Word order - 2-3 verbs

Question 1

2-word verbs=verb+preposition/adverb
3-word verbs=verb+adverb+preposition

Answer 1

I’ll quickly go over the main points of the report again. (summarize)
She had to put her dress out because she had put on weight. (make it larger).

Question 2

Many 2-word verbs are intransitive:
grow up(become an adult), come to (become conscious), crop up(appear unexpectedly), fall through(fail to happen), get up(stand up), move off(change subjects), shop around(to compare the price), splash out(spend money in things you don’t need).

Answer 2

He grew up on a farm.
When she came to, she found herself in a hospital.

Question 3

Some 2-word verbs can be transitive or intransitive with the same meaning:
call back (returning to a place, phone), answer back (speak rudely), clear away (tidy), cover up (keep secret), help out (help to do work or give money), take over (get control/start doing), tidy up (tidy), wash up (discussion on how do better).

Answer 3

I’ll call back later.
I’ll call you back when I get home.

Question 4

Some 2-word verbs can be intransitive or transitive with different meaning:
cut out (exclude), break in (train, invade), hold out (continue), look out (search, be careful), look up (improve, visit, check facts), pick up (lift, collect, learn), split up (end a relationship), turn in (produce, sleep, give), wind up (end, annoy, joke).

Answer 4

The engine cut out, and the car came to a stop.
I cut the picture out and kept it.

Question 5

Many 2-word verbs, transitive, the object can come BEFORE or AFTER the verb, with same meaning:
try out (compete, test), bring about (cause happen), clean up (tidy, stop crime), count out (exclude), drink up (drink all), gather up (collect), get down (start), leave out (not include), make up (invent, prepare, complete), mess up (mistake, damage), shoot down (disagree), sort out (separate, deal successfully), throw away (waste, get ride of), use up (finish).

Although the verb is a pronoun, it must be in between.

When the object is long, we put it at the end of the 2-word verb.

Answer 5

I want to try out the local food.
I want to try the local food out.

You’ll have to count me out.

She had to clean the kitchen up.
She had to clean up the mess in the kitchen.

Question 6

With some 2-word verbs, the object comes in between:
tell apart (see the difference), catch out (catch), hear out (listen), order about (tell what to do), pull to (move), push to (move/persuade with force), shut up (silence), stand up (to be true).

Answer 6

I just couldn’t tell the twins apart.

Question 7

With some 2-word verbs, the object follows the preposition:
take after (similar), flicked through (look quickly), account for (explain, form total), act on (because of), approve of (approve), call on (available to work), check into (arrive), look after (to care/take care), provide for (look after), result from (caused), run into (experience/meet), take against (dislike).

Answer 7

She takes after her mother.
I flicked through a magazine while I was waiting.

Question 8

With most 3-word verbs, the object goes after the verb:
look up to (take care), come in for (receive blame or criticism), come up against (deal with a problem), cut back on (return previous level), look down on (feel more than another people), put up with (accept).

Answer 8

He really looks up to his older brother.

Question 9

In few 3-word verbs, the object goes immediately after the verb:
talk out of (persuade not to do), do out of (stop/cheat), help on with (help), let in on (tell a secret), put down as (think), put up to (build/fix), take up on (accept).

Answer 9

She tried to talk me out of the plan.