Phrasal Verbs and Their Grammar: Separable, Inseparable, and Tricky
Master phrasal verbs — separable, inseparable, transitive, and intransitive — with rules for pronoun placement, examples, and exam-focused practice.
Phrasal verbs are everywhere in English:
Please turn off the lights.
She gave up smoking.
The plane took off on time.
He looks after his younger brother.
But their grammar is tricky. Why do we say turn it off but not turn off it? Why can we say look after the child but not look the child after? This article explains the rules.
Rule box: A phrasal verb combines a verb + particle (adverb/preposition). Transitive phrasal verbs take an object. Intransitive ones do not. Separable phrasal verbs allow the object between verb and particle. Inseparable ones do not. With pronouns, separable phrasal verbs must place the pronoun between verb and particle.
Transitive phrasal verbs take an object:
Please turn off the lights.
She gave up smoking.
He picked up his bag.
Intransitive phrasal verbs do not take an object:
The plane took off.
She showed up late.
He grew up in Delhi.
With separable phrasal verbs, the object can go either between the verb and particle or after the particle.
Please turn off the lights. = Please turn the lights off.
She picked up her bag. = She picked her bag up.
He turned down the offer. = He turned the offer down.
Pronoun rule: When the object is a pronoun (it, them, him, her), it must go between the verb and particle.
✅ Please turn it off.
❌ Please turn off it.
✅ She picked it up.
❌ She picked up it.
✅ He turned it down.
❌ He turned down it.
With inseparable phrasal verbs, the object always goes after the particle — never between.
She looks after her brother.
❌ She looks her brother after.
He ran into an old friend.
❌ He ran an old friend into.
We got over the problem.
❌ We got the problem over.
This rule applies to pronouns too:
✅ She looks after him.
❌ She looks him after.
Some phrasal verbs have three parts: verb + adverb + preposition. These are always inseparable.
She looks up to her teacher. (admires)
He gets along with everyone. (has a good relationship)
We look forward to the holidays. (anticipate with pleasure)
She comes up with new ideas. (produces/thinks of)
✅ She looks up to her.
❌ She looks her up to.
Note: Look forward to is followed by a noun or -ing form, not an infinitive.
✅ I look forward to meeting you.
❌ I look forward to meet you.
Separable:
- turn off / turn off the light = turn the light off
- pick up / pick up the book = pick the book off
- turn down / turn down the offer = turn the offer down
- put off / put off the meeting = put the meeting off
- bring up / bring up the topic = bring the topic up
- figure out / figure out the answer = figure the answer out
- give up / give up smoking (no pronoun option with gerund)
- make up / make up a story = make the story up
- take up / take up a hobby = take the hobby up
- look up / look up a word = look the word up
Inseparable:
- look after / look after the child
- run into / run into an old friend
- get over / get over an illness
- come across / come across a book
- look into / look into a matter
- deal with / deal with a problem
- depend on / depend on someone
- belong to / belong to a group
Intransitive:
- take off / The plane took off.
- show up / She showed up late.
- grow up / He grew up in Mumbai.
- break down / The car broke down.
- give up / He gave up.
- come back / She came back yesterday.
- Does the phrasal verb take an object? → Yes: transitive. No: intransitive.
- Is it separable or inseparable? → Check the list above or test: can the object go between?
- Is the object a pronoun? → If separable, pronoun must go between verb and particle.
- Is it a three-part phrasal verb? → Always inseparable. Object goes at the end.
- Is the particle a preposition? → Usually inseparable. Object follows the preposition.
- Please turn off the lights. = Please turn the lights off.
- Please turn it off. (pronoun — must go between)
- She looks after her brother. (inseparable)
- The plane took off. (intransitive)
- He turned down the offer. = He turned the offer down.
- She ran into an old friend. (inseparable)
- I look forward to meeting you. (three-part, inseparable, + -ing)
- He gave up smoking. (transitive, gerund object)
- She picked up the book. = She picked the book up.
- The car broke down. (intransitive)
❌ Turn off it.
✅ Turn it off.
With separable phrasal verbs, pronouns must go between the verb and particle.
❌ Look him after.
✅ Look after him.
Inseparable phrasal verbs keep the pronoun after the particle.
❌ I look forward to meet you.
✅ I look forward to meeting you.
After look forward to, use a noun or -ing form, not an infinitive.
✅ He gave up smoking.
✅ He gave smoking up. (separable with noun object)
Give up is separable, but when the object is a gerund, it usually stays after the particle.
Look into = investigate
Look after = take care of
Look up to = admire
Look down on = despise
Look forward to = anticipate with pleasure
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Turn off it. | Turn it off. | Pronoun must go between. |
| Look the child after. | Look after the child. | Inseparable phrasal verb. |
| I look forward to meet you. | I look forward to meeting you. | To + -ing, not infinitive. |
| He ran an old friend into. | He ran into an old friend. | Inseparable. |
Choose the correct option or spot the error.
- Please turn ___ . (off it / it off)
- She looks ___ her mother. (after / — )
- The plane ___ on time. (took off / took off it)
- Error spotting: Turn off it.
- Error spotting: Look the child after.
- Error spotting: I look forward to meet you.
- Fill in the blank: He ___ the offer. (turned down it / turned it down)
- Fill in the blank: She ___ an old friend. (ran into / ran her into)
- Rewrite correctly: Pick up it.
- Choose: He ___ smoking. (gave up / gave it up)
- it off — pronoun between verb and particle.
- after — inseparable, object after particle.
- took off — intransitive, no object.
- Turn it off. — pronoun between.
- Look after the child. — inseparable.
- I look forward to meeting you. — to + -ing.
- turned it down — pronoun between.
- ran into — inseparable.
- Pick it up. — pronoun between.
- gave up — give up smoking (gerund object).
Rule: Separable phrasal verbs allow object between verb and particle. Pronouns must go between. Inseparable phrasal verbs keep the object after the particle. Three-part phrasal verbs are always inseparable.
Memory trick: “Pronouns split the separable. Inseparable stays together. Three parts never break.”
Revise these:
- Please turn it off. (separable, pronoun between)
- She looks after him. (inseparable)
- The plane took off. (intransitive)
- I look forward to meeting you. (three-part, + -ing)
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