5. P - R

parallel to : There's never been any close parallel elsewhere to China's rate of economic growth.

part from : I had to part from Jill before the game ended.

part with : Our dog has given birth to six puppies; we're not going to part with any of them.

partake of : The guests partook of the ample food available at the gathering.

participate in : Everyone present was encouraged to participate in the discussions.

pass away : Grandpa passed away in his sleep.

pass by : The small child watched open-mouthed the parade passing by .

pass down : The centuries-old tradition still passes down from generation to generation.

pass for : My mother-in-law in mini-skirt could easily pass for a young girl.

pass in : He passes in his authorization card before leaving the office for the day.

pass off : There is no reason for me to pass myself off as anyone else.

pass on : You passed your cough on to me; see, I'm coughing now.

pass out : During a heavy drinking session, he suddenly passed out .

pass over : Jane threatened to resign when she was passed over for promotion.

pass up : I regret passing up the opportunity for promotion.

patch up : He's going to die so you had better patch up your quarrel with him.

pattern after : An ardent fan of Elvis Presley, he patterned his behavior after him.

pay back : I'll pay him back for the highly critical comments he made about me.

pay for : Let's hope he will pay for the evil deed he committed.

pay off : I had to pay him off substantially to keep quiet about something I did.

pay out : A huge sum of money was paid out to the winner of the football pools jackpot.

pay up : I was told to pay up by Monday or have my car repossessed.

pep up : A brief round of aerobics pepped the participants up before the discussion.

perk up : They did some singing to perk up the atmosphere before they started the discussion.

perpetrate about : They perpetrated all sorts of malicious rumours about him

persevere in : She persevered in her studies to achieve the result she had hoped for.

persist in : Why do many people persist in believing mistakenly that UFOs are alien spaceships?

pertain to : Documents pertaining to the illegal transactions have been seized by police.

petition for : Local residents petitioned for better bus services.

pick off : The captive soldiers were picked off one by one for interrogation.

pick on : I don't think she likes me; she's always picking on me.

pick out : It's easy to pick out Rose's father in a crowd because he is exceptionally tall.

pick up : Andy picked up a number at random and won the first prize.

piece together : Investigators are piecing together evidence to uncover what caused the accident.

pile up : His debts piled up but he made no attempt to settle any of them.

pin down : He hints at his resignation but no one can pin him down on the exact date yet.

pin on : They pinned the blame on me although I didn't do anything wrong.

pine away : After his grandmother died, his grandfather pined away and died shortly after.

pine for : Months after their separation, Jill still pines for Jack.

pit against : Dean is ready to pit his skills against any serious competitors.

pitch in : Bob pitched in to help complete the project before the deadline.

pitch into : He would pitch into anyone who commented that he was uncooperative.

plan for : She plans for the future by saving considerably.

plan on : He planned on becoming the first athlete to win a gold medal for his school.

play along : He played along with her so as to gain a special favour.

play at : Children love to play at being Cowboys and Red Indians.

play back : I played back the tape-recorder to listen to my voice with a view to improving it.

play on : He's always playing on his friends' generosity to get free treats.

play up : A pro-government newspaper played up the resignation of an opposition's active member.

play up to : Many politicians are expert at playing up to voters' sentiments to gain their votes.

play with : Every day he spends at least an hour playing with his dog.

plead with : Jack pleaded with Jill not to leave her.

plunge into : A sudden blackout plunged the whole place into total darkness.

ply with : Our host plied us with excess food and drinks.

point at : It is not respectable to point at someone.

point out : The leader pointed out the things we should or shouldn't do while jungle trekking.

point to : The government pointed to the measures taken to lift the living standards of the people.

poke fun at : The kids at school poked fun at Adam's clothes.

polish off : David could easily polish off five sandwiches at one sitting.

polish up : I had better polish up my English before I visit London.

pore over : He spends hours poring over his vast collection of stamps.

pounce on/upon : The teacher was ever ready to pounce on any little mistake anyone of us made.

pray to : Every night the family prayed to God for good health and happiness.

predicate on : His success in his exams is predicated on his determination to succeed.

prefer to : I prefer red color to any of the other colors for my car.

prepare for : How many of us prepare ourselves for every eventuality in life?

present to : They presented the best actress award to her before a live audience.

present with : They presented him with an outstanding achievement award.

preserve for : The large number of historical records is preserved for posterity.

preserve from : The tribe preserved corpses from decomposition by wrapping them in cloth.

preside over : A clergyman friend of the family presided over the funeral gathering.

press for : The opposition pressed the government for the release of the political detainees.

press on : Reporters pressed him further on the issue.

prevail on/upon : Jill finally prevailed on Jack to attend the dog show.

prevent from : The new legislation was to prevent whistleblowers from being publicly identified.

prey on/upon : It was so moving to watch on television a lion preying on a deer.

price out : The dentist has priced himself out of business by charging too heavily for his services.

pride (oneself) on : The parents prided themselves on their child's achievement.

proceed with : The protesters were not allowed to proceed with their political speeches.

produce from : They produce wine from grapes.

profit from : I profit immensely from reading biographies of famous people.

prohibit from : Nowadays people are prohibited from smoking in many areas.

propose to : At the meeting, he proposed measures to enlarge the club membership.

protect from : The legislation is to protect public property from vandalism.

protest against : The demonstration was organized to protest against police brutality.

prove to : Prove to me what you said that you can make a rabbit disappear.

provide for : Many people have not taken measures to provide for their old age.

provide with : The evacuees were provided with tents, blankets, and other necessities.

provoke to : What he did is certain to provoke them to retaliate.

pry into : Continual prying into other people's private affairs will get him into trouble soon.

pull ahead : He was leading all the way until a fellow competitor pulled ahead of him.

pull apart : They pulled the two fighting cocks apart to end the cockfighting contest..

pull at : She pulled at her mother's coat sleeve.

pull away : He pulled away from the car park and sped down the highway.

pull down : They had to pull down the old disused crumbling building.

pull in : The train pulled in just as we arrived at the station.

pull off : Three men pulled off the biggest bank robbery in town.

pull out : They pulled out of the business deal when they sensed something amiss.

pull over : The policeman waved me to pull my car over .

pull through : He was badly injured in a road accident but he finally pulled through .

pull up : He pulled up at the side of the road to park.

punish for : The serial killer will be severely punished for his crimes.

purchase from : We purchased some statuettes from a souvenir shop at the tourist resort.

purge from : All dissidents were purged from the party.

put across : The leader put his proposals across to the grass roots members.

put aside : Every month she puts aside a little money for future use.

put away : The boys rushed to put away the scattered toys when they heard their mummy is home.

put by : I'm putting some money by each month for a new camera.

put down : The public demonstration was brutally put down by troop.

put in : Every day I have to put in extra time to complete it before the deadline.

put off : Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

put on : Despite her hurt feelings she put on a smiling face.

put out : The firemen took hours to put out the huge fire.

put through : John's parents managed to put him and his siblings through university.

put to : After the speeches were delivered, we were allowed to put questions to the speakers.

put up : Despite being an underdog, the team put up an outstanding performance.

put up with : I think I'm not going to put up with my nagging wife any longer.

puzzle about/over : We were puzzled about her enigmatic remark.

puzzle out : We can't puzzle out why she left suddenly and has not called.

qualify for : So far, only three teams have qualified for the finals.

quarrel about : No one knows what the twins are quarrelling about .

quarrel with : These twins can never stop quarrelling with each other.

query about : The auditors queried the company's accountants about their financial statement.

question about : The police questioned him about his whereabouts on the night of the murder.

rage about/against : Joe raged against the bureaucratic and corrupt system.

rail against/at : Mary has been railing against the unjust system.

range from : The bookstore is selling books at prices ranging from about $5 to $500.

rank as/with : His performances rank him as one of the top five players in the country.

rate as : He is generally rated as one of the best writers of this century.

reach for : He was shot dead by the police before he could reach for his gun.

react to : Her boss reacted favorably to her decision to resign.

read about/of : Have you read the latest news about a man with three eyes?

read in : I read that rags-to-riches story in a magazine.

read to : I used to read to you when you were a child.

read for : She's reading for a degree in economics at one of the universities.

read out : He read out the speech on behalf of the Prime Minister who is overseas.

read through/over : I read through the passage for him and discovered some mistakes.

read up : I have to read up on the subject before the discussion tomorrow.

reason with : I tried to reason with her but she wouldn't listen.

rebel against : Those who rebelled against the government were captured and executed.

reckon on : We didn't reckon on the shop charging handling charges.

reckon with : They didn't reckon with a puncture when they went for a drive.

recommend to : I definitely recommend this book to those of you interested in raising hamsters.

reconcile to : You must reconcile yourself to the death of your daughter.

recover from : Mrs. Dean has yet to recover fully from her husband's death.

recuperate from : She went to stay with her daughter to recuperate from her operation.

reduce to : Modern medical treatment has reduced death from tuberculosis to a minimum.

reel off : May reels off a list of things to buy.

refer to : We had to refer to our map when we lost our way in the city.

reflect on : A series of burglaries at the building reflects on its lax security against break-ins.

refrain from : The nurse asked me to refrain from using my cell phone.

regard as : The team's last performance was regarded as the best ever .

reign over : The king reigned over the country for many years.

relate to : Can we relate an aging population to a low economic growth.

release from : He was released unconditionally from police detention.

relieve of : The officer was relieved � of his command on disciplinary grounds.

rely on/upon : Landlocked countries rely on other countries for their export and import of goods.

remark on : Friends at the party remarked on her new hairstyle.

remind of : The song reminds him of his former girlfriend.

remove from : He was removed from office for sexual misconduct.

reply to : Why should I reply to those baseless allegations?

report back : He reported back that the violence had escalated.

report on : His newspaper sent him to Africa to report on the situation in Zimbabwe.

report to : We were told to report to the new manager tomorrow.

reprimand for : He was reprimanded for his negligence in duty.

reproach for : The teacher reproached them for not completing their homework.

request for : She likes to request for songs to be played on some radio programs

rescue from : Dogs and cats were also rescued from the burning building.

reserve for : They reserved the three front rows of seats for VIPs.

reside in : The family resides in the suburb.

resort to : Ben became desperate and resorted to begging for money.

respond to : His illness failed to respond to the treatment.

rest on : The success in selling rests solely on the marketing manager.

restrain from : There were times I had to restrain myself from arguing with her.

result from : The accident resulted from his own carelessness.

result in : The new policy will result in the high turnover of staff.

result of : The tragedy was the result of failure to plan carefully.

retire from : He retired from his job for health reason.

return to : She never returned to me or to anybody any of the books she borrowed.

reveal to : Jan never revealed her origins to anybody.

revenge on : Jane seems intent on revenging herself on her husband for his disloyalty.

revert to : Now we are talking about something else; let's revert to the original subject.

revolt against : A revolt against the leadership in the party has broken out.

reward for : He was rewarded for providing information that led to the arrest of the culprit.

reward with : She rewarded me with a kiss.

rid of : She made a police report, hoping to rid herself of the stalker.

ring back : I've called her ten times and she has yet to ring back .

ring in : He rang in to inform that he had broken his leg.

ring off : After a long conversation, we agreed to ring off .

ring up : I ring her up at least twice a week.

rise against : The people rose in rebellion against the dictatorial government.

rise from : From a distance, we could see smoke rising from chimneys.

rival in : Our best players simply cannot rival our opponents in stamina.

rob of : The bus was hijacked and the passengers were robbed of all their possessions.

root in : The plants were rooted firmly in the hard earth and it wasn't easy to just pull them out.

rope in : We roped in a few more guys to help with the campaign.

round out : We rounded out the drinking session by having supper at a restaurant.

round up : Police rounded up the remaining troublemakers.

rub in : I know I've made an embarrassing mistake, so why has he to keep rubbing it in ?

rule on : The judge will shortly rule on who will get custody of the child.

rule out : The government has ruled out the abolition or even revision of the Act.

rule over : The absolute ruler ruled over a large empire.

run across : Unfortunately, I ran across my ex this morning.

run after : She is so attractive that I can't help wanting to run after her.

run against : He intends to run against his father in the by-election.

run along : I've something to do; I'd better run along .

run away : We decide to run away together to get married.

run down : He habitually runs you down - probably out of jealousy.

run for : The villagers ran for their lives when there was a sudden volcanic eruption.

run into : I ran into my former wife last night.

run off : Her husband ran off with a younger woman.

run on : The practice session was supposed to end at 10 o'clock, but ran on until 11 o'clock.

run out : I felt like screaming at him when my patience ran out .

run out of : I can't post my letters now; I've run out of stamps.

run out on : She deeply regrets running out on her parents a few months ago.

run over : My dog was run over by a taxi and died shortly after.

run through : Let's run through the solutions to the exercises again.

run to : The mechanic is overcharging me; how could my car repair bill run to a hundred dollars?

run up : Have to get rid of the phone; they have run up the phone bill to such a huge amount.

run up against : They have to stop work as they ran up against some unforeseen problems.

rush around : We rushed around informing all the members of the last-minute cancellation.

rush into : John regrets rushing into that venture without careful thought.

rush out : The manufacturer is rushing out the novelties for the festive season.

rush through : The staff rushed through the paper work to meet the deadline.

5. Sentences using Verb + Preposition Pairs P - R

Examples:

'P'

'Q'

'R'