Verbs from prepositions - exercise

I'm always interested to see the search terms used by people who land up on my blog, and this one caught my eye - verbs from prepositions. Are there any, I wondered. After going pretty carefully through the extensive list of prepositions at English Club, I would say they are pretty few and far between. Six in standard English that I can find, and one of them - except - it would be difficult to say which came first - the preposition or the verb.

The way these verbs are used is fairly restricted, mainly in set expressions and idioms. But here's a little exercise anyway, it'll give you practice at verb tenses, if nothing else.

 

Exercise

• Fill the gaps by entering verbs from the box in the correct form.
• All the verbs are regular. Don't use any contractions.
• There are a couple of participle clauses.
• Mouse over the clue buttons if you get stuck.

except   ·   near   ·   round   ·   to   ·   down   ·   up

1.	Now he that point in his life when he really has to decide about his future.
2.	Over the last few days, high winds a lot of trees in the area.
3.	Before you could say Derek Robinson, the workers tools and gone on strike.
4.	When we the corner this beautiful gorge opened out right in front of our eyes.
5.	those who bought theirs earlier, could everyone please join the queue for tickets.
6.	When she accused him of lying, he on her, saying that she was a fine one to talk.
7.	Most of the people who work here are complete idiots. Present company of course.
8.	We were going to buy the house this week, but the sellers the price at the last moment, and we had to back out.
9.	When working out my salary my boss always the numbers down, which I don't think is very fair.
10.	As we the village, we could hear the sound of church bells ringing.
11.	There was this argument, and then Paul just and left, without another word.
12.	The new bridge completion when it was swept away in a terrible storm.
13.	Looking at his watch, he said 'My God is that the time', his beer in one, and rushed out of the pub.
14.	He's packed in his job, and now it seems the whole family sticks and leaving for Australia. (NB treat the family as singular)
15.	We and froing around this issue for a week now. It's time we made a decision.

After you've done the exercise you can read my comments. Show comments

• Things that can get upped, are very rarely downed - the usual opposite would be to lower
• To down tools is an idiom meaning to go on strike.
• Present company excepted is a standard expression meaning except everyone here.
• To up and leave is another (informal, humorous) standard expression
• To up sticks is an idiom meaning to move house / home suddenly or unexpectedly
• Toing and froing is almost always used in a continuous form. It's an idiom meaning to not make up your mind about a decision you need to make.

Definitions of these verbs at Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

• up
• down
• near
• round
• except

List of prepositions at English Club

Answers

• 1. is nearing, 2. have downed, 3. had downed, 4. rounded, 5. Excepting, 6. rounded, 7. excepted, 8. upped, 9. rounds, 10. neared, 11. upped, 12. was nearing, 13. downed, 14. is upping, 15. have been toing