Two-part verbs and their single-word formal twins
look into - investigate / own up to - acknowledge / play down - minimise
How to use this sheet
English usually offers two ways to name the same action: a short verb followed by a small particle, and a single word of Latin origin. At lower levels the pair looks like a simple choice between casual and formal, and for the commonest rows that is all it is. Higher up, the second column stops being a neutral synonym. The formal member can admit a fact while quietly leaving the fault unadmitted, or turn a routine check into an official proceeding, or read as an accusation where the everyday form only described what happened.
| Phrasal verb | Formal equivalent | What changes with the formal word |
|---|---|---|
| put off | postpone | The formal word states that a new date is intended; the everyday form can leak reluctance, and often does. |
| look into | investigate | The formal word turns a routine check into a proceeding with a file and a finding, and quietly makes someone a suspect. |
| find out | ascertain | The formal word claims the fact was established by proper procedure rather than simply discovered; it belongs to legal and official writing. |
| put up with | tolerate | The formal word is colder about people and implies the speaker had the standing to refuse and chose not to. |
| set up | establish | The formal word confers permanence and legitimacy; the everyday form leaves the thing sounding provisional. |
| carry out | conduct | The formal word implies method and design, which is why research and interviews take it; the everyday form suits instructions handed down. |
| get rid of | eliminate | The formal word is total and technical, and applied to people it reads as a euphemism rather than a softening. |
| play down | minimise | The formal word is what an inquiry writes when it is assigning blame; the everyday form reports the same behaviour more lightly. |
| do away with | abolish | The formal word belongs to law and institutions and treats the thing as an established right or rule; the everyday form can sound flippant about something serious. |
| back down | concede | The formal word allows a reasoned yielding and leaves the dignity intact; the everyday form implies a loss of face under pressure. |
| own up to | acknowledge | The formal word admits the fact and leaves the fault open; the everyday form admits the fault outright, which is why it costs something to say. |
| come up against | encounter | The formal word is neutral and clinical; the everyday form builds in the resistance, the sense of something pushing back. |
In use
He acknowledged the delay in his statement and never once owned up to causing it. The board agreed to postpone the vote, having quietly backed down the week before. Every serious plan for the site has come up against the same objection from the parish council.
Watch out
Sorry, I can't come tonight - I need to ascertain what my flatmate is doing first.
The two columns are not a swap list, and at this level the third column is the whole point. A second-column word dropped into conversation with friends sounds pompous or faintly sarcastic, and a first-column form dropped into a formal report reads as careless. The real danger is rows two, eight and eleven, where the formal member does not merely raise the register: it accuses, or it quietly withdraws an admission you thought you were making. Before you choose, ask what the word does to the person it describes, not which of the two looks harder.