move on something

Question

I believe the following sentence is grammatical and means that the person will move ahead with the planning (i.e., keep working to fulfill the plan) next week:

I'm busy this week, but I'd like to move on with the plans next week.

I don't know, though, if it'd mean instead that I'll do work on the plans (instead of in fulfilling what the plans set out to do) next week.

But does this sentence make sense? (even if only informally)

I'm busy this week. I'll move on this [the marketing campaign] next week.

Or should it rather be "I'll make a move on this" to mean that I'll go back to this activity next week, presumably starting it again after a long pause?

In general, I think my main question is: can you use "move on" + something? What are acceptable cases and what does it mean exactly?

Answer 1

"move on with" means "continue with". (Possibly with the implication of having gotten past some minor difficulty, although that's not relevant to your example.)

Yes, it's grammatical. If used with an abstract noun like "plans," then it's obviously talking about continuing the actions that were planned.

You do have to use the preposition "with". Just "move on [place]" means something different, like if an army is about to attack a place.

"Move on to [another thing]" means that you have a list of things in order, and are going to the next one in the list.

Answer 2

1

I'm busy this week, but I'd like to move on with the plans next week.

2

I'm busy this week. I'll move on this [the marketing campaign] next week.

Cambridge Dictionary has various definitions for move on, and they are generally intransitive. Your example (2) is hence unlikely.

3

I'll make a move on this.

This is also unlikely. Google defines 'make a move on' as 'make a proposition to (someone), especially of a sexual nature.'

We explore your example (1).

Collins Dictionary has this definition (3rd definition).

If you move on, you finish or stop one activity and start doing something different.

She ran this shop for ten years before deciding to move on to fresh challenges.

Note the preposition to.

Longman has this definition and example, also used with to.

When you finish, move on to the next exercise.

Your example (1) should hence have its preposition changed to to. If the plans are clearly understood, we could say

I'm busy this week, but I'd like to move on to the plans next week.

When you move on to the plans, you execute them. To say you are going to do the planning, you could say

I'm busy this week, but I'd like to move on to the planning stage of the next project next week.