To do something wrong and escape the punishment it deserved

When to use it

This three-part verb means to do something wrong, risky or careless and yet escape the punishment, criticism or consequences it deserved. Two points of grammar matter at this level. First, the chunk is completely inseparable: the object always follows all three words, even when it is a pronoun. Learners who have mastered splitting two-part verbs often try to split this one as well, and the result is simply wrong. Second, the final element is a preposition, so what follows must be a noun phrase or the -ing form of a verb, never a bare infinitive. In register it runs from informal to neutral; in a formal report, a single-word verb of similar meaning usually reads better.

Examples

Goes with