Separable and non separable phrasal verbs

Separable and non separable phrasal verbs

Separable ​Phrasal Verbs

Separable phrasal verbs can remain together when using an object that is a noun or noun phrase.

Examples:

• He paid back the debt. OR He paid the debt back.
• The company laid out quite a bit for research. OR The company laid quite a bit out for research.

Separable phrasal verbs MUST be separated when a pronoun is used:

Examples:

• We ran it up by $50,000.
• They bailed him out of the situation.
• Frank paid it all back by the end of the month.

Non separable Phrasal Verbs

Non separable phrasal verbs always remain together. It makes no difference if a noun or pronoun is used.

Examples:

• He scraped by on only $800 a month for two years. NOT He scraped it by for two years.
• They splashed out on new office furniture. NOT They splashed it out.

Note: All phrasal verbs containing more than one particle are inseparable.

Example:

• I've put up with the situation for more than two years.

Tip: If you are not sure whether a phrasal verb is separable or inseparable, ALWAYS use a noun or nouns phrase and DO NOT separate. In this manner, you will always be correct!

 . Run into

This phrasal verb means to meet someone by chance when you were not expecting to. The object (who we met) must always come at the end!

Examples:

• This is such a big city! I'm always amazed when I run into someone I know on the street.
  
• Melanie said she ran into Mrs. Dawson last week. Do you remember her? Our fifth grade English teacher!
  
• I hope I run into Dr. Borelli at the conference. It would be really interesting to talk about his latest research.

. Look after

This phrasal verb means to take care of. We often use it when we are talking about taking care of children or animals. We don't use it for objects or projects.

The people or pets we are taking care of must come at the end of the phrasal verb.

Examples:

• Could you please look after my cat while I'm vacation? She's really no trouble.
  
• Karen loves looking after her nephew in the afternoon while his father is at work.
  
• Lisa and Matthew are going to look after the kids this weekend. They're going to have lots of fun!

. Run out of

We use this phrasal verb when we had something, but we have used it all, and now it is all gone.

Remember that the item we no longer have must go at the very end of this phrasal verb because it is inseparable.

Examples:

• Oh no, it looks like we've run out of yogurt. What will I have for breakfast now?
  
• We had to wait a whole hour with the new client until my boss finally arrived. It was terrible! Eventually I ran out of polite things to ask him.
  
• Chet was having a lovely afternoon drive until he ran out of gas!

. Put up with

This phrasal verb means to endure a person or situation that we don't like. We have to accept the person or situation although we don't enjoy it.

Again, the person or situation we find annoying or difficult must come after the preposition in this inseparable phrasal verb.

Examples:

• I am so tired of putting up with my roommate's sister! She comes over every afternoon and plays loud music!
  
• Sometimes we have to put up with difficult situations at work, but it's important not to get too stressed.
  
• Alfred smokes outside so that his co-workers don't have to put up withthe smell of his cigarettes.