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Prepositional Verbs
A great number of verbs in English can be modified by the addition of a preposition. Often the preposition will nuance, or even dramatically change, the meaning of the base verb. The meanings are often idiomatic, and the meaning expressed by any given preposition may be very different from one verb to another.
It would be impossible to list all such verbs here (but you will find them in the dictionary itself). These examples will suffice to provide an illustration of the principle:
- to speak -- to say words
- to speak up -- to speak loudly
- to speak down (to someone) -- to be condescending toward someone
- to speak for (someone) -- to speak in someone's place
- to put -- to set down
- to put up -- to place up high
- to put up -- to put in jars or cans
- to put away -- to put something back where it belongs
- to put down -- to release one's grasp of something
- to put out -- to place outside, or to take outside
- to put on -- to wear
- to turn -- to twist
- to turn on -- to make something function (a light, a motor)
- to turn off -- to remove the power to (a light, a motor)
- to turn around -- to turn to face the opposite direction
- to turn up -- to augment the sound, the light
- to turn down -- to diminish the sound, the light
- to turn out -- to become
- to turn red, white, etc. -- to change colors
When the sentence includes a noun object, the object will follow the preposition; if the object is replaced by a pronoun, the pronoun precedes the preposition:
- He turned on the television.
- He turned it on.
- She put away her books.
- She put them away.
There are many prepositional verbs that take two prepositions:
- to put up with (something, someone) -- to tolerate someone
- to go out with -- to accompany someone
- to go off on (a digression, an adventure) -- to begin, to start
- to run away from -- to flee
When the verb is followed by two prepositions, the object follows the two prepositions, whether the object is a noun or a pronoun:
- How can you put up with him?
- Bill should not go out with Monica.
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