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Riglos Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

Phrasal prepositional verbs (three word phrasal verbs)

Hi people!

What would you call the following verbs? Phrasal prepositional verbs, phrasal verbs, three word phrasal verbs, or just phrasals plus a preposition?

Put up with = TOLERATE.

Stand up for = DEFEND..

Catch up with = DISCOVER SOME WRONGDOING AND PUNISH IT / CAUSE PROBLEMS TO SOMEONE..

Get up to = TO DO SOMETHING, OFTEN SOMETHING THAT OTHER PEOPLE WOULD DISAPPROVE OF.

In fact, my question is: do you consider each of these verbs to be a unit or would you say they are a phrasal verb + a preposition? How would you parse these phrasals? What would you call each of the elements by which they are composed? Here's my view: VERB + ADVERBIAL PARTICLE + PREPOSITION.

In my opinion, they constitute a unit, and since they have a meaning of their own should be regarded as only one phrasal. Indeed, in The Cambridge Dictionary they appear as a unit. Besides, if we were to replace these phrasals with a word or a phrase, these would stand for all three words, namely VERB + ADVERBIAL PARTICLE + PREPOSITION, and not just for the first two. That is to say, when rephrasing, we do not need to replace the phrasal by a word or phrase and add the preposition the verb carries. The preposition "belongs" to the phrasal.

Examples:

1a. He's so moody - I don't know why she puts up with him.

1b. He's so moody - I don't know why she tolerates him.

2a. It's high time we all stood up for our rights around here.

2b. It's high time we all defended our rights around here.

3a. They had been selling stolen cars for years before the police caught up with them.

3b. They had been selling stolen cars for years before the police found out and punished them.

4a. I wonder what those two got up to yesterday.

4b. I wonder what those two did yesterday.

Now, I think they are different from other verbal constructions, such as: keep up (with) = STAY LEVEL OR EQUAL, since, in this case, we can do without the preposition "with", as this sentence shows:

5a. He started to walk faster and the children had to run to keep up.

Here, an example with the same phrasal, but including the preposition and, of course, we can't omit it in this case:

6a. Wages are failing to keep up with inflation.(All examples taken from The Cambridge Dictionary).

Now, if we were to replace this phrasal by another word or expression, the preposition would still be needed.

E.g.,

5b. He started to walk faster and the children had to run to stay level with him.

6b. Wages are failing to stay level with / stay equal to inflation.

What do you think?

Thanks a lot!

Mara.
  

Top answer

Hello Mara Riglos What would you call the following verbs? Phrasal prepositional verbs, phrasal verbs, three word phrasal verbs, or just phrasals plus a preposition? put up with = tolerate.

  • Hello Mara Riglos What would you call the following verbs?
  • Phrasal prepositional verbs, phrasal verbs, three word phrasal verbs, or just phrasals plus a preposition?
  • put up with = tolerate.
  • stand up for = defend.
  • catch up with = discover some wrongness and punish it / cause problems to someone get up to = do something, often something that other people would disapprove Where did you get the meanings?
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5 Answers
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Hello Mara
RiglosWhat would you call the following verbs? Phrasal prepositional verbs, phrasal verbs, three word phrasal verbs, or just phrasals plus a preposition?
put up with = tolerate.
stand up for = defend.
catch up with = discover some wrongness and punish it / cause problems to someone
get up to = do something, often something that other people would
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It depends on which of the standard test patterns you want to accept as grammatical.

*Yesterday we had to put up with mosquitoes, and the day before up with flies.
Here the clear ungrammaticality of the sentence shows that "put up" is a unit.

?Yesterday we had to put up with mosquitoes, and the day before with flies.
?Yesterday we had to put up with mosquitoes, an

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Hi CJ

How about :"Mary stood up for the Democrats, and Paul stood for the Republicans" and "Mary stood up for the Democrats, and Paul against the Democrats" ? I feel "stand up for" is not a phrasal verb. I feel "stand" itself has a meaning of "get oneself ready to fight" just like "rise". "Up" is just a manner adverb to mean "upward" and "for X" is nothing but a purpose adverbial.
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Hi Paco!

I don't think "put up" has the same meaning as "put up with" = TOLERATE, in this sentence:

"[1368 Chaucer] I have put my complaint up again, for to my foes my bill (= broad-bladed sword) I dare not show."

I interpreat "put up" here as "I have refrained from complaining again, for to my foes my bill I dar
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"Yes you are right. The Chaucer's use of "put up" was "put up (=pocket) one's complaint or resentment", that is, the object of the verb was not what one should tolerate. Then they began use the phrase with the thing to tolerate as the object (Harvey).

By the way thank you for informing the source of the meanings. I didn't say that learning informal usage is wrong. But I just said that "c

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