prepositional words and phrases

Prepositional Words and Phrases 3

A prepositional phrase is a combination of a verb with a preposition. Such a combination may give different meanings to the same verb with different prepositions.

TOUCH

Touch on: mention briefly.

e.g. The professor barely touched on the subject of Civil War.

Touch up: repair.

e.g. Can you touch up the scratches on the door?

APPEAL

Appeal against: ask a court to cancel something.

e.g. The lawyer appealed against the court’s decision.

Appeal for: demand as a right.

e.g. I think we should appeal for justice.

e.g. They are appealing for our help.

Appeal to: attract or please someone.

e.g. The proposal appealed to many of us.

e.g. Her personality appeals to everybody around her.

e.g. Does this food appeal to your taste?

GOUGE

Gouge out: cheat someone out of something.

e.g. Don’t try to gouge some money out of that poor old man.

ANSWER

Answer for: be responsible for.

e.g. You will have to answer for your mistakes.

Answer to: explain or justify for.

e.g. You will have to answer to the judge for what you did.

INCH

Inch across: creep slowly across.

e.g. The injured dog inched across the bridge.

Inch back: go back slowly.

e.g. The army inched back as we fired our guns.

Inch over: move back a little.

e.g. Can you inch over a little? I can’t get in

GROUND

Ground in: instruct.

e.g. We should ground our children in love and values as they grow up.

Ground on: form a foundation for.

e.g. His intelligence was grounded on reading books on wisdom.

LET

Let down: disappoint.

e.g. I put my hope on you; don’t let me down.

Let out: release.

e.g. Don’t let out your anger on me!

e.g. He was let out of prison after he was found not guilty of the crime.

Let up: decrease in intensity.

e.g After a while, the rain let up.

HAND

Hand down: deliver; leave as an inheritance.

e.g. We have handed down all the information to our associates.

e.g. When he dies, he will hand down his business to his family, and not before.

Hand in: submit.

e.g. I have handed in my resignation; tomorrow will be my last day in the office.

Hand over: yield control of.

e.g. The manager has handed over the human resources section to the assistant manager.

Stephen Lau

Prepositional Phrases 2

A prepositional phrase is a combination of a verb with a preposition. Such a combination may give different meanings to the same verb with different prepositions.

ARGUE

Argue about: dispute or quarrel with someone over.

e.g. They often argue about racial injustice over the dinner table.

Argue against: make a case against someone or something.

e.g. The police discovered new evidence that argued against the criminal charge.

Argue back: answer back.

e.g. I wish he would not argue back so much.

Argue down: defeat someone in a debate.

e.g. He tries to argue down everyone who has opposite views.

Argue for: make a case for someone.

e.g. My lawyer will argue for me in court.

Argue into: convince someone to do something.

e.g. I could not argue myself into helping you in this project.

Argue with: challenge someone or something.

e.g. I won’t argue with what you do; after all, it is your choice.

MUDDLE

Muddle along: continue in confusion.

e.g. Without clear instructions, some employees simply muddled along.

Muddle around: work inefficiently.

e.g. Many employees were laid off because they were muddling around.

SCREW

Screw around with: play around with, usually not doing anything positive (slang).

e.g. Don’t screw around with that guy and waste your time!

Screw up: mess up; spoil.

e.g. See, you’ve screwed up my plan! I wish you hadn’t come.

Stephen Lau

Prepositional Phrases

A prepositional phrase is a combination of a verb with a preposition. Such a combination may give different meanings to the same verb with different prepositions.

GROUND

Ground in: instruct.

e.g. We should ground our children in love and values as they grow up.

Ground on: form a foundation for.

e.g. His intelligence was grounded on reading books on wisdom.

NOISE

Noise about: gossip.

e.g. Please don’t noise about my being fired by my boss.

HOLD

Hold at bay: keep someone or something at a safe distance.

e.g. The bombing might be able to hold the enemies at bay, at least for a while.

e.g. The man could no longer hold his anger at bay, and he took out his gun and pointed at the policeman.

Hold back on: withhold something.

e.g. Hold back on this. We might need it in the days to come.

Hold by: stick to a promise.

e.g. I hope you will hold by this agreement.

Hold good for: remain open, such as an offer to someone or something.

e.g. Does it still hold good for everyone here, including members of the family?

Hold no brief for: not to tolerate someone or something.

e.g. We should hold no brief for social injustice.

Hold off: delay or postpone doing something.

e.g. Can you hold off buying this new car? We can’t afford it.

Hold out: survive.

e.g. I don’t think we can hold out much longer with this kind of income.

Hold a candle to: be equal to someone or something.

e.g. You don’t hold a candle to your brother when it comes to playing the guitar.

Hold one’s head up: be confident.

e.g. Hold your head up when it comes to public speaking.

Hold still for: put up with something.

e.g. It is not easy to hold still for that kind of rude remark.

Hold up on: delay or postpone further action.

e.g. Hold up on the appointment; we may have a better candidate.

Hold with: agree or tolerate something.

e.g. I don’t think I can hold with your preposition.

APPEAL

Appeal against: ask a court to cancel something.

e.g. The lawyer appealed against the court’s decision.

Appeal for: demand as a right.

e.g. I think we should appeal for justice.

e.g. They are appealing for our help.

Appeal to: attract or please someone.

e.g. The proposal appealed to many of us.

e.g. Her personality appeals to everybody around her.

e.g. Does this food appeal to your taste?

INCLUDE

Include among: choose or classify.

e.g. He included himself among the top writers of science fiction.

Include in: invite.

e.g. I think we’ll include him in the party.

Stephen Lau