phrasal verb

[svartnik]

Hello

You will have to face up to your responsibilities.

What do you have to face up to?
your responsibilities.


Is face an intransitive verb?

face = I
up = adverbial particle
to = prep
your responsibilities = object of the prep.

face up to -- is it a phrasal verb or a prepositional phrasal verb. What is it?


thanks

[Casiopea]

It's a phrasal verb.

face up
To confront an unpleasant situation with resolution and assurance: had to face up or get out; finally faced up to the problem.

face up - Definitions from Dictionary.com

In your example sentence "face up" can be analyzed in two ways: either it functions as the main verb, with 'have to' as its modal or it functions as the object of the main verb 'have to'. Pick the one you know. Lastly, the verb "face" is transitive; e.g., face the music. The phrasal verb "face up" is also transitive and takes a to-prepositional phrase as its object.

All the best.

[svartnik]

Originally Posted by Casiopea

It's a phrasal verb.

face up
To confront an unpleasant situation with resolution and assurance: had to face up or get out; finally faced up to the problem.

face up - Definitions from Dictionary.com

In your example sentence "face up" can be analyzed in two ways: either it functions as the main verb, with 'have to' as its modal or it functions as the object of the main verb 'have to'. Pick the one you know. Lastly, the verb "face" is transitive; e.g., face the music. The phrasal verb "face up" is also transitive and takes a to-prepositional phrase as its object.

All the best.

My conclusion,
face up is a PV, which takes an obligatory prep phrase as its object.
face up = (v + adverbia particle) [T]
thanks

[Casiopea]

You're welcome.