Phrasal verbs: where the object goes
Turn off the light, turn the light off, turn it off: phrasal verbs that split, ones that don't, and where a pronoun goes.
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A phrasal verb is a verb + a short word like up, off, on, out, down, away, back or after: get up, turn off, look after. Together they have their own meaning, often far from the meaning of the verb alone. The grammar question is where the object goes. With many phrasal verbs it can go in the middle, and with those verbs a pronoun like it or them must go in the middle: turn it off, not turn off it.
Three kinds, and three-part verbs
Kind | Examples | Object |
|---|---|---|
no object | get up, sit down, go out, break down | none |
separable | turn off, pick up, put on, fill in | after the verb or in the middle |
not separable | look after, look for, get on, get off | always after the whole verb |
- I get up at seven. Our car broke down on the motorway.
- Turn off the light. / Turn the light off.
- Who looks after your children?
Separable verbs: a noun can go either side
With a separable verb, a noun object can go after the whole verb or between its two parts. Both are correct.
- Please put on your coat. / Please put your coat on.
- Can you pick up the kids from school? / Can you pick the kids up from school?
- Fill in this form. / Fill this form in.
When the object is long, it usually goes after the whole verb: Turn off all the lights in the kitchen and the hall.
A pronoun goes in the middle
With a separable verb, a pronoun (it, them, her, him, me, us, you) goes between the two parts. It can't go after them.
- Your coat's on the floor. Pick it up, please.
- These shoes look great. Can I try them on?
- I don't know this word. I'll look it up.
- Incorrect: It's too loud. Turn off it.
- Correct: It's too loud. Turn it off.A pronoun goes between the verb and off.
- Incorrect: I picked up her at the station.
- Correct: I picked her up at the station.Her is a pronoun, so it goes in the middle.
Common separable verbs: turn on, turn off, turn up, turn down, put on, take off (clothes), pick up, put away, throw away, give back, fill in, try on, write down, look up (in a dictionary), wake up (someone).
Not separable: the object goes after
Some verbs never split. The object, noun or pronoun, always goes after the whole verb.
- Can you look after my cat this weekend? I'll look after her well.
- I'm looking for my keys. Have you seen them? I've been looking for them all morning.
- We got on the bus at the station. We got off it two stops later.
- Incorrect: I'm looking my glasses for.
- Correct: I'm looking for my glasses.Look for doesn't split: the object goes after it.
- Incorrect: Can you look the children after on Friday?
- Correct: Can you look after the children on Friday?
A dictionary shows which kind a verb is. It writes the separable kind as turn sth off and the other as look after sb.
Three-part verbs almost never split
Verbs with two small words, like look forward to, run out of, get on with, put up with, keep all their parts together. A verb after them takes -ing.
- We've run out of milk.
- I'm looking forward to seeing you.
- How do you get on with your new colleagues?
- Incorrect: I'm looking forward it to.
- Correct: I'm looking forward to it.A three-part verb doesn't split, so the object goes at the end.
Tenses
Only the verb part changes for the tense. The small word stays the same.
- She gave up smoking last year. Has he given it up too?
- They're setting off at six tomorrow.
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