3.106 object after first word
With a small number of phrasal verbs, the object is always placed between the first and the second words of the verb. For example, you can say 'I can't tell your brothers apart' but not 'I can't tell apart your brothers'.
- Captain Dean was still ordering everybody about.
- I answered him back and took my chances.
Note that most of these verbs take a human object.
Here is a list of phrasal verbs which always belong in this group when they are used transitively:
- answer back, ask in, bash about, bind over, book in, bring round, bring to, brush off, call back, carry back, catch out, churn up, count in, drag down, dress down, drop round, feel out, get away, hear out, help along, invite in, invite out, invite over, jolly along, keep under, knock about, mess about, move about, muck about, order about, order about, play along, play through, pull about, pull to, push about, push around, push to, run through, see through, send ahead, send away, send up, shut up, sit down, slap around, stand up, stare out, string along, talk round, tear apart, tell apart, tip off, truss up, turf out
Some phrasal verbs have more than one transitive sense but belong in this group when they are used with one particular meaning. For example, 'take back' belongs in this group when it means 'remind someone of something' but not when it means 'regain something'.
- The scent of the hay took Ash back to long-ago evenings in Devon.
- Philip took back his glasses and looked at the smoke.
Here is a list of phrasal verbs which belong in this group when used with a particular meaning:
- bowl over, bring down, bring out, buoy up, cut off, do over, draw out, get back, get out, give up, have on, hurry up, keep up, kick around, knock out, knock up, nail down, pass on, pin down, pull apart, push around, put down, put out, see out, set up, shake up, show around, show up, start off, straighten out, take back, take in, take off, throw about, toss about, trip up, turn on, ward off, wind up