REPOSTING BECAUSE THE FORMATTING ABOVE WASN'T WHAT I EXPECTED IT TO LOOK LIKE... For the sentences below, which would you choose for each: up / off / out 1. Because of the heat, all the water in the pond has dried ... 2. I dropped my blanket in the lake. I'll put it here on the rock to dry ... 3. I need to dry ... the dog before we put him in the car. 4. I painted the walls and I had better wait until they dry ... before doing a second coat. 5. After the flood, it took a few days to dry ... the basement 1. Because of the heat, all the water in the pond has dried UP. (I visualise the water coming off the pond, which is flat, and evaporating) 2. I dropped my blanket in the lake. I'll put it here on the rock to dry OFF / dry OUT. (I see myself shaking the blanket, the water droplets fly OFF, or I could see the water evaporating into the air, going OUT from the blanket) 3. I need to dry OFF the dog before we put him in the car. (When you think of patting a dog to dry him off, what action does that look like; OFF, UP or OUT)*** 4. I painted the walls and I had better wait until they dry / DRY UP / DRY OUT before doing a second coat. (If I think of it as a room, I think DRY OUT, if I see them as flat walls, I feel DRY UP is better, DRY is fine but it's just less rich, colourful, detailed, precise.) 5. i) After the flood, it took a few days to dry OUT the basement (I see it as a room) 5. ii) After the flood, it took a few days to dry UP the basement floor (I’m talking about something flat so I use ‘UP’ ***Please look here to see what action each preposition represents: http://learnenglishorstarve.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/fail-prepositions-via-2012-1119-1771019131_n.jpg

Ironically, the sentence without the preposition is incorrect. Check it again. It's very difficult to explain phrasal verbs with fixed definitions. You simply have to be familiar enough with the language - and flexible enough - to understand the meaning. As a tip, the second and third sentences tell me about a completed action.

Another example using a different verb... GET + UP / ON / INTO, etc I get off the subway (I see it as a moving platform, like a train) I get out of the subway (the subway system, I see it as a big maze) I got into my car (I see it as a box on wheels) I got up onto the ski lift (it was pretty high, I almost had to jump to get on it) A speakers' choice of preposition in the GET phrasal verbs above is informed by how she conceptualizes / visualizes the action (see that chart) In the end, though, native speakers will all have different opinions on meanings and none would be wrong -- which is what makes that link I sent really helpful -- if you think of what action the preposition represents, it becomes easier / more intuitive to see why someone might say DRY UP instead or DRY OUT or DRY OFF. http://learnenglishorstarve.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/fail-prepositions-via-2012-1119-1771019131_n.jpg

For the sentences below, which would you choose for each: up / off / out 1. Because of the heat, all the water in the pond has dried ... 2. I dropped my blanket in the lake. I'll put it here on the rock to dry ... 3. I need to dry ... the dog before we put him in the car. 4. I painted the walls and I had better wait until they dry ... before doing a second coat. 5. After the flood, it took a few days to dry ... the basement *** 6. Because of the heat, all the water in the pond has dried UP. (I visualise the water coming off the pond, which is flat, and evaporating) 7. I dropped my blanket in the lake. I'll put it here on the rock to dry OFF / dry OUT. (I see myself shaking the blanket, the water droplets fly OFF, or I could see the water evaporating into the air, going OUT from the blanket) 8. I need to dry OFF the dog before we put him in the car. (When you think of patting a dog to dry him off, what action does that look like; OFF, UP or OUT)*** 9. I painted the walls and I had better wait until they dry / DRY UP / DRY OUT before doing a second coat. (If I think of it as a room, I think DRY OUT, if I see them as flat walls, I feel DRY UP is better, DRY is fine but it's just less rich, colourful, detailed, precise.) 10. After the flood, it took a few days to dry OUT the basement (I see it as a room) 11. After the flood, it took a few days to dry UP the basement floor (I’m talking about something flat so I use ‘UP’ ***Please look here to see what action each preposition represents: http://learnenglishorstarve.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/fail-prepositions-via-2012-1119-1771019131_n.jpg