Separable and Inseparable Phrasal Verbs with Examples

Phrasal verbs are combinations of verbs and other words like prepositions or adverbs. They create new meanings. Some phrasal verbs can be separated, meaning you can split the verb and the other word when using them in different tenses. Others cannot be separated and must stay together. Understanding separable and inseparable phrasal verbs is important for clear communication. Let’s explore how to use them correctly in writing and conversations with examples.

What Is a Phrasal Verb?

A phrasal verb is a verb combined with one or more particles, often prepositions or adverbs, that act together as a single unit with a unique meaning. These verbs are frequently used in everyday language and can have various meanings depending on the context. Examples include turn off, pick up, and look forward to. There are two main types of phrasal verbs.

Separable Phrasal Verbs

Separable phrasal verbs are a type of phrasal verb where the verb and the particle (usually a preposition or adverb) can be separated by the object of the verb. In other words, you can place the object between the verb and the particle, or you can keep them together. For example:

A mix of a verb + a particle (like a preposition or adverb).

• Example: turn off, put on.

The object can go between the verb and the particle, or after them both.

Examples:

• ✅ She turned off the lights. / She turned the lights off.
  • Verb: turned, Particle: off, Object: the lights.
• ✅ He put on his shoes. / He put his shoes on.
  • Verb: put, Particle: on, Object: his shoes.

Remember:

• Both ways of arranging these sentences are correct and mean the same thing.

Inseparable Phrasal Verbs

Inseparable phrasal verbs are those where the verb and the particle (usually a preposition or an adverb) cannot be separated by the object. This means that the object must always come after the particle, and you can’t put anything between the verb and the particle. They often have idiomatic meanings that may not be obvious from the individual words.

A combination of a verb + a particle (like a preposition or adverb).

• The object always comes after the particle.
• Example: look after.

You cannot put the object between the verb and the particle.

Examples

• ✅ She looks after her little brother.
  • Verb: looks, Particle: after, Object: her little brother.
• ❌ You cannot say: She looks her little brother after.

Remember:

These phrasal verbs often have special meanings not obvious from the words themselves.

Separable vs Inseparable Phrasal Verbs

Here are the key differences between Separable and Inseparable Phrasal Verbs:

Aspect	Separable	Inseparable
Structure	Verb + Preposition/Adverb	Verb + Preposition/Adverb
Separation	Noun/Pronoun can go between verb and particle	Verb and particle cannot be split by a noun or pronoun
Particle Position	Can come before or after the noun/pronoun	Must come after the verb
Example	“Turn on” – “Turn the lights on.”	“Look after” – “Look after the children.”
Usage Flexibility	Offers flexibility in sentence structure	Order remains fixed for clarity and consistency
Pronoun Placement	Pronouns are often put between the verb and particle	Pronouns can’t separate the verb and particle
Order Change	Order can be switched for emphasis or style	The order stays the same in all situations
Meaning Clarity	Sometimes the meaning is clear from the words alone	Often the meaning isn’t obvious just from the words
Common Examples	“Take off,” “Put away,” “Turn on.”	“Look after,” “Put up with,” “Get over.”
Usage Context	Used a lot in casual and everyday talk	Used in both formal and informal settings
Communication Clarity	Offers flexibility but may be unclear if used wrong	Ensures clear communication with a fixed structure

Separable and Inseparable Phrasal Verbs List

List of separable and inseparable phrasal verbs is provided below:

Separable Phrasal Verbs List

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example Sentence
Turn on	To activate or start	He turns on the light.
Turn off	To deactivate or stop	She turns off the TV.
Take off	To remove clothing or leave	John takes off his jacket.
Put on	To wear clothing or apply	I put on my shoes.
Look for	To search for	We look for the keys.
Look up	To search for information	She looks up the word.
Set up	To establish or arrange	They set up the tent.
Pick up	To lift or collect	He picks up the pen.
Bring up	To raise or mention	She brings up a good point.
Break down	To stop functioning	The car breaks down.
Carry on	To continue doing something	We carry on walking.
Call off	To cancel	The event is called off.
Come across	To find or encounter	I come across an old friend.
Put off	To postpone	I put off the meeting.
Run into	To encounter unexpectedly	I run into an old classmate.
Go through	To experience or endure	She goes through tough times.
Hold on	To grasp or wait	Hold on to the railing.
Get over	To recover from	He gets over the flu.
Look out	To be vigilant or watchful	Look out for cars.
Go out	To exit or socialize	They go out for dinner.
Take up	To start doing or learning something	She takes up painting.
Turn around	To reverse or change direction	The situation turns around.
Give up	To surrender or quit	He gives up smoking.
Bring back	To return or restore	She brings back the book.
Bring in	To introduce or earn	The project brings in profit.
Put away	To store or tidy	Put away your toys.
Put down	To place or criticize	Don’t put down others.
Put out	To extinguish or inconvenience	We put out the fire.
Run out	To deplete or exhaust	We run out of milk.
Turn up	To increase or appear	He turns up late.
Look into	To investigate or examine	The team looks into the issue.
Look forward to	To anticipate with pleasure	I look forward to the vacation.
Go off	To explode or spoil	The alarm goes off.
Hang up	To suspend or end a call	I hang up the phone.
Make-up	To reconcile or invent	They make up after the argument.
Pick out	To select or identify	She picks out a dress.
Stand out	To be distinctive or prominent	His talent stands out.
Take off	To become successful or leave quickly	The show takes off.
Take out	To remove or obtain	He takes out the trash.
Bring up	To raise or nurture	She brings up her children well.
Carry out	To execute or perform	The team carries out the plan.
Catch up	To reach the same level as	I catch up with my reading.
Check out	To investigate or leave a hotel	We check out of the hotel.
Cut off	To separate or disconnect	He cuts off the power.
Drop off	To deliver or fall asleep	I drop off the package.
Fill out	To complete a form	Fill out the application.
Get up	To rise or stand	She gets up early.
Go on	To continue or proceed	The story goes on.
Hold up	To delay or support	The traffic holds up.

Inseparable Phrasal Verbs List

Phrasal Verb	Definition	Example Sentence
Look after	To take care of	I look after my sister.
Look for	To search for	I’m looking for my keys.
Look up to	To respect or admire	I look up to my parents.
Run into	To encounter unexpectedly	I ran into my friend.
Put up with	To tolerate	I put up with noisy neighbors.
Get over	To recover from	I need to get over this cold.
Catch up with	To reach the same level as	I need to catch up with my classmates.
Go through	To experience or endure	I’m going through a tough time.
Bring up	To raise or mention	My parents brought me up well.
Stand by	To support or remain loyal to	I’ll stand by my friend.
Come across	To find or encounter	I came across an interesting book.
Look forward to	To anticipate with pleasure	I look forward to the weekend.
Put off	To postpone	Let’s put off the meeting.
Turn out	To result in	It turned out to be a nice day.
Keep up with	To stay informed about	I struggle to keep up.
Take after	To resemble or inherit traits from	I take after my grandmother.
Give in	To surrender or yield	I gave in and let her have it.
Make up for	To compensate for	I’ll make up for being late.
Get along with	To have a good relationship with	I get along with my coworkers.
Take on	To accept or handle a responsibility	I took on the task.
Come up with	To produce or suggest an idea	I came up with a plan.
Settle down	To establish a stable life	I want to settle down.
Break down	To stop functioning	My car broke down.
Come back	To return	When will you come back?
Carry on	To continue doing something	Let’s carry on despite the rain.
Hold on to	To keep or retain	Hold on to your dreams.
Call off	To cancel	They called off the meeting.
Check in	To register at a hotel or airport	We need to check in.
Look out for	To be vigilant or watchful for	Look out for cars.
Look down on	To disdain or regard as inferior	Don’t look down on people.
Go on with	To proceed with	Let’s go on with our lesson.
Count on	To rely on or trust	You can count on me.
Get away with	To escape punishment for	He got away with cheating.
Run out of	To exhaust the supply of	We ran out of milk.
Stand up for	To defend or support	I’ll stand up for what I believe in.
Take off	To remove clothing or leave	I’m going to take off my jacket.
Look into	To investigate or examine	We need to look into this issue.
Deal with	To handle or manage	How do you deal with stress?
Think over	To consider carefully	I need to think over your offer.
Set up	To establish or arrange	Let’s set up a meeting.
Take up	To start doing or learning something	I want to take up painting.
Speak up	To voice one’s opinion or concerns	Don’t be afraid to speak up.
Hand in	To submit or give something to someone	Please hand in your homework.
Turn up	To arrive or appear	She turned up late.
Stick to	To adhere to or follow closely	Stick to a healthy diet.
Get by	To manage to survive or cope	We’ll get by.
Point out	To identify or highlight	Can you point out the features?
Work out	To resolve or solve	Let’s work out a solution.
Put on	To wear clothing or gain weight	I need to put on a jacket.
Hold back	To restrain or withhold	Don’t hold back your feelings.

Separable and Inseparable Phrasal Verbs Exercises

Choose the correct option for each sentence. Some phrasal verbs are separable, while others are inseparable.

1. She __________ the lights before leaving the room.

1. turned off
2. turned
3. off turned

2. We need to __________ the meeting until everyone arrives.

1. put off
2. put
3. off put

3. They __________ the new project last week.

1. came up with
2. came
3. up came with

4. The car broke down, so we had to __________ a mechanic.

1. call for
2. call
3. for call

5. He __________ the job because it didn’t pay well.

1. turned down
2. turned
3. down turned

6. We need to __________ the documents before submitting them.

1. go through
2. go
3. through go

7. She __________ the letter and felt much better afterward.

1. tore up
2. tore
3. up tore

8. The students __________ the teacher during the class.

1. laughed at
2. laughed
3. at laughed.

9. The company has to __________ some staff due to financial difficulties.

1. lay off
2. lay
3. off lay

10. We need to __________ the issue before it gets worse.

1. sort out
2. sort
3. out sort

11. The manager __________ the proposal during the meeting.

1. brought up
2. brought
3. up brought

12. She __________ her mother’s illness with great courage.

1. dealt with
2. dealt
3. with dealt

Answer Key:

1. a) turned off
2. a) put off
3. a) came up with
4. a) call for
5. a) turned down
6. a) go through
7. a) tore up
8. a) laughed at
9. a) lay off
10. a) sort out
11. a) brought up
12. a) dealt with

FAQs

Q1. What are separable and inseparable phrasal verbs?

Separable phrasal verbs are those where the verb and particle can be separated by an object, while inseparable phrasal verbs are those where the verb and particle cannot be separated by an object.

Q2. How can I identify whether a phrasal verb is separable or inseparable?

One way to identify whether a phrasal verb is separable or inseparable is to check whether the object can be placed between the verb and the particle without changing the meaning of the sentence. If it can, the phrasal verb is separable; if not, it’s inseparable.

Q3. Are there any rules for separable and inseparable phrasal verbs?

While there are general patterns, there’s no hard and fast rule for separable and inseparable phrasal verbs. It’s often a matter of learning and memorizing which phrasal verbs are separable and which are inseparable.

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