Intransitive phrasal verb
An intransitive phrasal verb doesn’t require any direct object to complete its meaning. For example:
- He slept.
- She laughed.
- They danced.
Transitive phrasal verb
A transitive phrasal verb requires an object to complete its meaning. For example:
- She turned off the TV.
- You put it on.
- I took them off.
Separable and Inseparable
Some transitive phrasal verbs can have the object between the verb and the particle, or after the particle. For example:
- She turned off the TV. ✅
- She turned the TV off. ✅
Some transitive phrasal verbs can only have the object after the particle, especially when the object is a pronoun.
- He explained the problem to me. ✅
- He explained me the problem. ❌
When we replace the object with a pronoun, we must place the pronoun between the verb and the particle.
- You put it on. ✅
- You put on it. ❌
- I took them off. ✅
- I took off them. ❌
References