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  • Separable and Nonseparable Phrasal Verbs

    One of the most difficult things about the English language are phrasal verbs. Our English students struggle with phrasal verbs even at the advanced level. So, we will be doing a series of videos to help our students tackle the phrasal verb challenge.

    This first video is very important, it is about separable and nonseparable verbs. Sometimes we can separate a phrasal verb. For example, you can say both: “He put a coat on” and “He put on a coat.”

    Sometimes we CANNOT separate the verb, for example:  “He ran into a friend” is ok, but not “He ran a friend into. “

    Watch the video to learn why and when to separate phrasal verbs.

    Try these exercises to see if you understand: take off, put on, or run into

    1. She ________ the coat ________ before she went outside.
    2. They ____ __ a new opera, that was very successful.
    3. Luke was driving too fast and he ____ ___ a tree.
    4. Have you ____ ___ Frank lately?
    5. Did you ____ it ___ the table?
    7. I need to ______ some time _____ work, while my grandmother is visiting.
    8. Please _____ ____ your shoes before coming in.
    9. I _____ the money ____ the table when no one was looking.
    10. Our plane _____ ___ three hours late because of a mechanical problem.

    Rewrite these sentences using the correct phrasal verb.
    1. The plane is leaving the ground.
    2. I unexpectedly saw my cousin at the football game.
    3. You almost hit a light post when you were driving the car too fast.
    4. My mother attached her name-tag on her shirt before the meeting.
    5. I removed my shirt before I got in the shower.
    6. After my shower I dressed in a new shirt.

    Put the object in parentheses in the correct place:
    1. She put on (her coat, the rack)
    2. I took off (my shoes)
    3. I took off (it)
    4. Paul ran into (a tree)
    5. Luke ran into (her, at the grocery store)

    • Anna

      1. She put the coat on before she went outside.
      2. They ran into a new opera, that was very successful.
      3. Luke was driving too fast and he ran into a tree.
      4. Have you ran into Frank lately?
      5. Did you put it on the table?
      7. I need to take some time off work, while my grandmother is visiting.
      8. Please take off your shoes before coming in.
      9. I took the money off the table when no one was looking.
      10. Our plane took of three hours late because of a mechanical problem.

      Rewrite these sentences using the correct phrasal verb.
      1. The plane took off the ground.
      2. I unexpectedly ran into my cousin at the football game.
      3. You almost ran into a light post when you were driving the car too fast.
      4. My mother put her name-tag on her shirt before the meeting.
      5. I took my shirt off before I got in the shower.
      6. After my shower I put a new shirt on.

      Put the object in parentheses in the correct place:
      1. She put her coat on the rac.
      2. I took my shoes off.
      3. I took it off.
      4. Paul ran into a tree.
      5. Luke ran into her at the grocery store.

      • LOIEnglish

        Anna Good:
        Question #2; They PUT ON a new opera. (you can use ‘put on’ as a way to say someone is hosting something. i.g. She put on the charity event for the woman shelter.

        Next section:

        The plane took off. (we don’t need the ground in this sentence because it is implied or logical)

        Great job! Thanks for answering!

    • Silvia Deplano

      1. She put the coat on before she went outside.
      2. They have taken off a new opera, that was very successful.
      3. Luke was driving too fast and he runned into a tree.
      4. Have you putted on Frank lately?
      5. Did you put it on the table?
      7. I need to take some time off work, while my grandmother is visiting.
      8. Please take off your shoes before coming in.
      9. I putted the money on the table when no one was looking.
      10. Our plane took off three hours late because of a mechanical problem.
      Rewrite these sentences using the correct phrasal verb.
      1. The plane is taking off the ground
      2. I unexpectedly ran into my cousin at the football game.
      3. You almost ran into a light post when you were driving the car too fast.
      4. My mother putted on her name-tag on her shirt before the meeting
      5. I took off my shirt before I got in the shower.
      6. After my shower I putted on a new shirt

      Put the object in parentheses in the correct place:
      1. She put her coat on the rack
      2. I took off my shoes
      3. I took it off
      4. Paul ran into a tree
      5. Luke ran into her at the grocery store

      • LOIEnglish

        Silvia,
        Question #2: They have PUT ON a new opera. We can use ‘put on’ when we someone is hosting something; For example she is putting on a charity event, to raise money for Typhoon victims.

        Question #4: Have you RAN INTO Frank lately. We can use ‘run into’ for when we see someone by chance. I ran into an old high school friend at the concert.

        Question #9: I PUT the money ON the table….(put doesn’t change in the past tense.) You could also say; I took the money off the table when no one was looking.

        The next section:

        Question #1: The plane is taking off. (You do not need ‘the ground’ as it is implied.

        Question #4: put doesn’t change in past simple; My mother PUT her name-tag ON her shirt before the meeting. (There are 2 objects in this sentence: name-tag, her shirt; remember when there are 2 objects you MUST separate the verb.)
        Question #6: put doesn’t change in past simple

        Good Silvia! Thanks for answering.

    • Cristina

      1- put the coat on
      2- run into
      3- run into
      4- run into
      5- take it off
      7- take some time off
      8- take off
      9- put the money on
      10- take off

      1- she put her coat on the rack
      2- i took off my shoes/i took my shoes off
      3- i took it off
      4- paul ran into a tree
      5- luke ran her into at grocery store

      • LOIEnglish

        Cristina,

        Question #2: put on (this can be used to say someone is hosting an event)
        Question #3: RAN into (past tense)
        Question #10: TOOK off (past tense)

        Next section:

        Question #5: Luke ran into her at the grocery store. (This doesn’t have a Direct Object and in this meaning/definition NEVER takes a Direct Object and therefore is inseparable. Look at the sentence before. ….at the grocery store is an adverbial phrase)

    • Sean Hwang

      1. She ___put_____ the coat ____on____ before she went outside.
      2. They _take___ off__ a new opera, that was very successful.
      3. Luke was driving too fast and he _ran into a tree.
      4. Have you _run into_ Frank lately?
      5. Did you _put_ it _on__ the table?
      7. I need to _put_ some time __on___ work, while my grandmother is visiting.
      8. Please _take off your shoes before coming in.
      9. I _put the money on the table when no one was looking.
      10. Our plane _took off_ three hours late because of a mechanical problem.

      Rewrite these sentences using the correct phrasal verb.
      1. The plane is leaving the ground. The plane is taking off the ground.
      2. I unexpectedly saw my cousin at the football game. I unexpectedly ran into my cousin at the foot ball game
      3. You almost hit a light post when you were driving the car too fast. You almost ran into a light post when you were driving car too fast.
      4. My mother attached her name-tag on her shirt before the meeting. My mother put her name-tag on her shirt before the meeting.
      5. I removed my shirt before I got in the shower. I took off my shirt before I got in the shower.
      6. After my shower I dressed in a new shirt. After my shower I put on a new shirt.

      Put the object in parentheses in the correct place:
      1. She put on (her coat, the rack)
      She put her coat on the rack
      2. I took off (my shoes)
      I took off my shoes
      3. I took off (it)
      I took it off
      4. Paul ran into (a tree)
      Paul ran into a tree
      5. Luke ran into (her, at the grocery store)

      Luke ran her into at the grocery store

      • LOIEnglish

        Sean,
        Question #2: put on a new opera-we can use put on to mean host.
        Question#7: take some time off work….we use take off-to indicate free from something.

        Good work!