Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
English learners sometimes get confused when they see a verb and a preposition side-by-side, thinking it might be a phrasal verb. But, that is not always the case.
Some VERB + PREPOSITION collocations are simply a verb with a functional preposition needed for the particular context it is in. In other words, the verb keeps its meaning, and the preposition keeps its function.
A phrasal verb uses a VERB + a PARTICLE. The particle looks like a preposition, but the two words together become one verb with an idiomatic meaning. In other words, meanings of the verb and the preposition change to something that is completely different.
Let’s look at TIE UP as an example:
Coll: Tie up: close together with a string, zip ties, or other item (a bundle, a criminal)
Ph. v.: Tie up: occupy, keep busy, make unavailable (the line, traffic, someone, funds)
The clerk tied my books up in a bundle so I could carry them more easily.
Emergency officers try to make calls short so that they don’t tie up the lines for other callers.
If my money wasn’t tied up in the stock market, I would happily lend it to you.
Try using these expressions in your own sentences.
English learners sometimes get confused when they see a verb and a preposition side-by-side, thinking it might be a phrasal verb. But, that is not always the case.
Some VERB + PREPOSITION collocations are simply a verb with a functional preposition needed for the particular context it is in. In other words, the verb keeps its meaning, and the preposition keeps its function.
A phrasal verb uses a VERB + a PARTICLE. The particle looks like a preposition, but the two words together become one verb with an idiomatic meaning. In other words, meanings of the verb and the preposition change to something that is completely different.
Let’s look at TIE UP as an example:
Coll: Tie up: close together with a string, zip ties, or other item (a bundle, a criminal)
Ph. v.: Tie up: occupy, keep busy, make unavailable (the line, traffic, someone, funds)
The clerk tied my books up in a bundle so I could carry them more easily.
Emergency officers try to make calls short so that they don’t tie up the lines for other callers.
If my money wasn’t tied up in the stock market, I would happily lend it to you.
Try using these expressions in your own sentences.
