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Welcome back to The Art of Business English. In this week's episode we have the second part of my mini-series on three-word phrasal verbs.

If you haven’t taken a look at episode 1, then you can review it here.

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Today I am going to be focusing on 3-word phrasal verbs that end with the preposition “to”. Remember, any verb that follows a preposition needs to be in the gerund or ING form.

Let’s start learning!

Leave up to

Meaning:

To give someone the responsibility to do something.

Example:

“We'll leave it up to the accountant to decide how to invest the money.”

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Live up to

Meaning:

To achieve what is expected.

Example:

“The new employee didn’t live up to expectations and HR decided not to renew her contract.”

Set out to

Meaning:

To start an activity with a particular aim.

Example:

“He set out to design software that would be accessible to employees outside the accounting department.”

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Face up to

Meaning:

To accept that a difficult situation exists.

Example:

“Every needs to face up to the fact that this quarter’s sales results are a complete disaster.”

Get round to

Meaning:

To find the time to do or deal with something.

Example:

“I finally got round to writing the financial report.”

Look forward to

Meaning:

To be excited about the fact that an event or activity is happening.

Example:

“I am looking forward to a nice quiet holiday next month. We are going to the Bahamas.”

Look up to

Meaning:

To admire and respect someone

Example:

“Her colleagues have always looked up to her.”

Own up to

Meaning:

To tell the truth or to admit that you are responsible for something.

Example:

“No one has owned up to stealing the money.”

Hang on to

Meaning:

To hold tightly to something; to keep something.

Example:

“When he tried to stand, he had to hang onto a tree for support.”
“You should hang onto that painting; it might be valuable.”

Add up to

Meaning:

To make a particular amount; to have a particular effect or result.

Example:

“The company's assets add up to $107bn.”
“These changes could add up to a 10-15% improvement in productivity.”

Feel up to

Meaning:

To have the energy to do something.

Example:

“Look, I would love to come for drinks after work, but I just don’t feel up to it today.”

Put up to

Meaning:

To encourage someone to do something, usually wrong.

Example:

“Sam skipped class on Friday. I think he was put up to it by his friends.”

Final thoughts

So, there you have some more three-word phrasal verbs that I am sure you will find useful to improve your understanding of native speakers. I hope you found this episode interesting.

As always, if you have any questions, send me a message on speakpipe or drop me a comment on the blog.

Be sure to stick around for next week’s installment of the last episode in this 3-part mini-series on three-word prepositional phrasal verbs.

Don’t forget to enrol in one of my premium training programmes if you are series about improving your English.

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Take care till next week!


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Andrew


Andrew is the CEO and founder of the Art of Business English. Besides teaching and coaching native Spanish speakers in Business English, he is also passionate about mountain biking, sailing and healthy living. When He is not working, Andrew loves to spend time with his family and friends.

Andrew Ambrosius

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