preposition cannot be separated. Many of these verbs are often used in informal contexts, and their meaning is difficult to guess from their individual parts.

Verb + particle (adverb) + preposition

catch up with	get on with	look out for
come up against	listen out for	look up to
do away with	look down on	put up with
face up to	look forward to	watch out for
get away with

Ken’s just chatting to a friend. He’ll catch up with us in a minute.(reach, join)

Do you get on with your neighbours? (have a good relationship with)

We look forward to meeting you on the 22nd. (anticipate with pleasure)

See also:

• Look forward to

Phrasal-prepositional verbs and objects

The object (underlined below) always comes immediately after the preposition, and not in any other position:

She was a wonderful teacher. We all looked up to her. (respected)

Not: We all looked her up to. or We all looked up her to.

Some phrasal-prepositional verbs also take a direct object after the verb as well as an object of the preposition:

fix … up with	put … down to	put … up to
let … in on	take … out on

(do = direct object; po = object of preposition [both underlined])

She fixed [DO]us up with [PO]a violin teacher. We’re really grateful to her.(fixed us up with = arranged for us)

We just put [DO]the accident down to [PO]bad luck; there’s no other reason. (put down to = think the cause or reason is)

(“Verbs: multi-word verbs” from English Grammar Today © Cambridge University Press.)