PHRASAL VERBS BBC LEARNING ENGLISH

TYPE A These phrasal verbs take a direct object (they are transitive): I turned off the water I cut off the water He picked up Spanish easily You can separate the two parts of the phrasal verb with the object: I turned the water off  I cut the water off He picked Spanish up easily If you use an object pronoun(me, you, him, her, it, us, them) you must separate the two parts of the phrasal verb: I turned it off I cut it off He picked it up easily 

TYPE B These phrasal verbs take a direct object(they are transitive) but you cannot separate the two parts of the verb: I'm working on a new project I'm working on it Keep off the grass! Keep off it!

TYPE C These phrasal verbs do not take a direct object (they are intransitive) and you never separate the two parts of the verb: Tim didn't stop. He carried on. The water finally ran out.

TYPE D These phrasal verbs are composed of three words. They always have a direct object and you never separate these words with the object or the object pronoun: I put up with it for too long. She is looking forward to the weekend

TYPE C AND TYPE D Some phrasal verbs can be both Type C and Type D. You can add a new particle so that the verb can then take a direct object: To carry on/ to carry on with something Even though he was tired, he carried on Even though he was tired, he carried on with his work To check out/to check out of somewhere She checked out at 10 o'clock She checked out of the hotel at 10 o'clock 

VERB PATTERNS If you have another verb after a phrasal verb, you always use the gerund form (-ing) of the second verb: He carried on working. I'm looking forward to meeting you.