Phrasal Verbs: Transitive, Intransitive, Separable, Inseparable

phrasal verbs are verbs with two or three words the main verb plus a particle a preposition or an adverb and phrasal verbs are very common in the English language I wake up at 7:30 every day please turn off the TV my brother and I don't get along we fight all the time she came up with a good idea that's a three-word phrasal verb in this lesson you're going to learn different types of phrasal verbs transitive and intr itive and separable and Inseparable don't worry too much about those terms I'll show you very clearly how each type of phrasal verb Works in a sentence you'll definitely want to download today's lesson guide because it includes extra content some lists and examples of each type of phrasal verb so to get that free guide click on the link in the video description and enter your email address to receive the free pdf we'll start with transitive and intransitive phrasal verbs so so transitive phrasal verbs have a direct object that's something that is acted upon by the verb here are some examples the direct object is in blue you need to fill out this form to register for the course fill out means complete and the direct object is this form I'm going to cut down on fast food this year cut down on means reduce check out that website it's really great check out means to look at or to go to now intransitive phrasal verbs have no direct object for example I woke up at 10:30 a.m. you can come over to my house after school he left his country when he was a child but now he wants to go back again no direct object nothing that receives the action of the phrasal verb you can see more examples of transitive and intransitive phrasal verbs when you download that free lesson PDF now transitive phrasal verbs the ones that have a direct object can be separable or Inseparable so if it is separable it means you can separate the two words of the phrasal verb and put the direct object in the middle and Inseparable means you can't do that so an example of a separable phrasal verb is turn off we could say please turn off the TV or please turn the TV off and an example of an Inseparable phrasal verb is look after meaning to monitor take care of we say I'll look after your dog while you're on vacation but we can't say I'll look your dog after while you're on vacation it's incorrect to put the direct object in the middle now for separable phrasal verbs when the direct object is the specific name of a thing or person then it could be after the phrasal verb or in the middle I threw away the old pizza or I threw the old pizza away but when we use use a pronoun like me you him her us them or it then it must go in the middle I threw it away never I threw away it here's an example with the person I could say they'll pick up John from the airport or they'll pick John up from the airport when it's his specific name it can go in either place they'll pick him up from the airport that's correct but I can't say they'll pick up him from the airport that's incorrect if it's a pronoun it has to go in the middle let's review we've learned about intransitive phrasal verbs which have no direct object like wake up I woke up at 6 o' transitive phrasal verbs which do have a direct object I took off my hat separable phrasal verbs which can have the direct object or the pronoun in the middle I took my hat off or I took it off if we use a pronoun it must go in the middle and not at the end and Inseparable phrasal verbs which must have the direct object at the end not in the middle they're looking after our children you might be wondering how do you know if a phrasal verb is transitive or intransitive and separable or Inseparable unfortunately there's no rule for just looking at a phrasal verb and knowing what type it is the best way is to check a dictionary or study each phrasal verb in context with lots of examples that's what we do inside my phrasal verbs and conversation course which will teach you 500 phrasal verbs in a fun fast and effective way it's one of my most popular courses and you can find it at my website espresso english. net before you go remember to download today's lesson guide so you can see lots more examples thanks for watching and I'll talk to you next [Music] time [Music]