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Phrasal verbs: separable and inseparable
B1 B1 grammar · lesson 17 of 23
Phrasal verbs like ‘turn on’ and ‘look after’ are everywhere in everyday English. This lesson explains where to put the object, which is the part learners often get wrong.
What is a phrasal verb?
A phrasal verb is a verb + a small word (a particle) such as up, down, on, off, out, in, after, back. Together they often have a new meaning: give up = stop trying; look after = take care of.
Some phrasal verbs have no object: The plane took off. Please sit down. I got up at seven. Others have an object, and then we need to know where to put it.
Separable phrasal verbs
With these verbs, a noun object can go after the particle or between the verb and the particle. But a pronoun (it, them, him, her, me…) must go between.
| Noun object | Noun object | Pronoun object |
|---|---|---|
| Turn on the light. | Turn the light on. | Turn it on. |
| Pick up your toys. | Pick your toys up. | Pick them up. |
| Fill in the form. | Fill the form in. | Fill it in. |
Common separable verbs: turn on/off, put on, take off, pick up, give back, throw away, fill in, write down, try on, look up (in a dictionary), wake up, turn down.
Inseparable phrasal verbs
With these verbs, the object (noun or pronoun) always goes after the particle. We cannot separate them.
Common inseparable verbs: look after, look for, get on (a bus), get off, come across, run into (meet by chance), deal with.
Can you turn the TV down? It’s very loud.
I wrote his number on a paper, but I threw it away.
This jacket looks nice. Can I try it on?
If you don’t know a word, look it up.
Anna looks after her little brother after school.
I’m looking for my glasses. Have you seen them?
We got off the bus at the wrong stop.
I ran into Ken at the supermarket yesterday.
Common mistakes
✗ I took off it.
✓ I took it off.
✗ Can you look my cat after?
✓ Can you look after my cat?
✗ Please turn off them.
✓ Please turn them off.