Three-Word Phrasal Verbs

Put up with, look forward to and get on with share a useful pattern. Other three-part expressions need a different object position. Learn the common pattern and its limits with examples.

A three-word phrasal verb is a verb followed by two small words: an adverb particle and then a preposition. Put up with. Look forward to. Run out of. Come up with. Get on with.

Most of them are built out of something you already know. Put up on its own is a real phrasal verb, and adding with turns it into the one that means tolerate. Get on can mean progress or continue. Get on with a task means start or continue doing it; get on with a person can mean have a good relationship with them. Seen that way they are less a new category than an extension of one you have already met.

Longer expressions can look complicated, but learning them with an example makes their structure visible. Record the complete construction, including any object slots, rather than assuming that the number of words determines the grammar.

Pattern one: the object follows the preposition

For put up with, run out of and come up with, the prepositional object follows the complete expression in an ordinary statement. Personal pronouns use the same position.

Correct: I cannot put up with the noise.

Not English: I cannot put the noise up with.

Correct: I cannot put up with it.

Not English: I cannot put it up with.

Correct: We have run out of milk.

Not English: We have run milk out of.

Correct: She came up with a better plan.

Not English: She came a better plan up with.

Notice the second example. With two-word separable verbs, a pronoun object is forced into the middle, so turn it off is the only option. Here the opposite holds: even a pronoun stays behind both particles. Put up with it, never put it up with.

This pattern does not cover every three-part expression. Compare she put him up to the prank and they put the delay down to bad weather. Him and the delay are direct objects before the particle; the prank and bad weather follow the final preposition. A dictionary shows both slots.

Keep the complement of the final preposition

In the complete statements shown here, the final preposition needs a complement. In questions and relative clauses, that complement can appear earlier instead.

Correct: She gets on with her flatmate.

Not English: She gets on with.

Correct: We are looking forward to the weekend.

Not English: We are looking forward to.

Correct: He came down with flu.

Not English: He came down with.

Ask what or whom the preposition relates to. In what are you looking forward to?, what is at the front and to is left at the end. That is normal question formation, not permission to stop an ordinary statement halfway through. Ellipsis in conversation can also leave words understood.

The ones worth knowing first

These are useful examples to study. Several appear in the practice packs; others extend the grammar explanation. The list does not claim any measured coverage of conversation.

Verb	Meaning	Example
put up with	tolerate	He puts up with a two-hour commute.
look forward to	anticipate with pleasure	I look forward to hearing from you.
get on with	have a good relationship with	She gets on with her flatmate.
come up with	invent, produce	He came up with a better plan.
run out of	have none left	We ran out of petrol.
come down with	start to have an illness	She came down with a cold.
cut down on	reduce	Try to cut down on sugar.
look up to	admire	He looks up to his older sister.
get away with	escape blame for	They got away with it.
catch up on	do what you have missed	I need to catch up on sleep.
do away with	abolish, remove	They did away with the rule.
make up for	compensate for	He made up for the delay.

The one trap: to is not an infinitive

When a three-word verb ends in to, that to is a preposition, so a verb after it takes the -ing form.

Correct: I look forward to hearing from you.

Not English: I look forward to hear from you.

This sentence closes a very large number of emails, which is why the mistake is so visible.

Correct: She is not used to working nights.

Not English: She is not used to work nights.

Correct: I must get round to fixing that door.

Not English: I must get round to fix that door.

English uses to in more than one way. In I want to leave, it introduces an infinitive. In look forward to, it is a preposition followed by a noun phrase or an -ing form: the weekend or meeting you. Learn the complete expression so you can recognise which to you have.

Compare I look forward to the weekend with I look forward to seeing you. The noun and -ing form fill the same complement position. Do not replace to with another preposition as a test: look forward about is not the correct expression.

Be used to and get used to also take a noun or -ing form, although they are related constructions rather than examples of verb-plus-two-particle phrasal verbs. Compare used to work, describing a past habit, which has a different structure.

They do go passive, and it sounds odd at first

Some three-part verbs allow a prepositional passive. Keep the particle and preposition with the verb. Other expressions do not readily form a natural passive.

Correct: He is looked up to by everyone in the department.

Correct: The rule was done away with last year.

Correct: That kind of behaviour will not be put up with.

Learners often assume these sentences are broken, because ending a clause with two small words looks wrong on the page. They are correct, and they are common in reports and news writing, where the passive does a lot of work.

You can also use an appropriate alternative, such as he is admired, the rule was abolished or that will not be tolerated. These alternatives may work in speech or writing. Register and meaning depend on the context; no synonym is an automatic replacement in every sentence.

Where they come from

Many three-word verbs are a two-word phrasal verb with a preposition bolted on to let it take an object it could not otherwise take. Cut down means reduce, and cut down on lets you name the thing. Catch up means reach the same point, and catch up on names what you are behind with. Get away means escape, and get away with names what you escaped blame for.

Recognising part of an expression can help you make a tentative guess. Always check the full meaning and construction, though: adding a preposition can introduce a different sense, as in get away and get away with.

Mistakes worth catching

Not English: I look forward to meet you next week.
Correct: I look forward to meeting you next week.
The to is a preposition here, so use meeting rather than meet. Learn look forward to meeting as a complete pattern.
Not English: I cannot put it up with any longer.
Correct: I cannot put up with it any longer.
Put up with keeps its prepositional object after with in this statement. Do not apply the turn it off pattern to this expression.
Not English: We have run out the milk.
Correct: We have run out of milk.
Use run out of before the thing that is no longer available. Run out can also stand alone: our milk ran out. Run out on someone is a different expression meaning abandon them.
Not English: She is looking forward the holiday.
Correct: She is looking forward to the holiday.
To is needed for the anticipation sense: look forward to the holiday. Look forward can have a literal directional meaning in other contexts.

Common questions

Can a three-word phrasal verb ever be separated?

Some take an earlier direct object: put someone up to something and put something down to something. Others, including put up with, put the prepositional object after all three words in a statement. Learn the construction, not a blanket rule about length.

Why is it hearing and not hear after look forward to?

Because that to is a preposition rather than the start of an infinitive, and prepositions take nouns or -ing forms. Compare I look forward to the weekend, where a plain noun follows the same to.

Are there four-word phrasal verbs?

Not as a category. Longer fixed expressions exist, such as get down to business, but there the extra words are the object rather than part of the verb. Three is the practical limit.

Is put up with formal or informal?

Put up with is common in conversation and can also be used at work. Tolerate is another option and is natural in both speech and writing. Choose the wording that fits the sentence and tone.

How do I remember which preposition goes on the end?

Learn the verb with its object already attached, as a phrase rather than a formula: run out of milk, come down with flu, get on with your flatmate. The preposition arrives with the phrase and you never have to choose it.