prepositional verbs

Some verbs come with a small word like after, for or into, and the two words have one meaning together. With these verbs the object, even a short word like it or her, goes after the small word. You never put it in the middle.

Pronouns go at the end too

With turn off you can say turn it off. With these verbs you can't. The pronoun goes at the end, like a noun.

Three-word verbs

Some have two small words: get on with (have a good relationship with someone), look forward to (feel happy about something that is coming), put up with (accept something bad without complaining), run out of (have none left). All three words stay together, and the object comes last.

After look forward to, a verb takes -ing, because to here is a preposition.

Common verbs of this kind

• look after – take care of
• look for – try to find
• come across – find by chance
• deal with – do what is needed about a problem
• get over – feel better after a bad time
• take after – look or behave like an older family member

Common mistakes

The object never goes between the verb and the small word, and a verb after look forward to is never the base form.

• × She looks her brother after. → She looks after her brother.
• × I'm looking it for. → I'm looking for it.
• × I look forward to see you. → I look forward to seeing you.