Phrasal Verbs

A phrasal verb is a verb combined with a particle (a preposition or adverb) that creates a meaning different from the original verb. You already know common phrasal verbs like "pick up" and "turn on". Now you will learn how to tell whether a phrasal verb is separable or inseparable, and master the meanings of phrasal verbs that appear frequently in examinations.

What You'll Learn

The difference between separable and inseparable phrasal verbs
How to position pronouns correctly with separable phrasal verbs
The meanings of common phrasal verbs tested at the PSLE level (look up, give in, take off, put off, carry out, and more)
How to identify the correct phrasal verb from context

When to Use

Replacing a formal verb with a natural expression: "She put off the meeting until next week." (postponed)
Describing everyday actions: "Please take off your shoes before entering the house." (remove)
Expressing emotions or decisions: "After arguing for an hour, he finally gave in." (surrendered / agreed reluctantly)
Talking about research or information: "You should look up the word in the dictionary." (search for)
Describing plans and actions being completed: "The scientists carried out the experiment successfully." (conducted / performed)

How to Form

Separable Phrasal Verbs

Separable phrasal verbs allow the object to go between the verb and the particle, or after the particle. However, when the object is a pronoun (him, her, it, them), it must go between the verb and the particle.

Structure	Example	Correct?
Verb + particle + noun	"Turn on the fan."	Yes
Verb + noun + particle	"Turn the fan on."	Yes
Verb + pronoun + particle	"Turn it on."	Yes
Verb + particle + pronoun	"Turn on it."	No

Common Separable Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
pick up	collect / lift	"My father will pick me up after school."
put on	wear / place on	"She put on her raincoat before going out."
take off	remove (clothing)	"Take your jacket off -- it is warm in here."
turn on	switch on / activate	"Please turn on the air conditioner."
turn off	switch off / deactivate	"Turn the lights off when you leave."
put off	postpone / delay	"Do not put off your revision until the last minute."
give up	stop trying / quit	"He refused to give up even when the race was tough."
look up	search for information	"If you do not know the spelling, look it up in the dictionary."
figure out	understand / solve	"Can you figure out the answer to this puzzle?"
hand in	submit	"Please hand in your worksheets by Friday."
carry out	perform / conduct	"The prefects carried out their duties responsibly."

Inseparable Phrasal Verbs

Inseparable phrasal verbs keep the verb and particle together at all times. The object always goes after the particle -- you cannot split these apart, even with a pronoun.

Structure	Example	Correct?
Verb + particle + noun	"She looked after the children."	Yes
Verb + particle + pronoun	"She looked after them."	Yes
Verb + noun + particle	"She looked the children after."	No
Verb + pronoun + particle	"She looked them after."	No

Common Inseparable Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
look after	take care of	"My grandmother looks after us when our parents are at work."
look forward to	anticipate with pleasure	"I am looking forward to the school holidays."
give in	surrender / yield	"The boy gave in to his sister's demands."
get along with	have a good relationship	"She gets along with all her classmates."
come across	find by chance	"I came across an old photograph while cleaning my room."
run out of	use up completely	"We have run out of milk -- could you buy some?"
look into	investigate	"The police will look into the matter."
go through	experience / examine	"He went through a difficult time after moving to a new school."

Key Rules

Pronoun placement with separable verbs: When you replace the object with a pronoun (it, them, him, her), the pronoun must go between the verb and the particle. "Put it away" is correct. "Put away it" is wrong.
Never split inseparable phrasal verbs: The verb and particle must stay together regardless of whether the object is a noun or a pronoun. "She looked after them" is correct. "She looked them after" is wrong.
Meaning changes with different particles: The same verb paired with different particles creates entirely different meanings. "Look up" (search for information), "look after" (take care of), "look into" (investigate), "look forward to" (anticipate).
One phrasal verb can have more than one meaning: "Take off" can mean to remove clothing or for a plane to leave the ground. Context determines the meaning. "The plane took off at 3 p.m." (left the ground) vs "He took off his shoes." (removed)
"Give in" vs "give up": "Give in" means to surrender or yield to someone else's wishes. "Give up" means to stop trying altogether. "She gave in to her brother's request" (she agreed). "She gave up learning the piano" (she stopped completely).
Three-word phrasal verbs are always inseparable: Phrasal verbs with two particles (e.g., "look forward to", "run out of", "get along with", "come up with") can never be separated.

Common Mistakes

Wrong	Right	Why
Please pick up it from the table.	Please pick it up from the table.	Pronouns must go between verb and particle for separable phrasal verbs
She looked them after carefully.	She looked after them carefully.	"Look after" is inseparable -- never split it
He gave up to his mother's request.	He gave in to his mother's request.	"Give in" means to yield; "give up" means to quit entirely
We have run of out time.	We have run out of time.	The particle order is fixed -- "run out of", not "run of out"
I will look the word up it in the dictionary.	I will look the word up in the dictionary. / I will look it up in the dictionary.	Do not mix noun and pronoun placement; use one or the other
She came across with an interesting article.	She came across an interesting article.	"Come across" does not take "with" -- it already means "find by chance"

Clue Words

Signals that a phrasal verb is needed:

context where a single formal verb could be replaced by a two-word expression -- postpone (put off), remove (take off), investigate (look into), submit (hand in), discover (come across)

Common particles and their tendencies:

up: completion or improvement -- pick up, give up, look up, make up, set up
off: removal or departure -- take off, put off, turn off, call off, set off
on: continuation or activation -- put on, turn on, carry on, hold on, go on
out: completion or discovery -- find out, carry out, figure out, work out, run out
in: submission or arrival -- give in, hand in, fill in, come in, check in
after: care or pursuit -- look after, take after, go after

Tip: If you can put a pronoun (it, them) between the verb and particle and the sentence still sounds correct, the phrasal verb is separable. If the sentence sounds wrong with the pronoun in the middle, it is inseparable. Try saying "look it after" -- it sounds wrong, so "look after" is inseparable.

Practice Tips

The pronoun test: Replace the object noun with "it" or "them". Try placing the pronoun between the verb and particle. If it sounds natural ("pick it up"), the phrasal verb is separable. If it sounds awkward ("look it after"), it is inseparable.
Learn in families: Group phrasal verbs by their base verb. Write down all the phrasal verbs that use "look" (look up, look after, look into, look forward to) and learn their meanings together. This helps you remember more of them.
Context matching: When you see a phrasal verb in a sentence, try replacing it with a single formal word. If the sentence still makes sense, you have understood the meaning correctly. "He put off the trip" = "He postponed the trip."
Watch for exam traps: PSLE questions often test whether you know the difference between similar phrasal verbs. Pay special attention to pairs like "give in / give up", "put on / put off", and "take off / take after".

Quick Reference

Separable vs Inseparable at a Glance

Type	Pronoun Position	Example (with "it")	Example (with noun)
Separable	Between verb and particle	Turn it on.	Turn on the fan. / Turn the fan on.
Inseparable	After the particle	Look after it.	Look after the cat.
Three-word (inseparable)	After all particles	Run out of it.	Run out of milk.

Quick Meanings Reference

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Separable?
pick up	collect / lift	Yes
put on	wear	Yes
take off	remove	Yes
turn on / off	switch on / off	Yes
put off	postpone	Yes
give up	stop trying	Yes
look up	search for	Yes
hand in	submit	Yes
carry out	perform	Yes
figure out	solve	Yes
look after	take care of	No
give in	surrender	No
come across	find by chance	No
get along with	have good relationship	No
run out of	use up completely	No
look forward to	anticipate	No
look into	investigate	No
go through	experience	No

Phrasal Verbs (P6) (Primary 6)