Ch 5 · Lesson 15English · Chapter 5 · Lesson 15 · Grammar primer
Phrasal verbs: put it on, turn it off
Put on, take off, pick up, turn on, throw away: the verbs that take an object, and the one hard rule. Turn it off, never turn off it.
The short version
A pronoun goes in the middle: turn it off
, .
Why?Hide
With a separable phrasal verb, a noun can go in the middle or at the end: turn the light off, turn off the light. A pronoun like it, them or her has one place only, the middle. Turn off it is always wrong.
Some phrasal verbs split, and some never do. Turn off the light and turn the light off are both correct. With a pronoun there is one order only: turn it off, never turn off it. New to phrasal verbs? Start with what phrasal verbs are.
| Kind | A noun object | A pronoun object |
|---|---|---|
| separable | . | . |
| separable | . | never Turn off it. |
| inseparable | . | . |
Separable phrasal verbs: two correct orders
With a separable verb, a noun object can go in the middle or at the end. Both mean the same.
| Verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| . | |
| . | |
| . | |
| , | . |
| . | |
| bin | . |
| . |
A long object goes at the end. The middle is hard to follow:
.(easy to read)- Turn the light in the bathroom off. (correct, but you wait for off)
The pronoun rule: it goes in the middle
With it, them, him, her, me, us and you, the pronoun must go in the middle. Treat this as a fixed rule.
| Right | Wrong |
|---|---|
. | Turn off it. |
. | Pick up her. |
. | Throw away them. |
. | Give back it. |
. | Wake up me. |
Why? English puts what you already know (it) early and new words at the end. A small word like it at the very end sounds wrong to English ears.
Going further: Inseparable phrasal verbs: never split and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
Practise this lesson
9-question session
One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
New words in this lesson
- put on/ˌpʊt ˈɒn/To dress yourself in clothes, or to make a light or machine start working; also, to perform a show or play.
- take off/ˌteɪk ˈɒf/To remove clothes from your body; also, for a plane, to leave the ground.
- pick up/ˌpɪk ˈʌp/To lift something from a surface with your hand; also, to collect someone in a car.
- put down/ˌpʊt ˈdaʊn/To place something you are holding on a table, the floor or another surface.
- turn on/ˌtɜːn ˈɒn/To make a light, machine or tap start working.
- turn off/ˌtɜːn ˈɒf/To make a light, machine or tap stop working.
- take out/ˌteɪk ˈaʊt/To remove something from a bag, box, pocket or other place.
- put away/ˌpʊt əˈweɪ/To put something back in the place where it is kept.
- give back/ˌɡɪv ˈbæk/To return something to the person who owns it.
- write down/ˌraɪt ˈdaʊn/To write something on paper so that you do not forget it.
- throw away/ˌθrəʊ əˈweɪ/To put something you do not want in the rubbish.
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